Page 18 of Faking it with the Green Beret

“You don’t need to do that. Your labor is enough. Ariana works at a home improvement store. Why don’t you see if she’s working today and can get an employee discount on them?”

“I will. Thanks.”

“There’s a ladder in the storage shed you’re welcome to use. Thank you for doing this for her.”

“Security is kinda my thing.” John said. “Better safe than sorry. Unless it’s J.R. who’s sorry. Based on the bruise I saw on Ariana’s face, he’s got a lot to be sorry for. A real man doesn’t hit a woman—unless she’s about to take a life. Or a bunch. Okay, on that depressing note, Boss and I are going for a run. I’ll send the rent and bring the lease over tonight. Have a good one.”

He ducked out before she could tell him where to find the trails. For a moment, she watched him jog back toward The Oasis with the lease in hand and Boss at his heels before she finished getting ready for work.

His comment about real men not hitting a woman still rolled around in her brain as she filled her insulated mug with coffee. Maybe she’d prejudged John and projected her father onto him because both served in the military. Only her father hadn’t been honorable. He also wasn’t the norm. She’d give John the benefit of the doubt—at least until she saw evidence otherwise.

ChapterNine

YOU’LL THINK OF ME – Keith Urban

During his run,John scouted the property more thoroughly. Lights were a small deterrent, but there was too much acreage to secure on his own. He’d have to come up with a stronger first line of defense.

Back at Hope Harbor, Boss polished off his food while John drank coffee and ate the yogurt and bagel Elizabeth must have stocked for him. He unpacked two boxes, mostly clothes, though he found his favorite Special Forces logo coffee mug and beer glasses wrapped in T-shirts in the middle of a box. Those were special, but replaceable—unlike Boss.

He unfolded the garment bag crammed into a box and inspected his dress uniform before hanging it in the small closet. No telling when he’d have an occasion to wear it. He was proud of what it represented. One day he’d find a woman who respected what he did and thought he was good enough.

He hung up the rest of his clothes, started a shopping list, then headed to the bathroom.

The water was hot in seconds, but when he stepped into the shower, the spray hit him in the neck. Angling it up only made it spray up his nose. He tried moving away and ducking his head, but even with his back pressed to the wall, there wasn’t room in the confined space.

He evaluated his options: step out of the shower, bend his torso in, and get water all over the floor, or squat in the shower. He tried the wall squat. From that position, he could reach the inset in the tile to grab the shampoo. He’d get in some exercise and wash his hair. Double duty.

Next, he soaped up with the wild citrus body wash Elizabeth had provided. It smelled nice—though smelling it on a woman would be better. The hollow space in his chest expanded a bit.

Rejected again. It sucked, but experience taught him what was worth fighting for. You couldn’t make someone love you or stay. Better to leave with his dignity dinged, but intact, than cling to a woman who didn’t want him in her life. Even with his dangerous job and all the overseas deployments, he should have found something lasting by now. After Britney, he was back to ground zero. Maybe once he got to his new position at MacDill and didn’t have to deploy as often, things would be different.

He toweled off, then lathered his face. The mirror wasn’t high enough and cut off his head at his nose, so he bent over to shave, studying his reflection for a few seconds. He wasn’t ugly, and women were typically attracted to his size and athletic build. He was educated and had common sense. He was fun to be around. Maybe a little too over the top, making some women not take him seriously, but he’d dealt with too much bad shit to be serious all the time. He wouldn’t change who he was. He needed to find the woman who’d accept him and his oversized dog.

Time to re-activate his online dating profile—after he was done here. He’d taken on a mission and wasn’t one to abandon his post. He looked at the tiny shower and sighed. Yeah.

His hands barely fit in the micro-sized sink to rinse his face. After hanging the towel, he turned and nearly tripped over Boss, who filled the narrow passage outside the bathroom.

“Boss, you gotta move.”

Boss barely raised his head.

“She let you get lazy. The run wasn’t that far. I’m serious. I’m not jumping over you.” He nudged the dog with his bare foot to no avail. Boss sprawled, blocking access to the closet. “You win. Let’s get a treat.”

Boss scrambled to his feet and moved the three feet to the kitchen.

John threw his hands up in defeat. “You get your treat after I’m dressed.”

He gave Ariana a heads-up that he’d swing by the store later and clarified which location she worked at. When he arrived, John scanned the parking lot. An advantage of Ariana working at a big box store was they had security cameras everywhere. He made a surveillance pass before going to the lighting section and selecting solar-powered, motion-activated lights. They weren’t anything pretty, but the range of coverage would do the job.

He picked up the tools he needed, then texted Ariana to meet him.

“I thought you were here to get lights,” Ariana said as he checked out the grills.

“Already did.” He motioned to the cart. “On our last tour, one of the guys had his wife ship him a little grill. We could only fit four burgers on it, but we used the heck out of that thing. This is a man’s grill.” He lowered his voice and grunted.

Ariana laughed.

He didn’t need anything this big for him and Boss, though one day he could use one to feed his team, and, hopefully, his future family.

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