touched plenty in the past—but having her warm skin against his reminded him of all the reasons why he shouldn’t have been here. Because there had been a time when he’d wished he’d asked Jamie out, before she’d met Sam, and they were dangerous thoughts to be remembering now that she was his friend’s widow.
“Brett, I don’t want to bring up what happened again, but I need to ask you one question.”
He cleared his throat and turned to face her. “Shoot.” So long as he didn’t have to relive what had happened again, he’d tell her what she needed to know. Those memories caught up on him enough without voluntarily calling on them.
“I keep thinking about the army sending Bear back, once they’d made the decision to retire him. Is it normal for them to care for a dog like that, even though their career is over, and then pay to send them home?”
Brett couldn’t help smiling at her. Trust Jamie to have figured out that it wasn’t exactly protocol, especially when the handler was no longer alive and able to fight for his dog.
“Let’s just say that me and the other boys put a fair amount of pressure on our superiors to make sure Bear had a good retirement. I didn’t know he’d be given back to you, but there aren’t that many dogs in the world capable of what he did on a daily basis, and it wasn’t exactly a tough call to send him home a hero.”
Jamie reached out to him, took him completely by surprise as her hand stayed in place on his shoulder.
“Well then I guess I owe you a pretty big thanks,” she said, throwing him a smile that made him want to look away, because that smile had always teased him and he didn’t want to think about her like that, not now. “It means a lot to have him here, even if I’m kind of hopeless at the whole business of looking after a dog.”
Brett fought not to shrug her hand off, and was pleased when it just dropped away.
“So which café are we going to?”
* * *
“Skinny latte?”
Jamie looked up. “How did you guess?”
He chuckled and ordered, before peering into the cabinet with her. “And I’m also guessing that you want something sweet. Maybe the chocolate peppermint slice?”
Jamie kept staring at the rows of food, trying to ignore the slice so she wasn’t completely predictable. In the end she gave in to her sweet tooth. “Okay, how about we share a piece?”
She walked back outside to where they’d left Bear, not liking the idea of just tying him up and leaving him beside a table.
“He’s fine,” Brett said, pulling her chair out for her and then taking the seat opposite.
“I can see that. It just seems foreign to me,” she told him.
“This dog won’t let you down. Trust me. His manners will be better than most of the people in here.”
Jamie rolled her eyes, but she knew he was probably right. And she also knew that Brett pulling her chair out for her was the kind of gentlemanly thing that not many guys did anymore. Her husband had, so she was used to it, and she liked being treated like a woman.
Brett’s mobile rang and he punched a button to silence it before answering and mouthing sorry to her. Jamie touched Bear’s head, stroking his fur, not looking at Brett. But she couldn’t help but take notice of what he was saying. The fact that it was Logan, her husband’s other best buddy, made her want to frown and smile simultaneously.
Part of her was liking being with Brett, but another part of her, like a pang of hunger gnawing at her stomach, wanted Sam back here, too. So she could sit and listen to them talk and laugh and be boys, like she always had. Her husband, Brett and Logan.
Brett cleared his throat and Jamie’s eyes snapped up to meet his. She had no idea whether he was waiting for her to say something, or whether he was just watching her.
“Jamie, what do you say?” he asked.
She raised her eyebrows, wishing she hadn’t been daydreaming. “To what?”
“Logan’s in town for the next week and he wanted to know if you’re free tonight. We thought we’d go grab a few drinks, catch up.”
Jamie liked that they were trying to include her, but she didn’t want to be a third wheel. “You guys just hang out. You don’t need to ask me along.”
Brett put his hand over the phone and leaned toward her, eyes never leaving hers. “Please come,” he said, reaching for her with his other hand, fingers closing over hers. “I’ll pick you up on my way and drop you at your door at the end of the night. Come out and have fun, we both want to take you out.”
She looked from his eyes to his fingers over hers, wished that it was just a platonic gesture, that his skin against hers wasn’t sending a shiver up and down her spine.
“Okay,” she said, not needing any more convincing.
Brett grinned and pulled away, leaning back in his chair again and discussing details with Logan. She was pleased their coffees arrived at the same time as he hung up, needing something to distract her. Somehow she’d gone from hanging out with her husband’s friend, to being on edge about agreeing to a night out. It was only supposed to be an evening with friends, so why was her stomach twisting like she was going on a first date?
“Sugar?”
Jamie nodded and reached for it, careful not to touch Brett’s hand again.
“So Logan’s back for a while, too?” she asked.
“He’s still working, but he’s based in Australia indefinitely.”
“And you’re sure he was okay about me tagging along on a boys’ night?”
Brett cut the chocolate peppermint slice into two pieces and nudged one in her direction. “Since when are you not allowed to tag along on a boys’ night? I don’t recall Sam ever leaving you at home when we used to catch up.”
“True.” Brett was right, she had always hung out with them. But now that it was just her, she didn’t want them feeling sorry for her and feeling like they had to include her.
“When was the last time you went out?” he asked.
“Can I pass on that question?” Jamie laughed and took a bite of the slice. “It’s been a while.”
“If another guy so much as looks at you he’ll have me to deal with, so you’re in safe hands.”
Jamie picked at some chocolate and then took a sip of coffee, because she didn’t want to make eye contact with Brett. There was only one guy she was worried about, and he was sitting directly across from her. He might trust himself, but she wasn’t entirely sure that her thoughts were as pure.
CHAPTER THREE
JAMIE PADDED BAREFOOT into the kitchen and fed Bear. She poured herself a glass of water and leaned on the counter, slowly drinking it, concentrating on the
