by Lori Ryan
“We dated in high school. Not a big deal.” It was only a partial truth and he all but flinched as it came out of his mouth. These guys were his brothers. His team. They deserved the truth.
Zip snorted and Jangles was grinning like a fool. Duff looked about as amused as Merlin, which was not at all.
“Yeah that looked like a whole lot of no big deal the way you were rubbing her leg in the car.” Zip made kissing noises and rubbed his own leg. “Let me find an excuse to touch your body, Nori. Let me rub you all over, Nori.”
Heath growled. “She was hyperventilating, assclown.” The last thing he needed was Eleanor waking up and hearing this.
He looked to where she slept, her head leaning on the seat. He wanted to pull her over to lean on his good arm instead, but he couldn’t exactly pull that shit in front of his team now.
Merlin shot him a look in the rearview mirror. “You gonna be able to handle this without letting your past get in the way of the op?”
“Fuck you for asking,” Heath bit out.
Merlin raised his hands off the wheel in surrender for a minute before putting them back. “Had to ask. We can’t let you go into this if you’re compromised, if your feelings are going to fuck this shit up. We need to get her in and out of there in one piece.”
Heath’s stomach pitched and it wasn’t just because of the concussion he was walking around with. He didn’t like thinking of anything happening to Eleanor.
“Trust me,” he said, “I’m the last person who’s going to let anything happen to her. I’ve got this.”
Merlin was watching him and he could hear the weighted quiet in the back of the car, but it didn’t take but a minute for the men to let him know they had his back.
“Okay,” Merlin said. “Then we’re behind you. We’ll get her through this.”
Heath nodded, his teeth still locked together. They had to—there was no other option but to get her through this and get her back home to safety. And knowing his team was behind him on this, behind her, made all the difference in the world.
Eleanor was drifting in and out of sleep. She should be getting herself ready for the meetings she would have with Onur Demir. You didn’t walk into a negotiation with the head of a rebel guerrilla organization without being one hundred percent ready for any and all eventualities.
But her body had been pushed past all limits in the last twenty-four hours and she needed to sleep.
“She saved my ass back there.”
Eleanor heard Heath talking through a fog. The response from the driver’s seat was muffled.
“I was knocked out cold on the fire escape outside the building. If she hadn’t had the wherewithal to pick up my gun and be ready for them, we would have both been sitting ducks out there.”
“She’s pretty amazing,” Zip said beside her. “You think she can pull off this negotiation with Demir?”
“If anyone can, she can,” Heath said.
Eleanor made to sit up. They were right to be focused on the negotiation. She needed to be focused on that too.
She didn’t make it to sitting. Her eyes just didn’t want to open.
She heard the men begin to talk about how she and Heath had known each other in high school, but she didn’t hear his whole response. She tried not to drift off again into sleep as they kept moving through the quiet of the night, but her body had hit a brick wall and she was lulled into sleep as the sound of the car on the highway drowned out her thoughts.
“Eleanor.”
Someone was shaking her shoulder. “Wake up, Eleanor.”
Heath. It was Heath. Eleanor opened her eyes and blinked up at him. The sun was just starting to crest in the sky and she found she and Heath were the only two in the car now. His temple now sported what looked like very fresh stitches and a nasty looking purple bruise spread from either side of the wound. His bandage-wrapped arm was in a sling.
“You should be lying in a hospital bed,” she said, bringing a bark of laughter from him.
“It’s a scratch. No biggie.”
She shook her head. Tell that to her back. It would never forgive her for trying to carry a hardened operative on it.
“We need to get you inside. We’ve lost our tail and since we knocked out the tracking device they planted on you, they shouldn’t be able to pick us up again, but I’d still like to get you inside.”
Eleanor could see the rest of the team was standing outside the car, their backs to them. They were in front of a small roadside motel.
“Tracking device?” She shifted and slid along the seat following Heath outside the door.
“The guy who tried to grab you at the airport must have slipped it into your pocket as insurance. It was in the outside pocket of your jacket,” Jangles said.
Heath looked grim. “We should have found it earlier.”
No one on the team argued with him and Eleanor realized they were all looking pretty pissed off. She wondered if they were always this hard on themselves.
Her stomach growled, drawing another of those slow easy grins from Zip. The guy seemed to smile at everything. It would be annoying on some people, but on him, it worked.
“Come on. Let’s get you something to eat.” Heath pointed at a small restaurant across from the hotel and moved that way.
Jangles and Zip fell in behind them while Merlin and Duff peeled off and went into one of the doors on the outside of the hotel.
As they crossed the parking lot of the hotel, an orange kitten wound its way through Heath’s legs before scampering off to a dumpster on the side of the lot. There were two black kittens and a gray and white striped one all eyeing the group, but hanging back as though they didn’t have the guts the orange one had.
“No pets on this trip, Woof,” Zip said with a laugh.
Heath grinned and shrugged in a surprisingly sheepish gesture.
“Woof?” Eleanor asked.
