Chapter 3

Rocky walkedalong the sidewalk connecting his driveway to Raegan's. With each booted step he took, he tried like hell to figure out why he felt so nervous.

It wasn't as if this was a date. Not like pizza and wings screamed romance. The adorable woman had only invited him over as a thank-you for helping fix a clogged pipe.

That was it.

Nothing more.

But as he grew closer to her rented home, Rocky couldn't seem to kick the unfamiliar feeling swirling deep inside his gut.

He didn't get nervous. He was former Air Force Special Recon, for Christ's sake. And yet, the tiny bit of a woman somehow made him feel like a dorky teenager with a crush.

Raegan didn't ask you over as a date, remember?

He liked that name. Liked everything about her, really. What he knew of her, anyway. And the extent of that list pretty much amounted to zilch.

Rocky knew the woman's first name. Where she lived, of course, and that she worked at a bank not too far from Delta Team's office. Other than that—and the fact that Raegan knew Jack squat about basic plumbing—he knew absolutely nothing about her.

And yet, you're about to enter her home for the second time today so the two of you can have dinner together.

Biting his back teeth together, he reminded his annoying inner voice that Raegan was merely being nice. And the only reason he knew anything at all was because he happened to be home when she'd come to him for help.

Rocky's gut tightened, and his dick twitched as he thought back to the moment he first saw her. He'd been hammering away when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. His hammering stopped. He'd glanced that way. And then…

And then I saw an angel.

Only Raegan wasn't an angel. She was his new neighbor who'd apparently moved in while he and the other members of Delta Team were in Mexico rescuing hostages.

Rocky had to admit he'd initially been disappointed to see the dark blue Subaru Crosstrek sitting in her drive. The rental had sat empty for as long as he'd owned his house. He'd gotten used to having this section of the neighborhood to himself.

But as far as next-door neighbors went, he could've done much, much worse.

Looks aren't everything, Rock. Not even close.

No, looks weren't everything. But he sure as hell wasn't going to complain.

Reaching for the door, Rocky raised his fist but hesitated to knock. Glancing down at his other hand—and the lame excuse for dessert he'd been stuck bringing—he gave his head a frustrated shake and drew in a cleansing breath.

And then…he knocked.

Like most homes on their street, Raegan's had a traditional, craftsman-style door. Complete with dentil shelves positioned beneath a row of small, decorative glass panes, the wood-stained entryway fit the small home's simplistic style perfectly.

Dude. You've been watching way too many home-improvement shows on your down time if you're standing here thinking about a damn door instead of the woman behind it.

Actually, he was trying very hard not to think of the woman whose safe haven was behind that damn door. Because, again, this was simply a shared meal between two neighbors in an effort to get to know one another better.

Nothing more.

The sounds of footfalls sounded from the other side of the overly appreciated door, and Rocky felt his spine tingle in anticipation.

Yeah, you're right. Nothing to see here, folks. Not at all to?—

The door swung open, and just as suddenly as Raegan's beautiful face appeared, Rocky lost the ability to breathe.

"Hey." She greeted him with a warm, welcoming smile.

Unlike earlier, when she'd been squinting against the sun, he could clearly make out the golds and browns of her mesmerizing gaze. And while she stood with one hand on the door and the other hanging loosely at her side, he found all he could do was stare.

Fucking beautiful.

Having changed out of her jean shorts and tank, Raegan was now wearing a white summer dress covered in tiny pink flowers. Thin straps held the garment in place, and the snug bodice showcased a set of perky breasts and a tiny, narrow waist. The bottom portion of the dress fluttered out just a touch, with its hem stopping at a respectable length an inch or two below her knees.

With her toned arms left fully exposed, it was easy to see the woman kept herself in good physical shape. Something a man like him could appreciate, given how rigorous his own workout schedule was.

Like before, her long, ash-blonde hair hung over one of her delicate shoulders. But rather than the silken tendrils being tucked into a woven braid, she'd left the locks loose and free. Add to that the light touch of makeup accenting her eyes, cheeks, and lips, and Rocky couldn't deny the truth of what he was seeing.

She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Raegan looked like innocence wrapped in sin, and it took every ounce of strength he had not to pull her to him and taste those shimmering lips.

"You gonna come inside, or were you hoping to take your food to-go?"

The lighthearted quip snapped him back into focus.

"Sorry, I…" Rocky met her gaze, and damn if he didn't almost lose the ability to speak. And when he did finally get his ass in gear enough to string along a complete sentence, the first thing that popped into his head was, "I brought cookies."

