Page 3 of Harry

She thought about calling Lucia again but put it off. There wasn’t anything her sister could do, and if she told Lucia more, that could get her sister in trouble, too. Besides, the information wasn’t all that clear. Maybe she was overreacting. She needed more files before she jumped to conclusions.

Before going back home, Rory turned off and hid her burner phone. She didn’t want anyone to find it. Not that she had any information on the phone, but the last thing she needed was that phone pinging a tower near where she lived or worked. It was bad enough that she had it in her possession. She should forget what she’d seen and move on. Nothing good would come from the information she’d learned.

Chapter 2

Harry couldn’t get Rory out of his mind. At first glance, her hair looked brown, but it also had a lot of red. She had beautiful green eyes, and her skin was pale, but she didn’t have a lot of freckles. She seemed fit, actually felt fit when he’d run into her—also good in his arms, like she belonged there. He’d touched her too much, but he couldn’t help it.

He wanted to ask her what she did for work but didn’t want to say he was a SEAL. Too many women were only interested in him for fake reasons, like him being in the Navy and a SEAL, because they wanted to brag about him, not love him. Then there was the condo issue. They saw his unit and thought he was loaded with money. He had some money saved up, but he wasn’t rolling in it rich. At least not by today’s standards. Unless something drastically changed, he wouldn’t ever be one of those billionaires shooting themselves to space in giant phallic rockets while spending millions on yachts they couldn’t even pilot.

He had a condo his dad had bought him to assuage his guilt. That made dates think they could take advantage of him. He knew the score and tried to downplay where he lived and what he did for a job. He loved being a SEAL but hated being used because of his position.

Based on his first impression of Rory, he didn’t think she would use him. Of course, he couldn’t really tell based on one encounter, but from how he’d read her, he thought she was solid.

His alarm went off early the next morning, and he groaned. Usually, Sunday was his sleep-in day, but he’d agreed to go jogging with Rory, and he didn’t want to miss her. He still needed to get her number, which he hoped to rectify today.

The thought of her got him out of bed and dressed in jogging clothes. Though it was winter, the weather was still mild. That’s what he loved about San Diego. He grabbed a light jacket in case she wanted to go out to eat after they finished their run. He hoped she did. He wanted to extend his time with her and get to know her better.

He wasn’t sure what she’d been afraid of when he’d run into her, but it had been easy to see that there was something she didn’t feel comfortable about. They’d talked about a lot of stuff while they ate, but they hadn’t gotten personal. If they went out again, he might bring up some personal stuff. Nothing too deep, but he wanted to get to know her.

He pulled into the lot a little before seven and spied Rory with her arms over her head, stretching to the right. If he didn’t watch his reactions to her, he’d end up with a tent in his shorts. He couldn’t run like that. If he kept going on runs with her, he would need to invest in some strong compression pants to keep his half-hard dick hidden.

“Hey there. I’m surprised you showed up,” Rory called out as he stepped from his car.

“I’m a man of my word,” Harry said.

Her lips spread into a wide smile. “That’s a rare man indeed.”

He chuckled as he grabbed his bottle of water from his car. “Do you need hydration?”

She held up a pink and raspberry-colored water bottle that looked like it had some sort of pattern on it. On closer inspection, he saw that the pattern was cats.

“Nice bottle,” he said.

“Are you making fun of me?” Rory asked as she stretched her hamstrings.

He shook his head. “No, I like it. It’s cute. Do you like cats?” He took a moment to stretch out the kinks from sleep.

“I do like cats. I don’t have any pets right now, but maybe one day I’ll get a cat.”

“I don’t have pets now either. I’d like one, but I just can’t swing it.”

She nodded but didn’t ask him what he did. It was refreshing. After a few more minutes of stretching, Rory hopped around a few times and then grabbed her bottle.

“Are you ready to go?”

He stood tall, then stretched to the left and then the right. “Sure, let’s run.”

“Are you okay if we run the first mile slow, like an eight or nine-minute pace?”

He nodded. “Sounds good.” He didn’t want to tell her that was more like a jog for him without his pack, but slow would be good for starters. If he needed more of a workout later, he could do something.

She had on a very tight sports bra, so he wasn’t distracted by her boobs bouncing. He would be lying to say he didn’t look, though. She was a few inches shorter than him and was wearing her hair up in a ponytail. Her hair bounced as she ran, which only slightly distracted him. The scent of strawberries wafted off her. It had to be her hair that smelled like the fruit. He liked the scent. He wanted to take down the ponytail and run his fingers through her hair.

“You doing okay?” Rory asked after about a mile.

“Sure.” He needed to think of something other than kissing and holding her, or he’d have to pull up and walk off his hard-on.

“Can we speed it up?”

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