Gun Shy (12 page)

“Haven’t you guessed? Men have always treated me badly. I thought you were different, but I was wrong.”

“We’re not different?”

“No.” She brushed her hair behind her ears and stood up. Looking down at them, she said, “You only wanted one thing from me. You probably still do. But I’m more than that. Sure, I let you seduce me. I’m at fault as much as you are. I’m still worth more than that.” She took a deep breath and added, “I’ll go pack now.”

“Kris! Don’t.”

She stopped in her tracks, the emotions lacing Drew’s words holding her captive for a second. “I don’t have a choice. I should have moved far from this town a long time ago. I should have known a new name and appearance wouldn’t be enough.”

“Please.” It was Scott this time. “We care about you.”

She bit her lower lip and shook her head. “I can’t. This guy…if he tells people about me I’ll never get another job in a school, and I love being a teacher. That’s all I know, you see.” She left the room, and this time they didn’t try to stop her.

An hour later, her bed covered with clothes and other assorted paraphernalia, suitcases open at her feet, she heard the front door slam. So that was it. She let the tears fall down her cheeks, knowing the fantasy she’d been living had now officially shattered.

It’d been too nice living here anyway. She had to get back to the real world now.

* * * *

It was a well-known fact that if a member of their platoon needed help, everyone congregated on the beach to hash it over and find a solution. The wellbeing of their unit depended on the trust and friendship born in the cold waters of their BUDs training all those years ago. If they couldn’t depend on one another during missions, there was no point being a SEAL.

That’s why when Drew and Scott called for a meeting, they knew everyone would turn up. Without fail. They stood on the beach closest to their house, arms crossed over their chests as they watched their friends walk, run or even swim to the rendezvous point.

Only when Tommy appeared, chatting happily to another one of their teammates, did Drew nearly lose it.

“Don’t,” Scott advised, clasping his shoulder to hold him back. “Let’s try this first. If it doesn’t work though, we’ll kick it out of him.”

“Deal,” Drew growled back.

Before long, darkness had fallen. They sat in a circle on the wet sand, assessing each other as only SEALs could. Scott knew it was now or never, and so he spoke up first, hoping they hadn’t done this for nothing.

“It has come to our attention that someone has been speaking ill of our roommate.” His voice rang across the silent beach, the only other sound the waves crashing behind them.

“The Housekeeper?” someone asked.

“Yes.”

Drew took over, his tone low and harsh. “Someone’s been spreading rumors about her. They might be true; we don’t give a fucking damn. Kristyn is important to us. We care about her, and we thought you understood that.”

“You mean one of us has been talking about her?” Dan, the only man on their platoon to have a wife and kids, asked, his unhappiness apparent.

He nodded. “Yes. Let’s make this clear, gentlemen. We’re family, right?” He didn’t wait for their response, quickly adding, “Well, she’s family to us, too. Ergo, she’s one of ours. I’d never comment on your mother’s past or your sister’s suspicious dealings behind the coffee shop. We’re supposed to be in this together. If we’re not, however, I guess it’s time for us to see if Platoon-4 needs new members.”

“What?” “The fuck you will!” “Are you crazy?” came out of several mouths at once.

“We don’t want to change units. We like it here. But trust is something we need within this team, and right now, we don’t have it. Not anymore,” Scott added, his voice low.

“You’d break the team because of a woman?”

The question they’d been dreading…

Scott looked into the distance as he said, “Yes. Just like you would if one of us had insulted your family. Because that would just be the start, don’t you think?”

“Seriously? All this because a woman fucked her way around—”

As if he’d been waiting for this, Drew grabbed Tommy by the shoulder and sent his fist flying into the other man’s stomach, making Tommy topple backward with a grunt.

Scott jumped to his feet, but he wasn’t fast enough. Big J, the oldest member of their platoon and their unproclaimed leader, fell onto his knees in front of Tommy, who was already sitting up.

Drew looked ready to commit murder, but they’d already done everything they could. Scott pushed his friend to the side, their gazes never leaving the man they wanted nothing more than to hurt. Real bad. What happened next, though, wasn’t something they had planned.

They watched in strained silence as Big J sat back on his haunches and said, “You heard them. They told you, warned you, she’s off limits. Now, do you understand what happened here?”

Tommy’s hands tightened into fists in his lap. “You’re gonna let one woman come between us.”

“She’s family. They claimed her. I don’t care what she’s done or what she’s doing even now. We don’t touch her. We don’t insult her. You’re gonna act with her as if she’s the sister you never had. End of the discussion.”

“She’s just a—”

Big J’s fingers wrapped around Tommy’s neck. “I thought I’d made myself clear. It’s easy enough to understand, son. Scott and Drew here are the two best Surveillance Experts on this base. I’d hate to see them leave my team because of something like this. I need them in my unit. You, on the other hand, are just a rookie. A good one, true, but still expendable. You get my drift?”

Scott exhaled slowly. He’d never thought he could love a man like he loved Big J at this very instant. Drew turned to him and raised his eyebrows. He nodded, knowing they’d won. Oh sure, Tommy would be a problem, but as long as they all stuck together, they had their platoon on their side. And it was all that mattered.

