Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(6)

“Here?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes.”

Short and to the point. No beating around the bush.

“Oh. Okay.” What else could she say? Jag needed rest, and if he wanted to sleep in her bed, she wasn’t going to say no.

He finished taking off his boots and socks and strode toward her bed still wearing his cargo pants. He reached out to lift the sheet and she blurted, “You aren’t going to take your pants off?”

His lips twitched, but he shook his head. “No. I feel more comfortable with them on.”

Carly blinked in surprise. He didn’t say she would feel more comfortable if he left them on, but that he would. She didn’t get a chance to say anything else before he was suddenly lying next to her. Then, without asking, he reached for her and hauled her against his side.

She found her cheek resting on his chest, and the skin-on-skin contact felt so good. Snuggling into him, Carly tentatively rested her arm across his belly. She felt Jag’s stomach tighten for a moment, before he lay a hand on her forearm and let out a long breath.

“You have no idea how good this feels,” Jag said softly.

“Long mission?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Again. One word said it all.

“I’m proud of you,” he said after a moment.

Carly huffed out a small laugh.

“I am,” he insisted. “Your text was the best thing I’ve ever read. I’m too tired to talk right now, but we’re gonna find him, Carly. You’re gonna get your life back. I swear on it.”

Carly closed her eyes and did her best not to burst into tears. She’d felt broken for so long. So unlike the Carly she used to be. And she hated it. She did want her life back. It scared her to death, but she couldn’t live like she had been for much longer. Hiding out, panicking over every little sound. Scared of her own shadow.

If anyone could help her, it was Jag. She knew that down to the tips of her toes.

“Okay.”

“Sleep, Carly,” Jag ordered. And there was no doubt it was an order.

Carly smiled. When was the last time she’d smiled about anything? She couldn’t remember. “Yes, sir,” she quipped.

“I’m here. You’re safe. Nothing and no one’s getting through me to get to you,” he added.

His words settled in her soul. Carly was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, even though being in his arms was one of the most comfortable places she’d ever been in her life, but she nodded anyway.

Jag’s thumb brushed back and forth over her forearm rhythmically. To her surprise, her muscles relaxed and her eyes closed.

“That’s it, angel. I’ve got you.”

“Jag?” Carly mumbled.

“Right here.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“Nothing would’ve kept me away,” he said.

Carly could’ve sworn she felt him kiss her forehead, but decided she was hallucinating. Jag had never crossed a line between them. Had always treated her like a friend, a buddy.

Then again, he’d never climbed into bed and held her either.

Before she could think about it anymore, however, Carly fell into a deep, healing sleep.





Carly stirred, and when she opened her eyes saw that it was no longer dark outside. The sun was shining so brightly, her cheap curtains weren’t able to keep the light out. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so late.

“Good morning,” a deep voice said from next to her. Right next to her. “Or should I say good afternoon?” Jag asked with a chuckle.

Carly would’ve been alarmed, but she’d known whose arms she was lying in. Coming up on an elbow, she looked at the man next to her.

His hair was mussed, but his eyes were no longer bloodshot and he looked a hundred times better than he had last night. Grimacing, Carly had a feeling she probably looked a hundred times worse. She couldn’t remember when she’d last showered and her mouth felt like she’d been sucking on cotton balls all night.

“What time is it?”

“A little after one,” Jag said.

“In the afternoon?” Carly squeaked in surprise.

“Yup.”

She couldn’t believe she’d slept that long. Or at all. “I slept,” she said in surprise.

“Yeah, like a rock,” Jag agreed.

“No, you don’t understand. I haven’t slept since…I don’t know when,” she said. If she hadn’t been so surprised at the late hour, she probably wouldn’t have admitted it. “I didn’t dream at all.”

“Good,” Jag said sincerely. “We need to talk, but first you can shower, put on some clean clothes, and I’ll make us something to eat.”

“Um…I don’t know what I’ve got in my kitchen,” Carly admitted.

Jag’s brows came down. “When’s the last time you went shopping?” he asked.

Carly wrinkled her nose and shrugged.

“Carly…” he said in exasperation.

“I haven’t been hungry,” she told him. “And the last thing I felt safe doing was going to the store. I’ve been using a delivery service. But, um, since I haven’t been working, I’ve had to really watch my budget. I haven’t had an appetite though, so it wasn’t a big deal.”