Page 116 of Death Wish

JESSE TOSSED THE ball for Goose for the millionth time and chuckled as the little poodle raced after the round sphere and pounced on it. “Good job, buddy. Bring it back to me.”

Goose nabbed the soft ball in his mouth and pranced back to Jesse, acting like the conquering hero returned from the war. He dropped the ball at Jesse’s feet and laid down, panting.

“You tired, Goose?” Jesse crouched and stroked the dog’s back. “Me, too. Don’t tell Simone though. It will be our little secret, okay?”

“Too late,” Simone said from the doorway of her home. “Come inside. Lunch is ready.”

“Come on, Goose. The lady of the house has spoken.” He picked up the dog and ball and followed Simone into her bright kitchen. On the table, Simone had set two plates filled with spaghetti and meatballs.

“Smells great.” Jesse bent and kissed Simone before setting Goose on the floor near his food and water dishes, and dropped the ball into the dog’s basket of toys. Wouldn’t be long before every toy was strewn in whatever room Simone spent time in. When she moved to another room, Goose moved all the toys. Funny and sweet to watch.

“You didn’t have to do all this, sweetheart.” Jesse wrapped his arms around her. “A sandwich would have been fine.”

“I’m allowed to spoil you while you’re home. Gives you an incentive to come home to me when you’re deployed.”

He squeezed gently. “I’ll always want to come home to you. The doctor at headquarters gave me a clean bill of health this morning.”

She smiled. “That’s great. When will your team go back on deployment rotation?”

“Next week. Are you really okay with me leaving so soon after our return from Mexico?”

“It’s your job. I love you, so I’ll deal.”

“Well, at least your security systems are installed. I’d feel better if we knew which rock White crawled under.”

She shrugged. “He’ll show up, eventually.”

Yeah, he would. The problem was, he could show up while Jesse was deployed and that would leave Simone to handle him alone. The last confrontation between them had ended with her in the hospital. He wouldn’t let that happen again. “If we haven’t run him to ground by the time my team deploys, I’ll ask Maddox to assign another medic.”

“No.”

“Simone….”

“Your team needs you, not a substitute. They depend on you to get them home in one piece. Go with them. I’ll be fine.”

“You weren’t fine the last time White came after you.”

“That was years ago.”

Jesse still felt responsible for her safety. “White’s dangerous.”

“You’ve been giving me more pointers in self-defense for two weeks and so has Sawyer. Not only that, you gave me this little jewel.” She held up her small pink Taser and laid it on the kitchen counter. “Trust me to take care of myself while you’re gone.”

“Under normal circumstances, I would. White is obsessed with you. That makes him doubly dangerous. I’ve seen what obsessive stalkers can do, Simone. I want nothing to happen to you.”

She remained silent a moment. “You mentioned before that you might ask another operative to monitor me while you’re gone if Trevor was still MIA. What if we compromise? What if I stayed with Poppy or Sage, then you and their husbands work out who stays with all of us?”

The ball of ice in his stomach melted a little. “I can work with that.”

“Good. That’s settled.” Simone stepped out of his embrace. “Come on. You need to eat before your food gets cold.”

When they finished lunch, Jesse helped Simone clean up their dishes and the pots she’d used to cook for him. Afterward, they settled on the couch with Goose tucked on Simone’s lap and watched a movie together.

He glanced down at her at the halfway mark to ask if she wanted popcorn or a drink. She was sound asleep with her head propped against his shoulder.

He tugged the blanket off the back of her couch and draped it over her. Goose wiggled out and climbed back on Simone’s lap, this time on top of the blanket.

By the time the movie finished, Simone stirred. As the credits rolled, she blinked and looked up at him, a sheepish look in her eyes. “I fell asleep, didn’t I?”

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