Page 2 of Devastate Me

“Wouldn’t know. It’s still somewhere in Afghanistan.” Charlie laughed. “But seriously, the phantom pain is lessening now.”

Colt looked at the other men and women who were crowded around the room. Each and every one had something they had sacrificed for their country. For some, the cost was physical. For others, it was mental. Colt had his share of scars like all the rest, but he’d suffered more emotionally in the end. While Colt didn’t have night terrors or ever worry about hurting anyone near him, he had enough bad memories and nightmares to last him a lifetime. Yet at the same time, he knew he was luckier than the men and women here.

Colt unclipped Noah’s leash and stood back, letting the therapy dog do his thing. Noah walked respectfully up to each veteran he encountered, sniffing their hands and letting the people pet him. There was a quiet nobility to the dog, as though he knew just how much his gentle, healing presence meant to the bruised and battered souls here. It made Colt proud to be Noah’s owner. Not that he viewed Noah as property. They were a two-member unit. A family.

“Hey, Colt.” Nancy, a former army sergeant, came over to him. These days, she helped run the VA center and took care of everyone like a mother hen. She offered a smile that made Colt relax. She was beautiful, with dark skin, rich brown eyes, and a head of tight black curls that reflected her natural excitement for life by the way they bounced on her shoulders.

“Hey, Nance, how’s things?”

“Not bad.” Nancy chuckled as Noah licked an older veteran’s face enthusiastically. Then she turned back to Colt. “I heard from Dean.”

Colt’s entire body went rigid with fury.

“He was asking about you,” Nancy continued carefully. “Wanting to know how often you came to the center.”

“Wish I could say I give a fuck,” Colt growled.

“Colt, I know what happened between you. I know it was bad, but you can choose to let it go, you know.”

“When a man comes home from war, he doesn’t expect to find his fiancée in bed with his best friend.”

Colt wished more than anything that he could erase that memory. He’d come home from the naval base, exhausted, still recovering from a knife wound he’d gotten three weeks before. He’d dropped his bags on the floor and headed into the bedroom, only to find Talia with Dean, his best friend and fellow Navy SEAL. And they weren’t talking over a cup of coffee while waiting for him.

His stomach still turned at the memory. He had taken one look at their faces, flushed with passion, and a part of him had died. He’d grabbed his bags, called a cab, and was halfway down the street before the cab found him. He hadn’t even looked back. He’d returned to the naval base and made plans to move the next day.

“If Dean comes here looking for you ...,” Nancy began.

“Tell him I’m dead.” Colt was deadly serious. Whatever lay between him and his former friend was gone.

“Okay, tough guy, I get it,” Nancy said with a wry smile. “So, what’s new with you? Still afraid to go out and have fun?”

“I’m not afraid. I just don’t want to.” He said this a little too gruffly, which only made Nancy laugh.

She had never been afraid of him or what she called his “Heathcliff-like broody demeanor.” He’d once asked her what she meant by that, and she’d handed him a book titledWuthering Heights. He had never read much as a kid. Neither of his parents had been much for reading to him, or fostering a love of books.

After Nancy’s teasing, though, he’d decided to readWuthering Heights. He’d devoured that book, and it had actually spawned a love of reading. And Nancy had been right—he was the antihero Heathcliff, dark and brooding and holding on to an anger from a past wrong.

Anger was an emotion he understood. It was one he could control. It didn’t drown him like despair or choke him like grief. It gave him fuel so he could face the day.

“Well, don’t try to havetoomuch fun, handsome. You’ll break every girl’s heart.” Nancy stood up on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his cheek before she walked away.

Colt frowned as he put Noah’s leash back on and took him home. He needed to hit the grocery store after he dropped Noah off, since he wanted some steaks to grill tonight. He just hoped he didn’t run into any of those damned nosy housewives, or his new neighbor. There was only so much temptation a man could take, and the sweetheart next door hadirresistiblewritten all over her.

* * *

Ophelia staredat her empty fridge. It was plugged in and running, but it was completely bare, just like her cupboards. There was nothing left to do but go shopping. Normally she wouldn’t mind that, but she was bone-weary from putting everything away and setting up her furniture the way she wanted. She grabbed her keys and purse and, with a resigned little sigh, left her new house. She really wished she had a few days to properly settle in before starting her new job, but at least she was working from home.

The grocery store in Havensport was small, but Miranda had assured her earlier that afternoon that it had everything she might need. As she parked and walked into the store, the sun was resting on the tops of the trees, painting the world in a beautiful golden glow. It was lovely here in this small coastal town. She might never have moved here if it hadn’t been for an article on social media about how it was one of the quietest and loveliest places to live in Oregon.

Ophelia grabbed a shopping cart and started to peruse the aisles, trying to think of all the things she needed for the next week or so. She turned the corner and maneuvered around a huge tower of tuna cans that formed an endcap display, only to jerk to a halt at the sight of her new neighbor standing at the meat counter fifteen feet away.

Colt was leaning on the curved glass counter, talking to the butcher behind it. Ophelia ran her gaze over his hard, lean, and thoroughly developed body. His jeans hugged him just right, and his T-shirt clung to his broad shoulders and tapered waist like it had been painted on. He was sheer gorgeous masculine perfection with those high cheekbones and his square jaw. Her mouth ran dry at the sight of his forearms and the way his muscles flexed when he moved. His lips were fuller than she remembered, yet despite their innate sensuality, she knew they could purse into a foreboding scowl.

Colt accepted a package of meat from the butcher and set it into his basket before turning her way. In a panic, Ophelia swung her cart away, only to run into the endcap display of tuna. With a loud crash, the metal cans fell in an avalanche. Ophelia stumbled on the rolling discs and fell, her ankle twisting as she accidentally stepped on one of the cans.

“Ouch!” Her cart shot away from her as she cried out, heading straight toward a stand of locally harvested honey in glass jars. She closed her eyes, desperate not to see the inevitable disaster about to unfold.

But nothing happened. Colt had somehow bolted ahead and caught the front of her runaway cart, stopping it before it hit the jars. She opened her eyes and then saw him set his own small basket down and come over to her. His face darkened with a stony expression that made her light-headed. If he started yelling at her in the store, she’d make a run for it ... assuming she could even walk right now. She tried to stand and winced as her ankle twinged. She could put her weight on it, but she wasn’t running anywhere.

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