“You get a ring on her finger yet?” he asked as he fell in step beside me, heading to the training facilities. “Or are you slacking?”
I threw him a dirty look. “I asked my mom to leave it at the ranch the day after I met Piper. But I wasn’t about to waste time on a five-hour round trip in the car.”
As we approached the entrance to the building, the door swung open, and one of our other team members, Cash, stepped out into the sunshine. “Four hours,” he grunted before going back inside.
A man of few words, Cash was a scary motherfucker if you didn’t know him. But he and Huntley had met back at the Naval Academy, and we’d been teammates since I became a SEAL.
“Shit.” Huntley stopped in his tracks. He pulled out his cell phone and stepped away to call his wife, I assumed. He couldn’t tell her when we were deployed, so I wasn’t surprised by the frustrated look on his face while he waited for her to pick up. They must have had plans he’d have to cancel. It was none of my business, though, so I followed Cash inside the building.
I was happy we wouldn’t be waiting around for an assignment. The sooner we got our mission done, the faster I’d have Piper back in my arms.
After PT, I showered and headed to the mess for lunch because I’d chosen to make Piper my breakfast. Stirling, another buddy and team member, waved me down, and I lifted my chin in greeting. He was sitting with Huntley, Cash, and a few of our other cohorts, but he jumped up and joined me in line.
“You too, huh?” he asked slyly.
I shot a glare at Huntley, who’d walked over to stand with us and was currently brooding silently. “You two pussies braid each other’s hair while you dish about stuff you know shit about?”
Huntley didn’t rebut my accusation; he just returned my look with his own dark scowl.
“Something crawl up your ass, Lieutenant?” Stirling inquired.
“Cora has an OB appointment tomorrow. I was hoping they wouldn’t call us up for another couple of days at least.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “You need to be there? Is something wrong with Cora?” I wasn’t sure why he needed to attend an OB appointment with his wife when she’d already had the baby unless there was a problem.
Huntley shook his head and growled, “No, but now I’m going to miss it, and I hate when she’s disappointed.” His comment surprised me because I had a hard time picturing Cora giving him a guilt trip about his job. Huntley had scored the jackpot when he met his wife. She was almost as amazing as Piper.
“She told you that?” I asked.
He grimaced. “Of course not.”
Unexpectedly, Stirling burst with laughter. “Hold up——it’s not——you’re the one——six weeks, right?” He bent over and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
The corner of my mouth lifted in amusement as I realized what had set Stirling off. “Cora wasn’t upset, was she?” I needled. “You’re the one who’s disappointed.”
Huntley’s expression was the closest I’d ever seen to a pout on the face of a badass Navy SEAL. “You just wait until you can’t have your girl for six whole fucking weeks.”
When I thought about Huntley’s situation, I suddenly understood his predicament a little more. Chances were high Piper and I would be in a similar situation once or twice while we were having kids. Just the thought of going over a month without being able to sink my cock in her tight pussy was enough to sober me up instantly. I cuffed Stirling on the back of the head to get him to quit guffawing. “Dummy-up, sailor.”
We’d reached the front of the line, so we focused on collecting our meals, then I followed the guys as they returned to their table.
Cash walked in carrying a stack of files and made a beeline for us. He handed them out to each of us, and I opened mine to see the details of our mission. “Brief with Captain Hiller in thirty.”
I scanned the documents in the folder, and my focus turned to my job. Distractions could get me and/or my teammates killed.
* * *
“What the fuck happened?” I shouted as I stormed into the safe house. This had been a straightforward extraction that should have been done in a week, two at the most. Now we’d lost the target, and we’d have to regroup while I dug around for the asshole’s new location.
“They knew we were coming,” Stirling growled.
Kade, an Ensign who specialized in interrogation techniques, slammed his hand against a wall. “Fucking informant tipped them off,” he snarled. “The whole thing was a Charlie Foxtrot from the beginning.”
I swore and stomped over to my computer setup. It had taken me a week of digging and hacking just to locate where the target was holed up. Once our local informant had confirmed it and I’d scouted out the security in person before tapping into it from the base, I’d set up at the safe house.
Getting in and out of places was my area of expertise, so I’d remained at a distance with my laptop, watching my team’s six and manipulating the security system. Then everything went dark, and the team ran out seconds before the place blew.
Huntley burst into the room, looking mad as hell. “We lose anybody?” He’d been leading the small contingent who’d gone in for the snatch and grab.
Stirling shook his head. “Gunther took some shrapnel to the shoulder, but it wasn’t critical. Cash took him to the medic at the nearest base. He’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
I grunted and turned to my equipment, tuning out everything around me. I was pissed as fuck that we’d be delayed in returning home. I’d been doing my best to keep an eye on Piper through hospital security and the system I'd installed in her house the day before I left, but we’d gone dark three days ago, and I was feeling anxious. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with her. Her expression had grown more pensive as the days passed, and she’d lost the spring in her step. The only thing that gave me any peace was knowing Merrick had promised to watch out for her.
I put every bit of my energy into finding the man we were after for the next three days until he finally popped on my radar.
