Текст книги "Secrets"

Автор книги: Cynthia Eden

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Six

Brodie dragged Mark Montgomery out of the burning wreckage that had been the stables. Davis was at Brodie’s side—Davis and Mac were bringing out the last stallion. Mark’s prize—Legacy.

But the horse wouldn’t have been worth their lives.

“Damn it, Mark, you cut it too close,” Brodie snarled as he dropped his friend to the ground.

Blisters covered Mark’s right arm, and his clothes were as singed as Brodie’s. “Sorry...didn’t mean to...risk you...”

Brodie fought to suck in a deep gulp of air. He looked down at his hands, and they were black from all the ash in the air.

Mark managed to heave himself up into a sitting position. His shoulders shook as he struggled to take in clean air, too. In the distance, Brodie could hear the wail of a fire truck’s siren.

Too late.

The stables were gone.

“What the hell happened?” Brodie demanded as his gaze slid around the scene. The horses had all been corralled now. Ranch hands were still trying to put out the flames—and the flames weren’t spreading, so it looked as though the ranch house was safe.

Mark coughed. “Damn thing...just seemed to explode. Heard the horses...we all raced out...fast as we could.”

They’d all nearly raced to their deaths.

Brodie’s gaze tracked around the scene once more. “Where is she?” He’d singed his right hand when he’d pulled Mark out from under a burning chunk of wood, but Brodie ignored the pain. He’d deal with the wound later.

“Who?” Mark muttered. Then his eyes widened. “Ava? Did you bring your sister with you?”

What? Hell, no. Ava wasn’t even close by. “Jennifer,” he snapped as he turned his attention to Davis. “Where is she?”

But Davis wouldn’t know. Davis had been in that burning building when Brodie left Jennifer. Brodie had run back in because he sure as hell hadn’t planned to leave his fool brother and Mark there to burn.

“She tried to go in...after you,” Mac said, coughing into his fist. “I’d just gotten here. Heard the call on the police scanner when I was heading for our ranch.” He ran a weary hand over the back of his neck. “I stopped her from going into the fire. Told her to stay back or you’d have my head.”

He searched the area once more. There was no sign of her.

He whirled back around, stared at the fire. Don’t be inside... Terror started to rip through him.

“She ran away,” Davis muttered, voice tired, angry. “Should have seen it coming...took the first opportunity and ran. That was her plan, right?”

Mark staggered to his feet. “Who are we talking about?”

Brodie knew he was going back into the flames. If Jennifer was in there—

“Help!”

He whipped around even as the scream died away. His gaze flew to the left. To the right.

“Brodie.” Davis frowned at him. “Man, look, you knew she wanted to run, so—”

“Didn’t you just hear her scream?” A woman who’d run away on her own wouldn’t scream.

And she wouldn’t leave me to the fire.

Davis hesitated, then shook his head.

Brodie glared at Mac. “You heard her, right?” His heart was thundering in his chest.

“No, I just hear those damn flames.”

He’d heard her cry. Brodie knew that he had. So he took off, running toward the trees—trees that would eventually separate the Montgomery property from the McGuire ranch.

I’m coming, Jennifer. I’m coming!

His feet pounded against the earth as he ran as fast as he could because he knew with utter certainty Jennifer had just screamed.

Help.

* * *

HE’D CAUGHT HER. He’d tackled her, and Jennifer had screamed as loudly as she could right before her body had slammed into the dirt. He held her there, pinned beneath him, and the knife was back at her throat.

But he said he wasn’t going to kill me quickly. His mistake. He’d given her an advantage by letting her know that death wasn’t imminent.

“The SEAL can’t save you this time,” he told her.

Maybe. Maybe she could save herself just fine.

His voice was so low and rasping. Was he trying to disguise it? Or just make sure that no one overheard him?

His hand fisted in her hair. “I don’t need you awake for this part.”

She knew he was about to knock her out. She clenched her teeth against the pain as she tried to twist her body away from his. She needed to see his face. “Get away from me!”

