Page 6 of Healing Home

“We can walk back to the hangar,” he suggested, “if that would make her more comfortable.”

Link held a hand out to guide her and he hoisted his stuffed pack over his shoulder. BB bent over, picked up the hand-lettered, bedazzled sign and handed it to him, then bent over again and hoisted the odd creature into her arms. It looked like something she’d done many times before, otherwise he would have offered to carry the dog as well.

BB huffed as she arranged the dog and she gave him a sideways glance over the animal’s head. “She’s a diva. I’ve tried not to give into her but when I don’t she lets out this ear-piercing cry. Not what I want to listen to when I’m trying to make a good impression.”

She smiled at him charmingly, and Link felt himself smiling back at her. “That’s understandable.”

They walked into the hangar side by side. Most of the team still loitered inside, watching the two of them. Obviously they were waiting for his response. “Enjoy your time off boys.”

He gave them a thumbs-up behind his back as he guided BB out through the small door toward the parking lot, and he heard some chuckles. He wasn’t sure exactly what this three-day commitment entailed but he’d go along with the flow because he was already enjoying himself.

* * *

BB was veryaware of the broad hand that touched her back as they left the big airplane hangar and the rest of Lincoln’s team. It took everything in her to not stare at him as they walked toward the cars, but that was dangerous. She had enough problems walking across a flat surface without trying to add in watching the distraction beside her and carry Frankie.

Lincoln Bezel was fascinating in a hard, I can put you down, kind of way. Not the type of person she normally associated with. Tall and lean, he wore camouflage like nobody’s business, and he picked up that huge duffel like it didn’t weigh anything, even though the thing was almost as big as she was! His jaw was square, his chin firm, and covered with a faint brown stubble. He must have been in the air a long time if he hadn’t been able to shave.

And those eyes… She sighed, wondering if he thought she would be even more odd if she told him she wanted to draw him. Cartoons were her passion and profession, but every once in a while she got the urge to do something more realistic. Lincoln was seriously giving her the urge, she thought with a shiver. Even under the shade of his… cap? Cover? She forgot the military term. Even under the bill of his cap she could feel him staring at her, and she wondered where he’d gotten the distinctive color of his eyes. Technically, they were probably listed as hazel, but there was a distinctive ring of dark cobalt blue around a pale green center, giving his gaze an electric feel.

Deep lines grooved his face, but at first impression they seemed to be from worry and fatigue rather than humor. There had been two men that had come off the plane injured—one of them had to be wheeled off on a gurney— and she wondered if he felt responsible for them or something. Maybe he was their boss or commander. She had no idea how military rank structure worked. Maybe they were just friends and he was worried about them.

BB bounced Frankie up into her arms a little better. “Will your friends be okay? The two that were injured?”

Lincoln glanced down at her. “Yes. They both need rehab but the docs think they’ll be fine eventually.”

“Were you hurt?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine. Black, the one on the gurney, led us through the crap, but he got shot in the thigh in the process. Then when he went down he knocked his head pretty good. And Ryan had an attack of dumbass and thought it was a good idea to grab a burning car door to get a kid out of a car. Not sure why he didn’t have his gloves on. He’ll be fine as well.”

BB knew her mouth was open, and she forced it closed. He talked about those incidents as if they happened every day. And maybe for him they did, but that kind of action was very different than her kind of action. He doubted he would be impressed with her job. She sketched in the morning while sipping her coffee, then, after lunch she edited. All interspersed with potty breaks for Frankie, of course, and herself. The most action she’d had recently had been the female plumber working on the drip in her shower. It had been a two-day event because the woman, Maria, had had to order parts.

“And this was in Afghanistan?”

He glanced at her and gave her a smile. “Somewhere around there.”

Oh, yeah. He might not be able to talk about where he’d been or what he’d been doing. She had no idea how the SEALs worked. She knew Seal Team 6 had gotten Bin Laden, but that was the most she’d ever seen about them. Oh, and the movie. The name of it escaped her right at that second.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just can’t share details.”

“Totally understandable,” she said, flicking her hand from beneath Frankie’s bottom.

They paused at a black truck and BB looked around, suddenly realizing she’d been walking and talking and hadn’t bothered watching where she went. Her car was several rows back the way they’d come. Lincoln glanced at her as he unlocked his vehicle.

“Do you need a ride?”

BB felt her cheeks flush again and she shook her head. “Nope. Just making sure you made it to your vehicle safely.” She turned away, her dress swirling. “I’ll meet you at your house.”

Lincoln chuckled behind her, and BB couldn’t help but grin. The man had her turned on her head and she’d just met him. She bopped a kiss to Frankie’s head and the dog snuffled at her. “Quit being a grump,” BB warned her, “or I’ll leave you at the Doggy Day Care next time.”

Frankie didn’t backtalk anymore as BB loaded her into the car and started the engine. Cranking the AC, she waited for Lincoln to pull out of his spot as she pulled her seatbelt across herself. Then she heaved a huge breath, recentering herself. Lincoln Bezel was a force of nature, and she’d never met anyone like him.

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