Chain of Command (6 page)

“Sounds like a fucking asshole.”

Hailey had used that word more than once to describe Pete. “He’s possessive.”

“I picked up on that.”

Kat appeared at the end of the table with a tray. She set down two glasses of water and two pieces of pie, both of which went in front of Sawyer. “I wasn’t sure which you would want, so I brought both. The one on the left is blueberry. The other is coconut cream.”

Confusion played on his face as he shook his head. “We didn’t order yet.”

“This is to hold you over.” When Sawyer continued to stare, Kat continued. “You stood up for Jessie, so you get pie.”

“How do you know that happened?” he asked.

“Ah, I can explain.” Hailey took the cell out of her pocket and shook it. “It’s the Bermuda Triangle of communication. You say anything to me or Jessie or Kat and the other two will know within thirteen seconds. Blame the person who invented texting.”

“I’m the Kat she’s referring to, by the way.” Kat winked at him. “And I know you’re Sawyer, so you can skip that part.”

“Subtle.” And confusing. Kat had said so little since Rob was killed. She didn’t offer up information. She worked. She catered events and made the most delicious bread and desserts. She didn’t wink at men she didn’t know.

Then she was gone. Hailey watched Kat go, wondering if Rob’s matchmaking gene had somehow passed to his fiancée. “That was Rob’s fiancée, by the way.”

Sawyer did a quick second look. “And the two of you are friends?”

“She’s like an older sister to me.”

He nodded. Seemed to blow out a breath of what looked like relief. “That makes more sense.”

“What?”

“You might think this sounds weird but I didn’t know what your relationship was...to his fiancée and to Rob. He talked about you all the time.” Sawyer cleared his throat. “I couldn’t figure out if you were a friend or more of a daughter or something else.”

Something else?
Rob had mentioned her because he’d been matchmaking. Hailey sensed Sawyer didn’t fully get that part. “For the record, he was a father figure to me.”

“Right.”

She wasn’t sure what else he thought she could be and didn’t want to know, so she shifted the conversation. “Kat used part of her inheritance to open this place.”

“A good call.” Sawyer spun the plate around until the crust side of the blueberry pie faced him. “Don’t you get pie, too?”

“She knows I would have said no.”

“You don’t like desserts?” He sounded appalled by the idea.

“I don’t like running.” Still, Hailey reached over and broke off a corner of the pie crust and ate it.

“You lost me.”

She eyed up the second fork, the one he held out to her, before shaking her head. “If I eat pie I’ll have to exercise again, and I already bitched my way through a three-mile run this morning.”

He shot her one of those looks Rob used to give her right before hitting her with his famous you’ve-got-to-be-shitting-me line. “It’s one piece of pie, Hailey.”

A reasonable argument but not a winning one. “Don’t be impressed with my willpower. I had pie and a turkey sandwich and chips before you got here. If I eat that pie I’ll probably be at about a three thousand calorie lunch since I had a latte, too...just remembered that. “

She’d been on the way out before Pete unleashed his newest idiocy. At least it happened outside, away from the lunch crowd. Even now most of the tables were full. The low hum of conversation filled the room. The mix of chatter and scent of fresh bread made the place extra homey today.

“That explanation makes sense, though I think you came in under three thousand,” he said as he dug in and tested the pie.

She wasn’t convinced a guy who looked like that, like he lifted houses for fun, understood the idea of eating moderation. He probably didn’t need to. “I can’t really see you counting calories. You don’t exactly appear to have a weight problem.”

“No, but I have a baby sister and she went through the ‘I can only eat lettuce’ phase when she got bullied for being chubby, which she wasn’t. Ever since, I get twitchy when women don’t eat. Eating is normal. Having hips is normal.”

Well, that was kind of adorable. Not exactly what Hailey was used to in super-fit, always tan San Diego but she liked the change. “You don’t like skinny women?”

“I like women who are comfortable with their bodies, regardless of size.”

And hot moved to even hotter
. “Really now?”

“It’s sexy.”

That smile came back and it shot right through her. Good thing the shop was packed or she might just give in to the need to crawl over the table to get to him that had been pumping through her since they sat down.

She picked up the extra fork he set down instead. “I’ll share yours.”

