She had?
He only remembered her smiling and how it had warmed him…
Shit.
Hunter was right.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” he said, rising to his feet, gripping the strap of his go bag. “She can do better. I’m not about to make any moves.”
Besides, once his “actual” job was done, he was leaving Texas.
“You two aren’t as different as you think,” Carter said, shoving items from his locker into his bag. “I’m guessing you didn’t run her plates?”
He frowned. No, after walking her home, he’d decided the less he knew about his intriguing neighbor, the better.
Hunter’s brows rose. “Wow. You didn’t.”
He shrugged again. Yeah, it definitely wasn’t like him, but he didn’t need his face rubbed in it.
Carter straightened and scratched the bridge of his nose. “Lyndsey is Isla’s cousin. She told my wife that about ten years ago, Isla’s mother was shot and killed.”
His heart squeezed and his stomach clenched in unison.
“Jesus,” Hunter muttered.
Sinjin was still trying to find his breath. He hated the thought of the woman suffering the same pain he’d gone through…was still going through.
“Yeah, it was one of those mall shootings,” Carter said with a shake of his head. “Anyhow, I thought you should know, Sinjin, before you put the woman on a pedestal in the untouched by horrors realms. I made that mistake with Mel, but luckily, she set me straight and gave me a chance.”
Before he could repeat that none of it made any difference and he was still going to avoid Isla, Carter walked out of the room with Hunter on his six.
Intent on keeping his mind off his neighbor and all she must’ve gone through, Sinjin followed the men to the garage and stowed his bag next to theirs in the SUV.
“I’m hungry,” Carter announced.
Hunter snorted. “You’re always hungry.”
“True.” Carter grinned. “Good sex will do that.”
His grumble mixed with Hunter’s.
“You know I’m not the type to go into detail,” Carter said. “I’m just stating I need sustenance before we hit the road. And I’m sure neither of you will turn down something from the Champion sisters.”
Hunter immediately straightened. “Roger that.”
“I’ve even seen you eat there, Sinjin.” Carter grinned. “What do you say? I’m buying.”
“Roger that,” he echoed Hunter and followed the men to the small strip mall located across the alley next door.
Champion Bakery was the third storefront, with Mac’s wife’s graphic arts studio first, followed by Carter’s wife’s tattoo parlor, and on the far end was a beauty salon owned by the wife of another of their military brothers.
The guys often joked it was a one-stop shop for significant others.
Probably why he’d avoided it as often as possible. But with the promise of free food that he was able to observe as it was being prepared, Sinjin felt it was worth the risk.
A few minutes later, while he sat eating a muffin he’d watched Loni Champion create from scratch, Sinjin felt a wave of awareness hit his back.
“Hi, Isla,” Carter said, waving at the woman as she stood by the counter.
