Chain of Command

by HelenKay Dimon

The front door opened and Jessie walked in whistling. She slammed to a halt as her gaze centered on Sawyer. Well, on Sawyer’s chest and all the other bare parts of him visible over the counter.

  “I did it again. I am so sorry.” She started backing out the same way she came in. “I’ll stay at Kat’s.”

  Hailey wrapped the too-big shirt around her and tried to remember Jessie’s original plans for the evening. Not being there played a big role. Hailey hadn’t even thought about monitoring the gate and the alarm because Sawyer was there with her. Her phone must have beeped but she didn’t know where she left it.

  “You said you guys were going to a movie then hanging out at Kat’s.” Which was why Hailey brought Sawyer to her place.

  Jessie looked away but her gaze kept wandering back to Sawyer. “We couldn’t agree on what to see.”

  “Have you eaten?” Sawyer was the only one not concerned about his outfit or the unexpected company. “We have enchiladas in the oven and I’m making rice.”

  Jessie’s eyes widened. “You are?”

  Hailey got the gawking and took pity on her friend. “Yeah, he looks like that and cooks, too.”

  He glanced down. “Speaking of which, I’ll go find some pants.”

  With a wink he came around the end of the counter, flashing them a shot of his impressive front then a good bit of bare leg and his nice ass. He stopped to put a quick hard kiss on her lips.

  “I kind of hate that he just said that.” She really did and that feeling only increased as he disappeared down the hall toward the bedroom. She looked over at Jessie. “And you’re dead to me right now.”

  Jessie made a strangled noise. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

  “Of course not.” Hailey really didn’t mind. It was too late now anyway. Sawyer had switched to rescuer mode, which meant the clothes went on. “But you owe me one.”

  Jessie smiled and the smile turned to laughter. The doubled over, snorting kind of laughter.

  Hailey was pretty sure her friend had lost it. “You okay?”

  “I got to see the front and the back view.” Jessie got the chuckle under control. “I think I owe you more than one.”

  Hailey thought about what he looked like naked and what she’d had planned for after dinner before company arrived. “Good point.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hailey stared at Jessie the next morning, willing her to talk. Sawyer had stepped out to pick up something with Jason, leaving Hailey with her friend. Usually a good thing but just plain weird today.

  They’d been at The Bakery for more than a half hour without talking, and that was after the drive over in silence. Now Jessie sat there, stirring her coffee. She’d added sugar then more and then a third dose. The only good news was that she hadn’t bothered to drink a beverage that by now amounted to candy. No, she was too busy stirring.

  Whatever she planned to say must be good. Hailey started to worry whatever it was had reached the catastrophic level. On the verge of breaking and half ready to grab that spoon, Hailey avoided the trouble when Jessie finally started talking. Sort of.

  “So...” That was it. Jessie got out one word, barely a syllable.

  When the silence returned, Hailey realized she’d have to take over even if she didn’t know the topic. She let out the sigh rumbling up from her chest. “You need to be more specific.”

  Leaving the spoon in the mug and ignoring the beverage altogether, Jessie sat back in her chair. “It’s time for me to move out.”

  It wasn’t hard to guess where that came from. “Because of last night.”

  Hailey could still see Sawyer standing in the kitchen. After dinner, they’d sat around and watched a movie. He had his arm around her shoulders but otherwise kept his moves G-rated, as if he were a teen boy meeting the parents for the first time. Later, in the quiet bedroom, he kissed her and made love to her, slow and sexy. She’d almost screamed the house down.

  Kat swung by on her way back from cleaning off a table. She held a tray of dirty dishes. “You two okay?”

  No need to hide the truth, so Hailey put it out there. “Jessie is moving out.”

  Kat stopped when it was clear she had planned to blow through. “What happened?”

  “I saw Sawyer naked,” Jessie said. “That’s not why I’m going. That part was good, but it drove home the need for Hailey to have some privacy.”

