Read Online Fierce Protector: Hard to Handle trilogy, Book 1 by Janine Kane - Free Book Online
Authors: Janine Kane
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fluttering at her own sudden audacity. Oh God, please don’t be offended.
Zack stopped grilling for a moment, looked at Eva and said, “It’s a very beautiful country. Especially in the winter. If things were better there,” he said rather heavily, “it would be a tourist hotspot.” More steaks hit the grill with an impressive burst of flame. “With the situation so unstable, it’s hard to see where development money might come from. We’ve certainly thrown enough cash at the place, but it doesn’t seem to have done much good.”
“Do you think you’ll be going back?” she asked.
Zack managed to laugh, shaking his head. “Forgive the profanity, Eva, but hell no!” She giggled, finding that her fingertips had landed on his upper arm for some reason. “They’ve had quite enough of me. I left the service at the end of my last tour there, and there ain’t no way they’re pulling me back in,” he said, mimicking Al Pacino’s gathered fists.
“Trish’s daddy was in the service, back when we were kids,” Eva told him. Aiming for a medium-rare steak this time, Zack flipped the meat a little earlier than before. “They transferred him down here to Laughlin Air Force Base where she says he was helping to train pilots.”
“Yeah, it’s a big training facility,” Zack remembered. “I think I probably flew in and out of every military base in the country at some point.” He mimed this shuttling back and forth, his face capturing the exasperation - experienced by so many in the armed forces - of ceaseless change and uncertainty. “What about you, how come you’re down here?”
The steaks were done; Zack threw the remaining franks onto the grill. “Well, I guess I’m just . . .” She paused, looking up at him, willing to tell him about herself after his own openness and honesty, but somehow scared that he’d judge her. It would be easy to sound like a rootless vagrant, but she quickly reminded herself that her life’s journey had, thus far, largely been decided by others. “I was born near Chicago and we lived in different places in Illinois growing up, but in the last couple of years, most of my reasons for being there disappeared.”
“I know what you mean,” Zack said compassionately. “Sutherland is getting less attractive by the week.”
Without thinking, Eva said, “You’re not going to up and leave right after I’ve met you, are you?”
He chuckled, that carefree sound, deep and resonant, like a California redwood laughing. “Not likely,” he explained. “I have friends here, my doctors are all in San Antonio, and I haven’t finished renovating my house.”
“You don’t look like you need a doctor.”
Zack raised an eyebrow. Eva immediately loved this curiously amused facial expression; she began to think up ways to provoke it. “If you could see my lungs, you’d think different,” he confided. “I was involved in an explosion, and the pressure wave just beat the hell out of my respiratory system.” Eva was thunderstruck, yet again. “They did some repairs and I was very lucky. These days, I run more to exercise my lungs than my legs.”
“Is that why you left? You were injured?” she asked quietly.
Zack used tongs to transfer the last franks to the serving plate Eva held for him. “That, and other things. Four combat tours was enough. Plus, I wasn’t sure any more that we were doing the right thing in Afghanistan.” He seemed comfortable enough discussing these things, Eva noted, but she was very wary of opening old wounds, both the psychological and the physical.
They walked together back into the house, where Tyler was near inconsolable following a calamitous fifth inning. In the kitchen, Eva leaned close and said, “I’m sorry if it upsets you to talk about what happened over there. I don’t mean to.”
Zack turned, and what Eva saw simply melted her heart. It was the most beautifully serene, compassionately forgiving smile. It seemed to come from
Zack stopped grilling for a moment, looked at Eva and said, “It’s a very beautiful country. Especially in the winter. If things were better there,” he said rather heavily, “it would be a tourist hotspot.” More steaks hit the grill with an impressive burst of flame. “With the situation so unstable, it’s hard to see where development money might come from. We’ve certainly thrown enough cash at the place, but it doesn’t seem to have done much good.”
“Do you think you’ll be going back?” she asked.
Zack managed to laugh, shaking his head. “Forgive the profanity, Eva, but hell no!” She giggled, finding that her fingertips had landed on his upper arm for some reason. “They’ve had quite enough of me. I left the service at the end of my last tour there, and there ain’t no way they’re pulling me back in,” he said, mimicking Al Pacino’s gathered fists.
“Trish’s daddy was in the service, back when we were kids,” Eva told him. Aiming for a medium-rare steak this time, Zack flipped the meat a little earlier than before. “They transferred him down here to Laughlin Air Force Base where she says he was helping to train pilots.”
“Yeah, it’s a big training facility,” Zack remembered. “I think I probably flew in and out of every military base in the country at some point.” He mimed this shuttling back and forth, his face capturing the exasperation - experienced by so many in the armed forces - of ceaseless change and uncertainty. “What about you, how come you’re down here?”
The steaks were done; Zack threw the remaining franks onto the grill. “Well, I guess I’m just . . .” She paused, looking up at him, willing to tell him about herself after his own openness and honesty, but somehow scared that he’d judge her. It would be easy to sound like a rootless vagrant, but she quickly reminded herself that her life’s journey had, thus far, largely been decided by others. “I was born near Chicago and we lived in different places in Illinois growing up, but in the last couple of years, most of my reasons for being there disappeared.”
“I know what you mean,” Zack said compassionately. “Sutherland is getting less attractive by the week.”
Without thinking, Eva said, “You’re not going to up and leave right after I’ve met you, are you?”
He chuckled, that carefree sound, deep and resonant, like a California redwood laughing. “Not likely,” he explained. “I have friends here, my doctors are all in San Antonio, and I haven’t finished renovating my house.”
“You don’t look like you need a doctor.”
Zack raised an eyebrow. Eva immediately loved this curiously amused facial expression; she began to think up ways to provoke it. “If you could see my lungs, you’d think different,” he confided. “I was involved in an explosion, and the pressure wave just beat the hell out of my respiratory system.” Eva was thunderstruck, yet again. “They did some repairs and I was very lucky. These days, I run more to exercise my lungs than my legs.”
“Is that why you left? You were injured?” she asked quietly.
Zack used tongs to transfer the last franks to the serving plate Eva held for him. “That, and other things. Four combat tours was enough. Plus, I wasn’t sure any more that we were doing the right thing in Afghanistan.” He seemed comfortable enough discussing these things, Eva noted, but she was very wary of opening old wounds, both the psychological and the physical.
They walked together back into the house, where Tyler was near inconsolable following a calamitous fifth inning. In the kitchen, Eva leaned close and said, “I’m sorry if it upsets you to talk about what happened over there. I don’t mean to.”
Zack turned, and what Eva saw simply melted her heart. It was the most beautifully serene, compassionately forgiving smile. It seemed to come from
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