“It’s what we call Heath,” Zip said. “Woof, because he finds pets everywhere he goes. They love him. Cats, dogs, pigs. Hell, he even made friends with a camel who ended up following behind him making gaga eyes at him for half our mission one time.”
Jangles made kissy sounds. “She was in looooove with our pretty boy.”
Eleanor was surprised to see Heath laugh at that. In high school, when people called him pretty boy, he’d always smile on the outside but she’d seen the tightness in his face when others hadn’t and knew it bothered him. He had been sensitive to people who thought he was nothing more than a dumb jock.
With these guys, his laughter was genuine. He didn’t seem to mind the taunting or the label.
When they’d settled into a booth and ordered food, Eleanor looked at Jangles and Zip. She was still on edge and sitting with Heath Davis so close to her their arms were touching wasn’t helping any.
“So, Jangles and Zip can’t be your real names. If he’s Woof because of the animals that fall for him, where did Jangles and Zip come from?”
Zip smiled and answered first. “Someday I’ll show you my scar. Zips right up my leg, big and ugly.”
Heath growled. “You’ll keep your damned scar to yourself.”
That only made Zip laugh and put his hands up in mock surrender.
Eleanor looked at Jangles.
“Name’s Beau and since I can’t sing worth a damn, these yahoos thought they’d call me Jangles.”
Eleanor grinned at them. “And Merlin and Duff?”
They all shook their heads. “They’ll have to tell you their stories,” Heath said.
The server came with plates of food then and Eleanor forgot all hope of conversation as she ate. The scent of the spices and roasted meats filled her nose and made her mouth water.
She couldn’t remember being this hungry in a long time. She’d ordered one meal while each of the men had ordered two entrees and a few sides. She almost wished she had too after the waiter delivered the kebaps and warm soft breads.
It was only when she finally looked up from h
er own meal moments later that she saw the men were eating faster than she was.
“Chew, boys. It’s not meant to hit your stomach in solid form.”
Heath laughed. “You’re one to talk. I remember you pulling the dainty little bird act when we were in high school.” He raised his voice to a falsetto. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly eat more than three pieces of lettuce. I’m much too delicate and dainty for that.”
Eleanor drew back her arm and elbowed him in the side. He only laughed, covering the spot with his good hand as though she’d done anything more than tickle him. She was sure she hadn’t. She wanted to reach out and feel his bicep, properly tempted by what she knew would be nothing but rock-hard muscle, but she didn’t dare.
Jangles looked between Heath and her. “So you two dated in high school, Heath says. Was it serious? Is he the one who got away?” Jangles angled his head as he grilled her and Eleanor wished he’d go back to his food.
She felt heat flush her cheeks and she hoped she didn’t look as red as she felt. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have. Not with anyone. Any thoughts of their dating inevitably led to thinking about how it all ended. How she’d ruined everything for the man sitting next to her.
God, she didn’t want to go there.
Heath cleared his throat. “We dated for a bit in our senior year.”
She didn’t know if she imagined the way Heath stiffened next to her.
She didn’t really want to be talking about this. She’d always been so far out of Heath’s league. He was gorgeous in school and she’d been an awkward brainiac. The truth was, when he first started hitting on her, she was sure it was going to turn out to be a big joke. That if she agreed to go outside the house with him, his friends would jump out and laugh and she’d have to face the fact he’d set her up.
Even months later when she finally did let him take her to a game and he put his arms around her and kissed her in front of all the school afterward, she still half expected him to pull back and laugh while the others joined in.
But he didn’t. And neither did any of his friends, at first.
Still, for whatever reason, she didn’t want these men—his team—to look at them and wonder what Heath had seen in a girl like her. So she put the attention on Heath.
“Heath was the star of our football team, even though he wasn’t the quarterback. All the boys wanted to be him and all the girls wanted to have him.”
“And you did,” Jangles said.
Well, hell, that had backfired on her.
Eleanor looked at Heath but he was looking down at his plate now, making sure he got every last scrap of food into him. She recognized the look, though, and hated herself for putting it there.
She shouldn’t have brought up his football career. To most people in their school, Heath was a happy jock, content to play ball and squeak out only the requisite grades needed to stay on the team.
When she started tutoring him in his sophomore year, she’d quickly realized he used jokes and his status as the star wide receiver to cover the fact that he was struggling in his classes. And he hated it. Hated feeling like he wasn’t smart enough. Like everyone around him was better than him somehow.
She had done her best to make sure he saw that he wasn’t stupid. But now, she’d just gone and brought it all back to him because she didn’t want his teammates questioning her about their relationship.
She cleared her throat and this time she made damned sure she got them all the way away from their high school years.
“So, what’s our plan for getting into Kazarus?”
Heath grabbed at the chance to move on and answered immediately. “They’ll be expecting us to enter at one of the legal border crossings so we’re not going to do that.”
“You’re going to smuggle me across the border?”
“Yup.” This came from Zip who seemed to be entertained by her shock.
“Won’t that be dangerous?” She looked to Heath but it was Jangles who answered.
