Her Temporary Hero (a Once a Marine Series book) (Entangled Indulgence)

by Jennifer Apodaca

  Bloody. “You’re hurt.” Her gaze shot back to his face. A cut slashed over his cheekbone, and his arms and hands had more injuries. She’d been sitting here thinking about herself and he’d been hurt.

  “It’s nothing.” He laid his hand on Sophie’s back. “Doctor said she’s okay.” He lifted his eyes to hers.

  She loved his light green eyes, tried to drink them in. Imprint them forever. “I didn’t wake up. Neither of us did. We were sick. Jiggy woke me.” Where was her little guy? “Where is he?”

  “He’s at a house. Safe. He’s fine, I promise.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. “Don’t take him from me. Please, I’ll find a place that takes dogs.” She wasn’t being rational, knew in her heart Logan would never take her dog from her, but she couldn’t help it. It was just too much. How ironic that she’d finally sold the trailer and it burned down. Freaking perfect.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. No one is taking Jiggy from you.” He sat on the bed. “I meant that Jiggy is at the house we secured for you. He’s waiting for you. He can’t come in the hospital or I’d have brought him with me.”

  Relief sagged through her. “Somewhere for us to stay? Me and Sophie? I don’t have my purse, or ID, or ATM card to get money out. I pawned my mom’s rings, but I gave that money to the lawyer.”

  His jaw clenched. “I’ve been searching for you. I had Sienna track the GPS on your phone. You wouldn’t answer my calls or texts. I had to find you.”

  “Why? Why would you risk it? Your dad is going to hear about this.”

  His eyes blazed. “I’d never let him hurt you, Becky. Ever. Brody drew up the paperwork, I signed over my land and the buildings to my dad. Camp Warrior Recovery is on hold.”

  His words ran together in her head, formed clumps, and spun. It didn’t make sense. The whole reason he wanted the deal was to get the permanent deed to his land so he could build the camp. “Logan, no. Your land and camp is everything to you.”

  “Wrong.” He stretched his legs out next to her and pulled her into his side. “You have no reason to believe this, but I know I screwed up. I’m your husband, the one person in the entire world you should know has your back. But you didn’t know that because I didn’t have the guts to tell you I love you. You really thought I’d choose the land over my girls?”

  His girls?

  “You love me?” As soon as the words were out, she was desperate to call them back. She was sick, had a fever, had been through a fire, and was probably hearing things out of pure desperation.

  Rubbing his hand on her arm, he said, “I don’t think I understood how much I love you until I came home and found you gone. You’ve had a horrible night and a rough few days. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, but I’m asking you to give me a chance to prove that I love you and can be worthy of you. I’m going to protect you until I know you and Sophie are safe. That part is not negotiable—the fire tonight wasn’t an accident, it was purposely set in your living room.”

  Becky was still trying to take in that he was here and loved her. Wanted to prove himself when his last sentence sank in. “Someone was inside my trailer?”

  “Yes.” A nerve ticked in his jaw. “The windows were all nailed shut. They used an accelerant, probably gasoline.”

  The horror caused her to lean into him, seek his strength, his warmth. Memories of the fire that took her father and brother swirled with tonight’s events. “I’m scared.”

  Logan put his arm around Becky’s shoulders. “You’re not alone. I’m staying with you. My friends from Once a Marine are on their way as we speak and already working on the case.”

  She tipped her head up, cold determination forming in her gut. “It’s Dylan. He tried to kill his own child.”

  “He went after my wife and child. I’m going to destroy him. He’ll never threaten you again.”

  “Yours? Even Sophie?”

  He brushed her hair back, his mouth kicking up at the corners. “She had me the minute I held her in my arms on the horse.”

  Logan had come for them. It was starting to fully sink in. “You really gave up your land? For us?”

  The fury in his eyes melted into warm pools. “I gave up my heart for you. It’s yours. The land and my dreams are nothing without you to share them with.”

  Her heart swelled. She was sick, dirty, and homeless, but she had a real family.

  …

  Logan leaned against his truck parked outside the Lustor Nightclub. He had a score to settle.

