“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” There was nothing condescending about what he was asking. He was worriedand given the state she’d been in ten minutes ago, it was understandable he’d be concerned with her driving.
After an attack, she was normally so shaky that she wouldn’t even consider walking, let alone driving. While this attack had been bad, there were no tremors rippling through her. Her hands were steady, and she knew if she took a few steps, she wouldn’t face-plant on the ground.
“I am.”
“Good enough for me, but how about we talk the whole way to your place?” Dalton suggested.
“How exactly are we going to do that with me in my car and you in yours?”
Dalton shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “If you’re comfortable giving me your phone, I’ll put my number in it.”
Steff expected him to hold his hand out in an imperious way, but she should’ve known better. Nothing Dalton had done all evening had been overbearing. If anything, he’d been gentle and sweet, so at odds with his muscular I-don’t-take-shit-from-anyone physique, and job.
Was she seeing the real Dalton, or was he putting on an act to lull her into a false sense of security?
No, he wasn’t like that. She may not know him well, but prior to her kidnapping, she’d been around enough egotistical men who believed nothing about them stunk, and everyone should bow at their feet. He wasn’t giving that vibe at all.
Besides, Teresa knew that Dalton was going to follow her home, if she didn’t trust him, she would’ve forced the issue of taking Steff home herself.
“Sure, my stuff is inside, I think?” Steff couldn’t recall what she’d done with it once she’d arrived, which made her earlier attempt at escaping a joke. She wouldn’t have gotten far if she didn’t have her purse.
“Let’s go look, and we’ll get you sorted.”
Dalton made no attempt to hold her hand or even touch her, but she felt the shadow of his hand on her lower back, there, ready to help her should she need it.
Steff liked that feeling a lot.
Chapter Four
The blareof his alarm jolted Jag awake. He groaned and fell back against his pillow. His sleep had been erratic, like it had been the past three nights, ever since little Angelica’s birthday party.
He kept having dreams of finding Steff in the corner of the room that had been set up in a large shipping container. Remembering how broken she’d been and still was in some respects.
Was it normal for her to have two panic attacks like she had at the party?
He hadn’t wanted to ask her for fear of triggering another one.
Even though he’d said he would talk to her the whole way to her place, after an initial couple of questions, they’d settled into a comfortable silence, broken up by the sound of their turn signals when they used them.
After he’d parked out the front of her apartment building, he’d waited for her to appear at the locked front door. They’d agreed that he would meet her there and she would buzz him in so that he could escort her upstairs.
What he’d really wanted to do was meet her in the parking garage, because someone could’ve been waiting for her. She’d told him that the area was well lit, and her spot was right by the elevator.
Steff had allowed him to accompany her inside her private space for him to check it out. She hadn’t thought he was being over the top, in fact, it looked as though she was relieved that he’d done it. He also didn’t say anything about how her place was lit up like a Christmas tree with every single light on. He could guess why she did it, and he couldn’t blame her.
There’d been an awkward moment as they’d stood by her front door after his sweep of her home. He’d wanted to ask her out, but didn’t think that it was the right time. Or if he should. Instead, he’d told her to have a good night, and he’d let himself out.
She’d sent him a text the next morning to thank him for all he’d done, but that was it. There hadn’t been any other contact.
Jag should leave it alone. His presence had to bring up bad memories for her. It was probably being around him and the team that had triggered her panic attacks.
Throwing back his covers, he pushed thoughts of Steff from his mind. He had to meet his friends for their morning PT and then head into the office. Traffic was always a bitch, but he’d gotten used to getting caught up in morning traffic snarls.
He should try and find a place nearer to the office, but he was close to the beach, and seeing as he loved being near the water, he would deal with his daily commute.
Twenty minutes later, he was stretching in the sand when the rest of the guys turned up. They gave each other a chin lift and set off down the beach for their run. They’d do three miles, then they’d hit the ocean and battle the waves for another three miles. After that, they’d hit the sand and do some pushups, sit-ups, burpees, and other gut-breaking exercises.
It wasn’t anything they weren’t used to, they’d done this and more when they’d been SEALs.
