SEAL’D To A Mountain Grump (Tidehaven SEAL Romance #12)

Chapter 1

Bronson

Iwas only doing this for Lucy Lee.

If the job had been anyone else, I’d be home right now, breathing in the country air on Red Oak Mountain.

But fuck me to hell and back, Cal had dropped this case in my lap, and I couldn’t walk away.

Lucy was famous, gorgeous, and every man’s definition of a perfect country wife.

Or at least mine.

My job was to protect Lucy Lee while Cal and his team hunted down the person who kept putting hits out on her.

Which is how I found myself stealthing through the beach dunes that bordered her rental.

The beach grass was tall and dry at this time of year, rustling lightly in the wind. I moved through it quickly without making a sound.

When I got to her place, I surveyed the territory.

It wasn’t what I expected from a three-time CMA award winner.

Lucy’s beach house sat at the far end of a remote stretch of coast, elevated on weathered pilings.

The old 1970s stilt house was… humble.

But I wasn’t here to ponder why an artist whose last album went platinum would choose to rent an outdated beach house in a tiny coastal town.

I was more concerned with tactical matters.

Sightlines were a problem.

There was only one metal gate and a flimsy decorative fence circling the property.

There were no cameras visible, and the nearest neighbor was half a mile away.

She was alone out here and completely exposed.

After slinging on my thermal imaging goggles and ensuring there were no targets hiding in the surrounding woods, I slipped up the stairs and knocked on the door.

It swung open a moment later, and I came face to face with a legend.

I had to work hard to keep my face neutral. I was a burly, gruff dude. I couldn’t very well fanboy over a musician.

She was nothing like the woman I’d seen at her sold-out stadium show in Dallas a few years back.

Lucy was barefoot, windblown, and wearing a loose linen shirt over cut-off shorts. Her dark hair fell in soft waves around her face.

And I instantly felt my cock inch up a notch.

“Bronson Hale,” I grunted. “Salt and Steel Security.”

She looked me over the way people do when they’re trying to decide if they’re going to trust you, and I let her look because that was fair. I was a large stranger on her doorstep, and she’d already had three attempts on her life.

“You’re bigger than I expected,” she said after her eyes slipped up and down my body.

“I get that a lot.”

She stepped back and let me in.

The inside of the house was airy and lived-in, the kind of casual that takes money to achieve. There was a guitar leaning against the couch and takeout containers on the kitchen counter.

I catalogued the layout as I crossed the threshold. It was a simple two-bedroom. The floor plan was old-fashioned, with a door between the kitchen and the living space.

A woman appeared from the kitchen, bright-eyed and carrying a dish towel. She gave me a look that was significantly more cheerful than Lucy’s cautious one.

“Valerie,” Lucy said. “This is the security guy Cal sent.”

“Bronson,” I grunted in greeting.

Valerie smiled like I’d said something charming. “Well, you’re certainly built for the job.”

I shifted my attention to her fully then, taking her in the same way I’d taken in the house.

She had an open posture and an easy smile. She was comfortable here.

“How long have you been staying on site?” I asked.

Valerie blinked, a little thrown by my serious demeanor. “Oh… I go everywhere with Lucy. I’m her personal assistant. I run errands, gather food, anything she needs.”

“And you stay here?” I growled.

“Y-yes.”

“That stops tonight.”

Lucy turned toward me immediately. “Excuse me? You’ve been here for less than ten minutes, and you’re trying to kick out my best friend? Remember, I hired you.”

I didn’t look at her. I kept my eyes on Valerie.

“If someone’s targeting Lucy, nobody gets close to her unless I say so. You’re predictable. You have a routine. That makes you an entry point. You’ve already been breached once.”

The smoothie incident weighed on my mind.

Valerie’s smile faded, replaced by a flicker of fear.

“I’m not—” she started.

“You’re a liability,” I cut in, calm and even. “And I don’t work around exposed variables.”

Lucy stepped closer, her voice sharpening. “She’s not going anywhere. Valerie’s been with me for more than twenty years!”

“And someone tried to kill you three times. We don’t know who yet.”

That landed.

