“He ended up calling me and apologizing. I told him I understood; she was one of the most manipulative people I’d ever met. I offered to help support Amanda but he wouldn’t let me go that far. His mom crossed the country, from one coast to the other, to help raise her.”
“I’m sorry you lost your daughter.” Anguish shone clearly in Sylvie’s eyes.
I love this woman. The thought came to him simply and clearly. Sylvieunderstood.
He unwound the last of the cord from her body and coiled it in his hands, then laid it aside.
“I didn’t lose Amanda entirely. Every year, she gets a gift at Hanukkah and on her birthday from her Uncle Alex, and I get regular updates. She’ll be eleven this year. She’s a sweet girl, doing great in school and she loves to dance. I’m so proud of her. She has a great dad and a wonderful grandma who both dote on her. That’s the most important thing to me. She’s nothing like her mother, who as far as I know, has never tried getting in contact with her.”
Sylvie said nothing but opened her arms, inviting Alex in. She held him and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. “That’s still a tremendous loss. You lost your trust in someone you loved.”
He squeezed her, then pulled back and took her face in his hands.
“I think I’ve found it again.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Sylvie slept in Alex’s arms, deep and safe and feeling completely connected to this wonderful man. She set the alarm extra-early so that they could have something resembling breakfast together before they had to go their separate ways. Turned out, she shouldn’t have bothered, because her internal clock woke her a few minutes before the alarm went off. She took advantage of those minutes to study Alex as he slept soundly, lying on his back with one arm thrown over his head, the other still wrapped around her.
I love you. I can’t believe I’m feeling this so soon, but I am. She’d only known him a few months, but really, how long did it take to know for sure? She’d always relied on her instincts, and from the moment she’d met Alex, she knew he was a good man. She didn’t doubt him, but she found herself wondering more and more about Watchdog.
She pushed her worries away, remembering what he’d said the night before about capturing the moment and making it last. They both had dangerous jobs that could take their lives in an instant. But right now—this moment—they were safe and together.
So she basked in it.
Sylvie took in his strong jawline, relaxed in sleep. His dark stubble, his lips even now curved in a gentle smile as if amused. She loved the way his eyes always danced with curiosity and humor, especially when working with the dogs. She loved his strong arms and surprisingly nimble fingers. She loved every scar and mark on his body that told a tale of survival.
Yup, I’m in love.
Alex stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked as he figured out where he was, and when he did, he turned toward her and pulled her close.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead.
“Good morning yourself,” she whispered back as her lips met his. “Breakfast?”
“Do we have time?”
Her alarm went off and she turned and bashed the snooze button. “Depends. What do you think we can do in ten minutes?”
He chuckled as he rolled on top of her, his erection already like steel against her. “Let’s find out.”
* * *
Later,she was scrambling eggs while he made a second pot of coffee. The first had gone into a couple of travel mugs and she made a note of trading in her smaller coffeemaker for a full-sized one. The thought that she’d have a long string of mornings like this ahead of her made her giddy.
“What got you into working with dogs?” she asked, realizing she didn’t know such an important part of Alex’s life.
He clicked the coffeemaker on. “When my marriage fell apart, I was lost. I felt betrayed, and I felt like I’d betrayed my brothers by not giving a hundred percent while I was busy worrying about something I couldn’t control. I mean, I always had their backs on a mission, that didn’t change. ButI’dchanged. I’d grown apart from them, apart from myself. I’d gone numb. I didn’t know what to do, what would make the empty place inside me go away.”
Alex emptied the small carafe into two coffee mugs and carried them to the peninsula dividing the kitchen from the main room. He sat down on a stool. “And then one day, I found my new purpose. We had a military dog trainer come in and show us what a difference a dog could make to the team. He’d brought his Malinois and that girl was whip-smart and sweet on her trainer. I looked into that pup’s eyes and I was a goner.” Alex grinned. “When the guy asked for volunteers to train, my hand shot up before I could talk myself back out of it.”
He took a sip of coffee. “I entered the military dog training program and discovered I had a real affinity for it. I loved the work and over that time, I learned to trust again. You can’t work with smart, loyal, loving creatures like dogs and not regain your humanity. They helped me way more than I ever helped them.”
Sylvie slid the eggs onto a plate and turned to smile at him. “I know that feeling. Chewie always cheers me up after a hard day.” She grabbed a couple of potholders, opened the oven, and took out a glass casserole dish full of sizzling bacon and set it on a trivet on the counter. Then she started dividing up the food onto two plates.
“So, Mac was your dog in the military, right?”
“Yup. I was assigned two dogs over the course of my last years. The first one, Spike, was with me for two years before he retired to his former handler’s home in Virginia. Mac I raised up from a puppy at Lackland Airforce Base and we’ve been together ever since. He’s been on a few missions, seen some action, but we were mostly at Lackland for a couple years, then back to San Diego where I was a full-time trainer. That’s where I met Kyle. One of my best students ever. Present company excluded, of course.”
