Rhodes's Reward: A SEALs of Honor World Book (Heroes for Hire 4)

by Dale Mayer

  “Besides killing, is there anything else you guys like to do?”

  He hit Play, and the movie started immediately. He zoomed into a big action scene where a building was being blown up. He grinned. “Love this stuff.”

  She snorted. “Of course you do. No plot, nor character, just blow shit up.”

  But she didn’t leave. She curled up in the opposite corner of the couch and watched it with him. About ten minutes later he realized she had grabbed the entire bowl of popcorn and held it close to her chest, on the side away from him. He looked at her in outrage. “First you to try to steal my movie, then my popcorn.”

  She glanced at him innocently and said, “While I eat this popcorn, why don’t you get yourself another one?”

  He glared at her and chuckled. “I have a better idea.” He got up and moved right beside her, touching her from hip to knee, wrapped an arm around her and said, “We’ll share.”

  She tried to wiggle free, but that wasn’t happening.

  Finally, she subsided and glared at him.

  “That’ll teach you to take over a man’s domain without his permission.”

  “Like it’s yours.” She scoffed. “Do you think I don’t know how to handle you guys? Remember, Jarrod’s only one of four brothers I have. And they are all big, tough, macho guys like you. You’re nothing special.”

  He had meant to reach into the popcorn bowl but her smaller hand slipped in under his, and she snagged up the last of it, popping the bunch in her mouth. Then she glared at him, like a challenge.

  He stared at the empty bowl and then glared at her in mock outrage. The trouble was, he didn’t want to move, not at all. He thought about getting another bowl to share, then realized as soon as he moved, she would leave. He’d much rather stay here.

  “Think you’re so smart, do you?” She turned her head away, kicked her legs up between them and sat curled up in the corner. “I’m not getting browbeaten by male bullying.”

  “I didn’t bully you,” he said. But he settled back slightly, giving her space. He looked down woefully at the bowl still in her arms. “You’re the bully. You ate all the popcorn.”

  She glanced at the bowl, then laughed. “Okay, maybe I am. But I was hungry.”

  “Didn’t you get enough to eat at dinnertime?” He picked up his whiskey and settled back. “There is also some alcohol around, if you want a drink.”

  She looked at the glass with vague interest. “I’m not much of a hard drinker. A glass of wine now and then, that’s a different story.”

  “I can get you one if you’d like. We have both red and white.”

  She hesitated, then shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t.”

  “Why shouldn’t you?” he asked with interest. “It’s safe here. Even if you drank too much, nobody would take advantage of you. I might have to put you in your bed because you can’t get there on your own, but somebody would see the job done.”

  She snorted. “How you would love a chance to do that.” She shook her head. “Nope, my ex-boyfriend was a heavy drinker. Still not terribly comfortable around them.”

  “Having a drink in the evening is not being a drinker.” But he shrugged and settled deeper into the cushion. In his head, he wondered just how bad of a heavy drinker the guy had been. Had he beaten her? Rhodes glanced over at her, but she hadn’t shown any fear when he had pushed her boundaries. And that was a good thing.

  Besides, if Jarrod had any idea that the ex might have knocked her around, he’d have taken care of the guy immediately.

  Rhodes settled back to watch the movie, happy she had stayed with him. She moaned after a couple action scenes and groaned at a couple dumb one-liners, but hey, he didn’t put this movie on because he was concerned about the eloquent conversation between the characters. It was exactly what he needed to escape. And the longer they sat here, the more she relaxed. Eventually her legs stretched out beside him, not quite touching, not avoiding him either. But she was totally at ease, and that’s what he wanted.

  At one point, she pulled her feet up and accidentally touched him. “Sorry,” she muttered.

  “Doesn’t matter. The couch is huge.”

  At that, she stretched out her legs. There wasn’t quite enough room, so he picked her feet up and put them on his lap. “Just leave them here. You’ll be more comfortable.”