His eyebrow lifted. “We’re talking about the pie, right? The way our conversations jump around I’m never really sure.”

No way could she answer that one honestly. Not with the sweet older lady sitting next to them grinning she as watched them share pie.

“What else would we be talking about?” Hailey asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.

“Bodies.” He leaned in closer. “Or how about dinner?”

The fork froze on its way to her mouth. She almost hated to lower it but she did. The perfect pie would have to wait to see if she survived this conversation. She hoped this meant he’d decided to choose sex over property talk, but she needed to be sure. “It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“I meant tonight.”

“Aren’t you a smooth one, Sawyer Cain?” And that should set off an alarm bell in her head but the damn thing wasn’t dinging.

“Not really.” He scooped up a bite of pie. “I have a reputation for being a bit too blunt.”

“Being in the military will do that.”

He chewed and swallowed before answering. “I’m out now.”

A wave of relief crashed into her. She wasn’t sure why since being out hadn’t meant much to Rob. It probably didn’t to Sawyer. He was the same guy with the same danger-seeking tendencies. “You still have the...I guess I’d call it affect.”

He set his fork down. “Affect?”

“You know. The way you hold your body and walk around all puffed up and in charge.” When she realized she’d started flipping her hands around, she tucked them under her thighs and sat on them. “For the record, I’m not one of those women who has a thing for military guys.”

She
totally
was but she was determined to break that streak. No more officers. No more enlisted. No more danger. She wanted a nice guy with a desk job and no idea how to load a weapon.

Sawyer shoved the plates aside. Then the water glass. By the time he leaned on the table nothing blocked his path to her. “Any particular reason? You date some asshole like that Pete guy? Let me guess, yours was in the air force, right? You have to watch them. Stick with marines.”

She thought he was kidding, but who could tell. “That’s what you were, a marine.”

“A part of me always will be.”

Now that was exactly the type of answer she expected from him. Thanks to what happened to Rob, she’d be happy never to meet another marine. Rob was with marines when he died. They survived. He didn’t. She knew it was illogical to associate the uniform with his death, but she did.

The memories came rushing back. The pain so extreme it weighed down every part of her. The reporters. The explanations from the military that didn’t actually explain anything. And now she wondered why, if Rob and Sawyer were so close, Sawyer skipped the memorial service. Never wrote or said one word about Rob’s death. When it came to him she had so many questions.

Time for a wake-up call. Maybe if she said the words her body would start listening and stop reacting to the man in front of her as if she’d never seen a fit man before. “The fighting, the absences. The death. I don’t want any more of any of it.”

“That makes two of us.”

His response brought her up short. She’d expect some rah-rah bullshit. Maybe an oo-rah, or whatever the marines said. She got what she suspected was an honest answer delivered in a sincere voice. “I thought you thrived on fighting.”

He practically glared at her. “Who the hell told you that?”

“I lived with a retired marine. Rob raised me from the time I was thirteen.” She’d learned to live with those wounds—the absence of her parents—long ago. But her memories of Rob stayed fresh. He’d stand in his office, right by the desk, and look at photos. As she got older she realized the photos were of people he’d lost.

“What happened when you were thirteen?”

She didn’t have any interest in talking about her parents or losing them, so she stayed on topic. “My point is, I know the type.”

He shook his head. “You don’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“We’re not all the same. I became a marine to stand watch. My entire career was about being a deterrent. Keeping people safe.” He leaned back in his seat. “I don’t have a death wish, Hailey. Didn’t then and don’t now.”

The words, so final and clear, rang through her. Sawyer would not be a guy she could easily categorize and put in a box. And with each new thing she learned, the more intoxicating he became.

That sent her decision-making spinning. “So, dinner. Nothing fancy.”

The tension spiraling between them broke. He laughed. “You want me to take you on a cheap, shitty date?”

“Did I say that?” Though San Diego had some of the best cheap Mexican food anywhere. She could eat that stuff by the truckload. Right there out of the plastic container at the walk-up window while she was still paying.

“Honestly, I’m not always sure what you’re saying but we can find a place to go and talk about the property. Get that out of the way and move on with the fun stuff.”