She rolled and twisted. The knife cut over her shoulder, and she was pretty sure she lost way too much hair, but she managed to get a few feet away from him. She crawled back, spiderlike.

“No one can hear your screams.” He stood. It was so dark—he was just a menacing shadow as he closed in once more. “Not over the crackle of those flames. Not over the cries from the horses. You could scream until you had no breath, and no one but me would hear you.”

She was hearing him loud and clear, and, now that he’d stopped using that thick whisper, his voice seemed familiar to her. “I...know you.”

He laughed then. “Almost intimately.”

Ice squeezed her heart.

“Was it all a game?” he suddenly asked her. “How many others did you lure in? Only to turn on them, just as you did me?”

Clinging tightly to a tree, she pulled herself up to her feet. She still couldn’t place his voice. But I know him.

“I went to hell because of you, dear Jennifer. A living hell. And before I’m done with you, I promise that you’ll share my nightmare.”

She already was. I need a weapon.

“Now, we’re leaving here. You can fight me if you want. That will just give me a reason to hurt you more...” He laughed again, and the chill around her grew worse. “As if I need a reason.”

She wasn’t leaving with him. She was dead if she left. And she was dead if she didn’t get away from him right then.

“Jennifer!” That roar was her name, and she could hear it so clearly—because it was close.

Brodie! He’d gotten out of the flames. He’d heard her cries. “I’m here!” she called out, lunging away from the tree. “I’m—”

Her attacker caught her and slammed her head into the tree. The hit was hard, brutal, and Jennifer’s body slumped forward as everything went completely black around her.

* * *

“I’M HERE!”

Brodie jerked at Jennifer’s desperate cry.

“I’m—”

Her scream was cut off.

He was already racing straight ahead. Racing and—

He burst through the trees. Brodie saw a man in black, a man who had Jennifer slung over his shoulder.

“Put her down!” Brodie shouted.

The man stilled. He didn’t look back at Brodie. “This isn’t your fight.”

Brodie bent and yanked a knife from his ankle holster. He always kept that knife close. Jennifer wasn’t moving. She hung limply over the man’s shoulder. What did that guy do to her? “It damn well is my fight.” Because Jennifer is mine. “Now put her down and back away!”

The man backed away, sliding deeper into the covering of the trees, but he didn’t free Jennifer. “Why does it matter to you? Why does she matter?”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“She’s a liar. She’ll betray you the same way she did me.”

Brodie’s fingers tightened around the knife.

“The SEAL,” the man murmured. “You think you’re the hero? Hasn’t she already brought enough torment to your life?”

A low moan came from Jennifer.

“Walk away,” the man said in a rasping voice. “And I won’t destroy your family.”

Brodie took a step forward. “Let her go.” I will destroy you, no matter what.

The fellow slid Jennifer off his shoulder, but he didn’t free her. Her body swayed in front of him as he held her with a steely grip. “In case you can’t see it,” the jerk told him, voice chillingly calm, “I have a knife at her throat. One fast move and she’s gone.”

“In case you can’t see it,” Brodie snapped right back, “I have a knife in my hand, and my brother Davis has a gun pointed at the back of your head.”

Silence. Didn’t see that coming, did you? “Now let her go!” Brodie ordered.

The man threw Jennifer forward. Her body pitched toward the ground, and Brodie lunged to grab her. He caught Jennifer right before she would have slammed, face-first, into the earth.

Footsteps thundered as the man ran away. Brodie wanted to rush after him—he’d been bluffing about Davis and his gun—but when he touched Jennifer’s hair, he felt something sticky and wet.

Blood.

“Jennifer?”

Her head sagged back against his arm.

“Jennifer!” His hand found the hard, bleeding knot on her head, and when his fingers slid down to her shoulder, he could feel her blood there, too. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” he promised as he lifted her carefully into his arms. “I’ve got you.”

He had to get her out of there. The attacker had vanished, but at any moment, the man could strike again—with his knife or any other weapon that the guy had on him.