  At that she tucked a pillow under her head and turned her attention back to the movie.

  By the time the credits rolled through, he was grinning like a fool. He always liked those movies. A large group of men going after the bad guys, along the way rescuing the damsel in distress. Just like his life. He shut off the TV and turned to ask, “What did you think of it?”

  And stopped. She’d fallen asleep. He shook his head. He didn’t even know when she’d nodded off.

  He got up, took his empty glass and bowl into the kitchen, rinsed and loaded both in the dishwasher, and came back out, wondering what he should do with her.

  He checked his watch. It was 10:30 p.m. Definitely time for her to go to bed. He reached out a gentle hand and tried to shake her awake. She body-rolled with his movements but never woke up. He frowned and gave her a harder shake. She mumbled, tried to turn over, but the couch wasn’t giving her any room. Finally, in frustration, she fell back asleep.

  He didn’t think he’d seen anybody sleep quite that way. But he had an easy answer. He reached under her body, picked her up in his arms and quietly walked to the elevator, hit the button and stepped inside. He could feel his muscles work as he had lifted her, but thankfully everything seemed to be going just fine. His original injuries caused him some concern, but this last year with heavy training, he was back into his prime condition again.

  On the second floor, he walked to her suite and had to shuffle her in his arms to get her door open.

  Thankfully, she’d left it unlocked. He nudged it wider with his foot, and walked carefully over to the bed. Then he frowned because of course, it was made. He pulled back the covers and sheets and laid her down. He quickly took off her shoes and stopped, staring at her shirt and jeans. If he undressed her, she’d be pissed. But how could she get a good rest if he didn’t?

  He decided to go for it, taking off her jeans and T-shirt. Tucking her under the covers, he folded her clothes nicely, leaving them on the other side of the bed. At the door, he turned off the light, glanced over at the sleeping beauty and whispered, “Good night.”

  She didn’t respond. Just snuggled deeper into the covers. He shook his head at her ability to sleep so deeply, so fast. He’d had high hopes for sleep himself. Now he wasn’t so sure. Instead of pictures of great action scenes dancing in his head, he would see a model-perfect body twisting beneath him.

  By the time he made it to his suite, he contemplated another cold shower.

  Chapter 5

  When Sienna woke up the next morning, she twisted uncomfortably, wondering what was pulling at her ribs. She rolled onto her back and realized she was still wearing her bra. She struggled to remember last night, anything past the movie and sitting on the couch with Rhodes. She threw back the covers and, relieved to see she still wore panties, headed to the bathroom, took a quick shower, dressed in fresh clothing and headed out. She snagged her cell phone as she left, checking the time. It was only 7:30.

  She wouldn’t be the first downstairs. She wasn’t sure Alfred ever slept, as he had to get up at some godforsaken hour to bake those always fresh cinnamon buns and other goodies he offered them.

  Sure enough he was there, as were most of the men. “Don’t any of you guys sleep?” she asked in a half mumble. She headed for the coffeepot and poured herself a large mug. Turning around, she sat down at the table. She’d had lots of sleep, but her body said it wasn’t done yet.

  “What’s on tap for today, Levi?” Rhodes asked.

  “How does Sienna feel about discussing some of this with the DA’s office in Dallas?”

  She stared at Levi. “Me?” she squeaked. “Why should I
go?”

  “Because you can explain the codes and names you found.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to do that on the phone?” She’d never done any fieldwork. Even with her old job.

  “Possibly. But Rhodes needs to check out a couple more places.”

  Her heart sank. At the same time, her nerve endings came alive. She was going with Rhodes? That would not be a good thing. Especially if that meant a night at a hotel. She dropped her gaze to her coffee mug and lifted it to take a sip. In her mind, she thought it was foolish. “How many hours are we talking?”

  “If we leave now, we might get back tonight,” Rhodes said quietly. “Otherwise, we’d have to stay overnight. It also depends on what kind of trouble we run into.”

