Brotherhood Protectors: Exposed (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Scandalous Moves Book 4)

by Deborah Grace Staley

  “To see where this could go?”

  He nodded.

  She laughed. “We both know the answer to that now because you showed me who you really are.” She tilted her head, and she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. “I don’t want a man who feels like he knows what’s best for me—I don’t need to be taken care of or have someone make decisions for me, but I might want a partner. Someone who can share himself with me and treat me as an equal.”

  “Soleil—”

  “You want to settle down, you said so yourself. And I may never stay in one place. More than anything else, I need to be free—free to be myself and do what makes me happy.”

  His chest constricted. His hand tightened on her.

  The music ended, but she didn’t step away. Instead, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Against his ear, she whispered, “I’ll never forget you.”

  She took a few steps away. As she walked through the people around them, he lost sight of her. Panicking, he followed, trying to find her, but she was gone.

  14

  “How was your honeymoon, sweetie?” Jake certainly didn’t want any details, but he knew Caroline would expect him to ask. He slid into the booth across from his daughter and glanced at the menu lying on the table.

  “Heavenly. Thank you for the trip, Daddy. It was amazing,” Caroline said.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

  “How are you feeling?” She read her menu.

  “Good. The doctor says the collarbone is healing.”

  She sipped her iced herbal tea. “Have you been working on the house?”

  “Not really.” What he needed was an exorcist to remove the memory of Soleil from it. He saw her everywhere. Missing her was a physical ache he was beginning to believe would never heal.

  As if reading his mind, she said, “I got a package from Soleil.”

  “Oh, yeah? Wedding pictures?”

  Caroline nodded. “They’re amazing. I mean, the woman has an incredible gift. She doesn’t just photograph someone—”

  “She captures their essence,” he finished her sentence.

  “Right, but . . .”

  “What?” Jake asked when she didn’t finish.

  “The ones she took of you made me cry.”

  “I look that bad?” He ten remembered the bandage he’d worn on his neck, covering the wound where the bullet had grazed him. Plus, he hadn’t been sleeping well.

  Caroline laughed. “This sounds crazy, but, well. Here.” She got out her phone and pressed the touchscreen. She handed it to him, and he looked at a photo of himself.

  He rubbed his chin, unable to speak.

  “When I look at them, I see everything.” His daughter’s voice was quiet, but each word felt like a punch in the gut. “I can feel the longing in the way you looked at her when she took the photos, and it breaks my heart because I can also see that you love her.”

  Jake couldn’t look at the rest of the pictures, so he handed her the phone back. “I asked her to stay,” he admitted.

  “She had to go,” Caroline said.

  He nodded. Jake stared out the window. How could he tell the daughter—his pregnant daughter who he’d missed raising because of his career—that he was home for good, and then leave?

  “Daddy, you might have been away a lot when Charlie and I were growing up, but you were always there for us. You made sure we talked at least once a week when you weren’t deployed. And when you were stateside, you visited more than any of the other dads who were in the military.”

  “I was fortunate that I was able to do that because USSOCOM is in Tampa.”

  “My point is, I never felt like I missed out on having my dad around because it felt like you were always there when I needed you.”

  “I’m glad, honey,” he said around the lump in his throat.

  “And now that you’ve retired, I know I’m going to see you more, but you don’t have to live in Florida for that to happen.”

  That surprised him. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I’d rather you be happy than here all the time and miserable.”

  “You and Charlie make me happy.”

  “I know, Dad.” She put her menu aside and said, “It’s funny really. It’s kind of like you and mom all over again.”

  That stunned him. “This is nothing like that,” he countered. He’d had plenty of time to sort this out since Soleil left because he wasn’t sleeping. “I’ve had my career. I had twenty-three years in the Army. But Soleil has a lot more years left in her career.” He shrugged, and his collarbone ached, same as his heart. “We’re just in two different places in our lives. It wasn’t meant to be.”

  “Is that how you see it?” Caroline shook her head. “Because I look at you and see someone who wants to settle down and have a normal family life like mom did when we were little. And I also look at Soleil and see someone who does important work that takes her all over the world to dangerous places where she’s willing to risk her life to expose injustice.”

  That stunningly accurate assessment left him speechless.

  “Tell me, are you really done saving the world, Dad? Can you just shut that part of yourself off and fish all day or whatever it is you plan to do with your time?” She paused while he thought about that, then continued her full-frontal assault. “Were you attracted to Soleil because you thought she was the kind of woman who would settle into that kind of life with you? Or was that just some kind of misguided fantasy you’d spun because you think Charlie and I need you with us 24/7?

  His daughter’s words were hitting home.

  “Here’s what I think,” she continued. “I think the thought of traveling with her and keeping her safe interests you, but you’re afraid to admit it.”

