Rufus paused a couple of times, ears cocked, but didn’t growl as if alerting to a threat.More like he had caught a scent or heard something moving around the forest.
All too soon they’d reached the edge of the path and emerged at the side of his property.“Home sweet home,” he murmured.
“Yes.”She waited a moment, then slid her arm free of his and took Rufus up to the side door.After slipping off her shoes and Rufus’s leash, she walked into the kitchen and stopped to face him.“Is there someone else?”
The blunt question threw him.“No.”
She stared at him, waited a few beats, then continued when he didn’t say anything else.“You’ve taken a vow of celibacy?”
He would have laughed if his situation hadn’t been so fucking tragic.“No.”
When he didn’t offer anything more, she nodded once and gave him a tight smile.“Okay then.Goodnight.”
Somehow he managed to stand there and not call her back.
But up in his own room, staring at the darkened ceiling later, he couldn’t sleep.Kept thinking of Willow, warm and willing down the hall.
He forced his eyes shut.The moment he did, the tide of memories came rushing back.
Syria.Leaving the relative safety of their fortified compound.
The shock and force of the initial explosion.Searing heat and pain when he’d stepped out of the vehicle to take up a defensive position.Barking orders over the radio.
A barrage of automatic gunfire.Screams of his men falling around him.
And as always, there was Peyton’s voice in their final radio transmission.Weak.Resolute despite the pain and fear he must have felt.
Roger that.If I don’t make it back—tell my family I love them and that I didn’t suffer.
His eyes shot open.He sat up, struggling to get his choppy breathing under control, his racing heart to slow down.
Fuck.Fuck.
He dragged a hand through his hair, using the grounding technique his therapist had taught him.Focus on five things he could see.Four things he could feel.Three things he could hear.
He heard someone moving around downstairs.
It was late.Willow should be fast asleep.
Pushing the covers back, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up.Cracked open his door.The kitchen light was on downstairs.
He stepped out into the hall just as the light switched off.Stopped as Rufus’s toenails clicked on the wood floor then muted as he reached the carpeted stairs.The dog froze when he saw Tripp standing in the darkness near the landing.
Willow was right behind him, looking unbearably sexy in her pajamas, the points of her nipples showing through the thin material of her top.
“Oh.You scared me,” she said, putting a hand to her chest.
“Sorry.You okay?”
“I’m...yeah.”She wiped a hand over her cheeks, and he felt like he’d been kicked in the gut.
She’d been crying.“What’s wrong?”
“I...”She drew in a shaky breath.
He was in front of her in an instant, cupping her face in his hands.“Tell me.”He wiped away the last traces of wetness from her cheekbones with his thumbs.
“It’s after midnight.Which means it’s the anniversary of...”
