Page 5 of Finding Carly
He stopped mid-stoop and looked up at her. He slowly straightened. “Getting ready for bed.”
“Here?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Yes.”
Short and to the point. No beating around the bush.
“Oh. Okay.” What else could she say? Jag needed rest, and if he wanted to sleep in her bed, she wasn’t going to say no.
He finished taking off his boots and socks and strode toward her bed still wearing his cargo pants. He reached out to lift the sheet and she blurted, “You aren’t going to take your pants off?”
His lips twitched, but he shook his head. “No. I feel more comfortable with them on.”
Carly blinked in surprise. He didn’t sayshewould feel more comfortable if he left them on, but thathewould. She didn’t get a chance to say anything else before he was suddenly lying next to her. Then, without asking, he reached for her and hauled her against his side.
She found her cheek resting on his chest, and the skin-on-skin contact felt so good. Snuggling into him, Carly tentatively rested her arm across his belly. She felt Jag’s stomach tighten for a moment, before he lay a hand on her forearm and let out a long breath.
“You have no idea how good this feels,” Jag said softly.
“Long mission?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Again. One word said it all.
“I’m proud of you,” he said after a moment.
Carly huffed out a small laugh.
“I am,” he insisted. “Your text was the best thing I’ve ever read. I’m too tired to talk right now, but we’re gonna find him, Carly. You’re gonna get your life back. I swear on it.”
Carly closed her eyes and did her best not to burst into tears. She’d felt broken for so long. So unlike the Carly she used to be. And she hated it. She did want her life back. It scared her to death, but she couldn’t live like she had been for much longer. Hiding out, panicking over every little sound. Scared of her own shadow.
If anyone could help her, it was Jag. She knew that down to the tips of her toes.
“Okay.”
“Sleep, Carly,” Jag ordered. And there was no doubt itwasan order.
Carly smiled. When was the last time she’d smiled about anything? She couldn’t remember. “Yes, sir,” she quipped.
“I’m here. You’re safe. Nothing and no one’s getting through me to get to you,” he added.
His words settled in her soul. Carly was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, even though being in his arms was one of the most comfortable places she’d ever been in her life, but she nodded anyway.
Jag’s thumb brushed back and forth over her forearm rhythmically. To her surprise, her muscles relaxed and her eyes closed.
“That’s it, angel. I’ve got you.”
“Jag?” Carly mumbled.
“Right here.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“Nothing would’ve kept me away,” he said.
Carly could’ve sworn she felt him kiss her forehead, but decided she was hallucinating. Jag had never crossed a line between them. Had always treated her like a friend, a buddy.