Lucy exhaled as the fight went out of her. She reached up and hugged herself.

She didn’t know how to protect herself. And from the look of things, Valerie might be the only person in the world that she trusted.

But trust could be a mistake.

“She leaves tonight,” I grunted. “Or I walk.”

Silence stretched tightly in the air as Valerie glanced between us. Her expression softened into reluctant understanding.

“Lucy,” she said gently, “it’s okay. If he thinks you’re safer here without me, I can stay with my sister in Charleston for a few days.”

Lucy’s jaw tightened. “No. I hired Salt and Steel to look after me. Not to separate me from my best friend.”

Her lower lip was trembling, and she was looking at me like I was the bad guy.

But I had over twenty years as a Navy SEAL under my belt, and I wasn’t used to being soft for the civilians.

My job was to protect Lucy, and I couldn’t do that if she had random staff wandering in and out of the property.

So I told her, “If Valerie stays, I’m dragging both your asses to a safe house.”

Valerie spoke calmly, settling the truce for us. “Lucy, maybe he has a point. Someone is trying to kill you. I think we should listen to him. Plus, my sister just had her baby. She could use my help.”

Lucy frowned at me for a long moment.

“Fine,” she sighed before looking at her friend. “But it’s only temporary and only because I want to keep you safe.”

Valerie hugged Lucy and whispered something in her ear, then disappeared to pack.

With that settled, I did a thorough pass through the house, clearing the premises.

There were glaring issues with the security measures, but the biggest problem was clear. There was only one way in and one way out.

If someone came for her, she’d be trapped.

Lucy watched me warily. “Cal said you’d blend seamlessly into my life. Sending Valerie away is a mistake. I rely on her for… everything.”

Yup.

And Valerie was on the suspect list. So she was leaving one way or the other.

But I didn’t say that.

When people reached a certain level of wealth, they expected the whole world to comply with their wishes.

Unfortunately for Lucy Lee, I wasn’t going to be her yes-man. I was the surly fucker who was going to keep her cute ass alive.

“We need to talk about the ground rules,” I growled.

“Rules,” she pursed her lips, already gearing herself up for a fight.

“I stay with you at all times. I go everywhere you go. And nobody gets close to you. Not while I’m here.”

Lucy crossed her arms. “Don’t forget I hired you.”

“No, ma’am. That’s not the way this goes. You’re under my protection now. That means you move when I say go, and you stop only when I tell you to.”

She sighed. “You need to know that I hate this. I spent the last twenty years of my life under surveillance from men just like you. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom without someone standing outside the door.”

“Yup. And I’ll be standing outside the door, too,” I told her. “Nobody gets to you without going through me first.”

“I’m aware that’s supposed to be reassuring.”

“It’s not supposed to be anything. It’s just the way it’s going to be.”

I knew she needed a softer touch, but she’d hired the wrong man for that. I was made of granite and oak. And I couldn’t be her soft, cuddly security blanket.

Not if I wanted to do my job and protect her sweet ass.

Her words warbled slightly, “I don’t want to live like that anymore. I chose this house specifically because it’s at the end of a private road with nobody around. You’re here to keep me safe. But you don’t get to boss me around.”

My lips quirked.

Lucy Lee was a sassy little thing.

Well, not so little. She had an ass on her that could make a grown man cry.

Everything about her stirred a wild heat into my cock.

Taking a step closer, I stared straight into her eyes. “Lucy, whoever’s been coming for you already knows you’re alone out here. And you’ve been taking risks like you have a death wish. Is that what you want? You want to die?”

Her pretty lips dropped open, and she whispered, “No.”

I took another step closer until we were only inches apart. My hand came up, settling at her waist like it belonged there, holding her in place. “You’ve been taking walks on the beach by yourself. Driving into town. Going to crowded festivals. Sounds to me like you have a death wish.”

Lucy stiffened at my touch, and now I saw her in the right light. She was frightened out of her mind and powerless to protect herself. She’d just done a good job covering it.

If she kept that fear, it could save her life. I needed her alert and vigilant, just like me.

I softened my voice down to a low growl.