  “I can’t figure it out.” Hunter Reece shifted, his cold-eyed stare scanning the parking lot. “Where the hell does your pretty little wife put all that food she eats? Never seen a woman eat so many fajitas. I mean they were good, but damn.”

  Logan smiled despite the reason they were there. “Becky was starving today. She and Sophie are feeling better.” Becky had lost a few pounds, but judging by the way she’d attacked dinner they’d cooked together for his friends, she’d get back up to fighting weight soon.

  “She’s a special woman, and that baby…man that kid’s got some killer eyes on her. If she ends up with her mom’s smile?” Hunt shoulder bumped him. “You’re going to need my sniper skills when she’s a teenager and starts dating.”

  “Oh hell no. Sophie’s not dating.” God. Just the thought… Nope.

  A truck pulled into the parking lot, slid into a spot, and cut the engine. Dylan jumped out and swaggered toward the VIP entrance.

  Time to focus on the job. Okay, technically this wasn’t part of the job; this was pure revenge and staking out his territory.

  Becky and Sophie belonged to him.

  Logan shadowed the man across the parking lot to the back VIP entrance door. Just as Dylan reached for the door, Logan sprang, grabbing his wrist and spun him.

  “What the hell?” Dylan froze as recognition cut off his outrage. “Knight.”

  “That’s Mr. Knight to you, ass wipe.”

  Understanding filled his eyes. Backed in a corner, Dylan puffed up his chest. “You can’t harass me like this.”

  “Okay, then how about like this?” Logan grabbed Dylan’s shirt, lifted him off the ground, took three steps, and slammed him against a wall.

  Shock dropped Dylan’s mouth open.

  Logan got serious. “I’d love to rip your fucking face off, so if I were you, I’d shut up and listen. You’re done, Ridgemont. You’re going back to prison and all your lawyers and family connections won’t be worth piss.”

  Calculation chased out some of the fear in the bastard’s eyes. “You’re bluffing. They’re going to clear my name. Prove that bitch was driving—”

  Logan jerked him forward and slapped his head back up to the wall. “You’re a real slow learner, Ridgemont. That bitch is my wife and I’ll kill for her. Which, by the way, I’m trained to do.”

  Hunter leaned his shoulder against the wall, facing Dylan. “Logan is real messy about his killings, too. See, now me? I like the clean shot. It’s what makes me an excellent sniper. But cowboy here? He gets all enraged and does really gross things with his knife…makes me want to puke.” He sighed. “Sometimes I take the kill shot because that screaming just grates on my nerves.”

  Dylan swung his head back and forth. “You can’t touch me. I’ll file charges—”

  “Do that when the police come to arrest you for attempted murder of Becky and Sophie.”

  He shook his head. “You’ve got nothing.”

  Logan leaned in so close, he could smell the expensive alcohol and rancid sweat. Silently he thanked his Once a Marine buddies—they’d found the goods on Dylan. “Garrett Lunger has been arrested. Turns out, he wants to save his own skin. He’s told the cops and D.A. all about the man who hired him to kill Becky and Sophie.” In a fire meant to terrify Becky in her last moments. Logan wanted to hurt this rat bastard in a bad way.

  The color leeched from Dylan’s boyish face. His hands on Logan’s arms slipped off. Panting like a caged animal, he blurted out, “No.
I don’t know him. Cops can’t connect me.”

  Sirens blared as cars pulled into the nightclub. Dylan struggled, trying to escape.

  Logan’s rage fought his self-control. The need to beat Dylan into a mass of pure agony, then lock him in a room and set it on fire pounded in his brain.

  “Stand down, cowboy. You’re just holding him for the cops.”

  Hunter’s calm voice cut through the red haze demanding vengeance. For Sophie’s sake, they had to do this legal or he’d jeopardize Becky getting full custody. The cops would overlook this little chat, but if he crossed any real lines…

  Logan dropped his hands and stepped back.

  The police swarmed in. A uniform spun Dylan, shoved his face against the wall, and cuffed him. “Dylan Ridgemont you are under arrest for…”

  It was over. Logan walked away. It was time to go home.

  …

  “It’s really over.”

