Soft Place to Fall (Navy Book 4)

Chapter 14

Carmen waited for half an hour before figuring that she had given Will enough time to have his conversation with Josh, and it was time to get her answers. It was her life on the line and they worked for her, she wasn't going to let some ex-military man and a cowboy tell her what she could and couldn't do. She threw open the door, ready to demand that Will talk to her, expecting to find resistance.

"What took you so long?" Will asked, looking up from his phone, and it took all of the wind from her sails. He was sitting at the breakfast bar, which had been cleaned, and there was a file with papers and photos surrounding him.

She moved closer looking over his shoulder and found that the folder was all about her and her mother, and there were also other photos of a man she didn't recognize and the ranch in Texas. Some of the photos were the ones that had been taken in her apartment without her knowledge, and of those there were a few that she would have preferred Will not see. She crossed her arms defensively. "I didn't expect Josh to share those photos with anyone."

Will looked up from a piece of paper that looked to be a list of some sort, and regarded her with an absent-minded frown before looking at the photos she was talking about. She expected one of his famous one-liners but instead he set the paper he was looking at in front of her.

"Your mother's rap sheet. She appears to have lived quite a life," he said, ignoring the comment about the photos. Her eyes glanced anxiously from him to the photos again, unwilling to let it go. She was surprised when he reached for a manila envelope and stacked the photos upside down sliding them in before sealing it shut. "Here," he said as he handed her the envelope.

"Are they all there," she asked, fighting the urge to rip it open and check.

"I don't know, that would be a question for Josh, but he's not in the habit of keeping nude photos of women lying around. No matter how beautiful the woman."

Carmen blushed, from both the beautiful comment and the gentle reprimand for insulting Josh. Men called her beautiful all the time but not when she was naked, and the fact that the compliment came from Will, and that it meant so much, disturbed her.

"I wasn't worried so much about Josh." Carmen wished it back as soon as she had said it.

Will's face remained emotionless as he regarded her, letting his eyes fall to her lips before they wandered back up to her eyes. She stopped breathing as she saw a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. She felt like she was drowning.

She jumped when he spoke again. "I don't need a photo, I have the real thing, and trust me when I say that the real thing is much better than a photo."  He stood abruptly breaking the tense moment. "Go place the photos somewhere safe and then come back here and I'll catch you up on everything. I have a plan."

Carmen didn't hesitate to break away and head for the bedroom. She stowed the photos in her bag and then took a deep breath. She thought charming Will was sexy, but serious Will was more than sexy, he was intense. She knew charming Will was in there somewhere, but she had a feeling that Will was all business now and she wouldn't see that side of him for a while.

When she returned to the living area he was pacing with his arms folded across his massive chest. It was as if he was a caged animal that had too much energy and he couldn't get rid of it. It made Carmen nervous as she sat down at the breakfast bar, silently watching him.

"I'll start at the beginning." He looked at Carmen waiting her to respond with a nod and when she did he continued. "I was called a week ago by Josh and asked if I could give him a few weeks to help him with a job he had. I told him that I could and he sent me to the ranch in Austin with very few details. All he would tell me was that a friend of a friend needed...babysitting." He paused before he said the last word, knowing Carmen would take offense, and she did.