“Baby doll, you might be rich and famous, but that doesn’t stop a bullet.

I know all about that husband you’re in the middle of divorcing and how overprotective he was.

You’ve been living like the threat stopped when you left him, but it didn’t.

Someone wants you dead. My job is simple.

I need to keep you alive. And if that means tying you up and dragging you to a safe house, that’s what I’m going to do. ”

She quietly confided, “I can’t live in a cage any longer. I need to be free.”

I lifted an eyebrow without uttering another word.

She sighed and looked away, her eyes stuttering down to my chest. “Cal promised you’d be unobtrusive.”

Lucy Lee wanted me to fade into the shadows?

Well, I was good at that.

“That’s me,” I rumbled. “I’ll be a ghost in your house.”

She exhaled slowly and nodded, fragile and unsure of herself. A broken woman trying to figure out her place in this world.

Valerie came out with her suitcase packed and gave Lucy a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Call me anytime, day or night.”

Lucy nodded. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I know.” Valerie looked at me. “You better keep her safe.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After I locked the door behind her, Lucy started crying lightly.

This whole experience must have felt overwhelming to her.

After a restless couple of hours, where she paced the house while I kept my eye on her, following her from room to room, she turned to face me.

“Are you going to follow me like this the whole time you’re here?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She seemed frazzled, as if my very presence was too much for her to handle.

Then she stomped toward the bathroom, every inch a curvy diva who was used to getting her own way.

“I’m going to take a bath,” she sniffled at me as she wiped at her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I positioned myself in the hallway outside the bathroom door with my back against the wall when I heard the light rustling of fabric, followed by the slosh of water as she slipped into the tub.

Lucy Lee was naked on the other side of that door.

I adjusted my stance, boots quiet against the hardwood, and fixed my attention on the opposite wall, fighting against the image of a naked Lucy Lee that had popped into my mind.

I focused on the tactical position instead.

The best option was exactly what I’d said. Drag her ass to a safe house.

This place wasn’t defensible. Not the way it stood.

Especially not against a man like Jimmy Watson.

Chances were her ex was behind the attacks. He was rich as fuck with a soul tainted gray. Rumors said he had mafia connections. If Jimmy wanted to take her down, he could throw some big guns at the job.

Lucy Lee needed a ten-man security detail protecting her butt.

But she’d told my boss Cal that she was only willing to have one guard.

As I was standing there, her voice carried through the bathroom door as she started singing quietly.

I recognized the song. It was one of hers.

The words drifted out, “Buy me a pie, I won’t lie. I want to be your woman tonight. Buy me a pie, I won’t lie. I want to be your woman for life. Don’t give me gold. Don’t give me diamonds. Just buy me a pie and I’ll be yours tonight.”

My jaw tightened as I wondered what she looked like in there. My imagination filled in the details whether I wanted it to or not. Steam rising. Her hair pinned up off her neck. Bare shoulders. Soft skin under my hands if I—

I shut it down.

Hard.

She was a client.

Nothing more.

I drew a slow breath, annoyed with myself, and tried to shut out her voice. I was being unprofessional as fuck thinking about her like this.

It was unacceptable, but knowing that didn’t stop my body from reacting.

I shifted again, adjusting my pants to make some extra room in them.

The water went still for a moment, and then I heard her move. Closer this time, like she’d shifted toward the edge of the tub, and instinct moved through me before I could stop it.

But Lucy Lee wasn’t mine to fuck.

She was only mine to guard.

I texted Channel 16, the Tide and Steel Security company group chat, with a list of what I needed to keep her safe.

Cal texted back a minute later, letting me know he’d schedule the security company to come out and set up a state-of-the-art alarm system later this week.

He’d also have someone drop off the building supplies I’d requested. A steel security door. Plus thick metal fencing to block in the stilt space under the house. And blackout curtains for every window in the place so no one could perch outside in the dunes and track her movements through the home.

Eventually Lucy stopped singing and came out, wrapped in a thick towel, still glistening with dampness from her bath. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but at least she’d stopped crying.

I followed her to her bedroom and set up camp outside her door.

Yup. This assignment was a mistake. I knew it now.