Chapter 5
It wasn’t the complete truth. Her house wasn’t along his way home, but she wasn’t putting him out either by more than a few miles. It was the least he owed her after their last few confrontations. He had been an ass. It shouldn’t have taken Sandy or Allie to point it out to him.
Yes, what he had been working on had been important, but it wasn’t like him to be rude to others. He should have rescheduled, but when he got in the mindset of work, everything else just faded.
He had just brushed Allie off as a bad date, an inconvenience.
As if Sandy had just set him up for amusement or something.
Dating had never been a priority for him.
He found a woman when he was lonely, otherwise he was dedicated to work.
He had been that way ever since Jenny shattered his heart with her rejection.
An IED had struck his Humvee when his team had been out on patrol. The scout had missed it, and it tore the Humvee apart like a toddler with wrapping paper.
The military had told him he couldn’t do his job anymore and that he could go.
It had been a dark point in his life. For the first time, he didn’t have a purpose.
Then Colonel Weber had recruited him for these black ops missions.
The Colonel didn’t care that he was injured or couldn’t see as far as he used to.
He didn’t care that his hearing wasn’t perfect or that he didn’t have full range of motion in his right arm.
He was part of a team again, with others like himself.
Others that the military felt were no longer fit for duty and were forced to retire.
Some were missing limbs, others loss of vision in one eye, and others less noticeable injuries. but all had been discarded just the same.
When he’d gotten this job, he had poured himself into it. Determined to save the world again. To prove himself still capable despite his burns and his right arm being pinned under rubble and without its full range of motion anymore.
It was Allie’s words today that had really struck him. “I don’t need a reason to help people.”
Now he was starting to see what Sandy was talking about. He could see a different kind of woman hidden under the surface.
He had been so wrong about her. One look and he had judged her harshly. He’d thought her uptight and frigid. Her hair was still up now, but he could see her looking more relaxed today than he had last week.
She had a compassionate heart, helping that woman and her son pay for their groceries. It hadn’t been something he’d thought about.
Funny, he thought about saving women in shipping containers or stopping bad guys in foreign lands, but he didn’t ever think about those suffering in his own backyard. How many others couldn’t afford their groceries while he ignored them?
He didn’t have to go to distant lands to help people. Shay, Luke’s girlfriend, had been rescued right here in town from a club that sold women in the back.
“So is Allie short for anything?” he asked, breaking the silence in the truck.
“No, my mom didn’t want a name that would get shorted or renamed so she just shortened it. People just assume it’s short for Allison or other names where I get called Annie for short.” She gave him a side-eye. He knew it was for the dig when he’d kept calling her Annie.
“I’m sorry, Allie, for my behavior last week. It was inexcusable.” He had apologized more than once already, and he would keep on apologizing until she forgave him.
She didn’t say anything. Just sat, staring forward in her seat.
“I was rude and a jerk, and I’m sorry. I get so involved in my work that sometimes I don’t notice what’s happening around me.
I should have rescheduled but didn’t.” As much as he hadn’t wanted to date, he should have at least given her his attention for an hour to get through a meal before considering the dinner a wash.
Allie stared straight ahead out the windshield; he wasn’t sure she’d heard him until her next words. “Answer me one thing, Carson. Was there really an emergency or did you take one look at me and change your mind? Just tell me the truth.”
He could hear the strain in her voice as if she were precious glass and one wrong move would make her shatter.
Sandy had warned him that she had had some bad dates in the past. One had even ghosted her.
So, she’d probably thought his behavior had been no different than the other guys just looking for an excuse to get out of dating her.
That thought brought out a protective streak in him. He wanted to show her that all men were like that. That he wasn’t like that.
“There was an emergency. I got a call shortly before the date, and it was something that needed my immediate attention. I can’t tell you about what I do with work because I’m not at liberty to say.
All I can say is that what I was dealing with was a matter of life and death.
” He finished and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the road.
“Did you resolve it?”
“Not yet,” he growled. He’d confirmed Yurgio was at the base camp, and his team was making plans to take it, but the process was slow, and they had to get permission from the Colonel.
Yurgio Svengtsez would pay for his crimes.
It was only a matter of time before he was captured, and Carson would be there to see him sent to jail to rot for the rest of his miserable life.
“I hate when that happens to me at work, though I’m sure what you do is vastly different than what I do.”
That was an understatement.
“If it really was a matter of life and death.”
“It was.” And it still was. Those women were still out there somewhere being subjected to unimaginable horrors. “So do you accept my apology?”
“I’m thinking.” Her lips pursed as she looked deep in thought.
“Alright, Sandy told me you’re the executive director at the company. That’s pretty incredible,” he commented, continuing to fill the silence. Talking to her as he should have last week.
Carson saw Allie’s shoulders shrug out of the corner of his eye.
“It’s a lot of planning and setting up meetings.
Sandy is the real star selling products.
” She shrugged off his praise, but he noted the pink tinge on her cheeks.
She obviously wasn’t used to someone praising her, simply allowing others to take the credit.
“She wouldn’t have those meetings if not for your planning.”
“I never really thought about it that way. So how long have you known Sandy?”
“Feels like forever. We grew up together in Virginia and parted ways when I joined the Navy. We just happened to see each other again a few years ago when I got out.” Forced out, but he wasn’t going to go into that.
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said, shaking her head.
“What?”
“Risk your life for complete strangers. I know police and firefighters do it. I just don’t understand how people can risk their lives like that. You all must have a hero complex or something.” There was no censure in her words, just bewilderment.
“I can’t speak for others, but I don’t have a hero complex.
” He’d met plenty in the service. Out to prove themselves better than others, but not him.
“I joined because I wanted to make a difference. There are some out there who do it for recognition and glory, but a majority of people just like helping others and making a difference. Just like you did today.”
