Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers

by Piñeiro, Caridad

  “That’s a start,” he said.

  And a finish, she wanted to reply, but she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to be with him. He was smart, sexy, intelligent, and to hell with his being younger.

  She shot to her feet, grabbed her beach wrap, and slipped it on while he pulled on his shirt, tossed the lotion into her beach bag and then handed her the bag. She slung it over her shoulder and he shook out the blanket, and then wadded it into a giant ball against his midsection, hiding his arousal.

  She held her hand out to him, inviting him yet again to take this step, and he twined his fingers with hers. Together they walked toward Zack’s van and waved goodbye to the friends who were just arriving at the beach. She ignored the self-satisfied smirk on Mark’s face, as if he’d had something to do with what was about to happen.

  She pushed on, picking up her pace, but when Zack stumbled beside her and muttered a curse, she glanced over at him.

  “Something wrong?”

  Zack forced a smile, hiding the pain shooting up lefty from his awkward slip in the sand. “Still a little shaky from the surfing,” he said and the lie tasted bitter on his tongue.

  She slowed her pace to match his and he was grateful for that in more than one way. It gave him time to cool the passion that had threatened to overtake him on the beach and it made it easier for him to keep his gait to almost normal.

  As they walked, she swung their hands lightheartedly, and shot him a smile that was part shy and part playful. Joy glittered in her emerald gaze, driving away the shadows for a moment.

  His chest tightened with the realization that he might be the reason why. His gut twisted because that joy might be short-lived when the truth of his condition became apparent.

  But if she could let go of her secrets to explore this attraction, so could he.

  Her home was a quaint cape about four blocks from the beach and only three blocks from Mark and Bridget’s home. Mark and Samantha had served together in the Navy years earlier and that camaraderie had obviously continued. For a wild second, jealousy sank its ugly claws into his gut, but only for a heartbeat.

  Anyone could see that Mark was head over heels in love with his newlywed and pregnant wife, and that their home was one filled with love.

  Unlike this home.

  The lawn and exterior were certainly shipshape, but far different from their friend’s yard with the colorful flowerbeds that screamed it was a home and not just a house.

  Her hand tightened on his, but it was impossible to tell if it was unease or anticipation as she reached the door, flung it open, and dragged him inside.

  As the door slammed shut behind them, she hauled him close for a kiss and he went with her, driving her up against the wall beside the front door. Cushioning her back as he pressed himself against the wondrous softness of her.

  She opened her mouth to him and accepted the slide of his tongue.

  He nearly groaned at the taste of her, so sweet and fresh. He drank from her lips over and over, dancing his tongue with hers and across the sharp line of her perfect teeth.

  Her soft needy moan vibrated through him and straight to his cock, making it jerk and swell beside the lean flatness of her belly.

  “I want you,” she said and reached down to cup his erection.

  Want and need were so far away from love, but he knew neither of them was ready for that yet.

  “I want you, too,” he said and shifted away slightly. He cradled her cheek and ran his finger across her mouth, still wet and swollen from their kisses.

  The hint of a smile curled up one corner of her mouth and she gazed past his shoulder. He tracked her gaze to the hallway and presumably her bedroom.

  He moved away to let her pass, but as he did so he noticed the almost Spartan living room and piles of boxes in the dining room across the way.

  “Just move in?” he asked innocently.

  She stiffened beside him and lowered her head. “A few months ago. I haven’t had time to unpack.”

  Looking around again, it occurred to him that it was about more than that. In the few short seconds that observation took, the moment of passion was shattered.

  “I think this was a mistake,” she said and stepped back toward the door, arms wrapped around herself.

  He held his hands out in pleading. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything.”

  But she obviously didn’t want to hear any apologies or anything else. “I’m going back to the beach,” she said and raced out the door.

  * * *

  Samantha almost sprinted back to the beach, unable to control the flight response that kicked in at the most awkward of times.

  Like when she was just about to fulfill her fantasy with one of the sexiest and nicest men she’d met in a long time.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she returned to the gathering they’d left just minutes earlier. Sucking in a deep breath, she reined in the fear that paralyzed her in so many ways and with sure strides, she stalked toward her friend Mark and the players that were ready to start the volleyball games.

  He arched a brow in question as she approached, but she ignored it and said, “Do you have room for one more?”

  “Always,” he said and she knew it was true.

  Mark would always be there for her as a friend. He’d been there when she’d been rescued by the Navy Seals and returned to the base where they’d both been serving. He’d seen the aftermath of a short, but brutal captivity in the hands of the enemy.

  He quickly slipped her into the rotation for one of the games and as she took her position on the court, Mark walked away to sit by his wife. As he did so, she noticed Zack hurrying toward them, his features unsettled. Blue eyes darkened to the slate-grey of a stormy ocean.

  Was it anger or worry on his face? she wondered and settled on anger because that emotion let her build a wall against what she was feeling for him.