As if that wasn't bad enough, he actually held up his meager offering for her to see. Raegan's golden gaze fell on the royal blue package gripped in his fist, and half a beat later, he heard a decidedly unladylike snort.

"Oreos?" Her incredible stare shone bright with laughter. "Really?"

A rush of heat instantly crawled up the back of his neck. "Yeah, about that. I may or may not have forgotten to turn on the oven's timer when I put the brownies inside."

"Oh, no." A look of empathy crossed over her pretty face. "Did they burn?"

"To a crisp."

Raegan's shoulders shook with a round of soft laughter, the effect on his system taking him completely off-guard. He'd noticed the sexy rasp marking her sweet voice, but hearing her laugh…

The tantalizing sound made his heart do all sorts of funny things.

"Come on in." She opened the door wider, stepping back a broad step to give him plenty of room to enter. "Unless you really did want to take your pizza and wings to go."

"No, no." He flashed her a sideways grin. "I'm here for the duration. I just hope you like the Thins." Rocky gave the package of cookies a partial shake as he stepped past.

"They're my favorite ones, actually." Raegan shut the door behind him.

"Really?"

"No." She shut and locked the door before turning to him. "I like the Double-Stuffed. But I mean, they're Oreos, so can you really go wrong with any of them?"

With a deep chuckle, Rocky couldn't keep from asking, "You planning on holding me prisoner?"

The smile vanished from her face, and her brows dipped toward the bridge of her nose. "What?"

A strange look crossed over her when he motioned toward the locks. But then?—

"Oh!" She released a nervous laugh. "Sorry. Habit." Her throat worked a quick swallow before Raegan offered, "I'm happy to unlock them, if it makes you uncomfortable."

Something about that look told him otherwise. It also had every one of his protective instincts flaring to life.

Maybe that's her reason for staying so fit. Maybe she's had some sort of horrible experience and decided to keep herself in fighting shape. Just in case.

The sculpted shoulders and arms he was staring at now…the toned thighs he'd noticed earlier when she'd been wearing those fantasy-inspiring shorts…

Rocky wasn't ignorant enough to think self-preservation was the only motivation for a woman to stay in shape. Same as him, they worked out for all sorts of reasons.

But when he put that together with the extra locks—not to mention the glimpse of whatever it was he'd just seen in her unique gaze—he couldn't help but wonder if she was in some sort of trouble.

She did seem more than a little interested in your job when you were here earlier. Maybe she was asking about where you worked because she's in need of protection, herself.

Or maybe Raegan was simply an intelligent woman who took her own protection seriously and was genuinely curious to learn more about him.

This was what Rocky told himself, even as he told her, "I was only kidding." He purposely let his smile grow wide. "Locked is fine."

Though it was only for a fraction of a second, he could've sworn he saw a flash of relief behind her unique gaze. But then those same eyes glimmered as Raegan turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Guess I deserved that." Her glossy lips lifted at one corner. "I mean, so far, I've made fun of your name and choice of dessert and all within hours of meeting you. Not to mention practically begging you to come help with my nasty, gooey sink."

"Everyone laughs at my name," Rocky claimed as he followed. "And I did try passing off pre-packaged cookies as dessert."

Her sexy, husky laugh was the best kind of reward.

"And the sink?" Raegan shot him a wince from over her shoulder as they entered the home's small kitchen.

"The sink was pretty nasty, and there was a definite presence of goo." He sat the cookies down on the counter to his right. "But you didn't beg."

And as far as I'm concerned, a woman like you should never have to beg. Not for a single damn thing.

Rocky wasn't sure where the overbearing thought had come from, but he thought of those damn locks, and he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Still, I really do appreciate your help, and I'm totally cool with having Oreos for dessert. Like, for real."

"Well, that's good because the brownies I made were so hard, they'd probably withstand the weight of this house."

Another spine-tingling rasp laced Raegan's laugh as she picked up two pizza boxes from the island, stacked two paper plates on top of those, and tipped her head toward the black plastic container still there.

"Can you grab the napkins and wings? We'll have to take these into the living room since I don't have a dining room table yet."

"Napkins and wings." Rocky grabbed the warm container of wings and the small stack of napkins next to it. "Copy that."

From the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw a slight stutter in Raegan's step. But when he looked at her more fully, he found she was already disappearing into the other room.

Quit looking for shit that isn't there, dumbass.

For once, he decided to listen to his subconscious and focused on the facts as he knew them. And those were that his pretty new neighbor had invited him over for a non-date dinner, and he'd accepted.

