SEAL's RESOLVE - Rebecca Deel Page 0,37
were alone, he drew Kristi into his arms. “Are you okay?” he murmured against her ear.
She relaxed against him, her head nestled against his shoulder. “I will be. I dislike having my privacy invaded, and I hate to be the reason my friends and father will be under the microscope.”
“It’s necessary. We don’t do it lightly.”
She burrowed deeper into his arms. “May I ask a question?”
“Shoot. I’ll answer if I can.” Some things he’d never tell her because of confidentiality. Others, he wouldn’t talk about to prevent worse nightmares for her.
“Did the size of my trust fund cause you to rethink a relationship with me?”
“Does my lack of a trust fund bother you?” He wasn’t hurting financially. His years as a SEAL and now in black ops work had enabled him to set aside quite a bit of money. His stash, however, wasn’t anywhere close to the level of Kristi’s trust fund.
“Of course not. I don’t care about the size of your bank account. I care about you.”
Another ball of ice in his stomach melted. “Same goes for me. I wouldn’t care if you had a billion dollars in that trust fund. The money isn’t important to me. You are.”
She studied him a moment. “You really don’t care about the money, do you?”
“Why would I?”
“Do you have any idea how refreshing that is?”
He smiled. “Not a clue.”
“You can take my word for it. The people in my social circle are obsessed with their investments, trust funds, and charity work.”
“I didn’t spend much time with them.” As a SEAL, he’d been gone for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. “I remember a few conversations that almost bored me to sleep.” When Kristi laughed, he mentally patted himself on the back for lightening her mood.
“Come on. Let’s play with Oliver.”
An hour later, his phone signaled an incoming text. Rafe scanned the message. “Wolf Pack’s ready to go.”
Kristi sighed and tossed the frisbee one more time for Oliver. When he returned with the toy in his mouth and dropped it at her feet, she leaned down and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll see you soon, Oliver.” She looked at Deke. “Take care of my dog.”
The trainer gave a nod. “You have my word.”
He and Kristi met the rest of Wolf Pack in the parking lot. “Looks like you survived unscathed.”
“Next time, you’re playing with the trainees,” Cal said. “We’ll take the dogs.”
“Problem?”
“The wannabe bodyguards weren’t happy when we picked them off one at a time. One of them took a swing at Jackson.”
“Are you okay?” Kristi asked the medic.
A shrug. “He missed. I didn’t. He’ll be doing extra laps around the track tonight as punishment.”
Rafe whistled. “That won’t be the only thing he has to do when Josh finds out what happened.”
“He knows. According to him, the laps are only the beginning. The trainee will be going one-on-one on the mat with Josh or Alex for the next several days. By the time they’re finished with this guy, he won’t be thinking about sucker punching an instructor or trainer again.”
“Let’s go,” Eli said. “Darcy’s waiting for us.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kristi studied the three-story Victorian house. While the home and landscaping were gorgeous, her favorite feature was the porch with its hanging baskets of flowers and ferns along with several cushioned chairs that invited you to sit and enjoy the breeze.
She sighed. A refuge, Kristi thought. This was a place to let the cares of the world drop from her shoulders. She longed to sit on one of those comfy chairs with a good book and a mug of herbal tea. No time, though, and she doubted Rafe would want her sitting in full view of people on the street.
Rafe nudged her toward the amazing porch. “What do you think of the house?”
“I love it.” Looking at the house and grounds gave her ideas for ways to improve the curb appeal of her own business and home.
“You wouldn’t believe the shape the house was in when Darcy bought it. Ask her. It’s quite a story.” As they neared the porch, the front door opened.
Eli loped ahead of them and swept the woman standing in the doorway into a hug. “Good to see you again, Darcy. You look beautiful, sugar.”
“You’re a sweet talker, Eli. Good thing I’m madly in love with my husband, or you might tempt me.” She stepped away from Eli and into Jon’s embrace. “Welcome back, Jon.”
“Rio is treating you right?”
She smiled. “What if I said no?”
“He’d disappear without a trace. After