Page 42 of Split Screen Scream
“Yeah, and I heard yours when I got home from the pet store.”
He shook his head. “Why didn’t you call me back?”
She shrugged. “I was going to—after Lacey went out to potty and play. She has to stay in her crate when I’m at work, and it’s not fair to make her wait.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I was worried.”
Her tone brittle, she said, “Well, you’re a little late to be worried. The break-in was days ago.”
His shoulders fell. “I was deployed.”
“And you couldn’t say, ‘Hey Christie, I’ll be away’?”
“No, this time I couldn’t.” He has to make her understand this. Explain it. “Sometimes…we can’t. The order comes, and there’s no time. We have to go that minute.” He wanted to reach for her, to hold her, but this was important. If she couldn’t accept this part of his life, there wasn’t any point trying. “That’s a SEAL’s life, Christie,” he said, his voice roughening. “Not every woman can handle that. It’s especially hard on wives and children.”
She was silent for a moment, her narrowed gaze still studying his face. But then she squared her shoulders. “I can handle it. I have a dog now, and I’m going to get a gun. I don’t need a man to protect me.”
Is she saying she doesn’t need me? Doesn’t want me around? Is it over between us? No. What we have is good. Worth fighting for. He watched her, assessing.
The defiant way she’d spoken, made him wonder. She wasn’t exactly the fighting type, and she’d had no training, just one visit to a gun range. He noted the way her jaw jutted just a little. Despite what she’d said, it didn’t look like she was handling being a SEAL’s girlfriend very well. She had that ‘my feelings are hurt’ look some women got.
“Tell me about the break in,” he said, wanting to know and also wanting to straighten this out between them. “You sounded terrified, being in the house with an intruder.”
“I was. I stayed very still under the covers and hoped he didn’t know I was awake.”
Froze, he thought. What she did was freeze. He’d seen how she reacted to danger. He could train the freeze out of her… “So you stayed real still. Then what happened?”
“He stopped at the foot of my bed and watched me.”
He sucked in a breath. Fought the surge of anger that rose swiftly inside him. “How do you know it was a he? Did you get a good look at him?”
“No, but most burglars are men.”
“Don’t be so sure. It could’ve been a woman.”
She crossed her arms. “Well, this burglar, whatever it was, stared at me.”
Damn. She had to have been terrified.
“Then what happened?”
“He left. With all my jewelry. Most of it was costume, but he got a few nice pieces that could bring money.”
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
“He got in through a window, but I got it replaced. And then I got Lacey.”
“Good. Sounds like you handled things well, and she’s a great pup.” He held out his hand to Lacey.
Lacey, done with sniffing Reed’s shoes and barking at him, came near to sniff the hand he held down for her.
When she started licking his hand, Christie uncrossed her arms and chuckled softly. “She likes you.”
“Dogs always do.”
Christie smiled,some of her hurt feelings over his desertion soothed, now that she understood the cause. And he seemed genuinely regretful over the fact he hadn’t been able to warn her. He hadn’t been playing mind games, he really had a job which didn’t allow him to tell people where he was going and what he was doing. She believed him and trusted him. With her life. And he’d been nothing but honorable since she’d met him.
Reed sat on the couch, playing with the puppy while she watched. If she’d thought he was sexy before, watching him play with the puppy was even sexier. Then it hit her.
