Page 4 of Harry

“Sounds good.” Running harder would distract him.

Rory picked up her speed, pulling ahead a little until he adjusted to her pace. He was enjoying the run with her. It wasn’t often he ran with women. She smelled much better than the men he ran with and looked so much better, too. He liked that she was active. It would be something they could do together.

She glanced over and smiled. “You run well.”

“Thank you.” He wasn’t going to be snarky and tell her that, of course, he ran well. Since joining the Navy, his life had been about honing his body to perfection. He worked on strength and endurance, making sure he could perform whatever task the job required. Being a SEAL was physically and mentally taxing. The job demanded a lot from him, which meant his strength had to be there for him when needed.

Rory pointed out into the field. “I like running out here in the morning because sometimes I see deer. But of course, if deer are around, there could be mountain lions.”

“Have you seen any mountain lions out here?” Harry asked, not at all out of breath.

She shrugged. “Yeah, back when I first moved here. I was running with a group, and we saw a big cat take off. I guess we scared it.”

“Wow, you’re lucky it didn’t attack.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. I figure since the sun is up, other people are out here on the trails and they’ve scared off the wildlife.”

He grunted. They’d seen a few other groups out here running around. It made him feel better that they probably wouldn’t be attacked because other runners had already scared off any predators. He could deal with mountain lions if he had a weapon, but he wasn’t carrying one now.

They’d run about four miles and were still a little away from the parking lot. He didn’t mind running more but wanted to make sure she could make it back. He was about to ask her if she was okay when they rounded a bend and heard someone shouting. Rory slowed, and so did he as he tried to figure out where the shouting was coming from.

He put his hand on her shoulder, slowing them more. His gaze connected with hers, and he saw she wasn’t afraid. Instead, she was calculating how best to handle the situation. When she reached for her hip, right where a weapon would be if she were in a battle situation, his heart expanded at the same time he felt conflicted. He’d vowed to never date anyone in the military, and yet clues were pointing to her being a part of the military or law enforcement.

“I swear to God, if you don’t fucking change, I’ll kill you!” a male voice yelled.

“Fuck you, bastard!” a woman yelled back.

He didn’t like this at all. They had no idea what they were running into and had no weapons. They should turn around and head back the way they’d come. He was about to suggest they do exactly that when a woman popped out on the trail from behind a set of trees and bushes. The man she’d been arguing with raced after her. He had something in his hand that wasn’t a knife or a gun, but he was using it as a weapon.

Harry didn’t know these people but couldn’t stand by and watch as the man raced closer to the woman and them, too. The jerk seemed hell-bent on attacking the woman he’d been yelling at, and their being close wasn’t stopping him. He guessed all the predators hadn’t been scared off by the other runners.

Harry jumped into action, hitting the guy in the shoulder, then the knee, dropping him to the ground. Rory was right there, making sure the man stayed down. The woman who’d almost been attacked turned and started freaking out when she saw the man on the ground. It took a second to realize the woman wasn’t mad at them. Instead, she was yelling at the guy on the ground.

They would have to call the cops. They weren’t too far from the baseball fields, so the officers would be able to get to them. He hated getting involved, but this had been a situation he couldn’t avoid.

Sirens sounded not too far away, so he guessed someone had already called the police. A police car pulled up fairly close, and Rory stood, allowing the officer to cuff the man. Then Rory was up, asking if the woman was okay. It was odd. The man wore jeans and a T-shirt, but the woman wore running clothes.

He looked at the weapon the guy had dropped. It was an extendable metal baton, like what the police would use. He could have killed the woman if he’d hit her hard enough in the back of the head. Harry wished he’d hit the guy harder.

It took about thirty minutes for the cops to sort everything out. After they were finished talking to the police, they headed back to their cars, neither of them talking much on the way.

“That was interesting,” Harry said as they entered the lot with their cars.

“Yeah. Weird. Had we not been there, he probably would have killed her. She told me she broke up with him three weeks ago, and he followed her out here.”

“That’s wild. Stalking is weird.”

Rory turned to study him. He was about to ask what she was thinking when she angled her head toward her car. Was this a brush-off?

“Do you want to go grab something to eat? I have a coupon for two at a place that isn’t too far from here. It would take probably ten, maybe fifteen minutes driving to get there this morning.”

He was impressed she wasn’t expecting him to take her somewhere expensive. Her attitude was refreshing. She knew what area he lived in, and yet she didn’t see him as a money bag.

“Sure. Give me the address, and I’ll follow you there.”

“Awesome.”

She pulled up the address on her phone and told him where to go. He noticed her phone was different from the one she’d had yesterday. That was odd but not totally unusual. Some people had work phones and personal phones. If she didn’t want to be bothered by work on her days off, he could understand not carrying the work phone all the time.

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