Page 60 of Deception and New Direction

“We ended up walking right into a trap.Weexpected the site around the warehouse to be booby-trapped, but we hadn’t planned on him blowing the whole building up as a suicide mission when he realized we’d made it past the traps on the perimeter.Welost two good men that day, andIgot these scars.”Iput my hand overs hers which was still resting over my scarred chest.

“DoesEllieknow?” she asked.

“I haven’t told her butIknow she andWadehave talked a little about his time over there.Shehasn’t said anything to me about it though, soIdon’t know if she knows all the details.”

She nodded against me then spoke quietly again. “Thankyou for sharing with me.”

I’d had to talk about this to my superiors onceIhad arrived at the hospital after the mission had gone bad.I’dagain had to talk about it with the mandatoryPTSDcounselor afterIwas on leave.

TellingRuthiewas now the third timeI’dspoken about it.Surprisingly, it wasn’t as uncomfortable this time, andIcredited that to the beautiful woman nestled into my side.Ihad every intention of keeping her there.

As a man, it should have felt too soon, but it didn’t.IknewIloved her.

I just needed her to come to that same realization.

23

RUTHIE

I’d been thinking.Alot.Probablyoverthinking, ifIwere honest with myself.Itwas a week later, andIrealizedIwas falling forJack.Hard.Ineeded to talk to my friends.

I texted all of them to see if they could get together later for happy hour drinks and maybe dinner.Elliesaid she was working, so we should just come over to the bar and hang there, at least until her shift was done.Iagreed and tried to go back to my day at the office and focus.

Near the end of the day, a man walked in, and boy, was he a looker.Gorgeousdark-copper skin, shaved head but with a neatly trimmed goatee, and muscular.

“Hello.HowcanIhelp you?”Isaid to the tall, dark, and handsome man.

“My name isAndreFallon,” the man said in a smooth voice. “I’ma friend ofDiego’s.Hetold me to stop by and fill out some paperwork about a job opening.”

“Ah yes,”Isaid clapping my hands together. “Diegotold me you’d be stopping by.”

I pushed back from my chair to grab the paperwork.WhenDashpopped his head up to check out our new visitor,Isaid, “He’sfriendly,Ipromise.”

“Oh,I’mgood with dogs.Mygirlfriend trains service dogs, soI’maround them all the time,” he said asDashwalked over to him and began sniffing him as though he was covered in food.

I laughed and apologized. “Sorry.Itappears he knows you have been around other dogs and is going to sniff every detail he can from your pants.Dash, leave him alone.Comesit.”

Dash’s head slumped and he looked at me as thoughIhad just crushed all his hopes and dreams.

“He’s okay.Idon’t mind,”Andresaid asIhanded him the forms.

“What kind of dogs does she train?”Iasked, handing him a pen and clipboard to go with the papers.

“Mostly golden retrievers, but she does a variety depending on the client’s needs.Shejust got in two new golden retriever puppies last week.”

“Oh my goodness,”Isquealed. “Ibet they are so cute!Doyou have pictures?”

“Yeah, she sent me one earlier of them jumping all over each other,” he said, pulling out his phone to show me.

I stood there next to him as he showed me cute picture after cute picture of puppies, untilJackwalked in and made everything awkward.

“CanIhelp you?”JackaskedAndre.

“Name’sAndre.I’mDiego’sfriend.Hesent me here to fill out some employment paperwork.”

“Great,”Jackresponded as he slid his hand around my waist and pulled my back up against his front. “Diegoisn’t here right now, but we can get you the paperwork you need to fill out.”

“Jack,”Iadmonished, gently pushing at his hand and embarrassed at how rude he was openly claiming me in front of our guest.

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