Page 7 of Midnight Secrets

Joe had barely raised his voice.

The girl came running up, face scrunched in apology. She held her hand out to Isabel. “Oh gosh, I amsosorry! Are you okay?”

Was she? Isabel patted herself down. She’d expected to hit the ground hard, but hadn’t. It had happened in a flash. The dog jumping on her, guaranteed to bowl her over and then whoosh, like magic—Joe was suddenly there.

“Yeah,” she said cautiously. “I’m, um, fine.”

She looked up, way up, at Joe’s grim face. Sober, harsh features, standing there like a rock, big hand holding her arm.

“Thanks,” she said and he nodded.

Her voice seemed to unlock something in the puppy. It scrambled up, tail wagging furiously, body language clear. It wanted to jump on her again.

“Down,” Joe said firmly again and Freddy plopped back down.

The young girl looked at Joe wide-eyed. “How’d youdothat? Freddy doesn’t obey me at all. How’d you get him to sit?”

Isabel took pity on her. Being female, the girl was probably blaming herself for a ton of dog-training inadequacies.

“Joe here is a former navy SEAL,” she explained kindly and the girl’s face smoothed out. Clearly she wasn’t inadequate. No one could expect her to show a SEAL’s ability to command.

“Oh.” She looked up at Joe. “That true?”

He nodded seriously. Isabel looked carefully and saw that Joe was biting his lips not to smile.

“You’re not—you don’t…” The girl took a deep breath and blurted it out. “You’re not a dog trainer, are you? Because man, I would pay anything to get Freddy to obey me like that.”

“Sorry,” Joe said in his basso profundo voice and the girl slumped. “Not in that line of work.”

The girl sighed and bent down to clip the leash to Freddy’s collar. Freddy shook, hindquarters up, front paws extended. His hindquarters braced. The girl pulled at the leash but it was a big puppy and she had no hope of stopping another jump at Isabel.

And then Joe worked his magic, this time with one sharp movement of his big hand. Freddy subsided.

Isabel exchanged glances with the girl.

Yep. You had to be a SEAL to be able to do that.

With a smile, the girl walked off, an obedient Freddy trotting alongside her.

Isabel looked up at Joe. “Thanks,” she said again and he shrugged.

* * *

Fuck,that was close.

Joe had excellent balance, always had. Even after being injured, he’d never fallen, not once. He also had superb spatial awareness. When that rambunctious pup made a leap for Isabel, Joe had been able to see the consequences exactly as if it was a game of chess. Isabel had been standing next to a steel post holding the wooden slats of the enclosure. She was in the exact right spot to ensure that she’d bash the back of her head against the steel post, drop and smash her head against the concrete piling. Maybe bounce off the wood, too, and get sharp splinters while she was at it.

He’d seen it, as inevitable as geometry. Which was why he broke land speed records getting to her and breaking her fall.

Joe knew how to make his face a mask. Nobody saw what he didn’t want them to see and he knew he wasn’t betraying the absolute panic he’d felt at the thought of Isabel cracking her head open. He’d watched one helmetless marine die when he fell and cracked his head on a rock.

Isabel, dead. Fuck. Not going to happen, not while he was around.

She was pale but she sketched a smile. “That puppy needs some manners.”

“She’d better hurry up and teach him some because Freddy’s going to grow up to be a big dog,” Joe said sternly.

He had no patience for those who acquired animals they couldn’t handle. That woman could have cost Isabel a bad concussion, or worse.

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