“It will be, but no more dangerous than waltzing you up to a border crossing and having someone get to you with a sniper rifle or a roadside bomb.”
As Eleanor’s stomach seemed to hit the floor, Heath’s hand landed on her leg and he squeezed, reassuring her.
“We got you, Nori. We’ll be right there with you through this.”
It was stupid that she was so comforted by his use of her old nickname. She’d been Eleanor for so long now, she’d forgotten that it felt good to have friends close enough to give you a name that says you belong to them in some way. That says you’re theirs or part of their group.
Not that her nickname was like the names these guys had given each other. Those were something more. Those were the mark of a band of brothers, of men who would and probably had laid their lives on the line for each other.
But hearing her old high school nickname reminded her that she’d once been more than the woman who was so driven to succeed in her job that she’d let all other parts of life—friends, family, any outside interests—fall by the wayside.
She looked at Heath. “Shouldn’t you be sitting this out now? You’re hurt.”
He looked positively affronted and his teammates snickered. “I’m good. The bullet only grazed my arm.”
“You passed out! More than once.” She looked from him to the other men and back. Was she the only sane person at the table? They should be helicoptering him out of there so he could recover.
Heath shrugged. “I’ll take a back seat on things for a few days, but I got a PRP and I’m good to go.”
She shook her head and looked to the other men.
Jangles translated. “Platelet rich plasma injection. He’ll be fine.” He acted like that was the end of the discussion and went on talking about their plans for getting her and her team to the meeting. “The team that has your assistant and the rest of your group is bringing them across the border toward the west. We’re heading east to circle around. We’ll each come at Demir’s compound from a different direction but we’ll meet up a few miles outside of it and come in together for the meeting.”
Heath nodded. “And while we’re on the ground at the compound, we’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Eleanor pushed back her plate. Zip was quietly ordering food to go for Merlin and Duff.
“You said you know some of the guys on the team that’s getting my people?” She asked Heath.
“Yeah. My buddy Ris is on it, but we’ve worked with all the guys. And Jangles went through basic with Nan.”
“Nan?”
“He’ll have to tell you about it,” Jangles and Heath said at the same time.
Eleanor laughed and it felt good. She needed that. She didn’t like the idea of heading into this negotiation without a lot of time to prep on the way with her assistant and her team. She would normally be studying information and data they fed to her and talking about all the possible scenarios and ways this could play out.
Instead, she was barely keeping her head afloat as these operatives whisked her across the country and prepped to smuggle her across the border. It brought new meaning to the term foreign service.
“So, you’re married?” Zip asked and Eleanor choked on the water she’d just made the unfortunate mistake of sipping at the wrong time.
When she finished coughing, thanks in large part to Heath patting her on the back with a large hand that felt entirely too good on her body, she shook her head. “Not married.”
Jangles and Zip shared a look and Zip explained. “Heath said you got married.”
Eleanor turned her eyes on Heath.
His brow wrinkled. “The name change. Eleanor Bonham?”
Realization dawned and Eleanor realized she couldn’t at all blame him for thinking that. In fact, if she ever ran into people she’d known in high school—which she didn’t—she realized they would think the same thing.
“I took my stepfather’s name,” was all she said. She could feel Heath’s questioning
gaze on her, but she didn’t say more.
She was worried about the upcoming trip and worried for her team. Yes, they’d gotten news they were safe, but they’d be starting their own roundabout trek to the meeting point.
Beth was always on top of things and didn’t have any issues with pivoting when she needed to, but Marcus was probably freaking out at the changes. He could be high strung at times and wouldn’t do well with things shifting on the fly. Hell, he sometimes got fidgety when a meeting was delayed or a report was late coming in.
“Did the other guys check my team for trackers? They can’t find them, can they?”
Heath shook his head. “They checked. They’re all clear and just like with you, they aren’t giving anyone the specifics of their locations.”
She nodded and pressed her lips together. She would have to trust they’d be okay.
The food for Merlin and Duff had arrived and the group stood to go back to the hotel.
Before she stepped out the door, she looked to Heath once again. The men all looked like they were on, just like they had been throughout the meal. They were always casually scanning, always checking their surroundings. Always aware of what was happening.
She lowered her voice. “Are you guys sure there was only the one tracker on me? They aren’t going to find us here?”
She was worried about herself, but she was also worried about Heath and his team. She was the reason Heath was here, both in the Army and on this particular mission. He was already injured. She couldn’t stand the thought that he might be hurt further. Or worse.
Heath put his good arm around her and squeezed and not for the first time, felt the guilt of all that had happened rush back to her. That and the stupid attraction she couldn’t seem to fend off. Her body’s response to him wasn’t something she seemed to have control of. It took nothing more than a glance his way to have memories of his hands and mouth on her come rushing back, overwhelming her in the process.
She shook her head and focused on the present. The other men were flanking them and didn’t seem to bat an eye at his protective gesture. Maybe he was like this with all the women they protected and it was something his team was used to seeing.
