Head On (Strength And Love)(9)

“Hey, Sadie.” I bend down and touch her head gently, waking her.

“Come on, old girl, we’re going on an adventure.”

“Oh, it’s an adventure now, is it?”

I turn to see Ethan stood by the door, smiling at me. And he’s got dimples. Shoot me now.

I sigh, clip on Sadie’s lead, and head to the door. I’m equal measures terrified and exhilarated, and I’m not sure if I hate it or love it.





Chapter Five



Ethan



We head for my car and I put her bag in the boot. I stare at the dog. Normally when I take my dogs out, I take the Jeep. How I’m going to get Sadie in the back, I’m not sure. I stare at the coupe and then back at the dog, and Isla touches my arm.

It’s a huge gesture on her part, because she may not realise it, but it shows a certain degree of trust. And I want her to trust me. God knows why, but I do. I want to make sure she’s okay, of course, and find out what the fuck is going on. But it goes deeper, and I step away from the thought, not ready to examine it.

“Sadie can sit on my knee,” she says.

“The dog’s big. You’re kind of small. She’ll squash you.”

She laughs. “No, she won’t. It will be fine. Honest.”

I frown. “It’s not safe. If I have to brake suddenly, she could hurt herself. Or you. How about we put her on the floor by your feet. The seat moves back, and she’ll be okay for one journey.”

She nods, and then narrows her eyes at me. “How do you ferry your dogs about?”

“Got a jeep back at home.”

I wait for her to climb in, then help Sadie in and get her settled at Isla’s running shoe covered feet. She’s wearing jeans with a t-shirt, and it’s a casual outfit. The jeans aren’t particularly smart, and look sort of old-fashioned, but then what do I know? They’re probably the latest style. I’m not into clothes.

“Thank you.”

I nod at her and close the door, jogging round to the driver’s side. I pull onto the road and glance in the rear-view mirror as I drive off, making sure no one follows us.

“Do you run?” I ask after a while.

“Yes. A few times a week. I try to eat well and keep fit.”

“Me too. I run, I mean. Although, I do the other stuff. Eat well, work out.”

“It shows,” she says.

I glance at her and we pass under a streetlamp in time to see her clamp her lips shut and turn pink. I bite back a smile. So, she noticed the effort I put into staying in shape. I’m not stupid. I see how women look at me. Men too, sometimes. Hell, it’s one of the reasons I can earn money doing my job. I’m not big headed about it, though. My friend, Luka, who was in the forces with me, is so handsome no one notices me when we’re together. Women fucking swoon over the guy. You have a friend like him, and you can’t be too puffed up about how you look.

As we drive in silence for a while, I wonder if my sister is already at the house. She’s a pain in my arse a lot of the time. Always on at me to get a “proper job” and “settle down”. Thankfully since having Katie, she only has the attention span of a gnat. I get a few minutes of nagging and then she goes back to thinking about, or worrying about, Katie. I worry about them both.

It’s a struggle for her being a single mum, and one of the reasons I do this job. I can help her out more if I’m not working regular nine to five hours. Not that I could do an office job anyway. The though makes me want to pull my t-shirt away from my throat, it’s that fucking claustrophobic. The screwing for cash thing also means I can help Ann out with money. Sex pays well and I already had a fair bit stashed away. Not that she’s too hard up because Jacob, her husband, put in place a great life insurance policy. I’m glad he did, cold as it sounds, because otherwise things would be a lot worse.

“I bet this is pretty out here in the day.” Isla looks out of the window across dark fields.

It is, and it’s one of the reasons I live out here. I need to be in nature, away from too many people and buildings. I don’t like feeling cooped up.

“It’s nice.”

“How far is your place?”

“Two minutes now.” I glance at her, briefly. “You don’t have a Yorkshire accent. Where are you from?”

She bites her lip, and then looks out of the window again. “I lived in Sussex until I was ten, and then we moved up here.”

“Oh, did your dad move for work?” I’m making idle conversation, but her reply stuns me.

“No. I was in a car accident with my mum. It killed my mum and injured me badly. I needed lots of surgery. When I got out of the hospital, Dad had already sold the house. He couldn’t bear to stay down there, and he needed help with me. So, we moved here, back to where he grew up, to be near my gran.”

I swallow hard. Fuck. Not a good start in life for her. To lose her mum so young, and then be dragged away from everything she knew. “I’m sorry.” They are the two most inadequate words I’ve ever uttered.

She shrugs. “It happened a long time ago now.”

I’ve lost both my parents. Dad died in combat, and it’s a big part of the reason I signed up. Mum drank herself to death over many years. She checked out mentally way before she left us physically. She never got over dad dying. It was probably a selfish dick move for me to enlist the way I did, but I couldn’t stand to stay at home and watch her rot away in front of my eyes. There were few jobs at the time for a kid like me. I didn’t do great at school, and liked to use my body more than my brains. The forces gave me the discipline I needed and let me put all my pent-up energy to good use.