Page 12

She managed to laugh, since that one was a little too close for comfort. “Not this week.”
“You got a cellphone?”
“Yes.” She grabbed it off the towel.
“I’ll give you my number. In case you need anything.”
She felt a pulse in her belly.How about no-holds-barred, hot sex?She cleared her throat.Get your mind out of the gutter, Hollis. He’s just being nice and friendly. It’s his job.
He rattled off his number and she tapped it in. She saved it as Deputy Hottie, but was careful to tilt the screen away so he couldn’t see.
They sat together for a moment in the quiet, and Hollis was surprised at how nice it felt. Back home, everyone was always clamoring to fill the silence. She watched some windsurfers in the distance, zipping across the waves.
“Have you ever windsurfed?” Sawyer asked.
“No.”
“My cousin’s really good. He’s an instructor, if you want to learn.”
“Thanks, but no. My agent would have an aneurysm if I did something like windsurfing. Do you windsurf?”
He shrugged one broad shoulder. “I tried it a few times when I first moved here. It’s fun, but not for me.”
She toyed with the end of the towel. She felt this strange urge to know more about him. “Was it hard for you? Adjusting to life here after the military?”
He was silent so long, she was worried she’d overstepped.
“Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“It was hard. It still is some days, but it gets better over time. Slowly.” He rose and dusted the sand off. “Whatever’s stressing you out, Hollis, you can change it.”
Damn. He’d warned her that he was observant. She wrapped her arms around her legs. “Not every situation is that easy,”
“No, but you can still take action.” He stuck his earbuds back in. “If you need anything, just call.”
She watched as he jogged away.
Okay, okay, she watched his ass and those thick, muscular thighs as he jogged away. She was only human.
At least she was thinking of something that wasn’t her own miserable situation.
Sawyer startled awake,his heart pounding, his chest tight.
“Fuck.”
He was in the armchair in his living room. He didn’t bother trying to sleep in his bed anymore. It never worked. In the armchair, he usually dozed off and caught some catnaps.
He glanced at his watch and swallowed a curse. It was only 11:30 PM. He’d only been asleep for forty-five minutes. His skin was slick with perspiration. He sat there, breathing hard, as the nightmare slowly faded.
But the screams never quite went away, nor the memory of the flicker of flames.
With another curse, he rose. When he’d fallen asleep, it had been to the pleasant image of Hollis in leggings and a tiny top that hugged her perfect breasts.
But not even that had kept the nightmare at bay.
Grabbing his phone, he padded into the kitchen. He never knew when work might call him in.
He was no stranger to late-night wake-ups. It had been almost eighteen months since he’d left Ghost Ops. To be fair, the last few years on the team hadn’t been the same. Not since the best commander he’d ever worked with had left, but Sawyer had stayed on because he knew the team did important work.