Chapter Nine #3
None of it worried her. If any of it was a real threat, Hawk would already be up, weapon in hand, standing between her and whatever it was.
Her heart gave a small, warm squeeze. She might be paying Black Heart Security for his protection, but the way he looked at her…the way he’d moved without hesitation back on Timberline Ridge and when she nearly pitched headfirst down that rocky slope…made her suspect he would have done it for free.
After spending only days with the Army Ranger turned FBI turned mercenary turned human shield, she knew that protecting people was part of his DNA.
And the man was damn sexy when he did it.
Her stomach performed another warm little flip, and she wiggled her hips—purely to get comfortable on the hard-packed earth.
Her bodyguard was hot, but under other circumstances, would they have fallen into each other’s arms?
She’d only let herself get carried away because they were stuck together in the middle of an unexpected adventure. Along the trail, what began as a job had turned into…well, more.
Even telling herself she’d slept with her bodyguard for those reasons didn’t feel like the truth.
She’d wanted Hawk.
She wanted him now.
She let out a breath that sounded as a whisper and stared at the dark ceiling of the tent.
Her father would not approve.
What would he say if he could see her now—sharing a tent with a bodyguard she’d slept with, chasing a family secret through the Wyoming backcountry?
He pushed me to come here.
Since her father’s death, she’d cycled through several stages of grief.
But never the anger part.
The emotion was just starting to hum inside her when a big hand brushed her shoulder.
“Sinead.” Heath gave her a light shake.
It took her mind a moment to switch gears from the daughter who’d been slighted by the one man who was supposed to approve of her, to Hawk propped up on one elbow, staring down at her.
“What’s up?” Her voice was thick with the effort of pulling herself out of her own head. “Did you hear something?” she whispered with more urgency.
“No. We’re safe. I’ve been lying here thinking.”
Knowing he’d been awake the entire time made her flush from the tips of her toes to the top of her scalp.
“Thinking about what?” Her heart started pounding faster.
“My father.”
She blinked at him through the dark. “What about him?”
“He left. Walked out when I was a kid, and never came back.” His eyes were fixed on a point beyond her. “Our talk today… It made me think that I’ve spent most of my life leaving everyone else first. My unit, the agency. I think…”
She waited, and when he didn’t speak, she drew her arm free of her sleeping bag and reached for his hand. It landed on the solid, warm back of his, and his stare returned to her face, intense in the dark.
“I think I told myself I was looking for a place where I belonged. You made me see I did belong—everywhere, even with the mercenaries. I just left before they could walk out on me first.” He paused. “I never really put it together until you told me you never felt like enough for your father.”
She swallowed around a lump thickening her throat. They were both lying there thinking about injustices done to them by their fathers.
Part of the wall inside her crumbled, leaving her soft and unguarded. She caressed the back of his hand, and he turned it over to clasp hers.
“I can see it,” she said quietly. “The leaving first. It makes sense.”
He flipped fully to face her, and she turned too, close enough that she could see the faint shine of his eyes.
“It’s harder to stay than to leave. I think that’s true for most people. Leaving is easy. Staying can actually cost you something,” she whispered.
He stroked his thumb along her wrist, over the point where her pulse throbbed fast. Too fast.
“I’m staying right now.” His voice dipped, low and gritty. “And not just because you can’t dismiss me because of a stupid clause.”
She issued a laugh that sounded throaty. Too throaty.
Hawk leaned closer. “I’m staying, Sinead. Here. With you.”
He reached for her, drawing her in, and she slipped into his arms without any hesitation at all. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her against his chest. Under her ear, his heart beat like a steady drum.
Even though she was in the most danger of her life, she felt utterly safe in Hawk’s arms.
Heath’s arms.
The lines between professional and personal were blurring. And if given the choice, she didn’t want to go back.
She tipped her head back to look at him, only to find he was already staring down at her, his expression more unguarded than she’d seen it yet.
There was a stillness in his eyes, like he’d battled his own demons and come out the other side, at peace.
She closed the gap between them and kissed him, a slow, soft brush of her lips. He let out a groan and brought his hand up to cradle her cheek. Then he angled his head and kissed her back, letting his tongue coax open the parts of her she’d kept closed off her whole life.
When they broke apart, neither of them spoke. Just held on, in the dark, warm and close, and she wondered if he’d been missing this too.