  She channeled that feeling to drive away her earlier fear and to stoke the competitive spirit that was still buried somewhere inside her. A spirit that made her dive for balls and reach beyond herself to spike winning points.

  They played point after point and after her team had handily won the first game, they took a short break before switching sides of the court for a second game. All the while Zack sat by Mark and his wife, chatting with them amiably. Laughing at something Bridget said which had the other woman glancing down at her slight belly bump and rubbing it lovingly.

  A fist tightened around her heart at the sight.

  Zack must have seen her looking over since he met her gaze and slowly rose from the beach chair, but she turned around and walked back to the court.

  She wasn’t ready to face him yet and explain her earlier getaway.

  I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready, she thought and turned her attention back to the game.

  It was easier to ignore the present than to face the fears of the past.

  * * *

  “I don’t get her,” Zack said as he plopped back into the beach chair to watch Samantha play.

  “She’s . . . complicated,” Bridget said uneasily, making him wonder just how much she knew about Samantha.

  He was about to ask why when Mark leaned forward and gave him a “Come with” jerk of his head.

  “Would you excuse us?” he said.

  Bridget nodded and Mark and he left her behind and walked toward the water at a comfortable pace.

  “You know Samantha is my friend,” Mark said, hands held behind him as he stood by the wash of the surf, staring straight out to sea.

  “I do and I respect that. I don’t expect you to share anything Samantha wouldn’t want shared.”

  “That’s good because I wouldn’t betray her confidences any more than I would yours,” he said and did a quick glance down at lefty before peering back out to the ocean.

  “I get it, Mark. I plan on telling her,” he said with more bite than he intended.

  “Good, because it won’t matter to her just as I hop
e what she tells you – ”

  “If she tells me.”

  Mark faced him. “She will tell you in time. You just need to be patient.”

  He thought of the waves earlier and waiting for just the right one. Waiting for Samantha was no different.

  “I’m a patient man, Mark.”

  Mark chuckled and nodded. “I know that, Zack. That’s why I’m going to ask you to take on some more management responsibilities in the company. With the baby coming in several months, I’m going to need to take more time off and I need someone I can count on to be there. Do you think you can do that?”

  A myriad of thoughts raced through his brain, but it was the one nasty one that escaped him. “Is this a pity promotion?”

  Mark shook his head and blew out a harsh breath. “I’d be a liar if I said I don’t see how you sometimes hurt at the end of a long day, but that’s not enough to make me risk my company’s reputation and more importantly, the lives of my employees.”

  There was no doubting Mark’s sincerity. He wouldn’t let fear and doubt ruin what was an amazing opportunity for him. “You can count on me.”

  The other man slapped him on the back and smiled. “I will, Zack. We can discuss your new duties on Monday. Let’s get back to the games and to our women.”

  Our women.

  He wasn’t quite so sure about that one given what had happened earlier. But as he’d told Mark, he was a patient man.

  He sat back beside his friend and his wife to watch the games and cheer on Samantha and his other friends. He didn’t fail to see her occasional nervous peek in his direction or the way she stayed as far away as she could as the games came to an end and they started to clean up all the equipment on the beach.

  Samantha used that opportunity to slip away with the women as they headed across the street to Mark and Bridget’s home to prep the food and drinks for the rest of the day.

  He helped the men pack up the volleyball gear and walked with them across the street to join the women.

  As he caught a glimpse of Samantha helping out in the kitchen, smiling and obviously at ease, his gut tightened with a mix of emotions.

  Hope that she would one day be that comfortable with him and physical need at the sheer beauty of her when she smiled.

  Patience, he reminded himself and headed off with Mark and Rafe to ready the grill and get his mind off Samantha.

  Embrace The Night: Chapter Five

  It was comfortable being around Bridget, her sister Maggie, and Elena. They were no drama women who laughed often, loved openly, and were not afraid to speak their mind when warranted.

  She suspected that if she ever needed a shoulder to cry on, they’d all be there for her.

  Not that she was the kind to do that, although after this morning’s debacle, a good cry might just make her feel better about ruining what might have been with Zack.

  The women were in baby mode that afternoon since Bridget was pregnant and Elena and Rafe were apparently thinking about having a baby.

  “We’ve been working hard at it,” Elena began, prompting a round of chuckles from all the women as they made the food for a barbeque.

  “Not sure you can call it work,” Maggie teased and playfully hip-checked Elena while cutting and tossing lettuce into a big salad bowl.

  “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it,” Elena shot back with a broad smile. She was laying out burgers, hot dogs, and sausages on a tray to take out to the men.

  Given that her husband Rafe was one very sexy man, Samantha doubted that it was tough at all.

  Just like it wouldn’t be tough with Zack, the little voice in her head challenged.

  No, it wouldn’t be difficult, she admitted and smiled, drawing the attention of all the women who paused what they were doing to look in her direction.

  “She’s got that smile on her face,” Bridget said as she plopped a stack of cheese for the burgers on the tray with the meat.

  The heat across her face warned that she was blushing and she stammered a protest. “It’s not what you think.”