Brodie backed away, his heart racing too fast in his chest. Jennifer was a deadweight in his arms, and fear was growing within him. Head wounds could be so tricky, so deadly. “Hold on,” he whispered to her.

Then he heard the sound of rushing footsteps coming from the right. The Montgomery ranch was to the right and—

He heard a high-pitched whistle. An old signal that he and Davis had used since they were kids. Brodie whistled back, and, seconds later, Davis was in his path.

“What happened to her?” Davis asked. He came closer, and Brodie saw the gun in his hands.

If only Davis had been there a few minutes sooner.

“Her stalker is here... He hurt her.” He jerked his head to indicate direction. “The guy ran that way—he’s armed.”

“On it.” Davis brushed by him. Stopped. “You got her?”

His hold tightened on Jennifer. Normally, he’d be joining Davis on this hunt, but not when Jennifer was hurt. Not when she needed him. “I’ve got her.” And he wasn’t letting go.

Davis headed into the darkness. He could handle himself, Brodie knew it, but...

“Be careful,” he growled after his brother because he could still hear the stalker’s threat. I’ll destroy your family.

The hell he would.

* * *

THE MOTORCYCLE WAS just where he’d left it. He jumped on the bike and sped away from the Montgomery ranch as if the damn devil were chasing him. Maybe he is.

He kept his lights off as he headed down the dirt road. He wasn’t looking to attract any more attention. Not then.

Brodie McGuire had Jennifer.

She’d been his for the taking. Justice had been at hand, but Brodie had interfered. Again. He’d tried to warn the man. After all, his battle wasn’t with the McGuires.

He’d done his research on that family once he’d learned of Jennifer’s connection to them. All the McGuire brothers were supposed to be tough and deadly, all ex-military. They played hard, and they didn’t mind getting their hands dirty—or bloody.

He hadn’t wanted them as enemies. He’d just wanted his pound of flesh from Jennifer.

He’d told Brodie to walk way. He’d warned the man.

Why wouldn’t he listen? Why was Brodie so connected to Jennifer?

She must have pulled him into her web, too. Jennifer, so tempting, so beguiling with her wide, dark eyes and that slow smile. Once she’d made him think that she was actually falling for him.

Until the authorities had come for him.

Until he’d woken in that cell.

So many days of torment. One after the other.

He wasn’t going to let her get away. Jennifer wouldn’t escape his punishment, and if Brodie McGuire wouldn’t get out of his way, then he would have to take out the ex-SEAL.

I warned you, McGuire. You should have listened.

There would be no more warnings.

* * *

SHE WAS IN an ambulance, and the shriek of the siren was making her head hurt. Jennifer groaned as the EMT leaned over her.

“Ma’am, are you in pain?” He touched her forehead, and her breath hissed out. “You’ve got a concussion. We’re taking you to the hospital.”

She grabbed his hand. “Where’s Brodie? Brodie McGuire?”

He didn’t answer her quickly enough, and she shot upright. Nausea rolled through her as the pounding in her head grew about a hundred times worse. “Did he get out of the stables? Is he—”

“I’m right here.”

Her head turned. Brodie was standing just beyond the open ambulance doors. Jennifer’s breath came out in a relieved rush. “I was afraid you were trapped in there. In the fire.”

His gaze searched hers. “Do you remember what happened?”

She remembered the flames. Her fear. Her—

“Ma’am, you need to let me finish my exam.” Jennifer realized she had a death grip on the EMT’s hand.

“He was here.” Her stalker. He’d been at the scene. He’d hurt her. Her breath came faster, and her heartbeat doubled.

“Ma’am, you need to calm down.”

Her gaze was still on Brodie. “Did you see him?” He must have... The last thing she remembered was Brodie calling her name. He’d been in the woods. Brodie must have found her and stopped the guy who’d been attacking her. “Do the cops have him?” she asked before he could respond. “Where is he?” She needed to see his face. To stare into the eyes of the man who’d tried to destroy her. I need to find out why.

