Seeing how Steff had looked as if those very people were chasing her and were going to take her at a little girl’s birthday party had him wishing all over again that he could pound the shit out of them.
“Whoa, who peed on your cake?” Fox, his team leader and best friend, teased him.
“No one.” He grabbed a bottle of sparkling water for Steff. His hand hovered over the bottles of beer nestled in the ice but grabbed a can of soda instead.
“Are you sure? Because I’m thinking if you had your weapon in your hand, you’d be caressing the trigger, itching to depress it. Talk to me, Jag.”
Jag glanced over to where he’d left Steff with Teresa. Even from where he was, the rigidness of her shoulders, the way her lips were pressed together, and the way she kept digging her fingers into her legs, showed she was still struggling.
For a few moments, while they’d been talking, her panic had receded. He thought she’d be okay with Teresa, it looked as though he’d been wrong.
“I’m okay, I need to get back to Steff.”
Fox looked at where he indicated. He turned pensive and glanced between him and Steff a couple more times before he nodded as if he understood what was going on without Jag having to say a word.
“Got it. Whatever you’re thinking, tread lightly.” Fox grabbed a beer and headed over to where Deal and Hound stood, along with Isaac and his partner Marie, and Julian and his wife Lilith.
Out of everyone at the party, Dalton and his team were the only single guys. But that was okay, it made doing what they did a little easier knowing that if something happened to them, they wouldn’t be leaving a broken heart behind.
Yet, the way the guys who were with the loves of their lives had someone to come home to, he had to wonder if risking his heart again was worth it or not.
Once had been traumatic enough. When he’d been a SEAL, the tears from his former girlfriend every time he told her he was being deployed had always messed with his head his first day on a mission. In the end, breaking up with her had been the hardest and easiest thing he’d done.
Today wasn’t the time to be thinking about something that had happened years ago. It was the past, and that was where it needed to stay.
He grabbed a plastic glass and scooped some ice in it, in case Steff wanted her water to be icy cold.
“Here you go, one sparkling water.” He placed the bottle and cup on the table. “Shit, Teresa, I didn’t think to ask if you wanted anything. Can I get you something?”
Teresa shook her head. “I’m good. I need to go check to see if the food is ready, then it will be time for cake. Wait until you taste it, it’s divine and the frosting, chef’s kiss, which it should be considering Astrid made it.” She laughed at her own joke and got up to head into the house.
Jag sat. “I guess the cake is that good.”
Like the other time he talked about the cake, Steff’s lips twitched, but this time a little laugh burst out of her. Her shadowed blue eyes widened as if the sound shocked her. “I guess so.”
A spark of pleasure ignited within him at the joy showing on Steff’s face. “Teresa’s right though, everything Astrid makes is amazing. Did you watch her show? She’s taking a break because of the twins. I think she only does half the amount of shows she used to do before having the kids.”
“I haven’t, but I’m sure I can find reruns somewhere.” Steff ducked her head, and her blonde hair fell across her face, as if she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen Astrid on TV.
He wanted to brush it back so he could see her face, but he kept his hands firmly around his soda can. He didn’t have to have a degree in rocket science to know that she’d endured something horrible at the hands of her kidnappers.
He made a mental note to find out what he could about her friend, Cynthia, who’d been taken with her.
Were they still friends?
Had Teresa invited her today and she hadn’t been able to come because she didn’t like being around groups of people, like Steff?
As much as he wanted to ask Steff about her, he didn’t. She was starting to look relaxed, and he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize the peace that she was feeling. Instead, he’d stick to what they’d been talking about.
“If you can’t find reruns of her show on one of the food networks, there are plenty of videos on You Tube, that’s where she got started. I think if Growler had his way, he’d like her to stop doing the show.”
“That’s a bit sexist and old fashioned, isn’t it? She shouldn’t have to give up her career just because she had kids.”
If Growler heard what he’d said, his friend and colleague would slap the back of his head for being a jerk. “No, I don’t mean it that way. He’s very proud of her and the show, but he knows the toll it takes on her. It’s arduous shooting the show, even with the reduced amount of episodes. Because of contract commitments, she had to do the show while she was pregnant with the twins. There was one time when she slipped and fell. The babies were fine, but it turned Growler even more protective of his wife. Like me, he’s…” Jag swallowed the rest of his words. No way did Steff need to hear about how, with their past and current jobs, they’d seen the scum of the earth and the horrible things they could do.
Steff had first-hand knowledge.
“You’ve what?” Steff canted her head to the side in interest.
