She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re annoying,” she declared.
“I know,” he responded. “So tell me.”
“Are you always going to be like this?”
“Like what?”
“Stubborn. Pushy. Not wanting to take no for an answer,” she said.
“If I think you’re hiding something from me that could fester and hurt you down the line? Yes,” he told her without hesitation.
“Fine. He also said if he was single, he’d be doing his damnedest to steal me from you.”
Rex barked out a laugh. “That asshole,” he said without any heat.
“You aren’t mad?” Avery asked.
“No. Because I know he was serious, but I also know he’s so in love with Zoey it’s not even funny. And he didn’t say anything that I know every other single man who talks to you isn’t thinking.”
“Cole! That’s not true.”
“Avery, it is. And it’s cute as shit that you don’t even notice when someone is flirting with you. I’m the luckiest guy in the world to be the one sitting next to you right now, and the one you climb into your bed with each night. I swear, sweetheart, that I’ll do my best to give you what you need and want.”
“I don’t need a man,” Avery argued. “And I can get what I want on my own.”
“I’m perfectly aware of that,” Rex told her. “You’re the most competent and capable woman I’ve ever met. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have survived in that cave. You did what had to be done and would’ve saved your damn self if I hadn’t happened to wander by when I did. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t do what I can to make your life easier in any way I can. Just because you can change your own tire, doesn’t mean you have to. Just because you can make your own dinner, wash your own clothes, drive yourself to work, etcetera, etcetera, doesn’t mean you always have to. All I’m asking is for a chance to show you that you can have a man in your life and still be the kick-ass, take-charge woman you’ve always been.”
“Shit, Cole. Why do you always say things that make me want to cry?”
“Because I’m me,” he said with a grin, reaching out for her hand. He didn’t grab it, simply held his hand out to her, letting her make the choice to take hold. When she did, Rex sighed in relief. He brought their clasped hands up to his mouth, kissed the back of her hand, then rested them on the console between them.
“I’m worried about what happens next,” she admitted.
“In regard to what?”
“Everything. Us. Finding the traitor.”
“One thing at a time,” Rex said calmly. “As far as us, whatever happens, happens. I’m going to be by your side supporting you. We’ll learn more about each other and hopefully you’ll come to see that you can trust me one hundred percent with your body and your heart.”
She squeezed his hand. “And the traitor?”
A muscle in Rex’s jaw flexed before he said, “We’ll find him, Avery. I promise you. He won’t get away with what he did.”
“How?”
“With the help of Tex, hard work on your part looking back through the pictures, and a bit of luck.”
She nodded, accepting his answer.
Rex wanted to swear. Wanted to fly to Afghanistan and interrogate every single fucking man there. He wasn’t sure what might happen next, but one thing he was sure of—he wouldn’t let Avery get hurt again. No way in hell.
Chapter Nineteen
Avery had planned to watch from behind the safety of a disguise and Cole’s SEAL team when the naval unit returned from Afghanistan, but as it turned out, an emergency had occurred right when she was supposed to leave the hospital to attend the ceremony. There had been a motor vehicle accident and the truck had been full of SEALs in training. It had flipped off the road and gone down an embankment. By the grace of God, no one had been killed, but the hospital had been inundated with over twenty casualties. Broken bones and head injuries, and Avery hadn’t been able to leave to greet the contingent coming back from overseas.
Now the unit had been back for a week—and Avery was as stressed as she could ever remember being. She was going back through all the photos, looking over her shoulder every damn minute of the day, trying to stay focused and sharp at work…
And Cole was driving her crazy.
She understood where he was coming from, but his I-won’t-kiss-you-again-unless-you’re-all-in thing was beginning to piss her off. Why was it all on her? Why couldn’t they have a normal relationship like everyone else? She had no idea what was going to happen in the future. Yes, she liked him. Yes, she wanted to be with him. But she didn’t have a crystal ball.
Meanwhile, she was doing better with her scared-of-the-dark thing. She’d actually gone to bed before Cole a few nights in the last week and had fallen asleep, which she thought was a huge step in the right direction. Yes, the lights were all still on, but she’d actually slept without him at her side, which made her feel good.
Now the biggest remaining problem was her dreams. More accurately, her nightmares. But they weren’t about her being buried alive. Now they’d switched to being about Cole getting kidnapped or killed because of her. And that sucked.
This morning, she was supposed to go to the police station before work to look at pictures, then work her eight-hour shift, then she and Cole were going to go and hang out with Ace and Piper. But after last night’s nightmare—one of the worst yet—all Avery wanted to do was crawl back into bed and stay there.
Sighing, she climbed out of bed and went to get ready for her day. She didn’t have the luxury of staying home, as much as she might want to.
After changing, she wandered into the other room and, as usual, Cole was in the kitchen. He turned when he sensed her enter the room and held out a mug of coffee.
“You had a rough night. Want to talk about the nightmares?”
Sighing, knowing it was too early to talk about this, especially before the caffeine had a chance to absorb into her bloodstream, Avery sat at the small table. “Not really,” she mumbled into the fresh brew, prepared exactly how she liked it.
“You need to talk about it. You can’t keep everything bottled up.”
Avery closed her eyes. She knew that. She wasn’t an idiot. But she wanted to be normal. Wanted to talk to Cole about everyday couple shit. Not how fucked up her head was.
“Seriously, sweetheart. I just want to help. Talk to me.”
Putting her mug down with a thud, she bit out, “You want me to talk? Fine. I’m stressed out. It’s hard to go about my day when I’m wondering if the boogeyman is going to jump out from behind every corner. I dream about you being killed or injured by that asshole because of your association with me, and I’m frustrated as hell that it seems as if you’re pulling away from me physically when I really need you to do the opposite.”
Cole blinked at her outburst, then turned off the stove. He came over to the table and sat across from her, staring at her with that intense way he had. “I’m sorry you’re stressed. If it makes you feel any better, we’ve got Tex on the case, and he’s doing what he can to look into the backgrounds of the men who were stationed over in Afghanistan at the same time as you. If anything stands out, he’s going to tell my commander, and we can look more closely at those men. And I hate that you’re having nightmares about me. You know I’m a SEAL, baby. I can take care of myself. That asshole traitor isn’t going to get the jump on me.”