Trusting a Warrior (Loving a Warrior #3) - Melanie Hansen Page 0,43
quiet knock on the door sounded precisely at six, her breath caught in a way it hadn’t in years.
“Jesus, he’s a SEAL,” she lectured herself. “You’re not going to fall for a SEAL. It’s not gonna happen. So what if he cleans the kitchen without being asked? Or offers pity-free hugs and a shoulder to cry on without expecting anything in return? Lots of non-SEALs would do that, right? Tons of them. Men like that grow on trees.”
Rolling her eyes at her own absurdity, Lani paused and fluffed her hair out one last time before reaching for the security chain.
“Seriously, now. Geo’s amazing, but he’s not for you. Go out, have fun, but try not to lose sight of that, okay?”
Taking a deep breath, she swung the door open, only for her mouth to go dry as an Arizona desert. Damn. Geo wore a faded Green Day T-shirt and soft jeans that molded themselves to slim hips and muscular thighs. His broad shoulders seemed to take up the entire doorway, the hands shoved in his pockets pulling his waistband down just enough to give her a peek of taut belly.
God, she could so lick him like an ice cream cone right now.
“Hey,” he said, smiling, raising an eyebrow when she continued to stand there and gape.
Her cheeks heated. “Hey,” she croaked, hoping he hadn’t noticed how red they must be. “Ready to go?”
“Yep, if you are.” Standing to the side, he waited until she’d closed and locked her door before ushering her on ahead of him down the stairs. At the bottom, he put his hand lightly on the small of her back and steered her toward a sleek, gunmetal-gray Toyota Tundra.
The touch, impersonal as it was, still managed to turn her knees to mush. Once seated inside the truck, Lani pressed her thighs together, doing her best not to squirm as he swung up into the driver’s seat, his corded forearms making her mouth water. In fact, he looked so tasty it was a wonder she hadn’t grown fangs.
Sucking in a deep, calming breath, she asked, “So...what’s next for you and Bosch?”
He completed the left turn out of her parking lot before answering, “We leave tomorrow for a few weeks at Fort Benning, and then on to Langley for a, um, workshop.”
A pang went through her. So this was the last night he’d be in town for a while. She kept her voice light. “Oooh, a workshop. Sounds exciting.”
“Just another day at the office.” They chuckled together. “How about you?”
“Eh. Work. Therapy.” Lunch with my ex’s new love. “More work. More therapy. You get the picture. Lather, rinse, repeat. Super interesting,” she finished drily.
“When’s your support group?”
She blinked, amazed that he’d remembered. “It’s the, uh, last Saturday of the month, actually. Why?”
He shrugged. “Thought you might want an accountability call. I can imagine it’s not something you’re looking forward to.”
Her throat tightened at his perception. “That’d be amazing, Geo. And yeah, I’m pretty much dreading it.”
The understatement of the year. The thought of sitting in a room full of total strangers and sharing her deepest, most private pain with them made her stomach tie itself into knots.
“There’s strength in numbers,” Maura had said. “In finding a community of people who’ve been through exactly what you have, who understand it, and are surviving it.”
Aware of Geo’s gaze, Lani made a concerted effort to relax. She was not going to ruin their night together.
After navigating through the sentry gate, Geo turned down a side street and parked in front of what she assumed was the kennel. Like every other building on every other military base in the country, it was an unassuming dun-colored block, the only identifying feature the large number on the corner of it.
“How many dogs are here?”
“Right now? I’m not sure. Three or four, maybe.” He unlocked the front door and led her inside. “The kennel master’s room is right there.” He pointed. “And he has a couple of assistants who live here, too. There’s always someone on-site who checks the dogs, feeds them, exercises them, does some light training. I try to work with Bosch every day, too.”
When they reached Geo’s assigned kennel area, Lani couldn’t help but tense and move a tiny bit closer to him. He stopped short, then turned to look at her.
“Are you afraid of dogs?” he asked gently.
She shook her head, her voice a tiny bit tremulous as she said, “I’m not usually, but all of a sudden I’m thinking about what