Chapter 2
two
Jack
“Here’s to the first man down.” Riker raises his glass. “May the rest of our sorry asses find a woman like Tara who’ll put up with our shit.” Riker’s toast is direct and to the point, just like him. He’s a good friend, as are all my former SEAL team buddies.
Riker, Trace, Rafe, Hollander, Jude, Maddox, and I were thrown together when we were first selected for the Navy’s SEAL program.
Our team was officially SEAL Team Titan X, but unofficially, we were known as the suicide squad.
There wasn’t anything we wouldn’t back down from.
None of us had anyone back home who cared whether we lived or died—each of us had grown up in the system, never truly fitting in until we were forced together on a highly classified team.
Privately, we called ourselves the virgin squad once we realized we shared that commonality. When you spend your life looking for love, you’re not going to accept anything less. But it’s also hard to believe anyone could love you for who you are after being rejected so many times growing up.
It wasn’t until Rafe met and fell in love with Tara that we realized there might be someone out there who loves us as much as Tara loves Rafe. Looks like we’ll have to come up with a new name.
We left the military a few years ago, each of us going our own way, but we continue to work in the careers we love as bodyguards.
We might work for seven different security companies in seven different cities across the country, but when one of us needs the other six, we will always be there for each other. Like today, on Rafe’s wedding day.
“Speaking of Tara, I’d better get back to the reception before she comes to her senses and asks for a divorce.” Rafe laughs, but it’s not his usual happy laugh—this one sounds forced, as if he’s afraid of losing Tara.
“Nice try, Rafe.” Tara glides over to our table in the far corner of the reception hall, the look of love on her face as she gazes at Rafe is almost too unbearable. I’m happy for him, but the jealousy of not having what he has is creeping into my soul. “You’re stuck with me for life.”
Rafe takes her hand and places a kiss on her palm. “Thank you.” The look of love shining back in Rafe’s eyes as he looks at Tara pushes me closer to the edge.
Without missing a beat, Tara smiles. “Dance with me, husband.”
The wedding reception is starting to wear on my nerves, with all the single women trying to get our attention. It’s making me feel caged in, almost restless, needing to escape all the love bouncing off Rafe and Tara.
Unable to watch the love bouncing off Tara and Rafe any longer, I make my escape. “I’m going to check out the hotel bar.” I place a kiss on Tara’s cheek and shake Rafe’s hand. “Congratulations.”
It’s a sobering walk to the hotel bar, not that I had more than a few sips of champagne as I toasted the lucky couple. But thinking about going back to my hotel room alone has me wanting to take shots of the strongest liquor I can find.
My steps falter as I approach the bar. A waterfall of blonde hair and the sexiest pair of legs I’ve ever seen sit at the far end of the bar, away from the rest of the crowd.
It isn’t until I’m almost next to her that my breath catches in my throat when she turns her head, glancing over her shoulder, and a pair of blue eyes blink up at me.
“Is the seat taken?”
She motions gracefully with her left hand, “Help yourself.” Those two innocent words have me conjuring up all the ways I would like to help myself to her.
“Be careful what you wish for, Princess.” I slide into the seat beside her and watch her chest rise and fall.
The dress she’s wearing, if you can even call it that, hugs every curve of her body, leaving little to the imagination.
“Can I buy you a drink?” The cheesy pickup line makes me cringe, but she doesn’t seem put off by it.
“Sure. But I have to warn you, it’s very expensive.” She lifts the glass of clear liquid to her lips, taking a slow drink before setting it back on the bar. “Very expensive.”
Something about the way her eyes shine makes me want to call her bluff. “Is that so?” I wrap my hand around the glass in front of her, bring it to my lips, and take a sip before holding it up to the dim bar light. “This must be one of those fancy designer waters.”
Her husky laugh fills the small space between us, “You caught me. I’m a cheap date.”
“There’s nothing cheap about you, Princess.” I gently grip her chin and bring her eyes to mine.
Damn, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.
I don’t touch women without their permission unless it’s a life-or-death situation.
But there’s nothing life-or-death about our situation unless you consider that I might die if I don’t touch this beauty.
I let go of her chin, return my hand to her glass, and take another drink, afraid she’ll be offended and walk out of this bar, out of my life, when I just found her.
I wonder if this is how Rafe felt when he first met Tara.
“Why do you keep calling me Princess?” She surprises me by asking instead of leaving.
“In one of the nicer foster homes I lived in, there was a little girl with a doll that had long blonde hair and blue eyes—it was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.
She told me the doll was a real princess waiting for her prince to save her.
You remind me of that doll.” I don’t know what made me tell this beautiful, stranger the story I had long forgotten.
Living with the Davis family was the only highlight of my childhood.
An unfortunate accident left Mr. Davis disabled, and the family could no longer take in foster children.
At ten, I was sent to my seventh foster home.
I hadn’t thought about my time with the Davis family in years.
I’d never wanted to share those memories with anyone until this beautiful stranger pulled them out of me.
“D-do you have a room in the hotel?” The golden-haired princess asks me, her gaze so trusting.
I should tell her no and send her on her way, but I can’t. The selfish side of me wants what Rafe has, if only for one night.
“Yes, Princess, I do.”
“Call me, Ember.” She holds out her hand for me to shake, but instead I lift it to my lips, turning it ever so slightly, and place a kiss on her palm like I saw Rafe do with Tara.
“My name’s Jack. And you’re going to be my Princess tonight.”