  Logan eyed his wife hugging herself and gazing out the window into the dark night. “The nightmare with Dylan, yes. You’ll get custody. Sophie will be safe.”

  She nodded, but said nothing else.

  Logan had been patient for three days. Becky had been sick and when he wasn’t taking care of her and Sophie, he’d been working the case with all his friends. He’d also made sure to notify the courts and social worker of their address change.

  And every night, Becky slept in his arms.

  But what would happen once the custody case was final in just two weeks? Would Becky fully forgive him for not putting her first when he should have? It’d be so much easier if he could keep supporting her, if she needed him to provide for her and her daughter. Then he’d have more time to get her to love him enough.

  His mother had loved him, but not enough. Indigo could have stopped touring and lived nearby, gotten her life together and proved to the courts she could be a mother. She hadn’t done that. It hadn’t been until he’d seen what Becky would give up for Sophie that he’d finally realized the truth.

  His mother was a flake. She’d kept Logan as long as he fit her life, but she wouldn’t change for him.

  Becky had given up her dream of being a nurse, or at least put it on hold, and kept Sophie. She’d cared for her dying mother with a newborn. Becky stuck when she loved.

  He wanted her love to be real, the kind that stuck no matter what happened—even when he screwed up. He had to give her the chance to choose, free of financial pressures and worries about her daughter.

  Enough. Logan went to his dresser and got out the first item. Going to Becky he put his arms around her. “This is yours.”

  She tilted her head down.

  He opened the small square box.

  She gasped. “Logan. My mom’s rings.” Her hand trembled as she took out the two gold bands with the single diamond. She lifted her gaze. “I thought they were gone.”

  “I had Brody buy them back as soon as the pawn shop opened the next morning.” He turned her, sliding the rings on her right hand. “You won’t sell them again.”

  “Thank you.” Tears spilled over her cheeks. “They are all I have left of all of them. Everything else is gone. But when I look at these, I remember not only my mom, but my dad and Tyler, too.” She threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much.”

  He pulled her tight, wanting to bind her to him forever. “It’s my pleasure, baby. You can give them to Sophie someday, and she’ll have a piece of her grandmother.”

  She showed him her tear filled brown eyes. “You understand.”

  “I do.” Framing her face with his palms he wiped her tears. Becky smiled and cried and rarely hid what she felt. He loved that, but he wanted to be the one to kiss her smiles and wipe her tears. “I have something else that’s yours.” He handed her a folder.

  She frowned. “What is it?”

  “Your savings account with fifty thousand in it. There’s another smaller account for Sophie.”

  The blood drained from her face. “You’re leaving?” She shook her head and shoved it back at him. “I don’t want this. I don’t want your money.”

  He tossed it to a chair. “Listen to me, I’m staying. I love you and Sophie. I will do everything in my power to keep you both. You’re my family.”

  “Then why?”

  “I want you to love me enough to stay, not because of what I can give you. You’re both free, you have enough money, you don’t have to stay.” He wasn’t sure if this was making sense, but he’d held back from her once, tried to protect his heart, and Becky had ended up alone and not knowing how he felt. Never again. So he told her the ugly truth. “No one’s ever loved me enough to stay.”

  “I do and so does Sophie. You’re her father.” She closed her eyes, regret squeezing her face. “I only left because your father threatened Sophie. Otherwise, I’d have talked to you.” When she opened her eyes, gold shimmered in her orbs. “I would have fought him for you, but Sophie is a baby. I have to protect her first.”

  “Damn right. Don’t ever change that, Becky. It’s one of the things I love about you. You didn’t know what I’d do to keep you and Sophie safe. The difference is now we can protect her together. You won’t ever have to wonder where I stand—I stand with you to protect our daughter.”

  Not long ago, those words—father and daughter—would have terrified him. Now they gave him his dream, the one he hadn’t even wanted to admit to himself. “You’re my family.”

  “We are.” She burrowed into his arms, all her soft curves fitting against him. “I love you, Logan. I won’t leave again.”

  The moment was perfect.

  She looked up. “But you have another family. I invited Pricilla and Pam over tomorrow.”

  His face hardened. “No. And I don’t want to talk about them. This is our time.”

  “That wasn’t a question, cowboy. This is my home too and I want them here.”