Brodie’s face tensed. “He got away.”

Her racing heartbeat stopped.

Brodie jumped into the ambulance.

The EMT tried to push him back out, but Brodie ignored the tech. “Davis is searching for him. Mac is combing the woods. We’re going to get him.”

She let go of the EMT. Her hand rose to her shoulder. Jennifer remembered the slash of the knife against her skin. She flinched when she felt the bandage that had been placed there. “He...he started the fire in the stables.” He could have killed you! “Your friend, is he—”

“Everyone got out.”

“Uh, excuse me.” The EMT’s face had reddened. “I need to take care of her. You two can talk at the hospital.”

She didn’t want to leave Brodie. There were so many questions she needed to ask him, but the pounding in her head was growing worse and spots were starting to appear around her eyes.

Jennifer slid back down onto the stretcher. “I’m glad you’re safe. That everyone’s...safe.” Because if anyone had been hurt, it would have been on her. She’d brought this danger right to all of them.

“Sir, you have to leave now,” the EMT said.

Brodie leaned toward Jennifer. “I’ll be following right behind the ambulance.”

Tears stung her eyes. Jennifer managed a small nod. “I’m sorry.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “If I’d gotten there a few minutes later, he would have already taken you away from me.” The words were a dark rumble. “What would I have done then?”

Before she could think of any kind of answer, Brodie slid out of the ambulance. The EMT leaned over her and started asking her how many fingers she saw.

She pushed his hand out of her way. Jennifer craned her neck so that she could stare at Brodie. “What would I have done without you?” she whispered.

Another EMT slammed the ambulance doors, blocking her view of him. A few moments later, the ambulance lurched away.

* * *

BRODIE PACED THE hospital waiting room. Just being in that place made him too damn tense. He’d been in this hospital a few months back, when his brother Grant had been injured—and that scene sure hadn’t ended well.

He went up to the nurse’s desk for the fourth time. “Can I see her yet?”

The nurse, an older woman with stern blue eyes, frowned at him. “Sir, I’ve told you that your fiancée is still being examined—”

The wide doors swung open behind her. A doctor appeared—the doctor who’d been checking out Jennifer. When he saw Brodie, the man nodded.

Brodie gave up his post near the nurse. “I want to see her,” he told the doctor flatly.

The doc nodded. “Right...and she wants to see you, too.” He cleared his throat. “She is also rather adamantly insisting that she be released. I can’t keep her here, but I think the woman needs—”

The door opened again. Jennifer was there, wearing a hospital gown, a bandage on her forehead and a very determined-looking expression on her face.

Brodie pretty much jumped toward her. “What are you doing?” And he pulled her against him, holding her carefully. “You aren’t supposed to be walking around out here!”

“They took my clothes, so I had to come out like this.” She sounded disgruntled. “Why’d they take my clothes?”

The doctor cleared his throat. “Uh, miss, your clothes were taken because they were covered in blood and ash. We bagged them for you—”

Jennifer turned in Brodie’s arms. “Please take me out of here,” she whispered to him. “He could come for me here. I’m not safe.” Her voice didn’t carry past him.

He tensed against her. Davis had been attacked in the same hospital. The attack had come when Davis was trying to protect Grant’s fiancée...only Scarlett hadn’t been his fiancée back then. Scarlett had been lured away from Grant’s bedside. Davis had tried to guard her, but he’d been shot.

He was bleeding out in front of me.

That hospital held far too many bad memories for Brodie. And Jennifer was right—the security at that place left a whole hell of a lot to be desired.

But with her concussion...

He glanced at the doctor. The man sighed. “She can leave. But keep her monitored, you understand? If she sleeps, wake her up every two hours to assess her condition. If you see her exhibiting any signs of confusion or if her nausea gets worse, contact the hospital immediately.” He frowned at Jennifer. “I would feel better if you stayed for observation but—”

“There’s no way I’m staying,” she said. Her hold tightened on Brodie. “Please, just get me out of here.”