Everything screeched to a halt in her brain. Just like that her mind shifted back to reality. For him this was about wooing her and charming her and winning the property. For a second she let herself forget that. Probably had something to do with that firm chin and rough voice. “Here’s a tip, Sawyer. When I talk about a date, even an informal one, don’t mention my property.”

He had the nerve to frown at her again. “We’re back to the ultimatum?”

“We were never off it.”

“You’re the one causing the problem here.” He exhaled. “I’m trying to get us to separate the two issues and take business off the table.”

Talk about clueless. “Enjoy your pie.”

She stood up, prepared to make the perfect exit. She would have made a scene but that wasn’t her style and an unexpected whack of disappointment weighed her down.

He grabbed her arm. “Wait a second. Let’s just figure this all out over dinner.”

“There’s no need. I was talking personal. You were talking business. My mistake.”

His mouth dropped open and he just sat there for a second before talking. “You are prickly.”

Wrong answer
. She shifted out of his hold, which wasn’t tough since he didn’t confine her. “Another hint...name-calling makes you sound like Pete.”

Chapter Six

Sawyer somehow made it until dinner without storming over to Hailey’s house and asking her what the hell happened. They had pie. The conversation switched gears. She even flirted a little. Then—bam—he got his ass handed to him.

Now he was stuck eating dinner with Jason and Molly. Not bad options but neither was the person he wanted to see across the table. The more he thought about the conversation derailment that afternoon, the more confused he got. He shook the pasta in the strainer hard enough to send tortellini flying in every direction, which was just a fucking fantastic end to a crappy day.

“Whoa there, killer.” Molly came up behind him and grabbed the strainer. “Much more of that and we’ll only be eating bread for dinner.”

The smell of garlic bread hit Sawyer then. He’d bought it at The Bakery. That and one of those blueberry pies. Carb overload seemed like the right answer to a new round of woman trouble.

Giving up cooking duties, he sat in the chair at the head of the table, ignoring the creak as the worn wood strained under his weight. He’d never really owned a house or bought decent furniture before. After a decade in military housing he’d traded temporary for what he hoped would be more permanent.

Sure, he rented, but the goal was to pour the money back into the business then eventually buy a place. Maybe one like this. Small with two bedrooms and a backyard outlined with tall trees that provided some privacy from the close-in neighbors. He had savings but he wanted to sit on it and San Diego house prices didn’t exactly have him rushing into the market.

He picked up the fork next to his plate and tried to remember when he’d set the table. Must have been Molly, though he didn’t exactly remember making a dinner date with her either. Somehow, while wading through paperwork and running over his plans for management of the gun range for the hundredth time he’d missed most of the afternoon. He silently hoped he didn’t agree to anything he’d regret.

Jason sat there spinning his knife end over end. “So you struck out with Hailey again, huh?”

Speaking of regrets
. Sawyer aimed the fork in his friend’s direction. “I will stab you with this.”

Molly’s arm shot over his shoulder as she dumped the basket of warm bread on the table. “That’s a yes.”

After what sounded like a humpf, Jason shook his head. “This is downright embarrassing.”

As far as Sawyer was concerned that was more than enough of that topic. “Where’s Marcus?”

“Date.” That’s all Jason said. No other information.

Sawyer knew Jason didn’t judge his brother’s life or care about who he dated. Still, the curt response signaled something. It was one of those times Sawyer wished he read people better so he could follow the clues without asking.

“Anyone we know?” Molly asked as she set the pasta on the table and the salad likely only she would eat. She even found napkins, which was nothing short of a miracle in this house.

Jason shrugged. “Marcus won’t give a name. He’s not saying anything.”

That really didn’t mean anything, at least not to Sawyer. He reached over and helped himself to a heaping pile of pasta and grabbed two pieces of bread. “Are you interpreting the lack of information to say the date is serious or not serious?”

“It’s weird,” Jason said.

Somehow Jason managed to be less helpful than Sawyer expected. “That wasn’t one of the options.”

Molly passed dishes and reached for the salad bowl. “Your brother is not exactly the kiss-and-tell type.”

“But usually he gives a name. I asked and he shrugged.”

Sawyer knew that signal, or what it telegraphed when he did something similar. “That means it’s not serious.”

They ate in silence for a few bites before Jason piped up again. “Or the exact opposite.”

