Falling for Her Soldier by Ophelia London

his arm. “Chick?” She knocked on the office door, unfazed. “What have you got for us this afternoon? I know Hunter’s dying to clean more bathrooms.” She eyed Charlie over her shoulder. He eyed her back, cocking an eyebrow with another high-wattage smile, laying it on thick.
    But Ellie only tucked some hair behind an ear and gave him that same warm smile. “Prize,” she said again, laughing under her breath. “Too funny.”
    Well, that didn’t work .
    Not that he wanted to turn her off. Even though he should. Hell, he didn’t know what he was supposed to want when it came to Ellie. He couldn’t keep his own feelings straight.
    He did know he was disappointed when he was assigned to pull weeds out back while she was filing papers in one of the other admin offices. Not that he minded being outside—he minded being away from her for three hours. His task wasn’t nearly as fun without her around.
    “I left the compost by the fence,” Charlie reported to Chick as he washed his hands at the sink by his office.
    “Thanks, brother,” Chick said. When Charlie was about to leave, eager to find Ellie, Chick called out. “Hold up, Hunter.”
    Charlie turned. “Yeah?”
    The older Marine scraped back his chair and stood. “I talked to some of the guys out there, asked around about you.” He removed his glasses. “I’ve still got people in the know, so I got the gist.”
    “Gist?” Charlie repeated, not following.
    “The mission.” Chick nodded at the open office door leading out into the WS’s main room. “When Bell got hurt. I know you were part of that detail.”
    “Oh.” Charlie would rather be getting busted for going by a fake name than relive that day. He slid his hands into his pockets and exhaled. “Yeah, I was there.”
    “Sounds pretty rough. You okay? Getting the help you need?”
    “Yeah.” Charlie bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying not to hear that explosion inside his head again, to smell the smoke. “I’m fine, good.”
    Chick hesitated and tilted his head to the side. “You’re sure? I wouldn’t think the normal PT would be enough after something like that. Ya know, that’s what this place is for. It’s supplemental, a bridge between military life and the civilian world.”
    “Right,” Charlie said, glancing toward the door, feeling trapped.
    “Group sessions aren’t for everyone, but if you ever want to talk about it, or anything”—he placed a hand on his shoulder—“you can always come to me, son. There’s not much I didn’t see in my day.”
    Chick seemed like a nice guy, and he probably did have certain skills from running a place like the WS, but Charlie didn’t need a psychiatrist couch; he was handling things just fine on his own.
    “Yeah, thanks,” he said, dying to get out of the room and away from Chick’s intense gaze. He was grateful when the desk phone rang.
    “I gotta grab that,” Chick said. “But you’ll think about what I said?”
    “Sure.” Charlie nodded, backing up. “Sure.”
    He met Ellie in the hallway. Just seeing her made his heart lighter. Her e-mails had made him feel the same way even on his worst days in Afghanistan. He wished he could bottle up her goodness. He wished a lot of things.
    “Paper cut,” she said, frowning down at her index finger. When she moved it up to her mouth to suck on the wound, Charlie’s head spun.
    “Do you, uh…” He blinked and dropped his gaze, focusing on his promise to Sam. “Need a bandage?”
    “Mmmaybe.” She pulled out her finger to examine it. “There’re some in the office.”
    Chick wasn’t on the phone anymore, but his hand was resting on the receiver, as if he’d just hung up. His expression looked off.
    “Chick?” Ellie said, noticing it, too. “Are you okay?”
    He glanced up, surprised to see them standing there. “Hey, you two.”
    Ellie’s eyebrows bent. “Something wrong?”
    Chick hesitated then pressed a hand to his forehead. “Close the door,” he said