The sun shining through the window woke Ari. When her eyes popped open she was confused. Nothing was familiar except for the warm fuzzy body lying against her side. Then the events of the previous day flooded back. She was at John’s because her apartment looked like a bomb exploded inside.

The last thing she could remember was sipping red wine and watching Deadpool. John must have carried her to bed after she’d fallen asleep. Gee, that wasn’t too embarrassing. Hopefully she hadn’t been drooling. Ugh. Oh well, add it to the long list of embarrassing moments in her life. It could have been worse. How? She wasn’t sure, but there had to be a scenario where it could have been.

It looked like a beautiful day, a perfect one to take Mr. Darcy for a long walk in the Dog Park. Then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to leave the apartment. Maybe she could convince the Marshall that it would be okay. She snorted thinking about how that conversation would go. Oh yeah, it could work—not.

Grabbing a change of clothing, she went to take a shower and get ready for the day. It was quiet, Mr. Darcy was snoring softly on the bed with an occasional whimper but that was it. John was probably still sleeping. She’d forgotten until that moment that he’d just returned from a mission and was probably exhausted. He’d never said a word, just been there for her.

Steam filled the small bathroom as she stood under the pulsing water. The combination of heat and the beating of the water helped to ease the ever-present tension in her shoulders. For a few minutes, everything was right in the world. No problems to think about, just her, blissful quiet and the water beating on her body. A perfect way to start the day. Only thing better would be a cup of coffee on the counter waiting for her when she stepped out of the shower. But she hadn’t even thought about making it. It was Sunday, a free day in her schedule, actually the first of many until the trial was over. She would go stir crazy if they kept her cooped up inside the apartment all the time.

And just like that the tension was back, all the peaceful thoughts were gone, replaced by dark cloud over her head since the mess with Paul. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but she wasn’t smiling or relaxed. What was the name of the man who was supposed to help today? She had to think, it was something short. Ahh Tex. That was it. Was he really as good as John said? Would he be able to find Paul’s associates and put an end to this crap?

Clean, hair washed and dried, and dressed, she wandered into the kitchen to make coffee, with Mr. Darcy on her heels. She’d thought John was still in bed so seeing him in the kitchen surprised her enough that she let out a small squeak. The last thing she’d expected was to find him sitting at the table with coffee and reading the newspaper.

“Morning, baby. Did you and Mr. Darcy sleep well?”

“I know I did, I don’t think I moved. I guess I have you to thank for putting me in bed?”

“Yup, I think Mr. Darcy would have given it a gallant try but it would have been hard to lift you without hands.”

“I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Yesterday was traumatic. I was surprised you lasted as long as you did. Neither one of us made it through the movie. What an exciting Saturday night, huh?”

“No kidding. You’d think we were an old married couple.” As soon as the words left her lips she knew her cheeks were flaming. Dumb comment. She wasn’t ready to commit and saying anything about marriage to him right now was just a form of teasing.

John didn’t comment, just smiled and kissed her. It started out soft, gentle, but as soon as his tongue slid over her lips, she sucked him in, craving his taste like you’d crave water in the desert. Sliding her arms around his waist, she stepped closer until her body was up against his, and she could feel his erection grow as the kiss deepened.

He broke the kiss. Again. Damn him and his decision. Why did he have to want commitment? Wasn’t that supposed to be the woman’s thing? Her body was on fire, and she vibrated with need. She hadn’t been with a lot of men, but she wasn’t a virgin, and she never felt like this before. It was amazing, and when they finally made love she’d probably spontaneously combust.

“Now that’s the way to wake up. I could get used to this.” She could too, and that’s what she was afraid of. There was no doubt she wanted him in every way imaginable, the problem was the turmoil inside. He was her knight, riding in on his white steed to rescue her, then they’d ride off into the sunset. Or were her feelings for him a result of everything that had happened with Paul. Until she knew for sure, she’d have to show some restraint. The little devil on her shoulder laughed and wished her luck.

“How do you take your coffee?”

“I’ll get it, it’s okay.”

“I want to make it for you. I went out and bought bagels this morning. I didn’t know what you liked to have for breakfast.”

“Usually just coffee, but I won’t turn down a bagel.”