* * * *

Her bags were propped against the hallway wall, her purse on top of them, her house keys on the kitchen table. She was ready to leave, yet she couldn’t. They’d left her that one morning without telling her, and it’d hurt. Oddly enough, she found she couldn’t do the same to them. They might not have been the men she’d thought they were, but they still should be present when she left this house for the last time.

She’d been up for hours, unable to sleep. They’d left late last night. That had been hours ago, and still, they weren’t back. She hoped they’d turn up soon because her nerves were slowly getting more frayed by the second.

The front door banged open, shuffling feet echoing in the distance.

“Kris?” one of them shouted.

“In here,” she called out.

They appeared in the threshold moments later. They stopped there, and she knew they’d seen her bags and already knew what she was going to say. But first…

“What happened to you?” she asked. They looked disheveled, their faces and hands gritty with sand. “I’m not sure running on the beach while it’s dark is really the best thing to do.”

“We convened a meeting with our teammates. We had things to discuss with them,” Scott answered, stepping closer.

She watched as Drew smiled at her, brushing past her to get to the sink. He turned on the faucet and washed his hands. She blinked, surprised by this show of normality. Hadn’t they realized she was leaving, like now? Didn’t they care?

Scott stepped toward her. “We wanted to explain something to them, you see.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, wondering what Scott was going on about.

She was already turning toward the door when his next words rang over her head. “We told them how much we care about you.”

She whirled around and looked up at him. “What?”

“You heard him,” Drew said behind her. His hands found her hips, pulling her backward until she was nestled against his hard chest. “We warned them that you’re family, and that no one can talk badly about you.”

“I thought Tommy belonged to your platoon?” Wasn’t that what they’d said the day before?

“Yes. We came to a…an understanding of sorts,” Drew replied.

“What does that mean?”

“It means he won’t bother you again. No one will. You’re ours, Kristyn.” Scott advanced toward her, his gaze locking on hers.

“I don’t…I don’t understand.”

“We don’t want you to leave. We want the three of us to live together here.”

“People will talk. I can’t, I mean, I won’t be able to take that. I haven’t changed everything about myself just to start living a life where gossip will find me wanting. I have a job. I—”

Scott’s fingers found her lips, effectively cutting her off. “We’ve talked about it. Officially, you’ll be my girlfriend. No one else will know what happens behind closed doors. I promise you that, baby.”

“But, what if—”

Drew bit the side of her neck, scrambling her thoughts long enough for them to surround her with their bodies. “It won’t be perfect. It probably won’t be easy, either. But, baby, it’ll mean being together. Do you really want to leave here without even giving it a try?”

She looked into Scott’s eyes, falling into their green depths. They hadn’t talked about love, yet she could see something in his gaze that gave her hope. “How can you be sure Tommy won’t talk?” she finally asked.

“Because we told them we’d quit Platoon-1 if something happened. And not to sound like egomaniacs, but we’re good at what we do. Very good.”

“You what?” She pushed away from them, turning around to face them when she wasn’t touching them any longer. “Are you nuts?”

“You’re important to us, Kristyn. When will you understand that?” Drew smiled, a soft kind of smile that shook her to the core.

“I…I can’t believe you did that.” The team was everything to them!

Scott’s face softened, a small smile playing on his lips. “We want you in this house with us. We like having you here. We want to wake up with you every morning. We want to come home in the evening and catch you dancing in the kitchen. We want to leave on missions, knowing you’ll be there to welcome us on our return. We…we need you here.”

This time she didn’t stop the tears when they burst forth. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever told her. All the pain, all the insults, all the times she’d thought about ending it all… If she’d known one day that two men would give her a reason to live, she’d never have believed it.

She wanted to trust them. She wanted to trust they’d do as they’d promised. She wanted to grab the life they offered her and cling to it with hungry fingers. But could she?

She closed her eyes and lowered her head, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed. She could have waited to give them her answer, but she didn’t want to do that to them. Just like she’d waited this evening to tell them goodbye, she couldn’t stand knowing she’d hurt them. How sad was that?

She was still weak, but apparently, only when they were concerned. And now she knew why. She loved them.

She’d fallen in love with them gradually, more and more at ease in their house. She’d found a place where she could smile and really be herself. She’d suddenly stopped wearing her disguise while indoors. She’d started changing clothes as soon as she’d come home every evening, knowing she’d be safe within these walls.

She’d started trusting them months ago.

The realization hit her, and she gasped.

Arms wrapped around her. Warm skin engulfed her, from the front, from behind. They comforted her even as she kept crying for the time she’d lost, for the life she’d lost and found again.

When she looked up again her eyes were clear. “Yes.”

They took one look at her and cheered, their traditional “Hooyah!” echoing throughout the house.

She started laughing and couldn’t stop for a long, long time…

About the Author

Emma Hillman never plans her stories. She just lets the characters have fun and hopes the ending will make sense. It usually does.

Besides being a multi-published author of erotic romances, she works full-time and lives in Paris with a (nice) husband, a (cute) little girl, and two sweet but (very) loud pets. She also reads far too much as the postman (and her banker) could attest, but shhhh.

For more information on her current and future releases, you can visit her blog at
http://emmahillmanbooks.blogspot.com/
or chat with her on Twitter (@droptheglasses). She’d love to hear from you!

Also Available from
Resplendence Publishing

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