Page 9 of A Soldier's Pledge
Before he could say anything else, the buzzer dinged, and it was time to eat. The alarm reminded him he hadn’t checked his phone. He’d bet there was an update from the LT or Steele. Breakfast was ready, and he was still technically off duty, so it could wait. He didn’t want to do anything to ruin this moment with Anna. He’d been waiting too long and worked too hard to gain her trust. If she found out about the investigation, he wasn’t sure how she’d react. They’d have to discuss it eventually, especially since yesterday’s break in was related to her and her business.
Chapter Four
Expecting to wake up and feel the mistake of last night cringing in her stomach, Anna was surprised and the overwhelming feeling of happy when she opened her eyes. The first thing she thought of wasn’t, “Oh my God, what did I do?” Instead, she stretched and enjoyed the slight soreness of her well-loved body. He’d kept his word and loved every inch of her, and when they’d finished and caught their breath, he started again.
He had to have put something in the food. She’d never heard of an aphrodisiac in chicken or salad, but damn there had to be something. All of her reservations about their relationship just up and left, seemed to fade into the ether. Probably where they had belonged anyway. But even she wasn’t sure what caused her change of heart, no wait, it wasn’t her heart it was her head. Or was it? Damn, as hard as she’d tried, she had fallen for him. The slippery little sucker slid right into her heart without her noticing. And now she couldn’t wipe the shit-eating grin off her face.
It was Sunday, the one day she didn’t go into the office, but her staff did. There were lots of open houses and buyers who could only shop on the weekends. When she took over the business, she’d tried opening one Sunday a month to see how it went. Now they were open every Sunday. Which reminded her that she needed to call in and check how things were going.
After helping Ethan clean up after breakfast, they settled on the couch in the living room. She flipped on the TV, and they grabbed their phones to check on work. She’d never realized just how sexy a man could be in only a pair of jeans, sprawled out on the couch. Dang. He was wreaking havoc on her concentration and her body. It took all her willpower not to lean over and run her tongue across his washboard abs. She must have been in some kind of a daze not to have noticed them before. Although, they hadn’t spent any time together outside of the bedroom without being fully dressed. She’d stick to that excuse for being temporarily blind to his many assets.Oh God. He’s not wearing a shirt because I ripped it apart last night. Her face was so hot it had to be glowing three shades of red. Thank goodness, he was distracted by whatever he was reading on his phone. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice. Shaking her head at her ridiculousness, she caught sight of the TV.
“Hey. That’s my office.” She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
The female reporter was outside of the Willow Haven Realty building. “…The house that was broken into was 3232 Seashell Lane. I contacted the Willow Haven Police Department for a statement, but Lieutenant Mark Watson said at this time they had no statement but promised a press conference tomorrow afternoon. A person who didn’t wish to be identified said this is one of a string of robberies that have occurred lately. That’s all for now. Reporting live for KHTZ News this is Sam Watson.”
Anna turned toward Ethan who was staring at the TV like it had grown a second head. “Do you know what she’s talking about? I can’t believe I was in that house yesterday. I wonder if it will affect the sale? Duh. Of course, it will.”
Ethan had a weird look on his face as he turned from the television screen to face Anna. At first, he didn’t say anything. A myriad of emotions crossed his face, the last looking a bit like guilt. What did he know?
“The call I was on when you got home last night? It was the LT telling me about the break-in. Steele and I have been working this case.”
“And you didn’t tell me about it? Don’t you think it might have been good for me to know?”
“No, well yes. But it’s work. I can’t just talk about open cases we’re investigating. And before you say another word, you were never a suspect. But we don’t know who is, we’re still running down leads.”
“But this is one my houses. How long has this been going on?”
“Anna, baby, I really can’t talk about this. Well beside the part you’re involved in. We’ve been lucky to keep it out of the news, but it was bound to break eventually. I was really hoping we’d be able to solve this and you’d never have to know.”
“How long?” When he didn’t answer at first, irritation forced her to her feet. Frustration, followed by anger sent her into the kitchen. She needed time to think. It was his work, they didn’t—couldn’t discuss his open cases, for just that reason, they were open. She shouldn’t be pissed off at him for not sharing this, but irrational or not she was still pissed. What if Adria had been there when they broke in?
“It’s an ongoing case. We had a deal remember? We don’t talk about work when we’re on our date—unwind time, right?”
“I know but, dammit, Ethan. What if Adria was there yesterday? She could have been hurt, or worse.”
“Do you think I haven’t been worried about that? Last night when I found out, my first instinct was to go to the crime scene. It could have been you. Not that Adria isn’t important, but I’m not in love with her.” He was right, she knew it, he knew it, but it didn’t do much to take the edge off her anger.
“What can you tell me about the case, anything? I know there are rules, but I think you can do a little bending here.”
“You do, huh? That’s because you’re the boss. But I discussed it with the LT, and he thinks you might be able to help us out.”
“What could I do?”
“All the houses burglarized have been vacant and for sale. Well, except for one. The couple was selling the house, through your office in fact. They returned from vacation a few days early, because of bad weather, in time to see a van pulling out of their driveway. If they’d gotten home any earlier, they’d have walked in on the robbery.”
“One of mine? All of them? How many houses?”
“Last night makes number nine.”
“Nine! What the hell, Ethan. Nine houses and you didn’t think I needed to know?”
“We’ve had extra patrols…”
“They’ve worked really well, apparently,” she said, her voice dripped with sarcasm. None of this was his fault, well except the part where he didn’t tell her—maybe—but he was the one in front of her, and she was angry, and he got to be “it.”
“They might have worked. We don’t know for sure,” he said, anger building in his voice. “Do you want to know about the case or are you just going to throw snarky comments at me?”
He was right, pissed off or not, this wasn’t helping either of them. “Yes, I want to know. How about some more coffee while we talk about it?” Her white flag retreat was accepted, and they both breathed a sigh as they realized they’d averted a huge argument. Adulting was hard, but someone had to do it.