  Dishes clanked together as Kat dropped the tray on the table, sending some silverware bouncing. “Are you kidding about the naked part?”

  “She is.” Hailey put everything back on the tray that needed to be there. “He was only mostly naked.”

  But she had to admit his “mostly” naked blew way past a lot of men’s best days. The shoulders, that flat stomach, those muscles—everywhere—and the arms. Even that tattoo. The package had her wondering why she’d ever crossed military men off her list. She certainly needed to make room for this one. And she had. More room than she’d expected or intended.

  She possessed no guard or defense. Every day she wanted him closer, needed to see him. She didn’t let her mind put a word to the feeling whizzing around inside her because it struck her as just too crazy to go there.

  “And he can cook,” Jessie said. “Not like you, Kat, but like normal people.”

  Kat picked up the tray as she shot Hailey a mother-knows-best look. “You better be treating that man right.”

  “I hope she’s talking about me.” As if they’d conjured him up, Sawyer appeared next to Kat. Took the tray out of her hands and put it on the counter a few feet behind her.

  “She is.” Seeing him made her happy. Like, stupid happy. Butterflies dancing around, couldn’t wipe the smile off her face kind of happy, and Hailey had no idea how to ramp that down.

  He moved next to her with a hand on her upper back and smiled at Jessie. “Is this better?”

  She frowned at him. “What?”

  He touched the collar of his shirt. “The with-clothing version?”

  She snorted. “Not really.”

  Kat shook her head. “I can only go by what I’ve heard, but I’d guess no.”

  Since she agreed with them Hailey didn’t have much sympathy for the slight stain of red on his cheeks. “Hey, you asked.”

  “I did walk into that.” And he didn’t look all that upset about the round of female compliments or the few women peeking over at him from other tables.

  “What would you like?” Kat asked him.

  “Just coffee.”

  She sighed at him. “You’ll have a muffin.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He pulled out the chair and sat down next to Hailey.

  Being this close, the familiar way he touched her arm and sat with their legs touching, made her want to snuggle in. That part she hadn’t been prepared for. The simple moments of comfort. Watching television, walking the property, sitting together. It seemed so normal and not what she expected to find with him at all. Not after what he promised—and delivered—in the bedroom.

  “I’m moving out.” Jessie filled him in as she picked up her spoon again.

  “Because of last night?” Sawyer asked.

  “Because it’s time.”

  Hailey grabbed the spoon before a new round of stirring and clanking could begin. Snatched it out of her friend’s hand and put it back on the table. “What about Pete?”

  “Hasn’t contacted me in days.” She glanced at Sawyer. “I’m thinking someone scared him.”

  Sawyer didn’t look even a bit sorry. “Better I scare him than break his leg.”

  While she was not a proponent of violence, Hailey thought Pete could use a lesson. They’d tried the nice way. Sawyer even tried the threatening but no touching way. If he came around again the guy deserved a butt kicking.

  But she put aside the desire for vengeance so she could celebrate the idea of Jessie getting on with her life. “So, what you were saying is you need help moving out.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m happy to pack and
lift and carry.” As if Jessie even needed to ask. Hailey would do anything for her, including keeping her tucked away on the property if that proved to be the only way to keep her safe.

  “Thanks.” Jessie looked around and stopped. “Let me go rescue Kat.”

  An older man had Kat pinned by the cash register. The same sweet old guy who liked to come in every day and propose at least once a week. By agreement, Hailey and Jessie stepped in to play defense for Kat whenever possible. Looked like Jessie was up.

  That left Hailey with Sawyer and he clearly did not want to be ignored. “I’m sitting right here.”

  Since she’d been about to reach out and fix the collar on his shirt she pretty much already knew that. Instead of touching him, she wrapped her fingers around the armrests of her chair. “Uh, okay.”

  He shook his head but kept smiling. “The move?”

  Ah, yes. The poor guy was probably in panic mode. “I’m not going to make you help.”

