Free Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1) by Tarina Deaton Page A

sides, holding a drink in front of her like a shield. The dress she wore was black, sleeveless, and clung to her body. She was beautiful. He set the picture on the coffee table with the others.
    He walked over to the bookcases, checking out the other pictures scattered on the shelves. Her and an older woman. Her and Denise. Pictures of her in scrubs and different Air Force uniforms, including one of her and Denise in their battle rattle - helmet, body armor, loaded down with weapons and ammunition. It was like looking at a different person - open and friendly, smiling and laughing. He didn’t yet know what the deal was with her ex, but Jase was pretty sure he didn’t have anything to worry about.
    He turned as Bree came down the short hall with a duffle bag thrown over one shoulder.
    “Is that all you’re taking?” he asked.
    She glanced at the duffle bag. “I wear scrubs for work, so I only need a few changes of clothes for the week. I need to bring Charlie and Polly’s beds, their bowls, and their food.”
    “Why don’t you grab the food and bowls while I put their beds in my truck?” He took the strap of the duffle off Bree’s shoulder, then grabbed the two dog beds from the family room.
    He went out through the mudroom and put everything in the back of his pickup. By the time he went back in, Bree had dragged a small bin into the mudroom. He hefted it up and led the way out. He watched carefully as Bree locked the door, making sure he heard the bolt slide into place.
    He loaded up Bree and her dogs and drove the twenty minutes to his house. Turned out they were practically neighbors. Since he had convinced her to leave her car at her house, she was stuck. He was already thinking of the night to come. No way in hell she was sneaking out the next morning. She was also going to answer some questions. Like why the hell she had gone home with him the day she broke it off with her ex.
    Jase pulled up in front of his garage, turned off his truck, and looked at Bree. She hadn’t said much during the drive other than to ask how far away he lived.
    “Where are we?” Bree asked.
    “My house.”
    “This isn’t where you took me last week.”
    “That was my buddy Chris’s house. He was supposed to be out of town.”
    “He was the guy on the couch?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, that’s embarrassing.”
    “Don’t worry about it. You good otherwise?”
    “Other than being mortified that we had sex in your friend’s bed and being overwhelmed thinking about everything I need to do this weekend, sure. I’m just peachy.”
    “I washed his sheets. Can’t go back in time and bring you here instead. What do you need to do this weekend?”
    “Well, I have to work in the morning, so you’re going to have to take me to my car.” She gave him a pointed look. “Then I need to buy a new mattress and clean up my house, set up a time for the locksmith to change the locks, and call an alarm company. It doesn’t seem like a long list of things to do, but it’s all time consuming.”
    “My schedule is flexible so I can get your locks changed and meet the alarm company if you have to work. We’ll figure it out,” Jase promised.

W e’ll figure it out. Chad would have told her not to stress about it, that she’d figure it out, and he would have left it to her. He would have helped if she’d asked, of course, but he wouldn’t have offered. He wouldn’t have asked what he could do to make things easier for her.
    She’d waited too damn long to break things off with him.
    “You ready to in?” Jase asked.
    “You okay with the dogs coming inside?”
    Jase looked over his shoulder at the two dogs panting in his back seat. Charlie leaned his head forward and licked Jase’s face.
    “Yeah. They’re good.”
    Bree laughed, opened her door, and hopped down. They unloaded the truck and let the dogs down. They immediately sniffed around the yard and relieved themselves before following their humans inside.
    Jase led her to a