DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(44)

I wished I knew what to do to take this away from her. But what could I do?

***

She went for a lot of walks in the woods behind the house for the first couple of days. I watched from the back deck, confident in the fact that this property was surrounded by several miles of electric fence so she was safe. Physically, anyway. But she was trying so hard to remember what happened that night that it was beginning to drive her a little crazy. And she wouldn’t talk to me about it, which was driving me a little crazy.

I grilled a few steaks on the barbecue while she walked. A bottle of wine and a nice salad to go along. I thought that maybe a nice meal might help her relax.

“Should we be drinking?” she asked when she joined me.

“Can’t imagine why not.”

She nodded, lifting the glass to her lips and taking the world’s smallest sip. But then her eyes widened and she took a much deeper swallow.

“That’s good.”

“Ash has many talents. I guess his dad taught him about wines when he was in his teens.”

“Kind of young, isn’t it?”

“Apparently the super wealthy live under a different set of rules than the rest of us mortals.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. She took another sip, closing her eyes and sighing as she did.

“How’d you meet him?” she asked. “I mean, obviously you met in the military. But what were the circumstances?”

“He was my warrant officer.”

“Warrant officer?”

“He was like the team leader’s second-in-command.”

She nodded, watching me with naked curiosity in her eyes.

“It was my second tour of duty and I was assigned to Ash’s team. We spent eighteen months together, him and me and the rest of our team. Did things…” I hesitated, but she didn’t seem to notice. “When I re-upped for another tour, I was assigned to the same team.”

“How many times did you go over there?”

“Four.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Why?”

I looked down at my glass of wine and swirled the bloody red liquid around the clear crystal bowl. I’d asked myself the same question a few times. But I never really came up with a satisfactory answer.

“I guess I didn’t have a reason not to.”

She didn’t say anything. I didn’t really think she would.

I got up to check the meat, turning it over to keep it from burning.

“What about the others. How do you know them?”

“I didn’t. Not until Ash called and said he was starting a security firm.”

“Really?”

“I’d heard of Kirkland. He was a Green Beret with another team. But, as you’ve seen, he tends to be memorable. People were talking about him over there, over here, talking about his charm and his recklessness. And, I guess, Ash reached out to him because of that.”

“What about Joss?”

“Ash knew her in boot camp.”

“Was she a Green Beret?”

I glanced at her. “Unfortunately, Uncle Sam doesn’t allow women to be Green Berets. But she would have made one hell of a team member.”

A cloud of jealousy floated across her eyes. Did she think my admiration of Joss meant something more than it did? Did she really care enough to be jealous?

She turned slightly and took another long drink from her glass. I picked up the bottle and carried it over to her, pouring her another healthy slug.

Drunk might not be such a bad thing for her tonight.

“Do you remember the summer the three of us spent at that summer camp in San Francisco?” she asked a couple of minutes later.

“I do.”

“Do you remember the sunburn I got that day on the beach? I was so arrogant; I thought I knew what I was doing when I went out there without sunscreen because I live on the beach in Santa Monica. And that counselor kept telling me it was different down there, that the overcast was sometimes worse than a bright, sunny day?”

“You spent the first night in the infirmary with tea packs on your back.”

“And you snuck in and sat with me until the pain pills the nurse gave me kicked in.”

“I stayed the whole night. I didn’t leave until I heard the nurse coming in the next morning.”

“Really?”

I nodded as I turned to lift the steaks off the grill. “I knew if I got caught, we’d both be on the first bus back home. So I climbed out the window, but my shoe got caught on the sill. I thought for sure we were screwed.”

“How did you get out?”

“Shoe popped loose at the last second.”

“Lucky.”

“Always was back then.”

I set a plate in front of her and took a seat across from her, cutting into my steak to make sure I hadn’t overdone it.

“I think that’s when I started to think of you as more than just my brother’s bad-boy friend.”

I looked up. “That was eighth grade.”

“It was.”

She blushed a little as she turned her attention to her food.

We both ate a few bites before she finally looked up at me again.

“Did you ever tell Joshua about us?” she asked.

I studied her face, wondering if she really wanted to know. Then I leaned back, setting my utensils down on the edge of the plate.