His gaze held the doctor’s for a moment longer.

“When you check on her, ask her name,” the doctor added. “Review her vitals. Even if she’s progressing well, I want her brought back in within twenty-four hours so that I can assess her once more.”

“Anything else?” Brodie asked.

“Take care of her,” the doctor said, then nodded, giving the all clear.

“Always,” Brodie promised. Then he bent his head toward Jennifer. “On our way, sweetheart,” Brodie whispered as he lifted her into his arms. He held her carefully, cradling her as he walked past the nurses’ station.

“You take good care of your fiancée!” the nurse called after him.

Jennifer stirred a bit in Brodie’s arms. They slipped into the elevator, and when those doors closed, Jennifer peeked up at him from beneath her long lashes. “I’ve got a bump on my head and a scratch on my shoulder. I can walk.”

“And I can carry you.” He liked holding her. “So let me.”

Her breath sighed out and blew lightly against his throat. “I’m your fiancée?” she asked softly. “I don’t remember you proposing.”

Despite everything that was happening, his lips almost twitched. “Probably your concussion,” he told her. “I’ve heard those can make folks forget things.”

She laughed then. A sweet, light sound that made his chest feel funny. He pulled her even closer against him. When the elevator doors opened into the parking garage, he carried her back to his SUV.

He put her down long enough to do a sweep of the vehicle—the last thing he wanted was another explosion; then he settled her inside, adjusting her gown, and he realized... She doesn’t have shoes on!

His laughter came then, unexpected. Rough. Relieved...She’s alive. She’s safe...with me.

He shut her door and hurried around to the driver’s side of the vehicle. His door slammed behind him, and Brodie reached out to start the SUV, but Jennifer’s hand closed around his.

“He got away, didn’t he?”

His head turned toward her. The laughter had faded completely as the fear came back. He wasn’t used to fear, and the emotion made him angry. “For now.”

She gave a little nod. “He’ll be back. He won’t stop.”

No, Brodie didn’t think he would stop. Not until the guy had gotten what he wanted.

And what he wanted...that was Jennifer.

“Don’t take me back to the ranch,” she whispered. “He’ll strike there next. He could go after your stables or your house and—”

“The security we have is too good. That’s why he hit the Montgomery ranch. He wanted to draw you out. To make you vulnerable.” He cranked the SUV and drove them away from the hospital. “Our ranch is the best place for you.”

“Not if I’m putting a target on your home.”

The stalker’s words played through Brodie’s mind. I’ll destroy your family. “This whole thing is personal,” Brodie said. “He knows you.”

“Almost intimately,” she whispered.

His gaze shot to her. “What?” Now the fear was totally overpowered by the fury pumping through him.

She rubbed her eyes. “That’s what he told me... That we almost knew each other intimately.”

“I asked you about former lovers—”

“He wasn’t my lover.” Her voice was adamant. “But...I knew his voice... It was so familiar.” Her hand fell to her lap. “I just have to remember him. I have to remember who he is. Then I can understand why he hates me so much. Why he wants to hurt me.”

But he didn’t want to just hurt Jennifer. Brodie knew the man out there wanted to kill her.

And I won’t let that happen.

* * *

THE MCGUIRE RANCH rose before her. The gates were imposing. The house a strong, solid structure against the night.

Brodie opened her door. Offered her his hand. She started to slide down to the ground, but he caught her and lifted Jennifer up against him.

“I think we covered this,” she whispered as her hands curled around his neck. “I really am quite good at walking.” And she’d had much worse injuries over the years. The slice on her shoulder hadn’t even required stitches.

Ignoring her words, Brodie carried her into the house. He checked the security system. Then, still holding her, he took her down the hallway.

He didn’t go to the guest room.

Brodie carried her inside his room.

“Brodie?”

“The doctor said I should wake you every two hours.” He lowered her onto the bed. “This way, I can keep you close. It will be easier for me to check you here.”