Allie snorted. “You can’t compare what I did today to what the military does.”
“It’s not the exact same, you’re right. But you’re helping someone much like when we would go into a village and free its people. That family you bought groceries. You made a difference in their lives. They now have food tonight and maybe a few other meals because of your generosity.”
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing. All I did was help feed her and her son for a few days. I’m hardly a hero.”
“You were to her.” He had seen firsthand people abused or neglected in this world. One act of kindness, whether it was a nice word or offering them food, water, or even a blanket, meant the world to them.
Carson had seen the gratitude in the woman’s eyes. The relief that she could feed her child. Again, he cursed himself for his own thoughtlessness.
“Do you do stuff like that often?” he asked, curious to know more about her.
“Not pay for their groceries, but I’ve given change to the homeless, and I donate to a few charities, but beyond that, I don’t make it a habit of paying for other people’s things.”
“It was very kind of you. I wish there were more people in this world like that.”
“There is a lot of cruelty in the world.”
More than she probably even knew.
“Well, on a lighter note, besides secret government work, what do you like to do, Carson?” He noticed she’d turned the conversation about him instead of being focused on her. For some reason, praise made her uncomfortable, and he didn’t know why.
He had to think about it. He didn’t do much beyond work.
“That exciting of a social life, huh?” She giggled, taking his silence as an answer that he had no life outside of work, which wasn’t an incorrect assessment but sad when he thought about it.
“Oh, and what do you do Miss Social Life?” he replied with snark, feeling defensive. He knew he didn’t have a life outside of work, but when it was blatantly pointed out to him, he felt prickly about it.
“I get out,” she hedged. Carson remembered Sandy saying Allie was outgoing and the adventurous one.
“Well, how about this upcoming weekend we go paintballing together? I know a great course not too far away.” Carson wasn’t sure who was more shocked about the offer, him or her.
“Are you asking me out? On a date?”
He supposed he was. The offer had come out before he thought about it.
“Yes, I’d like to take you out again. A real date.
No phone calls interrupting us. I will give you my complete attention,” he emphasized.
“We can grab lunch afterward or before. Before might be better,” he said, thinking out loud.
“You’ll be covered in paint after and may not want to sit anywhere. ”
Allie turned in her seat to face him. “Who says I’ll be the one covered in paint? It could be you,” she challenged with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile on her lips.
“I guess you’ll have to come with me, and we’ll find out.” It was unlikely. He was an ex-SEAL. She didn’t stand a chance against him. “So, is that a yes, you’ll go out with me?”
He didn’t know why, but he really wanted her to say yes. He wanted Allie to give him a chance.
She looked hesitant though. He could understand why.
“If it’s easier, we don’t have to call it a date. We can just say we’re two friends hanging out and having a healthy dose of competition.”
“Competitive, are you?”
“I was a SEAL, it’s in our blood.” He and his teammates had always competed about everything. Eat the fastest, take their gun apart and put it back together the fastest.
Allie cocked her head to the side and looked at him, confused. “I didn’t realize marine mammals were competitive. Maybe for food, but I didn’t think in sports.”
“What?” he sputtered, not understanding her statement until it came to him.
“Not a seal, but a Navy SEAL. You know, like the military.” He glanced at Allie out of the corner of his eye only to see her smirking.
She had been messing with him. “That was a good one. I’ve never heard that one before. Now you have to say yes to me.”
“Or what?” It wasn’t a no. He could still convince her to give him another chance.
“Or I’ll keep bugging you until you agree. I should warn you, when I get fixated on things, I don’t lose sight of my target.”
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or scared.”
“You don’t ever have to fear me. I have never and would never harm a woman. Physically,” he amended since he had hurt her feelings. “I’ll even do you one better. If I so much as say one offensive thing to you, you have permission to hit me with a paintball.”
“I don’t want a freebie.”
“Alright, I was only trying to be fair.” He shrugged as if it didn’t make a difference to him. He was only trying to boost her ego that she could get one hit on him since he was confident that he would trounce her.
“Yes, I’ll go out with you. We’ll eat afterward. Loser pays.” She held out her hand for him to shake.
He could live with those terms, though he was going to pay for lunch regardless. “Deal.” He shook her hand.
“This is me.” She pointed to a house on the right side. It was a brown brick home with a navy-blue door and shutters. There was a small green area with a tree in the front yard. That was common here out in the desert where water was expensive and scarce.
“I like it,” he remarked, pulling up to the curb.
“It’s not much, but it’s home.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“A few years. Shortly after I started with the company. I had an apartment, but I like having my own space.”
“Me too. I hated hearing people walk above me or hear music from the apartment next to me or arguments. I like having my own place.”
“Well, I should get going, I have to call the tow company.”
“Can I see your phone?”
“Okay,” she responded hesitantly but handed him her phone.
He mentally scolded her for not having a screen lock on her phone.
It would be so easy for someone to steal her information, but he wasn’t about to start an argument.
He put in his number and sent himself a text, so he had hers before handing it back.
“Now you have my number, and I have yours. If you need a ride, let me know.”
“Okay.” She hopped out of the truck; Carson followed carrying the groceries.
“Thank you, again,” she said at the door, taking the bags from him and standing in the doorway. She was making it clear that she was not inviting him in.
That was okay. At least she wasn’t inviting strangers inside her home. She may not protect her phone, but she protected her house.
“Bye, Allie. I’ll see you on Saturday. I’ll text you with more details as we get closer. Where it’s at and the time. I can pick you up, or if you’d be more comfortable, you can meet me there.” That way if she wanted to leave at any point, she could.
“Okay, sounds good. Bye, Carson.” Allie smiled and shut the door.”