  “You forgive them?”

  She shrugged in that thin robe. “There’s nothing to forgive. They thought I was using you for money. They love you, Logan. They barely knew me.”

  Oh, he wasn’t letting them off that easy. “They lived in our house for over a week because you’re so tender hearted. They knew you well enough.”

  “Forgive them, Logan. All they did wrong was defend you. Abby’s coming, too.”

  He stared at her, his sweet girl with so many layers. “You’re not going to budge on this, are you?” Becky had a spine of steel.

  “I love you too much to let you throw away your family. And before you start ranting, your father isn’t invited. I’m pissed as hell at him. He should never have let you sign your land over to him. That camp is important.”

  He couldn’t help it, he smiled. “You’re sexy when you defend and take care of me.”

  “You’re mine. I take care of what’s mine. Tomorrow is for family. Tonight…” She stepped back and let her robe slide off her shoulders, “is just for us.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Two weeks later

  “What do you think?” Pricilla wrung her hands, clearly anxious.

  Becky looked around Spinners. On the wall over the mechanical bull was a huge sign, “Congratulations Logan, Becky, and Sophie!” Caterers had tri-tip, chicken, and sides spread along one wall, a three-layer cake dominated a corner. Guests milled around, dancing and celebrating.

  Yesterday, they’d had the custody hearing for Sophie. Becky secured full custody, and Dylan had no visitation. The next step was going to be terminating his parental right so Logan could adopt Sophie.

  “I know it’s not fancy or—”

  Becky turned to her mother-in-law and hugged her. “It’s perfect. Thank you for doing this.” She didn’t want to know how much it cost to get Mac to agree to close Spinners on a Saturday night.

  Pricilla hugged and released Becky. “I wanted to, Becky. I love you and my granddaughter. Say you believe me. I still feel awful that we turned our back on you when you needed us the most.”

  “W
e’ve been over this, it was as much our fault. I should never have agreed to deceive you and the family. Logan and I were both wrong.”

  Pricilla nodded. “I wish I could fix this with Brian and Logan. Neither will make the first move. Brian’s sitting home while we party.” She shook her head. “He’s going to end up a bitter old man.”

  Becky rubbed her arm. “You decided to stay with him.”

  “You probably think I’m a foolish woman.”

  “Far from it. You don’t want to lose your family.” The old pain stung. “I lost most of mine and would have given anything to have them back, faults and all. We’ll heal this rift between Brian and Logan someday. In the meantime, he’s Sophie’s grandfather and he has the right to see her. Logan isn’t fighting me on that.”

  Pricilla laughed. “Cause he’d lose. You’re a heck of a lot fiercer than I gave you credit for.”

  “It’s easy when I know Logan loves me just as I am.”

  “Thank you for understanding about Brian. I wanted him to love me the way Logan loves you, but I can’t make him. But he did apologize to Pam. They’ve been spending more time together, and that makes me happy.”

  “You don’t have to explain.” She hurt for Pricilla. “He loves you, he just can’t say it.” Becky had seen how angry Brian was that Becky’s deception hurt Pricilla.

  Logan strode up with a few other people in tow. “Sophie wants her grandmother.” He handed the baby over.

  Pricilla’s eyes lit up. “Here’s my darling girl. Let’s go look at the cake.”

  “Good luck with that.” He grinned at Sophie. “All she wants to do is sit on the mechanical bull.”

  “Such a tomboy. You’re going to be just like your Aunt Abby, aren’t you?” Pricilla’s voice trailed away.

  “Becky.” Logan put his arm around her. “This is Adam Waters.”

  “Hi Adam.” She held out her hand to the man with the tawny eyes and killer smile. “Thank you for all you and your security agency did to help us. Sophie—” She glanced over to see Pricilla holding Sophie on the unmoving mechanic bull. “She and Logan are my world. I’m beyond grateful.”

  “No need. We’d have been there from the start if we’d known.” He released her hand and flashed a hard look at Logan before returning to her. “Don’t ever hesitate to call any one of us if you or Sophie need something.” Pulling a beautiful redhead into his side, his face softened. “This is my wife, Megan.”