  Immediately she shook her head. “Remember, I don’t do trouble.”

  Everybody at the table laughed.

  “Easy for you to say,” Rhodes quipped, “considering you came here through trouble. But when it happens, nobody’s ever prepared for it.”

  She really didn’t want to, but she wasn’t sure how to come up with an excuse not to. She also didn’t understand what the point was.

  Ice walked in then, sitting down at the table. She looked over at Sienna. “Did Levi ask you?”

  “If you mean about seeing the DA, yes, he did. But it doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “Don’t know if you heard that they found more pages of code, but they don’t really understand what they’re looking at. There has to be a reason these sections were printed off. This time there are names.”

  Sienna immediately shook her head. “They will have a whole team of specialists more capable of sorting through that paperwork than I am.”

  Levi nodded. “Maybe we should say they don’t have anybody they trust. They’re afraid some of those names on that list are coming out of their offices and higher up.”

  “Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. That she did understand. It made sense then. Betrayal happened at all levels. And often those were the hardest to prove, the higher-ups. And they often had to bring in somebody from an outside firm to handle it.

  She considered the risks, realized that Rhodes would be there with her, something she desperately wanted, even if it was really bad for her, and nodded. “Okay, let’s hope we can be back tonight.”

  Ice immediately shook her head. “That won’t happen. They have meetings set up for you today and tomorrow.”

  Sienna raised her gaze to study Ice’s expression but found only sincerity in hers. “Remember, you guys, I haven’t had any field experience. This could be a really bad deal for Rhodes.”

  They all snorted. “Rhodes says he’s up for it.”

  She glanced at Rhodes to see him studying her intently. She didn’t know what was going on in the back of his mind, but she knew something was—a challenge and something a whole lot warmer. And she’d never backed down from one of those yet.

  “Then I guess I’ll pack an overnight bag.”

  Alfred walked in carrying a large platter of food. “You can pack a bag after breakfast. The food is hot and fresh. Eat first.” He placed the food down in front of her.

  Within seconds they were all eating.

  Only it was a little hard to get her food down. Suddenly she was uneasy. Her tummy queasy. She only ate a little bit, but of course Alfred noticed.

  “I’ll pack you some food to-go.” He bustled away to the kitchen.

  “I don’t mean to be a problem,” she murmured.

  Merk laughed at that. “He loves to mother us. So, let him. He sent a huge basketful of food with Rhodes and me the last time we took off.”

  She stood up and filled her coffee cup. “I’ll be back in ten.”

  She headed to her suite. It was the first chance she’d had to relax after becoming the center of attention down there. She didn’t know what was going on in Rhodes’s mind, but she was afraid of what that meant. Because, if it was what she thought it was, she wanted that too. Was it so wrong? No, but she wasn’t ready for another relationship, and if it went wrong, she’d screw up her perfect job here. Not to mention she’d have to find a new place to live. No, it was too early to risk this. She liked it here and didn’t want anything to mess that up.

  In her suite, she pulled out her bag and quickly packed a few pieces of clothing. As she stared at her worldly possessions, she realized even though she’d been here for close to a month, she hadn’t increased her material possessions at all. She didn’t have any more clothes. She had the same few pairs of jeans and underwear, and she hadn’t done laundry either. Now she didn’t have time to do that. There was no sense fussing. What she had would have to be enough.

  Resolute, she turned, checked out her suite and felt an odd sense of good-bye. Although she’d left the compound before to come back again, there was a sense of detachment this time. And she didn’t like it. She’d found a home here—she’d made herself a place. She wanted to keep it. But times were changing, obviously.

  She turned out the light at the bedroom door and headed downstairs, running into Ice in the garage. “I don’t have a ton of clothes to take with me,” she confessed. “Even when I was gone, I hadn’t bothered shopping for more. That sense of only having what I can carry still applied back then, and I can’t seem to shake it even now.”