She sat up quickly. The paper gown rasped over her skin. “I can stay in the other room. I don’t even have to sleep.”

He stared down at her. “You’re afraid to stay with me.”

She shook her head.

He turned away. Reached into a drawer and pulled out a T-shirt. “You want to change into this? You’ll be more comfortable.” His voice was carefully emotionless as he brought the shirt toward her.

She reached for the shirt.

His gaze slid over her. She felt that caress like a touch. I want his touch. She always did.

Her fingers curled into the fabric. “You’re going to...to turn away while I change, right?”

His lips quirked. Those sexy dimples of his almost flashed. “Why would I do that?” One dark brow lifted.

She felt heat stain her cheeks. She should really be past the blushing stage, but with him, she wasn’t. “Brodie...”

Sighing, he turned away from her, giving her the broad expanse of his back.

Jennifer fumbled and got rid of that horrible paper gown, and she slid on his soft T-shirt. She’d worn his shirt before, and, well, she liked wearing his clothes. Like the previous shirt, this one smelled of him. That rich, masculine scent. She tugged down the hem of the shirt. It came all the way to her thighs and—

“Can I turn around now?”

“Yes.” Why was her voice so shaky? She’d faced off against killers. She’d sent countless criminals to jail. She shouldn’t be nervously stuttering just because she was in Brodie McGuire’s bed.

But she was.

Get a grip, woman.

He yanked off the shirt he’d been wearing and tossed it aside. His shoes followed. As he turned toward her, Brodie’s hands went to his belt.

So did her gaze.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to turn away,” he murmured.

Her eyes snapped right back to his face. “What are you doing?”

Those dimples of his definitely flashed then. “Getting undressed so that I can get into bed with you.”

“I think that’s a bad idea.” But her words sounded husky and inviting—definitely not her plan—and her tone sure implied she thought he’d just told her the best idea ever.

His hands stilled. “I’m not going to make love to you.”

Now she was fisting her hands around the sheets. Is that how he thought of it? As making love with her? She hadn’t realized—

“Not while you’re hurt.” He kicked his jeans aside to reveal a sexy pair of boxers that rode low on his hips. “But as soon as you’re better, sweetheart, you will be mine again.”

Her gaze was back to raking over him. He had the best physique that she’d ever seen. So strong and muscled. Powerful.

He was also climbing into bed with her. Jennifer shook her head. “Davis will come home soon.” She figured the guy had to turn up sooner or later. “If I’m in here with you in the morning, he’ll think we were...together.”

Brodie laughed at that. “We have been together.”

That wasn’t what she’d meant.

“And, besides,” Brodie added as the back of his hand slid down her cheek in a brief caress, “I don’t really care what Davis thinks about the two of us. As long as he knows that he needs to keep his hands off you, I’m fine.”

He leaned over her. Jennifer stopped breathing as she stared into his eyes.

“Relax,” Brodie whispered. “I’m just turning off the light.” His fingers flicked the switch on the lamp. The room plunged into darkness.

Then he slid back to his side of the bed. Jennifer gingerly lowered herself down fully on the mattress. Despite her exhaustion, adrenaline still pumped through her. Sleep wasn’t going to come easily, so Brodie didn’t exactly have to worry about that whole waking-every-two-hours routine that the doctor had prescribed.

Her head brushed against the pillow. In the dark, she found it was easier to talk with him. “You saved me again.”

The sheets rustled. Had he turned to stare at her? He wouldn’t be able to see much of her in that sheltering darkness.

“He wanted to take me away to torture me.” Fear was there now, and it wouldn’t go away, not until they caught her stalker. “He doesn’t plan to make my death easy.”

His arm curled around her stomach. He had turned toward her in the dark. His touch made her feel safer.

“I don’t care what he has planned,” Brodie muttered. “He’s not hurting you again.”

If Brodie hadn’t heard her screams, the stalker would be hurting her right then. Instead, she was safe in Brodie’s arms. He pulled her closer, and she rested her head on his shoulder. It felt...strangely right to be there with him.