Just what Sawyer needed—more cryptic bullshit. Replaying the conversation with Hailey in his mind hadn’t cleared that one up. Now he had a Marcus issue. “Happy we cleared that up.”

Silverware jangled and clanked as Molly rested her knife on the edge of her plate and stared Jason down. “Do not snoop.”

Jason dropped the piece of bread he was holding. Juggled it a few times before it landed on his plate. “What does that mean?”

“You’re nosy.” Molly shoveled food without looking up.

“And annoying as shit.” Sawyer was not one to miss a pile-on when it came to Jason and he didn’t let this opportunity pass either.

Finally Molly put the fork down and glanced up at Jason. “Marcus will tell you if this guy means something.”

Jason threw up his hands. “Fine but the secrecy bullshit is frustrating.”

Looked like they’d finally hit on the problem. Jason hated not knowing. Marcus could hold a secret while being tortured to death. It made for some rough brother bonding.

But Sawyer got it. “Yeah, gee, why would a career Navy SEAL need to be secretive about being gay?”

There might be more openness now, but Marcus had lived through the tougher times. And he’d put in twenty years, starting when he was just nineteen. Back then, and even now, being who he was threatened his career. Being out of service now he had a chance at a real life. Sawyer hoped he’d take it. Maybe this secret guy meant he was.

“He’s not a SEAL now.” Molly moved the food around and ate. After a few seconds of silence ticked by she lifted her head and frowned. “Oh, right. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.”

Sawyer nodded. “That’s better.”

“Don’t think we’ve forgotten about Hailey,” Jason said as he sat back and stretched his legs in front of him.

“Neither have I.” That slipped out before Sawyer could fix the phrasing. “For work.”

“Right.” Jason managed to load the word with sarcasm. “I’m sure that’s what you meant.”

“She’s pretty?” Molly asked Jason.

“Very.”

By Sawyer’s way of thinking the comment undersold Hailey. She had this energy. A certain sharpness. Add in the curvy body and those big eyes that looked as if they could see right through him, and his brain had been playing catch-up to his dick ever since.

When he closed his eyes the night before a nonstop reel starting running in his head. He’d only seen her for a short time, but his imagination filled in all the blanks. Including what she looked like under those clothes.

“My interest in her is about the property.” He actually sounded sincere when he delivered that lie.

“So you know, that’s not believable at all,” Jason said as if he’d read Sawyer’s mind.

He’d messed up more than one time already. The dinner plans thing...that was a royal fuckup. They’d been getting along and he wanted the property settled. He was sure he could slip it in and then they could get to eating and getting naked. The basics. But when she said no property talk she clearly had meant it. That left him stumbling.

He should pitch the property proposal and be done. Forget about the rest. As soon as he thought it a vision of her face flashed in his mind. The idea of not kissing her, not touching her, made him crazed.

“I like a challenge.” He thought he said the phrase to himself until he noticed both Jason and Molly staring at him.

Molly frowned. “Is that all she is?”

Sawyer knew the answer—no. That was the only explanation for his reeling. Without the attraction he’d go after the property, take his best shot, and be done. But the attraction kept kicking his ass and refused to be ignored. So he went with the best answer he could come up with. “I don’t know yet.”

Twenty minutes later Molly loaded the dishwasher. She’d been rinsing off plates for a few minutes. Turning the radio on helped kill the oppressive silence since Sawyer left the room.

He’d said something about wanting to do research and slipped away. His bedroom door had been closed ever since and Molly refused to think about what that might mean.

Jason hummed for a while. Even now she could feel his gaze burn into her back. She would not give him the satisfaction of turning around. No matter how many times he clanked a utensil against the side of his plate or shook his glass until the ice jingled together.

Then she felt him just behind her. Right at her shoulder. Close enough for the heat from his body to seep into hers.

She wanted to throw an elbow. Considered doing so then stopped. Her family and his were inextricably tied together. That meant playing nice even though the years of waiting had started to weigh on her.

“How are you?” He reached around her body to turn the water off.

She could play it cool. She could...She whipped around and she threw the kitchen towel on the counter. “Really? We’re doing this?”

With one hand braced against the countertop near her hip, he leaned in close. “You’re still not talking to me, so what choice do I have but to fall back on bullshit topics.”

