Hero - The Ambush: Special Forces Romance (3 page)

After an excruciatingly long pause, most likely designed to bug the shit out of me, she answered.

“Not yet.” She turned back to her late breakfast. “First I have to see how you handle a real shopping excursion. Up until now, they've all been child's play.”

I smiled. Leighton was going to test me, but whatever gauntlet of LA atrocities she had in mind didn't matter. Leighton would let me keep her safe. And her being safe was all I cared about.

Chapter 3

Leighton

I
drove up to the gates, but didn't expect them to open. It had been a few days since the party and I was certain Haze had told my grandfather about it, about Ricky and everything. I knew my grandfather was always just one screw-up away from cutting me off completely, and I was honestly surprised this hadn't been the last straw.

After that morning in the kitchen, I told Grandfather I was moving back to Ricky's beach house. He'd insisted I wait until Haze vetted the place, but I'd simply gotten in my car and left. I hadn't been surprised at all that Haze had followed. He'd gone into the house, done whatever it was Grandfather paid him to do, and then worked on keeping himself as far from me as possible.

When I was alone, he stayed inside the house, but whenever Ricky was there, Haze mysteriously vanished. I didn't doubt he was still watching. He was always watching, but my actions with Ricky at the party had brought whatever this was between the two of us to a screeching halt.

I glanced in my rearview mirror. Since we'd taken two vehicles to Ricky's house, I'd insisted on driving myself back and Haze had relented, following me in the sedan my grandfather had given him. I couldn't see much of him in the mirror, but I knew it didn't really matter. His expression would be blank, as always.

Except it hadn't been blank that day in the kitchen, the morning after I'd made a total fool of myself at the party. When I'd seen him in the kitchen, I'd been sure he'd come to tell me that he'd quit. Instead, he'd deferred to me as his employer and told me that it was up to me if he stayed or went. He'd smiled when I'd hinted he could stay.

Unguarded, I thought. That was the only way to describe that smile. For one moment, Haze had been unguarded, and I'd felt the warmth of that rush into my heart.

I grumbled to myself as I parked, and then got out of the car. Remembering that smile had become a bad habit. Over the past few days, Haze had been the epitome of a professional bodyguard. Always there in the background, but never once stepping forward to bother me. When I spoke to him, he answered, but that was it. He hadn't even blinked when I'd said I was moving back to the beach house. He only made sure I understood I'd need to wait a bit for him to check it out.

He hadn't clenched his jaw when it was clear Ricky had accepted an invitation from a jet-setting blonde and had disappeared to Monaco two days ago. I'd dragged him all over Los Angeles and spent an obscene amount of money redecorating the master suite at the beach house, but he'd never even raised an eyebrow. Nothing seemed to rile him. He'd accepted everything I'd done without a word, and I should've been glad, but all I could think about was seeing that smile again. I didn't want cool, unemotional Haze. I wanted the other Haze back.

My Haze.

His mind was somewhere else. I could see it even as he got out of his car. He checked his phone, scrolled through a message, and scowled.

“Girl trouble back home?” I asked. The idea of him having a girl back home bothered me more than I cared to admit, even to myself.

He looked up. “I'm sorry, what?”

“Girl trouble back home?” I repeated

Haze looked startled, even glancing over his shoulder as if looking for someone else I could be talking to. When he realized the question was directed at him, he shook his head. “Not at all.”

“No, I suppose you keep them all happy.” I started up the front steps. “Give them a memorable night and then leave them quick enough that they never know if it's your fault or theirs.” The words sounded bitter even to my own ears.

“Why do you think that?” His voice was quiet, but the question was underlined with something I couldn't name.

“I just assumed I wasn't the only one to merit such special treatment.”

As I reached the top step, Haze's hand closed around my arm. I tensed, unprepared for the electricity that shot through me at his touch. We hadn't had any physical contact since the night of the party, and I found myself not wanting to pull away even though I knew I should.

“Maybe we should talk.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. His jaw was clenched, and his grip on my arm was tight enough to tell me that my comment bothered him. When I saw his eyes and saw the hurt, realization hit me. What I'd said hadn't just made him angry. My stomach twisted.

“What is there to say?” The question came out softer than I'd intended.

He cleared his throat, but kept his dark eyes on mine. “Leaving wasn't meant to hurt you. I had to go. I was shipping out that day. Staying would've just made it harder.”

“And you couldn't have bothered leaving a note telling me that?” My tone was harsh, but I realized I wasn't angry at him, not entirely. Sure, he could've left me a note, but I'd never even thought about things from his point of view.

He was a soldier, serving his country. He'd been in LA on leave and had to ship back out. That much I should have realized back then. He'd made no promises, and I'd asked for none. If anything, I was the one in the wrong because I'd been the one who'd instigated the whole thing. All this time, I'd been pissed at him for leaving, when I should've been mad at myself for being so selfish and silly. He'd been willing to give up what I now realized had been his last night of leave for a stupid girl who'd fallen and hit her head.

Even understanding that, however, couldn't erase the hurt of him having left me as if our night together hadn't meant anything to him. Like I hadn't meant anything. Like I still didn't mean anything.

My cheeks burned with a combination of humiliation and anger. I tried to pull away so he wouldn't see. I shouldn't have opened my mouth.

“Wait,” he said, his fingers tightening on my arm. “What're you thinking?”

I didn't look at him. “I'm thinking this is a stupid conversation. The past is in the past.”

Still, he didn't let go. “Except you're the one who keeps bringing it up, using it to push between us.”

I yanked my arm hard to free it. “Why does it matter if it's between us? Nothing else is.”

Something flashed across his eyes, but his voice was even when he spoke, “Because if you're angry at me, you can't trust me, and I need you to trust me.”

