“Nothing,” I said. “You fell asleep.”
Slowly, Jude sat up and regained his bearings. “How long was I out?” His voice was hoarse and dry.
“I’d tell you if there was a clock in here.”
His attention dropped to the watch around his wrist. “Three hours? Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself.
“Nothing happened,” I said, trying to reassure him, though I wasn’t sure it actually helped. “You just fell asleep while you were reading. I haven’t moved from this spot.”
Jude’s eyes fell to my thighs, where he had been dead to the world. “Sorry.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Shouldn’t have fallen asleep,” he grunted as he pushed off the couch.
I let out a sharp laugh. “Even super-friendly kidnappers have to sleep, Jude. Don’t worry. I’ll wait until you’re awake to run. I’d hate for you to miss out on your beloved cardio.”
For a moment, he just stared at me. Then he dropped his head, smiling to himself as he went to the sink for a glass of water.
Well water was indeed an acquired taste. One that I had yet to acquire.
“I don’t know how you stomach drinking that,” I said as I turned back to the book I had been reading.
The tap cut off and Jude leaned against the counter as he took a long drink. “When you’re in the desert and you’re out of water, you learn to drink just about anything.”
Oh. He was chatty.Alright, then. Maybe he was just trying to make me forget that he had been sleeping on me like I was the cool side of his favorite pillow, but I was definitely going to take advantage of it.
“Military or mob?”
Jude chuckled. “Military. Valentine is especially particular about his water.”
I snickered. “Yeah, I should’ve known he was some kind of evil supervillain when he always had sparkling water beside his cocktails.”
“He tells everyone it’s imported. But it’s imported fromArkansas.” Jude cracked a smile. “I guess the old saying about money not buying taste is true.”
And for some reason, that made me laugh. It was like two people shit-talking the boss who made their lives absolutely miserable. “What branch of the military were you in?”
Jude’s laughter faded along with his smile. “Navy.”
“You don’t strike me as a sailor. I would’ve guessed the Marines.”
Jude pointed a finger at me. “That’s rude.”
I closed my book and set it aside. “What did you do in the Navy? I’m guessing the desert isn’t very hospitable to boats.”
Jude watched me, as if he was sizing me up to see what I would do with whatever information he was tempted to give me. It was clear that he didn’t trust me, and for the life of me, I didn’t know why.Iwasn’t the bad guy here. I had done nothing to make him not trust me. Well, except for the little stunt I pulled climbing out of the gas station bathroom window. But honestly, he needed to let that go.
If I was being truthful, I wasn’t convinced he was the bad guy either. Still, I couldn’t shake the side of him I had seen with my own eyes.
I couldn’t shake the fact that he had brutally beaten my brother, then claimed to want to protect him.
I couldn’t shake the fact that I’d watched him inflict such cruelty on a stranger . . . but he sat beside me on the beach for a heart-to-heart.
I couldn’t shake the fact that he had drugged me, abducted me, and ripped me away from my life.
I couldn’t reconcile the two sides of him. I had always relied on logic and order. But Jude Greear? Jude Greear defied every bit of it.
“Special Warfare,” Jude said.