  His daughter wasn’t pulling any punches. “It was always my dream to live in the same town as my children.”

  “Dreams change. I mean, look. Charlie is away at school in Charleston and going into the military after he graduates. He’s probably never going to be here in Florida. And who knows where Brad and I will be in five years. Point is, airplanes make the world a small place.”

  Why hadn’t he considered that?

  “I’m an idiot.” Jake rubbed his temples.

  Caroline smiled and sipped her drink. “Most men are. Question is, what are you going to do about it?”

  * * *

  The next morning, Jake was on a plane to Rapid City, South Dakota. He’d contacted Hank and bullied him into spilling that Soleil had hired Brotherhood Protectors, and he knew where she was. Nine hours later, he drove his rental into a campground near Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and drove around until he found her brightly painted VW van and red and white camper. The early November weather was cool, but not uncomfortably so, and he found her reading a book, swinging in that same hammock she’d hung between two palm trees on his property.

  When he got out of the rental SUV, she didn’t even look his way. “Delivery for Soleil Fortune-Gardner.”

  She turned so quickly, she nearly tossed herself out of the hammock. She sat up, bracelets jangling, her mouth opened in a little O of surprise. Finding her voice, she said, “Jake! What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

  Jake put his hands in his pockets to keep from dragging her into his arms. “I know a guy,” he said.

  “Maybe I should have a word with that guy,” she said, her sass replacing her surprise.

  “Where’s your security detail?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  He scanned the area and spotted a camo camera on a nearby tree. “You got cameras instead of a bodyguard?”

  “Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time. That’s none of your business,” she said, enunciating the words slowly.

  He took a deep breath and refocused. First things first. “I had to see you. We need to talk.”

  She hopped out of the hammock and stood in front of him. Her hair was longer and a little darke
r at the roots. She’d traded her high-heeled sandals for fleece-lined boots. The big wool coat she wore hid her body.

  “We said everything there was to say.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and focused on a kid riding a skateboard past the campsite.

  “No. You said everything you needed to say. I didn’t get a chance to say anything.”

  She took a deep breath and released it, then motioned toward the two chairs at the table she kept outside her camper. After she’d taken a seat, he did as well.

  “I retired from the Army and came home with a plan. That plan was to put down some roots near my kids.”

  “Sounds familiar,” she said and propped a foot on the edge of her chair.

  “You weren’t part of that plan,” he continued, “but there you were. You came after me,” he reminded her, “and wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

  “Did I?” she said but had the good grace to blush. “I remember you as an active participant.”

  Ignoring that, he continued his carefully prepared speech. “You did, and I’ve never been so glad,” he said. “You opened my eyes to the possibility that maybe I wasn’t finished having adventures.”

  She lifted an expressive eyebrow. “Is that what they call getting shot these days?”

  He refused to be sidetracked, so he continued. He had something to say, and he was damned well going to get it out. “You’re on a mission to make the world a better place by raising awareness with your camera and your enormous, gorgeous heart. I’ve spent my life trying to make the world a better place, too, for my kids and other people’s kids, through the military.” He waited for a second to let her process, then added. “It occurs to me that I have a skill set that might be useful to you in your work.”

  She twirled the stem of a yellow leaf that had fallen onto the table. “Only one?” she said, the suggestion in her words clear.

  With only those two words loaded with innuendo, he knew he was back in the game. So, he pressed his advantage. “I have many talents. We hadn’t begun to scratch the surface.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “What are you proposing?”

  “A partnership. I know you don’t need me to take care of you, but I’m pretty good at keeping people safe, especially the people I love.”

  “Jake . . .” Her breath seemed to catch on his name.

  He held up his hand, “Let me finish. I can keep an eye out for danger and make the call to Hank if I need backup.”

  “You’d ask for help?” She sounded skeptical.

  She sounded skeptical. That was fair. “Yes,” he said firmly, “because I want to keep you happy.”

  Her mouth opened and shut on that statement, but she asked, “What about being close to your kids and that grandchild you have on the way?”

  “As my daughter recently pointed out, they’re adults who don’t need me quite as much as they used to. And one of them isn’t even in Florida and won’t be for the foreseeable future.” He held out his hand and was encouraged when she tentatively put hers in it. “You may not want me around all the time either, and that’s okay because I’m going to need to spend time visiting my kids and spoiling my grandkids, wherever life takes them.” He traced the lines on her palm. “But, if you’ll let me, I’d like to be your anchor—that safe place you can always go to when the world gets too crazy. And if you’re agreeable, maybe you could be that for me.”

  Soleil looked down, shaking her head. “I don’t want you to give up the life you wanted.”