“Trust you?” I let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “Oh, I trust you to protect me. Whenever and however it happens to be convenient for you.”

He flinched, and I felt a vindictive stab of pleasure.

“Is that...” Whatever he'd intended to say trailed off. “Can we start over?”

“Why?” I asked, shrugging in a way I hoped made it seem like none of this mattered to me. “There's really nothing to say. I was a silly girl who threw myself at you.” I let my lips twist into a sneering smile. “You've seen me. It's what I do.”

It hurt to say it, to portray myself like that to him, but it needed to be done. I couldn't let him see how much that night had meant to me, how I'd let it tie me to him. Not if it was just another fling for him. It wouldn't be fair to me or to him.

“It may have started like that but...”

Ian ran up the front steps and stopped short. He looked from me to Haze and back again. His forehead furrowed and I knew he was wondering what he'd interrupted. To my relief, he didn't ask. “Sorry to interrupt, but I'm really glad I ran into both of you.”

Haze looked away from me and at my brother, and the moment between us was gone. Again.

“
It'll
be so much easier if I have you on my side when I tell Grandfather,” my brother continued.

He was grinning as he bounced from foot to foot. I could see no trace of the injury he sustained during his army enlistment. The injury that had, thankfully, been minor compared to what would've happened had Haze not been there.

“You have some grand scheme in mind to keep yourself busy?” I asked.

“No scheme,” Ian said. “I've sponged off family money long enough these past couple months.”

My brother had no idea how his comment stung. Our grandfather made it clear that, while he'd never entirely approved of Ian's choice to enlist, he'd been proud that my brother was doing something with his life.

Unlike me.

It hadn't ever been said flat-out like that, but I knew that's how Grandfather felt. I loved him, but he'd always pushed us both to make something of ourselves separate from the family name and fortune. Like Grandfather had done. Except making something of yourself generally meant that a person had to know who they were first. And I didn't. The absence of direction in my life had always been a sore spot for Grandfather.

“Well, if it's no simple scheme, I'm going to need some coffee before you tell me more,” I said as I walked into the house. Ian immediately fell in step next to me and I felt Haze trailing behind.

“Haze, you should join us,” Ian said. “And, don't worry; I won't make you pour for us. You still outrank me.”

I looked back to see how Haze would take Ian's comments and saw the warm, open smile I'd been thinking about for days. I stumbled over my high-heeled sandal and Ian laughed.

“Out partying last night, Sis?” Ian asked.

“You know me,” I said flatly. Even though my cheeks burned, I met Haze's eyes. The open expression was gone and in its place was something I couldn't read.

“Leighton spent all night hanging crystal stars from the ceiling,” Haze said. “She created an entire cosmos before she fell asleep in a chair. Not really much of a party.”

Ian stopped at the kitchen door and gave me a strange look. “Mom hung a crystal star above our fireplace at home. I remember how it used to shine when there was a candle on the mantelpiece.”

“Same effect.” I brushed past him, not wanting him to see my emotion at the memory.

My cheeks were too warm, so I went straight to the refrigerator and pretended to search for cream.

“Don't worry, Haze,” Ian said. “Shandra takes a break right about now.”

“She almost stabbed me with a fork the other day,” Haze replied, a bit of humor in his voice.

Why couldn't he talk to me that easily? Why couldn't I make him smile and tease the way Ian could? I shut the refrigerator door and turned, catching Haze watching me for a moment before he looked away. He had more to say to me, I was sure, and the thought sent my heart into a gallop.

“Well, Ian better make his presentation quick then,” I said. “Because Shandra will be back before you know it. We don't want to have to explain a fork stabbing to Grandfather.” If Ian ran his idea past us, got our opinion, and then went to talk with Grandfather, there was a chance Haze and I could finally finish our talk. “All right, Ian, what's going on?”

He waited until I slipped onto a tall stool at the kitchen island before settling across from me. He took a slow, deep breath and then spoke in a calm voice. “I'm re-enlisting in the army.”

Silence.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Was he kidding? If so, it wasn't funny. And what if he wasn't joking? He couldn't be serious. Not after what happened to him.

“Why?” I finally croaked. “What kind of an idea is that?”

“A good one,” Ian said, his voice level. “Leighton, I can't sit around here anymore. All anyone in LA cares about is my inheritance. I'm sick of hearing pitches for movies I should fund, or ideas for luxury crap no one should buy. The army is the only place that our name, our money, didn't make a difference.”

“It got you an honorable discharge,” I snapped before I could stop myself.

Ian's face tightened. “I didn't want to be discharged. My injury wasn't that bad. Haze is the one who–”

“Ian.” Haze's voice was sharp as he cut my brother off.

I looked at Haze, startled. I knew he'd been injured badly enough to need care at Cedar Sinai, but when he'd shown up, unscarred and apparently whole, I hadn't even given a thought as to why Haze wasn't still in the army. If I had, I probably would've assumed that his time was up and he'd decided not to go back after having such a close call. Now, though, I wondered.

“Haze understands what it's been like for me. He understands why I want to do this.”

“Of course he does,” I snapped. My eyes burned with tears and I pushed them back. I wasn't going to cry. Not in front of Ian. Not in front of Haze. “He knows how to leave people behind without a thought to how it makes them feel.”

“I'm not leaving you behind,” Ian said.

I leapt off my stool. “No? You almost died the last time, Ian. I'm pretty sure that counts as leaving me behind. You would have died if...” I couldn't say it, so I changed what I was saying. “You can't do it anyway. You were wounded. They can't take you back.”

“They can,” Ian said, his voice quiet but firm. “Haze helped me find a construction job that proved I could work on my feet all day. The same reason he took this job. Once the army doctors saw the references from my employer, they checked me over and gave me a clean bill of health.”