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“You know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you should be nice to Emily. If I recall, she had a husband in the military who didn’t come home.”
Tanner glanced at Desiree. That was what Emily had been referring to earlier today. Just then she came out of the kitchen. He could see from her eyes that she was tired and probably wanted to go home.
Part of him said he should apologize while the other part screamed no. He didn’t want her here. And yet he knew that was a lie as well. If she stayed, he was certain to take advantage of that sweet mouth of hers again.
“Let me worry about my relationship with Emily,” he told her. “You take care of our guests.”
“Oh no, I’m going to worry about you as well,” she said. “Frankly, I’m hoping this girl will wake up the good man inside you. I know he’s in there somewhere. He needs a good woman to show him that life is for the living and he’s still alive.”
“I left that man behind in Iraq,” Tanner said. “His body is strewn on a minefield.”
“Not funny,” Desiree said. “Don’t you think I worried every day that would happen to you? Don’t you think we said a prayer every night for your safekeeping? Not funny at all.”
With a whirl, she turned and walked away from him. Great, he’d pissed off another woman. He was really good at making women mad.
Tanner liked keeping his family at bay. This way he didn’t have to explain the scars on his soul. Battle did strange things to a person. Especially when you saw someone you cared about blown up or shot in the leg and then the Taliban finish them off before you could reach them.
War was like dying a little each day, only you were still breathing.
The only way he’d ever return to the desert would be on a suicide mission. And he would take out as many of the enemy as he could before he died.
“Excuse me,” that sweet voice he enjoyed said, bringing him back to the present. “You’re the only Burnett around and I need someone to lock the freezer for me.”
Glancing down at the petite woman who could still make his heart flitter and his dick get hard, stared up at him. Those sapphire eyes and full sweet lips were a temptation he found hard to resist.
Right now, he just wanted to pick her up and carry her out the door to his cabin. He wanted to go all caveman and keep her in his bed for a week.
“I wouldn’t bother you, but I can’t find anyone else and I’m done for the evening.”
It was a rule that the kitchen and freezer were to be locked when the cook left for the night. Mainly to keep inquisitive guests from getting into trouble. Nothing like opening up the kitchen in the morning to discover it had been raided by a guest.
“I’ve got a key,” he said. “I’ll take care of it later.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, her eyes firm. “I need to see you lock it up. I’m not leaving before you do. Don’t want to get fired for trusting the person who would love to see me terminated.”
One thing he could definitely say was that the woman had spunk. And he couldn’t blame her for not trusting him. He’d done everything possible to get her to quit.
“All right, let’s lock everything up,” he said. “Do you want a witness?”
“No, it would be your word against mine, and frankly, everyone knows you want to get rid of me, so I’d have a strong case.”
They walked into the kitchen and the urge to apologize to her was strong. He’d been wrong, but he just wasn’t ready to admit to her that she was right. Not yet. Not until he was certain his plan of urging her to leave would not work.
That was probably wrong, too, but right now, he was just trying to adjust to her being here and everyone disagreeing with him that she should leave.
Taking out his keys, he locked the freezer, and then they walked out the door of the kitchen and locked it behind him.
“Satisfied?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said. “Now I’m going to my cabin.”
“Can I walk you there?”
Why he offered, he didn’t know. But it just sprang from his lips and he wanted to see her safely home.
“No,” she said. “I don’t want to be accused of coming onto you. I’m avoiding you if you haven’t noticed.”
Unfortunately, he had.