  “Make me?”

  “My point is, we can do it.”

  He stretched an arm across the back of her chair and leaned in. “Of course you can but why not have a bunch of useless military guys help out.”

  He was right there. Directly in front of her, only inches away, looking all showered and adorable and far too kissable as he dropped his smartass comments. “I think you’re making fun of me.”

  “I’m offering.”

  Funny how he didn’t deny the charge. “You don’t need—”

  “Hailey.” His other hand went to her knee and he gave her a little squeeze. “Asking for help does not equal weakness.”

  “I never said...” Okay, yeah. She did have a teeny problem letting people in. Not the first time she heard that and her big speech about being done with military guys back when they first met probably didn’t help her case. “Fine, will you help with the move, maybe bring a few of your bench-pressing friends with you?”

  His smile widened. “Yes.”

  “Thank you.” The words came out more like “screw you” but she hoped he didn’t notice.

  “Was that so hard?”

  “Actually? Yes.” But not as hard as it had been in the past. With him, everything smoothed out and came to her easier.

  “Why?”

  “I’m not really someone who asks for help.” This wasn’t the time or the place. She didn’t generally open her mouth and spill all the personal details of her life...but the intensity vibrating around him and the way he looked at her had her rethinking. “You get shifted around when you’re little and you learn how to adapt. You spend a lot of time trying not to cause trouble.”

  “But you’re a grown-up now.”

  Such a healthy answer. Sounded a bit strange since he’d been clear he didn’t have an idyllic childhood. “I guess you learned that the hard way.”

  “I know about loss. My mom died when I was young. Cancer.” Sawyer exhaled as his fingers brushed back and forth over the back of her shoulder. “I told you how my dad handled it by traveling, taking assignments, leaving me and Molly behind. The part I left out was how he got remarried to a great woman. She made everything better and tried to be a real mom to us, even though we were older and well past the age where we needed one to survive.”

  The way he said it, with a twinge of sadness in his voice, tugged at her. “You’re using the past tense.”

  “Yeah. A car accident and Molly was driving. Dad has never forgiven her.” Sawyer flattened his palm against the table. “So, no, nothing storybook about my childhood but you move on. The other choice—standing still—isn’t really a choice at all.”

  He didn’t lecture but he made his point. Also had her feeling raw and hollow inside. She ached for him and for Molly. “So, you’re saying I should stop being stubborn.”

  “I doubt you can.”

  Not his usual cute response but she still understood what he was trying to say. “Oh, that’s nice.”

  “I’ll never admit this again, so listen up.” He leaned in with his mouth right by her ear and whispered. “I like that side of you.”

  The warmth of his body and breath sent a shaking sensation rattling through her. “I knew it.”

  “Hot as hell.”

  Now there was the talk she’d come to crave from him. “Just because you won this round doesn’t mean you’ll win them all.”

  He winked. “We’ll see.”

  * * *

  A few hours later Sawyer doubled back to The Bakery. Kat had called and asked him to stop by. He hoped she needed him to lift boxes but expected that this was The Talk.

  Kat didn’t hesitate. Ten seconds after they sat down in her office in the back she dove in. Him on one side, her on the other and boxes piled all around them, and Kat took charge. “You’re good for her.”

  He didn’t need a rundown of the who in that sentence. “I’m not sure she’d agree with that assessment.”

  “That would mean she’d have to admit she was wrong about you in the beginning.”

  Sawyer knew Kat actually meant the second meeting. The memory of the porch and the bat came winging back to him. That night it had ticked him off. Now, remembering it made him smile.

  Still, Hailey could win a stubbornness contest. And since he usually held that crown he appreciated who she was and how she acted. “I don’t see that happening.”

  “Me either.” Kat leaned forward with her elbows on the edge of her desk, half on the computer keyboard and half on one of the stacks of files piled around. “Are we ever going to talk about it?”

  This time Sawyer wasn’t as clear on the reference. “It?”