“Toasted? Butter or cream cheese?”

“Since they’re fresh, not toasted and cream cheese. You’re going to spoil me.”

“That’s the general idea,” he said with a huge smile. “Now how do you take your coffee?”

“Half and half if you have it or just milk, and two sugars.”

“Thank you. Half and half it is. Was that so hard?”

“Maybe,” she said and stuck her tongue out.

“If you do that again I’ll have to take it prisoner.”

“Oh yeah? How would you do that?”

“Stick it out again and you’ll find out,” he said and waggled his eyebrows. She liked this playful side of him and so did Mr. Darcy apparently. He was sitting at his side, with one paw on his knee and begging.

“Mr. Darcy, get down. You know better.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me. I grew up with a big dog who acted a lot like he does.”

“Farts and all?”

“Well maybe not exactly like he does. Mr. Darcy is definitely the gassiest canine I’ve ever met.” As if to make sure they didn’t forget it, he let one rip. It wasn’t silent but it sure was deadly. It was so bad Ari’s eyes teared up.

“Mr. Darcy. You should be ashamed of yourself. And here I thought you did it because you didn’t like Shira. I think I need to take you back to the vet. This can’t be normal.”

At the word vet, he laid down on the floor at John’s feet and put his paws over his face like he was trying to hide. Why didn’t she have her phone, it would have been a perfect picture to add to her collection. Huh, where was her phone? She didn’t remember having it last night.

“Have you seen my phone?”

John opened the window to let out the stink, and made her coffee. “No, I don’t think so. When did you have it last?”

“That’s just it, I don’t remember. I’ll be right back I’m going to check my purse.”

“Okay. We’ll be here waiting for you, me and Farty McFartface.” Oh, that one was worthy of Shira, she’d have to remember to tell her. It was a long list of things, and she’d be surprised and thrilled she was staying with John. She knew exactly how that woman’s mind worked, and it was nothing virginal that’s for sure.

Back in the spare room she dug out her purse and at the very bottom under her wallet, keys, and glasses, was her phone. It was dead. She looked through her bag, but she’d forgotten to grab the charger. Hopefully, John had one that would work.

John was on his phone when she returned to the kitchen. While she was gone he’d placed a sliced bagel and the container of cream cheese on the table beside her coffee. She’d be spoiled rotten if she stayed there too long. After sitting down, she spread the creamy white yumminess on the bagel. Cream cheese was one of her downfalls, she loved oodles of the stuff. It was one of the few things she went overboard with and calories be damned.

She was mid-chew when he smiled and held up a finger that he would be a minute. As she struggled to swallow the dense bread, John refilled his coffee and continued the conversation. Based on what she could hear of his side, he was talking to Wolf. Had they figured out anything yet?

***

“I haven’t heard from Colin yet.”

“What’s taking so long?” Wolf asked.

“No clue, but it’s ridiculous that it’s taking him this long to get back to me.”

“No kidding. If we ran our missions like this, we’d be in deep shit.”

“Exactly. He said he’d call after he confirmed or not with the FBI agent in charge.”

“Okay, well I’m going to go under the assumption that they didn’t know about the other phone until you told them last night.”

“That’s my thinking too. Hold on, Ariana is here now, I’m going to put you on speaker.”

“Good morning, Ari. How are you so far?”

“Well, thanks. You guys start early, huh?”

“We’re used to it. Mission or not I’m up at the crack of dawn and out running or in the gym.”

“I guess you’d have to since you never know when you’ll be needed.”

“Yup. That’s why we do it. I know retired SEALs that still get up for PT every day. It’s been so ingrained in them after so many years of service.”

“My father did almost until the end,” John added.

“I guess some habits are hard to break.”

“Yup. Anyway, the reason I called is that Tex has found out a few things about Chen. Definitely a bad actor and all around nasty dude. Chen isn’t even his real name, he’d done a good job covering his tracks, which is why your company and the FBI didn’t find out his real identity. But his real name is Huang Chiu, he’s from mainland China and has been here for the last fifteen years. Basically, everything he told you and everyone else was a lie.”

“I told you Tex was good,” John said as he refilled her coffee mug.