“Tell me who you were...” His voice seemed to rumble all around her. “Before you became Jennifer Wesley.”

“I was lost.” That was the way she’d always thought of herself. “My parents died when I was just a kid. A drunk driver hit them.” And they’d just been...gone. “I was ten, angry with the world and hurting all the time.” The social workers had said she was acting out each time she got in trouble. They’d told her that if she wanted a real family, she had to show how good she could be.

But she’d already had a real family. A family that had been stolen from her.

“I bounced around the foster system for a while. Back then, I had a rule about getting close to people.”

“A rule?”

“Yes. The rule was...never get close.” That was the same rule she’d lived by when she worked for the government. And that rule had slowly become a way of life for her.

Never get close. Because when people got too close, you became vulnerable. You needed them, and you...you hurt when they left.

There were only two people who’d ever made Jennifer break her rule. Slowly, over time, she’d softened toward Nate. Maybe she’d even started to see him as the father she’d lost.

And...

She’d let Brodie get close. So very close.

“Who were you back then? Tell me your name.”

Her breath slid out on a soft sigh. “Jennifer Belmont. Jenny.” Little Jenny Belmont from Florence, Idaho. “No one really knew me there.” Sometimes, she’d felt invisible in that town. “So when I vanished and became someone else... Well, there wasn’t exactly anyone around to care.” That was precisely why the US government had recruited her for the job.

Too late, she’d learned that she was one of the expendable ones. If she’d died on one of the missions, if she’d been killed on foreign land, then there would have been no outcry from desperate family members and friends. There would have been...nothing.

And that was why Brodie’s rescue had surprised her so much. She’d given up hope by the time he came for her.

Then he’d brought that hope right back to her.

“What did Jenny Belmont like to do?”

Had she just felt him press a kiss to her temple? She wasn’t sure. “She...liked to read, a lot.” Because that had been her escape. “She rode horses when she could. When she saved up enough money to go for a ride at the local stables.” She’d felt so free when she raced on those horses. “Her mother had loved horses, so she liked them, too. It made her feel close to—”

“You.”

“What?”

“You keep referring to your younger self as ‘she’ as if Jenny is a separate person from you.”

Didn’t he realize? She was. Jenny Belmont was a lifetime away from Jennifer Wesley.

“You liked to read. You loved to ride horses. That’s still you, deep inside. Jenny Belmont didn’t die, no matter what those government suits might have wanted you to believe.” His fingers slid down, pressed over her heart. Her heart was galloping like mad beneath his touch. “Inside, it’s just...you.”

She was glad they were in the dark. Jennifer didn’t want him seeing her tears. “What about you?” Jennifer whispered. “Will you tell me what Brodie McGuire was like...before he became a SEAL?” His hand was still over her heart, but he adjusted their bodies, cradling her against him.

“I was a hell-raiser.”

What?

“Always getting into trouble. Always messing with Davis. I’ve given him hell all my life, but he’s always there for me. So are all my brothers. So is Ava.”

She pressed closer to him. “I kind of pictured you as the quarterback...maybe homecoming king...”

He laughed. She realized she loved the rough sound of his laughter.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, “I was too busy racing my horse and raising hell for that. I lived for danger back then—”

“You still do,” she pointed out. “It’s not like SEALs live the safe and easy life.”

“No.” His hand stroked over her hair. “But I became a SEAL to make a difference. I grew up and wanted to do more.”

Like save a stranger from death.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” she told him. “So sorry.” She’d liked his mother. Brodie had her smile. The woman had been so kind but...

There was fear in her eyes when we met.

Jennifer didn’t tell Brodie that. Not then. He kept stroking her hair.

Her eyes drifted closed.

“I dreamed about you...”

She was almost asleep when she heard his soft words.

“And I wished so many damn times that I hadn’t just let you walk away from me...”

She felt the press of his lips against her temple once more.

“I won’t make that mistake again.”