  “Rob’s death.”

  Not that Sawyer could talk about it or wanted to. He’d barely made it through telling Hailey. He’d known she’d share the information and had told her Kat could know, but that didn’t mean he wanted a game of Twenty Questions. “Hailey told you what I said.”

  Kat nodded. “The weeks after his death are a blur. I expected a media spectacle but nothing happened. That should have been good but it felt as if no one cared that he was dead.”

  “That’s not true.” Sawyer had mourned every fucking day. Went out, did his work and forced his mind to concentrate while the desperate sense of being unable to make a difference or get everyone home safe overwhelmed him.

  Truth was, Rob’s death made it easy for Sawyer to decide to get out of the marines, and he was not alone. Others did their time and walked away after that. The gunman had come right inside the one place that should have been secure and started firing. The breach took more than lives that day.

  “His employees, these big, burly grown men, cried. Hailey was devastated.”

  Sawyer noticed Kat left herself off that list. She didn’t need to be more specific because he could see the pain right there in her eyes. He recognized pain. Lived in a bath of it for years now.

  “What were you doing?” she asked.

  “Stuck in Afghanistan.” Not that saying that answered the question. “Trying to bury myself in work. Not think about it.”

  “You mean you were upset about Rob, not the property.”

  God, he hadn’t thought about his future plans at all during that time. Sawyer only let those thoughts creep in months later when he’d reached his limit. “Of course.”

  “I know.” Before he could respond, she pushed on. “You didn’t rush in while the estate was still open and demand the property from Hailey or money from me. You didn’t even come around right when you left the marines.”

  Just as he thought. Behind those watchful eyes lurked a smart woman who knew everything. This woman matched Rob. “You’ve done your homework.”

  “That and your sister is a talker.” Kat smiled. “We’ve been discussing the possibility of her working for me.”

  Sawyer wasn’t sure how he felt about the job offer or about Molly talking about his personal life to Hailey or her friends. “She shouldn’t have—”

  “Relax.” Kat picked up a pen and twirled it between he
r fingers. “She’s your biggest cheerleader.”

  “She has to be. She’s sort of stuck with me.” Not that the comment didn’t feel good, because it did. He’d spent most of his life sticking up for Molly. The idea of her standing up for him humbled him.

  Kat tapped one end of the pen against one of the smaller file stacks. “We both know that’s not why.”

  “She lives with a lot of guilt over things that weren’t her fault.”

  Kat snorted. “Apparently that runs in the family.”

  “I should have been there.” For Rob in that building. At his service to offer support and show his respect. Sawyer had failed his friend in so many ways and had vowed to find a way to fix that.

  “No.”

  Sawyer’s brain rebooted but he still didn’t get her curt response. “How can you say that?”

  “Because I knew Rob. We both did, and I can guarantee you he would have knocked you down or shot you in the leg if that’s what it took to pull you out of harm’s way that night.”

  “I’m a pretty big guy.” But she wasn’t wrong. Rob had sacrificed his life and wouldn’t have hesitated to save one more person, especially him.

  “You know I’m right.” Kat tapped the pen end over end. “He talked about you, you know?”

  Not a surprise since they’d spent so much time together there at the end. “I can only imagine what he said.”

  “Talked you up to Hailey.”

  Now that was news. Sawyer leaned forward. “You’re saying she knew who I was to Rob right from the beginning?”

  “You were just one in a long line of matchmaking attempts by Rob.”

  “He never said anything to me about...” All those times he mentioned her name. “I mean, he talked about Hailey but I thought...well, damn.” No question Rob had talked Hailey up. Sawyer just hadn’t gotten it at the time. Now he did.

  “With you he was more subtle. I think that’s because he really wanted you two to be together. He liked you and respected you.”

  That wasn’t the real question, so Sawyer asked it. “How did he feel about the other guys?”

  “They could protect her.” With a careful slow touch Kat put the pen down. “He knew you could love her.”