Free Shared by Her Soldiers by Dinah McLeod Page B

noncommittally.
    “Look, Kate, I’m not here to play bad cop.”
    “No, Sean doesn’t need you for that. He pulls that one off all by himself,” she muttered before she could stop herself. She glanced at Jarrod out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t tell if he’d heard her or not. If he had, he didn’t acknowledge it.
    “If you don’t believe I have your best interests at heart, I’ll leave.” When she didn’t reply, he began to walk toward the back door.
    “Jarrod, wait.”
    “Yes?”
    She let her breath out in a huff. She didn’t know what to say, the only thing she knew was that she didn’t want him to go.
    “I care about you, Kate.”
    Sure you do , she thought, but she didn’t dare say it aloud. Besides, she shouldn’t take out her frustration on Jarrod. He meant well. It wasn’t his fault that she was married to the most pigheaded man on the face of the planet. It was actually her fault, but she didn’t want to dwell on blame just now.
    “I only want the best for you, and for your marriage. I wouldn’t be here wasting my breath if I didn’t.”
    At least he knew he was wasting his breath.
    “I know he lost his temper, and I know he hurt your feelings, and I’m sorry for that. But do you honestly think what you said to him was appropriate?”
    Kaitlyn pursed her lips, her eyes fixed on the fraying spot on the carpet. It wasn’t like she was surprised—of course he’d take Sean’s side. She’d just been waiting for him to admit it. And he wouldn’t be alone there. She’d committed a great faux pas. The faux pas, as far as the Army was concerned. A good wife would never, ever bring up their husband’s transgressions this close to coming off duty, much less suggest that he never should have come back at all. “I’m not proud of it.”
    “I wouldn’t think so.” He paused, waiting, she supposed, for her defense, but the truth was, even she knew that she didn’t have a valid one to offer.
    “Is that why you stuck around?” she asked, pretending to study her nails.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, did you stay after our little blowup to give me what-for?”
    “Kate, sometimes I think you watch too many I Love Lucy reruns.”
    She met his eyes and gave him a brief smile. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You stayed to lecture me, like you always do, and…”
    “Spank you?”
    Somehow, hearing the words spoken out loud and so casually made her blush. “Well, didn’t you?”
    “Do you think I should?”
    “God, Jarrod,” she sighed, making her chestnut bangs fly up for a moment. “Why can’t I ever get a straight answer out of you?”
    “See, there’s that temper I was talking about a few minutes ago.”
    “OK, don’t answer. That’s fine.”
    “You still haven’t answered my question, Kaitlyn.”
    Ouch. He never called her by her full name. It sure got her attention, and fast.
    “Do you think I should spank you?”
    Whether it was because of the in-charge tone he was using or remembering what she’d said to Sean she wasn’t sure, but the question made her squirm. “I don’t know.”
    “You do,” he answered, calm as usual. He was the voice of her reason, even in spite of her temper flare-ups. It was easy to see why Sean liked him. Hell, everyone liked Jarrod. She liked him, even when he was spanking her ass, which was something he might or might not be doing very shortly.
    “Sean already spanked me,” she replied, slightly mortified knowing he’d heard every slap. Did he think that it hadn’t been enough?
    “Was it enough?”
    She winced having her own thoughts voiced aloud by someone else. “I… we normally can talk afterward,” she admitted. “He was too mad this time, I guess.”
    “Hmm.”
    “What, Jarrod? If you have something to say, just out with it, already.”
    “I was thinking he had just cause to be angry.”
    Hadn’t they already established that? Did he really have to hear her say it out loud— again ? “Of course he