“I’m standing right here, Jason.” Trying to ignore him. Going through the painful act of attempted self-delusion to trick her mind into thinking she didn’t care about him.

But the closeness killed her. Chipped away at every defense until all that was left was raw and ready for battle.

His gaze wandered over her. “I see that.”

Much more of this and she would show him how much she meant to him. He might not to know or care but this close she could see his reactions. The steady rise and fall of his chest quickened. His gaze went to her mouth and stayed there.

The guy covered it all with a healthy dose of denial.

“You’re the one who’s running scared,” she pointed out.

He leaned in closer until his breath danced across her cheek. “What the hell does that mean?”

She wanted to put her hand on his chest and push him away but touching was out of the question. Way out. “I walk into a room and you get all weird.”

“That’s not true.” But he shoved away from the sink and stepped back.

“Do you want me to forget what I saw?” Not that she could. The redhead coming out of his room last week. The friendly male ribbing she overheard about the endless parade of women in his bed now that he was legally separated and right on the verge of a divorce.

He shook his head. Stared at the floor rather than give her eye contact. “That was a mistake.”

He acted as if this was hard for him. The divorce sucked. Absolutely. Coming home from a year of deployment to find his wife gone and the legal separation papers on the couch with a note about how they needed to reach an agreement on a division of assets so she could move on and they could get a divorce. It all amounted to one big pile of shit.

He’d gotten through the worst of it and the shock. Molly had no idea how. He’d gone to the facilitator meetings and worked out an agreement, all while looking across the table at the woman who’d betrayed him.

But now he was trying to work out whatever issues rumbled inside of him with a series of nameless women. The fact sliced through Molly until she had to fight to keep from doubling over from the pain.

“You’re an adult.” She said the words because they needed to be said.

“I know.” He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again his gaze looked bleak. “I mean I shouldn’t have invited that other woman here. To Sawyer’s house.”

“You’re single.” The words were the truth but what they meant in terms of his freedom killed her to think about.

“Almost.”

“Heather is an idiot.” Molly remembered the wedding day. Heather in white with a huge smile. How she took Molly aside and apologized for making a move on Jason. For getting pregnant.

The absolutely worst day of Molly’s life.

“I don’t want to talk about her, but she’s my wife, and we’re going to respect that much at least.” He’d been apologizing and taking responsibility for months. He’d finally moved to anger when she insisted their home be sold immediately so she could get her share of the equity to buy the place she wanted in Arizona. Never mind the financial hit.

“She’s your ex. Almost.” They were so close to having the final paperwork done and signed, so Molly thought that description sounded safe. “And she was also my friend.”

Molly’s best friend. Her college roommate. Then she came home with her after graduation and made a move on Jason while he was on leave. He’d fallen for Heather without thinking. It wasn’t until after the wedding and the baby news turned out to be fake that the shine wore off on his sudden love.

“You guys used to be so close,” he said as he put his dish in the sink.

“We grew apart.” That’s what happened when a friend shredded trust. Heather had known about Molly’s lifelong crush. Knew and didn’t care.

“Because?”

The man was blind. And making her crazy. “Not important.”

“Just because she and I are over doesn’t mean you can’t have a relationship with her.”

Molly was done with the Heather topic. Forever. But one thing did bother her, and if Jason suddenly wanted to chat, she would. “You ever notice that with everyone else you joke around but with me you’re all...well, weird.”

He frowned. “That’s not true.”

“We used to play around. Laugh at things. Now you’re all quiet when I walk in a room.” The only answer that made sense was guilt, but even that didn’t fit right. Molly wanted an answer.

“You think maybe you’re seeing things that aren’t happening?”

Throwing up the hysterical woman defense made her want to kick him. She threw the silverware in the sink instead. Let the utensils bounce and clank and generally make a lot of irritating noise.

“Uh, Molly—”

“I think I know exactly what’s going on but you’re fighting it.”

His expression went blank. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He made her crazy. Turned her on, revved her up, infuriated her and moved her to violence.

She balled her hands into fists to keep from punching him. When that didn’t work, she went with shoving past him on the way to the front door. Let him clean up his own dishes. “God, Jason. Catch up and figure it out.”

“Meaning?”

“Forget it.” She just wished she could.