“We do this without help on the ground this time,” I told the five men prepping to move on the target. “Kade checked it out earlier, so we can trust the intel I gave you.”
Four hours later, we had our man. Cash and Stirling left to meet up with a team who would take the target to a black site while the rest of us cleared out of the safe house.
A transport was headed back to Coronado in two hours, and I fully intended to be on that plane. It was time to go get my girl. The next time I had to leave, she’d have my ring on her finger and my last name.
7
Piper
“Are you doing okay?”
My head jerked up at Cindy’s question. I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed anyone was near.
“Yup, I’m good.” My answer was automatic, and when I realized it didn’t sound very convincing, I forced my lips into a smile.
My charge nurse didn’t buy it, though. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned my face. “It’s a good thing you have the next four days off. You look exhausted.”
That was a fair assessment since I hadn’t slept much over the past couple of weeks. My bed felt empty without Deacon in it. I’d only had a week with him before he had to leave, but he’d somehow wormed his way into my heart so much that I missed him every day. He was my first thought when I woke up and the last thing on my mind when I fell asleep.
As though she could hear my thoughts, Cindy pointed at me and ordered, “And if your new man comes back to town, don’t let him keep you up all night long. You need to sleep.”
I’d told my co-workers all about Deacon, most of whom thought I was naïve for not questioning things when he disappeared as quickly as I’d let him into my life. But I wasn’t sure what all I could tell them about what he did for the Navy, so I hadn’t told anyone that he was a SEAL.
“I mean it, Piper.” She wagged her finger. “You’ve been too tired to give me your usual chipper ans
wer when I ask you if you’re ready to help deliver some babies at the start of your shift for the past few days. That isn’t like you at all.”
There was something else I hadn’t shared with my co-workers, and it was a bigger part of the reason I was barely getting any sleep. At first, I thought I was just imagining things because I was sad and tired, but weird things started happening only a few hours after Deacon had pulled away from my house.
It was little stuff that I shrugged off at first. On my first day back, another latte was waiting at the nurses’ station with “I’m the one who knows what you like” written under my name, but Stephanie wasn’t working the same shift, and nobody else admitted to bringing the drink to work for me. The following day, a chocolate chip muffin from my favorite bakery down the street was waiting for me with “See?” handwritten in block letters on the bag under my name. At the end of the shift after that, I found a gift certificate for a massage tucked under the wiper on my windshield.
I spent the next four days inside my house, afraid to go anywhere. I kept the curtains closed and was even more grateful to Deacon for everything he’d done before he left. The fridge was fully stocked, so I didn’t need to worry about who was going to knock on my door if I ordered delivery from the grocery store or a restaurant. And after teasing him for being overprotective, the security system he’d installed was the only thing that allowed me to feel safe in my own home.
Pretending that the outside world didn’t exist only worked when I didn’t have to be at the hospital. As soon as I walked up to the nurses’ station four days later, there was no avoiding the fact that something creepy was happening. The cycle repeated with my scary secret admirer leaving little gifts for me at the start of each of my shifts for the next three days, and me holing up at my house again on my days off.
I was tempted to confess everything to Cindy, but I didn’t see how it would do any good. The notes had started getting creepier, so I’d finally broken down and popped in to speak with hospital security about the gifts two days ago. The guard I’d spoken with had shrugged off my concerns and basically told me that I should be glad some random guy was so into me that he put so much thought into the presents he was leaving for me.
My faith in anyone believing me was shaken, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it if someone I’d looked up to since starting here thought I was overreacting. Instead, I upped the wattage of my smile and murmured, “Don’t worry. I plan on getting as much rest as I can over the next four days.”
“Good.” She patted me on the shoulder before walking away.
I finished up my final notes on a few charts before clocking out and heading to my car. My steps slowed when I spotted a flash of white on the windshield. Heaving a deep sigh, I forced myself forward, clenching my eyes closed as I removed the note from underneath the wiper. I was tempted to crumple the paper up and throw it away without reading what my secret admirer had written, but morbid curiosity got the better of me, which I quickly regretted.
It’s a good thing you ditched that guy.
Now we can finally be together.
Soon.
I couldn’t keep my head in the sand any longer. I needed help. The kind that the hospital’s security couldn’t give, even if I could get someone there to pay attention to the problem. After briefly considering a trip to the police station, I decided to give Merrick a call.
Deacon had programmed his number into my cell phone and told me to call him if I needed anything while he was out of contact. If I couldn’t go to my man with my problem, then reaching out to his friend was the next best thing. I wasn’t sure what Merrick did for work now, but as a former Navy SEAL, he had to be better equipped to handle this situation than I was.
After checking the back seat and trunk of my car to make sure nobody was hiding back there, I climbed into the driver’s side, slammed the door shut, and quickly engaged the locks. Yanking my phone out of my purse, I pulled up Merrick’s number and scanned the parking garage while I waited for him to pick up.
After four rings, I was starting to worry he wasn’t going to answer. Then the call connected, and he growled, “Ashford.”
