“No, I didn’t.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t. He was my commanding officer. I couldn’t fight him.”
“But you called him out. You pressed charges.”
She picked up the beer bottle and ran her finger over the opening. “Noah called the hotline. The one set up to report situations like mine. He found the number and placed the call. I didn’t . . . I didn’t even try.”
“Caroline,” he murmured.
The way he said her name, the pity in his voice—it was as if her past had sent a hand grenade into her second date. And if she didn’t remove it fast their evening would blow to pieces.
But she refused to pretend to be some sort of hero. Last night he’d looked at her as if he liked her just the way she was. He deserved to know the truth.
“Protocol dictated that I report the . . .” She couldn’t say the word. She stole a glance at the movie cover. She didn’t even know the story, but she knew she wasn’t the badass with the bow and arrow. And if that was why he’d spent the past year baking for her, if that was why he’d asked her out, he needed to know the truth.
“Protocol demanded that I report the incidents to my commanding officer,” she continued. “And really there was no one else. We were on a remote base in the middle of a desert. Cut off from everyone. My family. My friends. Everyone around us would take his side. Except Noah. And he . . . he found a way to report it. H
e researched the hotline. And he did everything he could to keep our CO away from me. Noah followed me like a shadow whenever he could. It didn’t stop . . . everything.”
Oh hell, I’m making a mess of our second date, she thought.
“Really,” she added softly as she raised her beer to her lips. “It was all Noah.”
“No,” he said firmly as he set his beer on the counter. “It was you. You survived. You’re still surviving.”
“I’m running,” she said flatly.
He crossed the kitchen/dining area in two strides. “Not right now.” His hand cupped her jaw, his touch featherlight and seemingly at odds with his firm tone. “Right now, you’re on a movie date.”
She let out a rough laugh. “If we start every date like this—”
“We’re getting to know each other,” he said, his thumb stroking her cheek. “Nothing wrong with that. Now I know you and my sister don’t share the same taste in movies. So we’ll watch Brody’s pick . . .”
He stepped back and she missed the feel of fingers against her skin. His right hand plucked the second DVD from the counter.
“Magic Mike,” he said.
She laughed as her lips formed a smile that would have felt impossible moments earlier. “Your big brother gave you a movie about male strippers?”
“Yeah.” Josh turned the case over and read the back. “Sorry. I didn’t look at it too closely. He said Kat liked it. After they watched it . . .” He glanced up at her. “He didn’t offer details, but he blushed. And that’s rare for Brody. But we can watch whatever is on TV. Maybe there is a reality show? You can look while I heat the pizza I picked up in town. Half cheese, half pepperoni.”
“Oh no.” She plucked the case from his hand. “We’re watching the male strippers.”
He shook his head as he turned to the small oven with a pizza box resting on top. “See, I was thinking you would go for the adventure movie. Maybe curl up in my arms and pretend to be scared. We’d both know the truth, but—”
“I’ll still curl up in your arms.” She removed the DVD and knelt down to insert it into the player. Mike had already worked his magic, banishing the serious from the conversation. “And maybe later I’ll talk you into a striptease?”
THANK YOU, CHANNING Tatum, Josh thought as the final credits rolled.
Thirty minutes into the movie, Caroline had set her plate of half-eaten pizza on the floor and sat back against the pillows lining the wall with her shoulder touching his. Then her hand had brushed his thigh as the men on screen thrust their hips in time with the music. And when the show started and he took off his shirt? Caroline had rested her head against his shoulder. He’d wrapped his arm around her and held her close, the side of her body pressed against his.
Who needs bow and arrows when you have male strippers?
“I liked it,” he said. “Good message.”
Caroline laughed and the fingers resting on his thigh pressed into his jeans. “What message?”
“Following your dreams and all that.” He allowed the hand draped over her shoulder to explore. His fingers dipped beneath her neckline of her black scoop neck T-shirt and drew a small circle. “You know, I think Mike will have a really successful furniture business.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said. “If his business takes off, why did they film a sequel?”