“Yes, you did. I can’t believe he found all of that in a few hours and no one else figured it out ever. I don’t think the FBI knows it.”

“I’m not sure, but we’ll share our intel. Hopefully they do, and just didn’t share it with you. I’d imagine it would have been part of the case they built.”

“I hope so. Or it doesn’t say much for them.”

“In all fairness, since he’s not a US citizen under his real name that would have come under the CIA or DIA, not the FBI’s jurisdiction. That’s where it gets all convoluted and things fall through the cracks.”

“I guess so. But where does that leave me? Are we any closer to figuring out who he’s working with?”

“Not yet, but Tex is hopeful he’ll have some more information for us by this afternoon.”

“That would be wonderful.”

“I agree. So just sit tight for a bit longer and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Thank you for your help and pass that on to Tex for me please. Maybe this nightmare will finally be over.”

“It will, I told you, baby, we’ll figure it out. It’s what SEALs do,” John said as he reached for her hand across the table. “It will be okay, you’ll see.”

“Okay, gotta run. After this mess is over you’ll have to come over to our house, so you can meet my wife, Caroline, and the rest of the team. You too, John,” Wolf said with a laugh.

“Gee thanks. I’ll be happy to bring her, but if you’re going to have any single men there she’s not going without me.”

“Got it. Talk to you later.” He was gone before they could say goodbye.

“Awful sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“I’m a SEAL, it’s what we do.”

“Is that your standard answer?”

“Pretty much. At least when I don’t have a better one.” John laughed as she rolled her eyes. He loved teasing her, it was almost as fun as kissing her. But then his mind wandered more, the thought of his fingers against her skin, triggered the expected reaction and his jeans were suddenly extremely uncomfortable.

“I see. I can’t believe Tex found out so much already. I wonder how much the FBI really knows.”

“We’ll probably never find out the answer to that question. The alphabet agencies are notoriously unhelpful, even with each other. That’s why we have so many missions with bad intel. If they’d only learn to talk to each other.”

“I never thought about it that way.”

“Most people don’t, unless you’re in the middle of the clusterfuck.”

“I was hoping to take Mr. Darcy to the dog park today. It’s such a beautiful day and he’d love it.”

Hearing his name, the fluffy stinkball’s tail thumped against the floor. He did his growly speaking that sounded more like a combination between a low moan and a series of woofs. He was quite the talker really—from both ends. It was like karma had given Ariana a gift for all the shit it put her through, and Mr. Darcy too. He wondered about the dog, he was so well-behaved he had to have been loved by someone before he ended up at the shelter.

“I’m not sure your jailors will agree to that, but we can try. I took him out while you were still sleeping, but I’m sure he needs to go again. I’ll take him while you finish your breakfast.”

“Okay, if you don’t mind? It’s sure easier than dealing with the Marshalls. Before you go, do you have a charger I can borrow? My phone is dead, and I forgot to pack mine, if I could have even found it in that mess.”

“Let me see if mine will work.” He went to his bedroom and grabbed his cord from his bedside table and went back to the kitchen. “Here you go, if it doesn’t fit, I’ll stop by your apartment and try to find yours on the way back with Mr. Darcy.”

“Thank you,” Ari said as she took the cord. He couldn’t resist and dropped a kiss on her forehead as she passed him to plug the phone into the wall. “Yay. It works. I’ve got the charging icon.”

“Excellent. One less thing to worry about.”

“Yes. In case I didn’t tell you last night, and I don’t remember if I did. Thank you for letting us stay with you. It really is much better than having to go to some strange house who knows where.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re here, although the safe house probably would have been a good idea. You know there is still the chance you’ll need to go into Witness Protection at least until they can catch everyone involved.”

“It’s the last thing I want to think about. Now that you, Wolf and Tex are working on it, I have confidence it won’t happen.”

“Baby, I love that you are putting your trust in us, but you do need to make back up plans. If there is one thing I’ve learned as a SEAL is that not only do you have Plan B, but you have Plan C, D, and E too.”

“We’ll see.” John just shook his head. Yup, there was the stubborn streak loud and clear. Sometimes talking to her was like trying to reason with a brick wall. It would make for some interesting arguments he was sure. But then they’d get to make up, and he’d enjoy every minute of it.