I heaved a deep sigh, filled with relief at the sound of his voice. “Hi, Merrick. It’s Piper Amherst, one of the nurses who helped with Kohen’s birth.”
“Yeah, I know who you are.” I heard a baby crying in the background. “Deacon’s woman.”
As much as I loved that Deacon had talked to his friend about me, I felt horrible for calling. “I’m so sorry to bother you. I know how crazy things can be when you have a newborn, but I need your help.”
He must’ve covered the phone because I heard the muffled murmur of his deep voice and then the sound of a door closing before he asked, “What’s going on?”
I gave him a quick rundown of everything that had happened over the past two and a half weeks. When I was done, he barked, “Where are you now?”
“On one of the employee levels of the parking garage at the hospital.” I did another scan around me. “I was a little slow leaving today, so there isn’t anybody else around.”
There was a tapping noise in the background that sounded as though he was typing on a keyboard, and then he said, “I don’t see anything suspicious in the garage, but I don’t like the idea of you being somewhere this guy knows where to find you.”
I didn’t want to know how he could see me, so all I said was, “Okay.”
“Do you have any cash on you?”
I rifled through my purse to make sure the emergency stash I kept in the zippered pocket was still there. “Yeah.”
“How about a change of clothes?”
“Yup, I keep a bag in my trunk in case I need to change out of my scrubs before heading home.”
“Perfect.” He rattled off an address before saying, “I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes. Leave now and drive to the nearest grocery store. Head straight to the bathroom and change your clothes. Then find a female employee, tell her you’re running from an ex, and ask if you can use her rideshare app to get a car. Give her enough cash to cover the ride and then some.”
I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to find someone willing to help, but he made it all sound so simple. “Will do.”
“See you soon.”
I followed Merrick’s instructions to the T and was pleasantly surprised that the cashier I asked for help jumped all over the chance to get me out of there without anyone knowing. She even had the rideshare pick me up in the employee parking lot out back, so if my secret admirer was watching from the front, he’d have no idea that I was gone before it was too late.
I felt much better when I arrived at the address Merrick provided and found him there waiting for me in an Audi. With his window rolled down, he jerked his chin toward the passenger side. “Get in.”
“Thank you so much for coming,” I breathed as I belted myself in.
“You don’t need to thank me.” He pulled out of the parking lot. “Like I said, you’re Deacon’s woman. That’s enough for me.”
I sniffled, trying to hold back tears of relief. “Where to next?”
“Somewhere safe.”
With Merrick looking out for me, I finally felt as though I didn’t need to keep looking over my shoulder for the first time in too long. About thirty minutes into the drive, the motion of the car lulled me to sleep. I didn’t wake up again until the smooth road under the tires of Merrick’s Audi switched to rough gravel. My eyes blinked open, and I stretched, trying to work a kink out of my back.
We passed a field with several horses, and I spotted a bunch of cows in the distance. The stories Deacon had told me about the ranch he’d grown up on filtered through my half-asleep brain as Merrick pulled up in front of a sprawling one-story house. I started to have a sneaking suspicion about where he’d brought me. “Hey, Merrick. Where are we?”
“Deacon’s ranch,” he answered before climbing out of the car.
“I thought you were taking me to a...a super-secre
t safe house or something,” I hissed as I undid my seat belt, flung my door open, and rushed after him.
He paused and looked at me over his shoulder. “I told you I was taking you somewhere safe. Deacon would want you here, and you’ll be out of harm’s way. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.”
I gave him a pointed stare. “But Deacon’s parents are here, right? They look after the place for him when he’s gone.”
There was zero hint of understanding in his dark eyes. “And?”
“I’ve never met them before.” When he still didn’t seem to get why I was freaking out, I added, “I don’t even know if Deacon told them anything about me. You’re basically dropping a stranger off on their doorstep.”
I was surprised by Merrick’s grin since I’d only seen him smile at his wife and newborn son. But then I was even more blown away when he said, “It’s not as though you’re going to be a stranger for long. I’m sure they’ll end up being your in-laws sooner than you think.”
8
Deacon
I was in my car and about to head straight to LA when my phone rang, and I saw Merrick’s number pop up. Since he was keeping an eye on Piper, fear shot through me. I’d been in such a rush to get home as early as possible that I hadn’t had a chance to check in on her. I punched the answer button on the steering wheel. “Is Piper all right?”
“She’s safe,” he assured me. “I just tucked her away at the ranch with your parents yesterday morning.”
“She’s safe,” I repeated. “Meaning there was a problem?” My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles turned white. I changed course and headed toward the ranch, my foot dropping like lead onto the accelerator.
“She suspected someone was stalking her.”
“What the fuck?” I shouted as I picked up more speed.
It was late afternoon, so it’d been around thirty-six hours since he’d dropped her off. It ate at me that I hadn’t been able to get to her sooner, but I knew this was what I’d signed up for. I wouldn’t always be there to protect my woman. But I took comfort in the fact that my dad was a dangerous motherfucker when he needed to be. Both from his time in the Navy and being a rancher with land to protect. It was why I’d instructed Merrick to take Piper there if something came up.
Wanted by the Warrant Officer Page 4
