Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1) (19 page)

The small muscle under his right eye twitched. He stared, searching her face before closing his eyes and dropping his head. He straightened up and away from her and placed his hands on his hips as he took a step back.

“How did he walk right in?” His eyes remained closed, his head still down.

“It wasn’t locked. I’m assuming he turned the knob like anyone else would do.”

“Why the fuck was the door unlocked, Bree?”

She pushed away from the wall. Enough was enough. She was tired of men yelling at her and expecting her to take it. “Because I was expecting
you
to walk in the door and I left it unlocked as a courtesy. Won’t fucking happen again. In fact, I’ll be sure to lock it behind you after you leave,” she shouted.

“I’ll knock on the damn door if I need you to let me in. You don’t leave the fucking thing open,” Jase shouted back. He ignored her not-so-subtle suggestion to leave.

She took a step toward him. “I was trying to be nice!”

“I don’t want you to be nice; I want you to be safe!”

“I think I proved I can take care of myself quite effectively when I punched you in the balls.”

“What is going on in here?” Denise asked as she came around the corner.

“Maybe you can talk some sense into her,” Jase said, throwing his hands up in the air. He walked over to the back door and let the dogs out.

“What is he talking about?” Denise asked.

Bree grunted and opened the refrigerator to get a beer. She twisted off the top and threw the cap in sink. She took a long pull from the bottle. “Chad decided to stop by for a visit.”

“What did that shithead want?”

“To scream at me about ruining his life.”

Denise’s lip curled up. “What a douche-canoe.”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s it?” Jase asked.

Denise looked at Jase over her shoulder. “What do you mean
that’s it?
”

“That’s all you’re going to say to her? She left her door wide open. Anyone could have walked in.”

Denise looked back at Bree. “Lock your doors.”

Bree saluted her with the beer. “Yes, ma’am.”

Denise looked at Jase again. “Okay? Okay. Now, on to more important things. I brought the mama dog over.”

Bree clapped her hands and jumped up and down. “Squee! Where is she?”

Denise smiled, shaking her head “She’s in the hall bath. I didn’t want to bring her in with all the shouting going on.” Denise stared at Jase.

Bree got a hot dog out of the refrigerator and skipped around the counter. She cracked the bath door open and peeked in. The small tan-and-white dog cowered in the corner. Kneeling down, Bree broke off a piece of hot dog and held it out to the trembling dog. The dog stretched her nose forward, sniffing at the piece of meat. Softly, she took it from Bree’s fingers. Scooting back a few inches, Bree held out another piece, coaxing the dog out of the corner.

“Hey there, sweet girl. That’s not so bad, is it?” Bit by hotdog bit, she brought the dog out of the bathroom and led her over to the kennel she had set up earlier and closed the door.

She walked back into the kitchen. “Poor thing.”

“She should be fine after she settles down.” She took a sip of her water. “She got agitated if there were a lot of other dogs around, but she seemed fine with one or two.”

Bree tore off a sheet of foil and wrapped it over the top of the large pan. “I’ll keep her in the kennel tonight and tomorrow to give her a chance to get used to Charlie and Polly.”

“That’ll work.”

“Dinner with Sarah tonight?” Bree placed the baking pan into the oven and set the timer.

“Yeah.”

“How’s the treatment going?”

Denise inhaled deeply before answering. “Not good.”

Bree walked around the counter and hugged Denise. “You want to bring the kids over this weekend?”

“Let’s see how Sarah’s feeling.” Denise gave her a small squeeze. “Maybe we can meet at the kennel and let them run around with the dogs.”

Bree rubbed her hands over Denise’s back before she let her go. “Sounds good.” She hooked her arm through Denise’s and walked her to the door. Jase lounged against the counter, arms and legs crossed. Bree stopped a few feet away from him and waited.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked.

Bree blinked.
That’s it?
“Spinach manicotti.”

“How long does it have to bake?”

“About twenty-five minutes.”

Jase uncrossed his legs and arms and closed the distance. Without breaking eye contact, he picked her up and carried out of the kitchen, over to the couch. He sat in the center, forcing Bree to straddle his lap. He moved his hands into her hair and pulled her head close to his.

“I need you to be safe,” he said softly. “Even if you don’t think Chad is a threat, fine. But someone’s leaving notes on bodies addressed to you. We have no idea who they are or what they want.”

Bree looked closely at Jase. She saw beyond his anger and stress and found the concern etched on his face. She leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth, trying to ease the tension.

“I’m sorry you were worried. I wasn’t thinking about anyone but you or Denise walking in.” She moved her mouth to the other side of his face and repeated her motions. “I promise to be more careful.”