  Ice patted her shoulder. “Dallas has lots of malls. It’s a shopping mecca. You can run into a store to collect what you need.”

  “That’s fine as long as jeans are okay,” Sienna said. “If you’re expecting me to wear some kind of professional outfit for this deal, we have to shop first.”

  Rhodes walked into the kitchen, wearing jeans and a shirt the same color as hers too.

  She smiled. “Okay, so maybe we’re a matched set.”

  “Absolutely,” he said, picking up her bag, then motioning toward the truck. “We’re taking the same small pickup as last time.” He tossed her bag behind the seat, turned to accept a basket of goodies from Alfred and said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “No, I need coffee first,” she said. “Let me grab a travel mug.” As she headed toward the coffeepot, she found Alfred had two big cups and a thermos there waiting. She turned to find him right behind her. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Alfred. You’re the best.” She grabbed the coffee and ran.

  *

  Rhodes waited for her to get in and place the coffee mugs in the cup holders. When she didn’t reach for her seat belt immediately, he said, “Buckle up.”

  She shot him a look but did as told.

  When they were finally out of the compound, heading toward the main road, he turned to look at her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  She huffed beside him.

  He didn’t know any other word to describe it. It was like a half-snort, half-sniff, and it made him smile. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Nothing but silence was her response. He shrugged. Whatever. They had a long way to go. It would be easier if they got along during this trip, but if not, well, he was a pro. He could handle it regardless.

  After a few minutes, she turned to look at him. “Did you set this up?”

  He turned in astonishment. “Hell, no.”

  In a small voice she said, “Oh.”

  “I have better things to do with my time than take cold showers in the evening,” he said simply. He laughed at that. He could feel her shocked stare, but he wouldn’t elaborate. Not after their conversation last night.

  He drove steadily for several hours. When they came to a gas station, he pulled in and filled the tank. She hopped out and cleaned the windshield wipers, surprising him.

  When he was done, she walked over to him. “Want me to drive for a bit?”

  “No, I’m good. If you want more coffee or something, you can get whatever inside.”

  She shook her head. “No, Alfred sent lots of coffee. I do need the washroom now. Who knows when we’ll be taking another break.”


  He paid for the gas, took the receipt, pocketed it and hopped into the truck to wait for her. He reached across and opened the basket, grabbing a handful of sandwiches from Alfred. She was right. When would they stop again? While he waited, he devoured one sandwich and was busy working on the second when she returned.

  She took one look, raised her eyebrows and said, “Are you leaving me any?”

  He motioned at the basket. “Help yourself.”

  They both ate while he returned to the road and kept going. He checked his watch. “We should be at the Dallas city limits in another twenty minutes.”

  “Fine. I still don’t understand why I had to come.”

  “Sure you do.” He glanced at her. “Besides Levi’s probably checking out how you handle yourself. Are you afraid of getting involved in something like you were before, or are you really against fieldwork?”

  She thought about the question for a long moment. “I don’t know what it is. I guess I thought I’d closed that door and walked away from it. I hadn’t really expected to open it again, not in these circumstances.”

  “Fair enough.” He put on his signal, changed lanes and pulled over to the exit ramp. “We don’t come across this kind of problem very often.”

  “If it’s tracking money, it’ll be in every case.”

  “True. Levi often handles that, and Harrison is a whiz on computers, as are you. I do a lot of that kind of work too. But none of us have the same level of skill you do. Maybe if you could teach us, we wouldn’t need you to do it at all.”

  “Coding isn’t something you just pick up,” she said quietly. “Not at this level. Besides I don’t know many languages. I specialized in banking software. That’s it.”

  She seemed to brighten up after that. He had to wonder if she’d told him everything that had gone on. Did anybody really know the whole story? Or did she keep some of the darker stuff to herself? It took him back to that whole ex-boyfriend-who-had-been-a-drinker thing. He hadn’t questioned the scenario originally. But now that he watched her reaction to it all, he was starting to wonder.