With any luck, through nothing more than casual conversation, he'd discover his concerns were totally unfounded, and Raegan was perfectly fine. But something Rocky knew better than most…

Being safe is little more than an illusion.

"So…" The gorgeous enigma put the pizzas down on the basic wooden coffee table. "I kind of forgot to ask earlier what you liked on your pizza, and I didn't think about it until I was already online making the order."

Rocky hoped his smile put her worries at ease. "It's okay. I'm not picky."

"I would have gone back over to ask, but I didn't want to interrupt you again, so I just went ahead and got the ones I usually go for." Leaning over the large boxes, Raegan opened one and then the other.

"A beautiful woman who likes Pepperoni and all-meat pizzas." Rocky slid his focus from the pizzas back to her. "How are you still single?"

The presumptuous question slipped right from his tongue, but before he could do damage control and try to take them back, he heard two words that nearly made his heart fall to his feet…

"I'm not."

He froze save for his wide, blinking eyes. "What?"

"In fact…" Raegan glanced over his shoulder at the locked door behind him. "My husband should be home any minute."

Feeling completely taken aback by the serious look on her gorgeous face, Rocky opened his mouth to respond, but nothing seemed to come out. Clamping his jaw shut, his mind raced to come up with a plausible, appropriate response.

The best he could come up with on the fly was a rambling, "Oh. I thought..." No, you assumed, asshole. "I didn't realize you were…I mean, not that it matters. It's not like this is a date or anything. Obviously, you know it's not a date, I just meant…that's cool." He shot a quick glance at the door from over his shoulder. "Uh…when did you say he'd be coming ho?—"

Rich, slightly rough laughter filled the room, and it took Rocky a full two seconds to realize…

I've just been played.

Blowing out a long, deep breath, Rocky set the wings and napkins down next to the pizzas and plates. With an appreciative nod and a sideways grin, he told her, "You've got jokes. I'll have to keep that in mind."

"I'm sorry." Raegan's unapologetic laugh said otherwise. "I couldn't resist."

"No, that was good. You, uh…" Rocky rubbed the muscles at the back of his flushed neck. "You got me."

And for some damn reason, that fact made him like her even more.

"The surprising woman's laughter slowly dissipated as she told him, "Help yourself to the food. I'll go grab us some drinks." As she passed by him, Raegan began listing off what she had to offer. "I have bottled water, tea, diet soda…"

"Water's fine."

After hammering away in the sun all damn day, his body could definitely use the extra hydration.

He picked up a plate and topped it with a slice from each box plus four of the boneless buffalo wings. A slight burn filled his nostrils as he got his first good whiff of the spicy sauce, and his empty stomach rumbled in excited anticipation.

"Thanks again for all this." He sat down on one end of the beige, three-cushioned couch.

"My pleasure." Raegan returned from the kitchen carrying two brand-new bottles of water. "Here ya go."

The bottle felt cold and slightly damp against his palm as he took the offered drink. But it was the exhilarating spark he felt when their fingers inadvertently touched that left Rocky feeling even more out of sorts than before.

What the hell was that?

He'd felt that same titillating zing of electricity before, when he'd been here earlier, and Raegan had handed him the plastic tool case from beneath her sink. And just now, her fingertips had barely even feathered along his skin, and yet he'd felt a rush of…something…the instant the innocent contact had been made.

It was an odd sensation, and he couldn't recall ever having felt it with anyone. But as she placed a slice of pepperoni and some wings onto her plate, Rocky remembered the locks and the looks, and he couldn't ignore the urge to make sure there was nothing to worry about where her safety was concerned.

"So." Rocky took his own advice and got the ball rolling. "We've firmly established you're single," he began. "Ever been married?"

Raegan grabbed the piece of pizza from her plate and shook her head. "Nope. You?"

Guess we can cross crazy ex-husband off the list.

"Not yet," he answered truthfully.

Curiosity filled her pretty stare. "Yet?" She waited until she'd swallowed the bite she'd just taken before asking, "But you want that? Marriage and kids and all that jazz?"

"Maybe. Someday. If I met the right woman, that is." When she didn't offer up her opinion on the matter, Rocky asked, "What about you? You ever thought about it?"

Raegan took a sip of her water and gave a tiny shrug. "I used to."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm not so sure."

"Why is that?" He waited patiently for her to chew and swallow the boneless wing she'd just popped into her mouth.

"Oh, you know what they say…" She wiped some dark orange sauce from her lips. "We make plans, and God laughs."

