Raegan dutifully obeyed, not saying a word as she walked over to his black leather couch and took a seat. The void her touch left behind was far stronger than it should’ve been, and Rocky drew in a deep breath to keep his expression schooled and his head in the game.
“Talk.” He crossed his arms at his chest.
The look on her face pulled at Rocky’s heartstrings, and damn if he could ever remember feeling this divided. Part of him wanted to spank her sexy ass red, and the other…
I want to pull her into my arms and hold her as close as I can.
Raegan glanced down at her hands as they rested in her lap. “I admit I entered that house forcefully and without authorization from the owner.” Her throat worked with a swallow. “A Class 1 felony, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Why?” That one question burned deeper than all the rest. “And before you even think about lying to me, you should know my teammate has already started a file on you.”
“He’swhat?” A hefty dose of anger filled her beautiful face.
“The bank robberies,” Rocky stated as if that explained everything. “Five U.S. Bank branches, all hit at approximately the same time of day.”
“Five?” Raegan’s brows arched high. “I-I only knew about the incident at my bank.”
Her stunned reaction seemed legit, but he still had to ask, “You haven’t watched the news or gotten onto social media?”
“I don’t do social media.” She frowned. “I haven’t had my TV on since I got home after seeing you at the bank.” Pushing herself to her feet, Raegan began pacing across his refinished hardwood floor. “But if that many branches of the same bank were hit at the same time…” She stopped and turned to look at him. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“The federal government agrees with you.” Rocky shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “For reasons I’m not going to get into right now, my team has been asked to look into those known to have been involved in all five.” His stare lasered into hers. “The suspects and the bank employees.”
“You really think I was involved? I shot the guy for crying out loud.” A haunted flicker flashed behind her angered gaze, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “For that matter, I was shotat. I mean…” Raegan gave a quick lick of her lips. “I could have been killed today, Rocky.”
“And yet, a few hours later, you still managed to gather enough fortitude to knowingly and willingly commit a felony.”
Irritation flared, but rather than pop off with another argument or smartass remark, she rolled her lips inward before giving her head a quick nod. “Fair enough. But…”
“But what?”
“If your teammate has already looked into my background, you should already know why I broke into that house tonight.”Her swallow was audible. “You should know everything about me, now.”
Not even close, sweetheart.
“I haven’t seen the report yet,” he admitted. “I told my teammate to hold off on sending it to me until I was ready to read it.”
Her expression twisted with confusion. “Why?”
“I wanted to talk to you first. Give you a chance to tell me your story rather than read it in some file.” When she didn’t volunteer anything more, he slipped his hands from his denim pockets and took a few steps toward her. “Okay, let’s back up. How about you start by telling me where you learned to take on a man my size the way you did? Or how you managed to ward off an armed robber without getting yourself or any of the other hostages injured in the process?”
Because he’d seen the footage from inside the bank. As soon as Rocky had gotten home, he’d showered, made a sandwich, and grabbed a beer, and then he sat down and watched the surveillance video from inside Raegan’s bank.
When it was over, he replayed it a second time. And a third. And when he was finished watching his tiny bit of a neighbor expertly defend herself and the others around her…
He’d watched it again.
“I was Army.” Raegan’s soft voice pulled him back into the present. “Second Lieutenant.”
“Explains the shooting and hand-to-hand,” Rocky muttered low.
One corner of her lips twitched. “I was part of an M.P. unit.”
“Military Police.” He nodded. “I’m impressed.”
“You won’t be.” She went back over to the couch and sat with a sigh. “Not after your buddy gives you all the juicy details about my stellar departure as one of Uncle Sam’s good little soldiers.”
“You get a Dishonorable?”