  He reached across the table and tipped her chin up. “The life I want has you in it. However you want that to look, I’m in.” He traced her full lower lip with his thumb. “I won’t lie. I’m hoping you’ll want me around most of the time, but I’ll take what I can get.”

  “I see.”

  She stood and approached him slowly, then sat in his lap. Jake opened her coat and put his arms inside, pulling her closer. She eased her arms over his shoulders, bringing her face close enough to kiss, and his heart flooded with hope. “What do you say?” he managed to say around the thundering heart that had lodged in his throat.

  “I need to dial this back a bit to something you said earlier.”

  “Okay.”

  “I thought I heard you say something about keeping the people you love safe, but I can’t be sure who you were talking about.”

  “Then let me be clear.” He kissed her once, and then again. “I love you, Soleil. I say that with no expectation of you saying the words back. But I want you to know how I feel, and that I’m committed to being that man you might choose to be your partner.”

  She kissed him, too, lingering. “You don’t have to be anything other than who you are, Jake, because that man is pretty amazing.”

  “Yeah?” If his heart beat any faster, he was sure it would leap out of him.

  “Yeah.” She grabbed his wrist and traced the anchor tattoo on the inside of his index finger. “That was pretty romantic when you said you wanted to be my anchor.”

  “Was it?” he smiled. “I worked pretty hard on it during the flight out here.”

  “I’m thinking to seal the deal, I should get a matching anchor tattooed on my finger.”

  He trailed kisses from her temple across her cheek to her neck. “Now who’s being romantic?”

  He could feel her joy, and he felt nothing but gratitude in return.

  “I have a confession to make,” she said.

  “Tell me,” he said and nibbled her earlobe. The beads on her earring jingled.

  “God, I’ve missed you,” she breathed.

  He put his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  “I’d almost decided to tell my parents I wasn’t coming to Africa for Christmas.”

  Her eyes were watery when he asked. “Why?”

  “Because I wanted to come home to you.”

  His chest tightened. “Home?”

  “That’s you,” she said simply. Then she got serious. “I need you to understand something, Jake. If we do this, you’re my home. No matter where we are in the world, whenever we can be together, our home will be with each other.”

  “Sounds perfect,” he said and kissed her, sealing the promises they were making to each other.

  Several minutes later, she said, “There’s one more thing.”

  “Only one?” he said, feeling incredibly happy and blessed.

  “Okay, maybe two. For now.” She kissed him again, and said, “First, I love you, too. Second, I don’t want you getting shot again, so whatever we need to make sure that happens, we’re doing it.”

  “You’re the boss,” he said, kissing her again.

  * * *

  The next day, they both got new tattoos. Jake got one, but Soleil had two done. She had the simple black anchor put on the inside of her index finger, just like Jake’s. He had a black tribal sun tattooed over his heart as a symbol of his love for her. Similarly, Soleil had a heart added to her tattoo sleeve. Nestled among the flowers, on her shoulder near her heart, it had Jake’s name inked in it, the way his name was already etched permanently on her heart.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank KaLyn Cooper for her technical expertise and advice on this book and also for introducing me to Elle James. Thanks also go to Elle for asking me to write in the Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World. My team has expanded and you all rock! Becky Guyton, Eli Harlan, Teresa Aton, Diane Rains, Regine Reimann, and all my Sparks, your love, support, and input are invaluable to me. And my dear, sweet husband, thank you for your love and patience while I spend hours at the computer creating stories to share with the world.

  About the Author

  Deborah Grace Staley is an Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestselling author and winner of the HOLT Medallion. Her novels have been published worldwide. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and teaches college writing and literature. Originally from East Tennessee, she now lives in South Florida near the ocean in a historic Spanish bungalow with he
r husband and two adorable rescued dachshunds. She loves to connect with readers on Facebook and Twitter. Please be sure to sign up for her NEWSLETTER for all the latest news on new releases and fun giveaways. You’ll receive a free gift just for signing up!

  Also by Deborah Grace Staley

  NOVELS

  Angel Ridge Series (Tame): Only You

  Angel Ridge Series (Tame): A Home for Christmas

  Angel Ridge Series (Tame): What the Heart Wants

  Angel Ridge Series (Tame): I’ll Be There

  Angel Ridge Series (Tame): Unforgettable

  Wilde Dunes Series (Flame): Simmer

  Wilde Dunes Series (Flame): Smolder

  NOVELLAS

  Scandalous Moves (Flame): Dared

  Scandalous Moves (Flame): Played

  Scandalous Moves (Flame): Ridden

  Scandalous Moves (Flame): Exposed

  COMING SOON

  Scandalous Moves (Flame): Cuffed

  SHORT STORIES

  Sweeter Than Tea

  Fast Break Romances:

  Aphrodite’s Garden (Tame)

  The Trip (Tame)

  The Wedding Quilt (Tame)