I made your favorite. Aspirin, clean gauze and my special egg salad sandwich.”
“Yeah.” Glennon shot off the mattress, wiping at her face. A split second later she turned toward him again, locking down any hint of emotion. She sniffed as she maneuvered around the bed. “I’m starving. Thanks.”
His stomach sank. She was getting far too skilled at hiding those emotions of hers, to the point he questioned whether he’d really seen her smile a few minutes ago. “Was it something I said?”
“What? No. It’s not you. I appreciate you letting me stay here.” She shook her head, a flush of pink rising in her cheeks. Her long fingers brushed against his as she reached for the plate. Heat seared through him as she took a step back and raised the plate in acknowledgment. “And for the food. I—”
“You miss your son.” He’d read it in the way her skin had paled in the few short moments after she’d disconnected the call, in the way her tears had dried a path down her cheeks.
“Stupid, right? I mean, he’s safe. That’s all that matters. Nobody knows about him. Not the army. Not his father. I shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” A weak smile played across her mouth. Shoulders rising on a deep inhale, she glanced up at him, signs of her apparent misery wiped clean from her expression. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed your egg salad. Every time I’ve tried to re-create the recipe, it turns out wrong. I finally gave up trying.”
“I add hot sauce at the end.” Okay. He’d pretend she hadn’t let a piece of herself out into the open.
Anthony backed toward the hallway, reaching for the doorknob to close it behind him. “Get some rest, change your gauze. The ballistics report should be here soon. We’ll figure out our next move then.”
“Listen, I know things are different between us now, but I’ve had a hell of a day.” Her lips parted as she took a single step forward and, for the first time, he noted the dark swirl of purple nail polish on her bare feet. She glanced at her cell phone on the nightstand. “Hunter usually sleeps in my bed, and I won’t be able to sleep unless...”
Grip tight on the doorknob, Anthony froze. Pressure built in his lungs.
She locked her gaze on him, determined, sincere. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”
* * *
WHAT HAD SHE been thinking?
She hadn’t. That had been one of the problems whenever Glennon was around him. She couldn’t think straight. And here, in a small lakeside cabin filled with his scent, with him mere inches from her, she’d must’ve lost her damn mind. She ran her free hand through her hair, a nervous habit she’d used to try to relieve some tension over the past few years. Without success.
“You think that’s a good idea?” Anthony released the door handle, his tone registering exactly how much she’d already asked of him in the last four hours. Too much. Especially for a man she’d walked out on while he was in the middle of serving his country, a decision she’d regret for the rest of her life.
“No.” Heat rose up her neck and flooded her face. She shook her head, forcing another smile she didn’t feel. Her fingers tingled, urging her to run her hand through her hair one more time, but she rolled them into a fist at her side instead. Taking another step toward him, she focused on the raised outline of a chain hidden under his shirt. Dog tags? “And I don’t have any right to ask after everything you’ve done for me already. But the past couple days have been a nightmare and I need...I need you to stay.”
Anthony swayed on his feet as though he intended to back toward the door. His full beard kept her from reading his expression entirely, but his eyes had always been the window to his thoughts. Gorgeous, dark blue eyes she’d tried for years to forget. And right now, the battle swirling in their depths was spreading across his features. His brows drew inward as he ran a hand down his beard. “Glennon—”
“Please.” She fought the urge to grip his shirt to keep him from leaving. Notching her chin higher, she studied the face she’d missed since the day she’d left. “If it helps, I promise to keep my hands to myself.”
“It’s not your hands I’m worried about.” He moved into her. A rush of his reinvigorated, clean, masculine scent filled her lungs as her brain fought to catch up. Had he showered while she’d been on the phone with Hunter? Only the thin fabric of a T-shirt she’d found in one of the dresser drawers separated them. He kept his touch light, giving her enough room to escape if she wanted to. Which she should. Because she’d most definitely violated her three-foot rule. “Do you ever think of what might’ve happened if you hadn’t left?”
Glennon swallowed hard, her pulse pounding behind her ears as she set the plate of food, the painkillers and gauze on the bed. No point in lying. He knew her too well. She passed her tongue across her too-dry lips as he stared down at her as though she were the only woman in the world who mattered to him. “Sometimes.”
All the time. The only way she’d been able to give those thoughts a break over the last five years was by throwing herself into her work and into being there for her son. Throwing herself into everything that didn’t include Anthony Harris. She’d made her choice then and she stood by it now. She’d suffer the consequences, no matter how many times she’d thought of coming home. She stared at the open door behind him for a moment, into the darkness of the cabin.
“Sometimes I think I could’ve changed your mind, convinced you I was enough for you to stay home.” The comforting warmth rolling off him in waves urged her to stay put. It’d been a long time since she’d gotten lost in somebody’s touch, relied on someone other than herself. She’d almost forgotten what intimacy felt like since becoming a single mother. It’d be easy to give in to him. Right here, right now. Forget about her missing partner, forget how lonely she’d been over the last few years, and just do something for herself for a change. But extricating herself from a romantic relationship with this man had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done. Something she wasn’t interested in doing again, not with Hunter involved.
“But that was a long time ago. Things have changed.” Glennon stepped out of his hold, the rough calluses on his palms catching on the cotton shirt she’d borrowed. “And it finally took me leaving to realize changing your mind was one case I’d never have closure to.”
Disappointment darkened his features. “You were always enough for me, Glennon. More than enough.” His tone dipped into dangerous territory, raising tiny goose bumps on her arms. He countered the step she’d taken to the point where she had to stare up at him. “You were the only person who could help me forget what I’d seen every time I came home. You were the one I trusted to keep my head on straight, to bring me back to who I really was. Not the soldier. Me. You were everything.”
Her knees shook, the blood drained from her face. As Military Police, she’d walked into dozens of situations more confident than she felt in this moment. This wasn’t the plan. The rules had been plain. No matter how many times the past came back to haunt her, she’d keep herself in check. But now... “I didn’t know that.”
The muted ding from his phone released the pressure building behind her sternum. Saved by the bell. She took the opportunity to distance herself from his reach as Anthony checked the screen. Sitting on the bed, she stared down at her hands as her stomach flipped. From hunger or from the sincerity in his voice, she had no idea. Didn’t matter. She could only fix one of those things at the moment. The other? Couldn’t happen again. Nothing could happen between them again.
“The