  Maggie pointed to Elena and Bridget and then to herself. “We think you’re hot for Zack and that he’s hot for you.”

  The heat of her embarrassment grew even hotter. “It’s complicated.”

  “That’s what I told him this morning,” Bridget said without hesitation.

  Fuck, no, they’d been talking about me, she thought.

  “Please tell me you didn’t,” she pleaded, but Bridget shook her head.

  “We only offered – ”

  “We? As in – ”

  “Mark and me. We offered some words of encouragement after what happened this morning,” she said.

  She wanted to crawl under a rock or better yet, have the ground swallow her up whole. “Nothing happened this morning. Absolutely nothing,” she said, her words short, sharp, and coated with ice.

  The three women shared conspiratorial looks and Bridget started the conversation again. “We get it, but we can all see that you both want something to happen.”

  Before she could draw a breath, Maggie jumped in. “And Zack’s a good guy.”

  “Sometimes you just have to let go and see what the future holds,” Elena finished up for what was turning out to be a trio of unlikely fairy godmothers.

  Examining each of the women, she realized that every one of them had risked their hearts. Even Elena, who had already been married to Rafe when he had finally come home for good. They’d grown apart in the many years Rafe had served, but had managed to put the pieces of their marriage back together.

  But letting go wasn’t easy for her and neither was thinking about the future. Which was why she had rooms filled with moving boxes she had yet to unpack in her new house. A house that it had taken her years to buy because she was afraid of committing to anything or anyone because of how she was.

  Scared despite the bravado she presented.

  Deeply wounded inside even though she was whole on the outside.

  “I appreciate the pep talk, ladies. I really do,” she said, aware they meant well.

  “We’re here if you need to talk, Samantha,” Bridget said, walked over and hugged her hard.

  She was stiff in the embrace, unused to such caring. She patted the other woman on the back awkwardly and fought back the tightness in her throat that was threatening to choke her.

  “I need to go,” she said, her voice husky.

  Bridget released her and she snatched up the tray with the meat and cheese and rushed out the French doors.

  In the yard, the men held bottles of beer and surrounded a grill heaped with a mound of glowing charcoal.

  As Mark proclaimed the grill was ready, they all grunted their assent and she could picture them beating their chests victoriously at making fire.

  Funny thing was she could picture herself doing the same.

  I have clearly spent too much time with the menfolk, she thought as she walked over with the food.

  “The ladies are working on the salads and side dishes,” she said.

  Mark snagged a pair of tongs from a table by the grill. “We don’t need no salads or side dishes. We need meat, Whittaker,” he teased.

  “Well here you go, Captain,” she teased right back and handed him the tray.

  Rafe, Elena’s husband, passed her a bottle of beer.

  He raised his own bottle in a toast. “To good beer, good food, and even better friends.”

  The other men all chimed in, but as she tapped her bottle with the others, her gaze connected with Zack’s as he stood across the way from her.

  She had expected anger after her abrupt departure. Instead there was understanding and possibly even desire still. As he closed his lips around the mouth of the bottle, she imagined how he’d put that same mouth on her breasts and elsewhere.

  Dragging her gaze away, she chugged down the entire beer in a few swallows and a second later, her empty bottle was swapped out for a fresh one.

  Because courag
e found in the bottom of a beer bottle only created problems, she nursed the second beer as she stood there grilling the meat with the men. Passing occasional glances at Zack and trying to figure out more about the man who attracted her so much.

  He was at ease around the other men, joking with them as if they’d been lifelong friends. Military men one and all, they had many common experiences much like she and Bridget had as women who had served.

  But even when he was a part of the group, there was something about him that remained apart and alone from them. Maybe she recognized that because she, too, kept a piece of herself hidden away from all her friends. A painful piece that it would be easier to discard if she shared it, only she couldn’t.

  When the women came out of the building a few minutes later, she drifted over to them and helped set out the salads and side dishes the men had disrespected earlier. But as she did so, a bit of wooziness tumbled over her, making her grab hold of the table for balance.

  Bridget skimmed her hand across Samantha’s arm and asked, “You okay? You’re looking a little flushed.”

  “Just a little dizzy,” she said and set down the nearly full second bottle of beer as she battled the dizziness.

  “Sit down and have something to eat,” Maggie said. Her friend walked away with a bun on a plate, got a burger from Mark, and returned to the table. Elena quickly spooned some potato salad onto the plate and Maggie set it in front of her.

  “Thanks. I didn’t realize I was such a cheap date,” she joked, thinking that maybe the one beer was the problem. Her stomach did a weird little twist, but then immediately settled down as she ate some of the potato salad.

  As the men meandered to the table with their beers and the meat, the couples paired together to sit around the table. Mark and Bridget. Trevor and Maggie. Rafe and Elena.

  Which left Zack and her, staring at each other for an uncomfortable second until he took the spot beside her on the bench, sandwiching her between him and Trevor. Her arm and thigh grazing his sun-warmed skin thanks to the tight space.