Page 73 of Silent Threat
Cole walked down the hallway and kept on walking until he found a waiting room with vending machines, where he pushed the button for espresso. He took his time drinking as he worked on sorting himself out, the blonde already forgotten.
His mind was full of Annie.
Everyone at Hope Hill kept telling him that denial was a bad thing, as if Cole didn’t already know that. Combat didn’t allow for denial. Threats had to be immediately assessed so they could be immediately eliminated. When you saw a suspicious package on the side of the road, it did no good to pretend it probably wasn’t an IED.
And it did no good to pretend that his interest in Annie was strictly friendship.
He didn’t think about his friends a hundred times a day. He didn’t run his day so he could spend as much time with them as possible—wouldn’t have, even if they weren’t scattered across the country. He didn’t want to touch his friends so badly that not doing so required all his military discipline.
So Annie was more than a new friend to him.
Annie Murray was the first woman he’d been attracted to since he’d gotten home from overseas. Maybe more than attracted. And that hadn’t happened since ... ever.
He’d never had trouble finding a willing woman, but he rarely thought the requirements of a relationship were worth the benefits. Some women specifically targeted Navy SEALs. Weird groupie women who wanted a SEAL boyfriend for bragging rights, for the whole my-boyfriend-can-beat-up-your-boyfriend thing.
Like his last relationship, Evie.
“Mark called me a bitch,” she’d whine. “He’s totally stalking me. Are you going to let some punk talk to your girlfriend like that?”
To which Cole would say, “What did he say, exactly?”
“Get out of my house, you crazy bitch.” Evie included hand gestures for full dramatic effect. “He scared me. What if he hit me?”
“How is he stalking you if you were at his house? Stop freaking going over to him, Evie.”
At which she usually exploded, accusing Cole of not caring.
He learned over the years thatnot caringwas code fornot doing what I want. The few relationships he’d had were all based on what a woman wanted from him. Bragging rights, his combat pay, protection. He didn’t much mind.
He’d wanted things too: peace and companionship, a warm body to come home to when a mission ended.
As he drank his bitter coffee in the hospital waiting room, he thought about what he wanted after Hope Hill, about going back home to Chicago. When he’d first arrived here, he couldn’t wait to be back in the solitude of his apartment. And now ...
He thought about having someone with a soft smile who brought him enough peace so that he fell asleep next to her. Someone who, at the same time, challenged him, called him on his bullshit.
Cole tossed the empty cup into the garbage and swore under his breath, because, of course, the whole time he had an image of Annie in his head.
Annie Murray was the woman he wanted.
He’d barely stopped himself from hauling her out of the hospital bed and into his arms. He wanted to pick her up and carry her off to someplace safe.
This is a hospital. She’s safe here.
Trouble was he didn’t want to trust her to others.Hewanted to keep her safe.Hewanted to take care of her.
Seeing Annie hurt brought out two visceral responses in him: the overwhelming need to hunt down and kill whoever had hurt her, and the need to celebrate the fact that she was alive. In his head, the images of that celebration looked a lot like passionate lovemaking.
Except, he couldn’t kill the guy who’d hurt her, even if the cops caught the bastard. Beating someone to death would be a one-way ticket to prison, and Cole would die before he’d be locked in a cell again. Also, Annie wouldn’t want violence.
Making love to her ...He suddenly wanted that more than he wanted his next breath.
Cole headed out of the waiting room, back to her, reaching Kelly outside the green curtain just as the doctor was leaving. The little man didn’t look grim, nor did he shout orders for CAT scans and emergency surgeries, but still Cole couldn’t relax.
He should have let Kelly go in first, give the cousins a few minutes alone, but he stepped through the curtains right behind the woman. Annie could send him away if she wanted.
“I have a bruised rib and a mild concussion,” she said instead, with a smile as if sharing good news. “I’m being released.”
Fine, that last part worked.
