The Returning Hero - Soraya Lane

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otherwise. She reached for the dog tag, fingers closing around it as she looked at Brett, needing the reminder.

      “You don’t look so bad yourself,” she heard herself say.

      “Yeah? Well you look like you’re going to need a bodyguard to stay safe tonight.”

      Jamie laughed. “Well, lucky I have two of them, huh?”

      It was true—she could have worn the dress if she hadn’t been feeling so guilty, because Brett and Logan would act like her overprotective big brothers if a guy so much as looked at her too long, let alone if anyone tried anything on her.

      “So shall we go?” Brett asked.

      “Just let me check I’ve locked everything, and I need to grab my purse.”

      She disappeared back into the kitchen and then the living room, double-checking all the locks.

      “You know Bear would maul any strangers who even tried to come in here, right?”

      Jamie glanced across at Brett, knew he was watching her. He quickly looked up and met her gaze when she caught him out, but it sent a ripple of delight through her body that he was staring at her, no matter what she’d been telling herself as she stood in the closet.

      “So not only do I have personal bodyguards escorting me tonight, you’re telling me that I have one living in my house now? A big, furry, ninety-pound one?”

      Brett held up her purse for her and waited for her to walk ahead of him down the hall. Her face flushed as she realized he could be checking out her butt.

      “I’m saying that you’re safe with Bear here, and you’re definitely safe with me,” he told her, his voice a note lower than it had been earlier.

      Jamie glanced over her shoulder and waited for Brett to follow her out the door. Then she locked it and looped her hand through his arm. She could have so easily dropped her head to his shoulder, given him a hug, but she didn’t want to blur the lines of their friendship. Once she wouldn’t have thought twice about touching him like that, because before it had never meant anything, but she knew he was feeling the change between them and the spark that seemed to have ignited since he’d walked back into her life.

      “Thanks for taking me out tonight,” she told him, ignoring everything else and saying the one thing she needed him to hear. “I feel like I’ve been alone for a really long time, and it’s nice to just get out of the house and have fun.”

      The taxi was waiting for them, and he opened the door for her to slide in before sitting beside her.

      “Here’s to a good night,” he said, covering her knee with his hand.

      But as soon as he did it, he backed off. Fast. Because the way he looked at her, the way she couldn’t help but look back at him when he touched her, must have scared him as much as it damn well terrified her.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      “THIS FEELS WEIRD,” Jamie said as they walked through the door of the bar.

      Brett couldn’t have agreed more. He felt like they were on a date, the two of them heading out for the evening, and it didn’t help that he was thinking things he wished he wasn’t about Jamie. The music was loud but not overpowering, and because it was still early it wasn’t completely packed with people yet.

      He looked around for Logan, desperate to see him. Once they found him, he could go get some drinks, leave the pair of them to catch up and deal with getting his head in the right space. It was bad enough that he’d spent the day before with Jamie, but seeing her again tonight was too much, too soon.

      “There he is.”

      Jamie was leaning into him, talking into his ear over the noise and the music. He looked where she was pointing, groaning as she took hold of his hand. He got it; she was probably nervous about being out on the town without her husband, was reaching to him for support. But the way he was feeling right now, he didn’t need her hand thrust into his, fingers interlaced as she walked slightly ahead of him toward Logan.

      When they reached him Brett pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair instead. He needed to get it together, and fast. Logan would notice straight away if anything was going on, and he didn’t want to be interrogated by anyone—especially not his best mate. Logan would be the first person to call him to task if he knew even the half of what he’d been thinking.

      “Hey, Jamie.” Logan jumped off the bar stool and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a big hug.

      When he let go, Brett stepped forward and greeted him, grabbing hold of one of his hands and slapping him on the back at the same time. They hadn’t seen each other in months.

      “How are you, stranger?”

      Brett shrugged. “Better now I’ve seen you.”

      They stared at one another, so much unsaid, but it only lasted a moment. Logan knew what had happened, would be the only person in Brett’s life who would ever come close to understanding what he’d experienced, although even he couldn’t imagine how disturbing it had been, how violent. They hadn’t seen each other in a long while, had a lot of catching up to do.

      Brett shook off his thoughts. “What are we drinking? My shout.”

      “Start with a beer or straight to bourbon?” Logan asked.

      Jamie laughed, and Brett angled his body to better include her. He’d been so wound up in seeing Logan again that he’d almost forgotten about her. Brett touched his palm to her back, moving her forward between them and taking a step back to make room for her.

      “I think we’ll start with beer. How about you?”

      Jamie smiled. “Um, maybe a cocktail for me.”

      Logan raised his eyebrows and Brett laughed. “So maybe we’ll start with bourbon then, if you’re hitting the strong stuff straight away.”

      Jamie leaned over the counter to reach for a menu. “It’s been a looong time since I’ve been out. Can’t you tell? The only cocktail I can think of is a Cosmopolitan from Sex and the City, but there must be something else....”

      “Long Island iced teas,” Logan announced. “Three of them.”

      Jamie pushed her shoulders up, shrugging, an innocent expression on her face. Brett needed to warn her.

      “They’re kind of potent,” he said.

      Her smile was sweet enough to make him feel dirty for admiring her cleavage when she leaned forward.

      “Lucky I have you two to look after me then, huh?” She put an arm around each of them, her smile infectious. “I need a night of just having fun, so order away, boys. I’m in.”

      Brett did as he was told and watched her walk off with Logan, looking for a quieter, more comfortable place to sit. They all had a lot to talk about, or maybe they didn’t. Maybe tonight was about letting Jamie have fun without feeling guilty, just being there for her and making sure she had a good time and got home safely at the end of the evening.

      He just had to remind himself that he would have plenty to be guilty about if he ever let himself give in to the way he was feeling about her. Brett paid for the drinks and stuffed his wallet back in his pocket, before carrying their drinks to the table. He could see Jamie leaning toward Logan, talking, touching his shoulder as they discussed something that had her smiling. Logan was rock-solid, the perfect guy to be spending time with Jamie, because he would honor his word and never do anything that would jeopardize their friendship or the one he’d had with Sam. Trouble was, it wasn’t Logan who was spending time with Jamie, because he was still working.

      “Drink up,” he announced, placing the tall glasses on the table and sitting down beside Jamie.

      The way she looked at him took him by surprise, made him hope that Logan hadn’t noticed it, but maybe he was just being

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