He turned his head and took control of her mouth. Bree ran her hands through his short beard and grabbed the back of his neck. She rocked her hips, creating friction along the seam of her shorts. Jase groaned into her mouth and wound his arms around her back, pulling her impossibly close. Bree’s nipples pebbled upon contact with his chest and a moan slipped out. He moved his mouth to her neck. Bree’s head dropped back and she closed her eyes in bliss when his teeth scraped her sensitive flesh.

The sensations threatened to overwhelm her, and she remembered her conversation with Denise.
Too fast.
She’d never felt like this. Sexually or emotionally. She thought about the worry she had seen in Jase’s eyes. How could someone feel that strongly so quickly? How could
she
feel this strongly so quickly?

“Jase?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“This is going really fast.”

Jase stopped kissing her neck and pulled back slightly. “This or us?”

“Us,” she whispered.

“You scared?”

She swallowed. Lie and play it off or tell the truth and trust him not to crush her heart?

“Yes.”

“Good.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “If you weren’t scared, it wouldn’t be real. I don’t want this to be casual. There’s something about you. From the moment you walked into The Deck, laughing at whatever you and Denise were talking about, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I was pissed when you took off the next morning.”

“I got that. Why?”

“I don’t know why, I just was. Sometimes you just know.”

“What do you know?”

“It’s real. It’s important. You don’t waste time over analyzing it or wondering why. You just go where the ride takes you.”

“Scary ride.”

Jase smiled. “Best rides usually are.”

“What happens when you want to get off?”

Jase’s smile turned sensual and he rocked his hips, rubbing against the juncture of Bree’s legs.

“That’s not the kind of getting off I’m talking about.” She slapped his chest.

“Bree, this is the first ride I’ve wanted to be on in a long time. I don’t see myself getting off any time soon. And if it ever gets to that point, I’m going to get right back in line to ride it again.”

She bit at her bottom lip. “I’m not sure how I feel about this analogy anymore.”

He pulled Bree back against him. “You wanna quit talking metaphorically and get on board?” His grin was lascivious. He dropped his hands to her hips and rocked her against his erection straining the zipper of his jeans.

Bree moved her hands from his shoulders to the button of his jeans. Just as she slipped her fingers into the waistband, the timer on the stove went off.

“We interrupt this program to bring you the following breaking news story…” She pulled her hand out of his pants. “Dinner’s ready.”

“You’re funny.”

“I know, right?”

Her fingers found the snooze button of her alarm clock faintly playing the chorus of Scars by Papa Roach before reaching for Jase. Her eyes flew open when her hand moved across the cool, empty sheets.

“Jase,” she called out softly. Why was she the only one who had to get creative? She turned off her alarm before it could go off again. She snagged her sleep shorts from the floor where Jase had thrown them the previous night. The camisole had landed on the dresser. She grabbed it and pulled it over her head as she walked down the hall.

She smiled, sure her heart squeezed a little at the sight before her. Jase lay stretched out on the longest part of her sectional, Charlie and Polly sprawled out on the floor beside him, and the new foster pup wedged between him and the back of the couch. His eyes opened as she drew close. She stepped over Charlie and Polly and braced her hands on the couch.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hey.”

“Whatcha doin’?”

“I got up to go to the bathroom and the dogs apparently had the same thought. I let Charlie and Polly out and then came back for her.” He titled his head to indicate the dog curled against him. “She was trembling and cowering so I thought maybe this would calm her down and help her relax.”

A slow smile spread across Bree’s face as she leaned even closer.

“Fail.” She kissed Jase softly, barely sweeping her lips against his, before raising her head back up.

Jase smiled back and scratched the dog behind the ears. “What’s your schedule like today? Got time to work in lunch?”

“I have appointments all day until three o’clock.”

“Wanna swing by on your way home?”

“Sure. I need to get ready for work. Want to hang out until I leave or do you need to go now?”

“I’ll hang out.”

“’Kay.” Bree brushed another soft kiss against Jase’s lips. “Want coffee?”

“Sure.”

Jase was asleep again when Bree walked back in the living room. She got the small travel alarm from the guest room and set it for seven-thirty. Placing it next to his untouched coffee, she scribbled a note asking him to put the new dog in the kennel before he left.

B
ree dropped her head back and rested it on the back of the chair. Seven hours of back-to-back appointments was killer. She was exhausted. Sighing, she checked her calendar for tomorrow. At least she’d have time for a proper lunch rather than eating on the run. She logged off and grabbed her bag out from under her desk.

“Dr. Marks…” Cindy called out as Bree passed the front desk.

“Yes?” Bree turned back.

“I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight.”

“Thank you, Cindy, but I have plans tonight,” she said. “I’m free this weekend if you’d like to do something then.”

“Oh. Um, sure.” She looked down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We can talk about it tomorrow. I don’t want to keep you.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Carol’s beaming smile greeted Bree when she walked through the doors of V.E.T. Adventures. “Hi, honey! I was hoping I would see you again. I had a pretty good feeling when Jase brought Ruby in with him.”