Isn't that the fucking truth?

"Have you ever come close?" He continued with what he hoped she saw as typical get-to-know-you conversation. "To marriage, I mean."

The tips of her long locks swayed with a shake of her head. "Like I said, I was always too busy with other things."

"And now?"

"Now…" Her bare shoulders fell with a sigh. "Now, my focus is still on other things."

"Such as?"

Raegan turned her head his way, and the breath froze inside his lungs. Despite being on opposite ends of the couch, he could see the same specks of brown floating in her brilliant gaze. For a second, Rocky thought she was going to really open up to him.

Instead, she plastered on a wide, friendly smile and said, "Work, unpacking boxes, and dealing with the garbage disposal from hell."

To anyone else, Raegan's response—and smiling expression—would probably come off as perfectly genuine. But not to him.

He'd seen that same look before. The one Raegan was trying damn hard to conceal.

It had stared back at him countless times through others' tortured eyes. At times, he'd looked deep into it through his very own reflection.

Pain. Sorrow. Regret. Along with deeply hidden ghosts that appeared when you least expected them.

In Rocky's experience, that came from those with troubled pasts, either from harrowing experiences while serving in the military or something else.

Or someone else?

"Speaking of work…" He used her response as a natural segue into what he was about to share. "You asked me before about the firm where I work, but I don't think I ever said the name."

Rocky and his teammates weren't in the habit of announcing their place of employment to just anyone, but his gut was screaming that something wasn't quite right with the seemingly sweet woman. If Raegan was in some sort of trouble, and he could do something to help, then he was going to make damn sure she knew there was someone she could turn to.

Interest flickered across her pretty face. "No, you never said. Just that it wasn't very far from my bank."

He settled himself back against the couch cushion and crossed an ankle over one knee. Keeping his tone as light and casual as possible, Rocky gave her the general rundown of who his team was and what they did.

"I work for a company called R.I.S.C. It's pronounced ‘risk', but the letters stand for rescue, intel, security, and capture. There are four R.I.S.C. teams so far. Alpha and Bravo Teams are based out of Texas, Charlie Team is in Virginia, and I'm on Delta Team, which is obviously based here, in Chicago."

Her lashes fluttered with several surprised blinks. "R.I.S.C., huh? That sounds…a lot more exciting than home security systems."

If she'd heard of the elite private security company, she didn't show it.

"Oh, yeah." He grinned. "It is."

After a moment's hesitation, Raegan asked him, "Is what you and your team do dangerous? I mean, rescue…capture…those don't exactly sound like your run-of-the-mill security gigs."

"It can be," Rocky answered honestly. "Depending on the job."

"So earlier today, when you said you do surveillance jobs and private investigations…"

"That's true. But we also do a lot more."

"Anything you'd be willing to share?"

"Sure. I mean, I can't give you details of the jobs we've taken. Confidentiality and all that."

"Of course."

"But yeah…I mean, we've been bodyguards and aided local law enforcement in a few investigations. We've?—"

"Rescued people?" She studied him closely.

Rocky pulled in a breath, his mind wandering back to the three hostages they'd been able to save…and the one that never made it back home.

You save the ones you can.

He gave a solemn nod of his head. "Yeah. We've worked hostage rescues, kidnappings…you name it, we've pretty much seen it."

Silence filled the air around them as she presumably took a moment to process all that he'd shared.

"When I rented this place, I asked the realtor about the people living in the neighborhood. She didn't know about anyone else but mentioned she thought you used to be in the military. I'm not sure how she'd even know that, but…were you?"

"She knows because the woman who rented you this house is the same woman who used to own mine. And yes." Rocky nodded. "I was in the Air Force. Special Reconnaissance, which is like?—"

"Special forces," Raegan finished for him as if she was familiar with the job.

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess." She smiled with a light shrug.

The innocent move drew his attention to her toned shoulder, and damn if he didn't imagine his lips pressing against her silken smooth skin.

"So, yeah. That's pretty much me in a nutshell. What about y?—"

"Where'd you grow up?" Her blurted question cut him off at the pass.

They'd been talking about him for the past several minutes, and he was dying to know more about her. But as he sat there, staring back into Raegan's warm, almost beseeching gaze, he got the feeling she was using his story as a way to avoid telling hers.

Okay, sweetheart. I read you loud and clear.

She didn't want to delve into her past, fine. He was more than happy to talk about his. Well, parts of it, anyway. Because sooner or later…

I'll learn your secrets, too.