Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5) (3 page)

She squeezed his hand convulsively. “Oh Jack, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s fine. The counselor said I have to talk about it. It was eight months ago. She’d have been in the hospital having our baby right now.”

Oh God, this did not get any better, did it? Gina swallowed the lump in her throat. He spoke so calmly, but she knew it had to be killing him inside. She didn’t know him at all, and yet she hurt for him.

“I’m sorry is so inadequate, but it’s all I know to say.”

“It’s all anyone can say. What else is there?” He was quiet for a while as they trod through the woods. She noticed that he stopped and listened every so often. But there was nothing out here other than typical night sounds. She tried not to think about snakes or spiders—or heaven knows what else liked to hang out in tropical jungles.
 

When he spoke again, though he was always so quiet when he did, the sound startled her. “Hayley loved your music. Drove me crazy listening to your albums. I haven’t listened to any of your songs since she died. Don’t want to hear them.”

“I understand.”

Some of her songs came from a deep well of pain and insecurity inside, and she was especially proud of them. But others, the ones her manager always pushed her toward, were big splashy numbers with thumping beats and killer dance moves. Those were the ones that had made her popular. But she wouldn’t ask which songs Hayley had liked more. Maybe it was best she didn’t know.

She’d been wanting to make a change for a while now, but every time she tried to get her way, a phalanx of music company executives and flunkies came down on her hard. So did her manager.

“Star power sells, Gina.” “The kids love the dance numbers.” “You’re outselling Beyoncé now—do you want to fuck that up?”

Maybe she did. Hell, she didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew that she wasn’t satisfied lately. As someone who had everything she could ever want, she felt guilty for complaining.

So she mostly didn’t. Except sometimes, dammit, she wished she could have something more. Something that couldn’t be bought.

Up ahead, it seemed lighter out, and she realized they were approaching the edge of the woods. The sound of the ocean swelling against the beach reached her ears and her stomach twisted. What was waiting for them out there?

“Will we make it out of here alive?” she whispered.

“That’s my plan. Don’t worry, I’ve been in tougher spots than this and here I am. Metaxas’s men are amateurs, and that’s an advantage for us.”

They skirted the edge of the woods for a while, until he determined they were where he wanted them to be. They emerged from the woods and hurried along a cliff face until he found the caves he was looking for. Gina hesitated in the entrance.
 

It wasn’t a cave so much as a nook carved into the rock. Once she climbed in there with him, they’d have to stay close together until they were rescued.

He turned to look at her after he slung his rucksack down and stowed the rifle he was toting. And wow, it was some rifle. She hadn’t realized everything he’d been carrying when they’d been in the woods. But now the moonlight illuminated more than she’d seen before.

“Why do you look like a bush?”

His teeth flashed white. “Camouflage. No one notices another bush, right? Helps me get close enough to the target.”

Target
. Gina gulped as fresh understanding dawned. “Are you the one who shot those men?”

The light in his eyes dimmed a little. But then he nodded. “That’s my job.”

Her heart thudded. He’d shot four men in the blink of an eye. And then two more when that bodyguard had been slapping her around. She should be horrified, and yet…

“The last two… Were they part of the job too?”

His gaze was steady. “No.”

She dropped her eyes from his, unable to look at him for the worry she’d let too much show in her face. Fear, gratitude. Awareness.

“Thank you.” Her voice was soft, her throat tight.

“You have to get inside now, Gina. I know it’s not a lot of room, but you’re safe with me.”

She looked up then, let him see what was in her eyes. She’d never trusted anyone so quickly in her life. But she knew, inherently, that she could trust him. “I know I am.”

He held his hand out and she took it, her skin sizzling with the contact. They stared at each other for a long minute—and then they went inside and sank onto the sand together.

CHAPTER THREE

THEY SPENT THE HEAT of the day in the small cave. It went back far enough that they could get out of the sun, but it was narrower at the rear and they had to sit side by side, bodies touching as they watched the ocean swells rolling in. They couldn’t see the beach from where they were since they’d had to climb up a little bit to reach the cave.

Jack had removed the bush—aka ghillie suit—and sat beside her in a muscle-hugging black T-shirt, military camo pants, and boots. Gina was aware of him in ways she’d rather not be.
 

But he’d wiped the greasepaint from his face with a cloth, and her breath had caught at what was under there. A day’s worth of stubble adorned a face that would have looked good on an action-film poster. His hair was blond, his eyes piercing blue, and the hint of a dimple in his cheek when he smiled was enough to make her heart thump.

Not that he smiled much. He’d opened up his pack and given her an energy bar and some water, which he’d told her to conserve. They’d sat in companionable silence for a long while, and then she’d dozed, waking when it was broad daylight to discover that she’d fallen asleep against him and that he’d put his arm around her so she would be more comfortable.

She’d apologized, but he’d shrugged and said it was no big deal. Though she hadn’t intended to, she fell asleep again, and when she woke this time, it was dark. She blinked at her surroundings, but then it all came back to her, and she pushed away once more from the solid mountain that was Jack Hunter.

“You feeling okay?” he asked.

Gina sat up and stretched. Her face throbbed where Athenasios’s thug had hit her, and she was a bit sore after hiking through the woods in flip-flops, but she was alive and that was something.

“I’m okay. A bit stiff.”

“When the moon sets, we’ll get out of here for a bit. Go for a swim. The saltwater will help.”

Gina was doubtful, but on the other hand, she’d love to stand up for a while. A shaft of moonlight shone into the cave, and she turned her head this way and that, trying to relieve the stiffness in her neck.

Jack swore softly, and then she felt his hand on her chin. He was gentle, but she flinched anyway.

“I won’t hurt you.”

“I know.” And she did know it, but he’d surprised her.

“You’re starting to bruise. I’ve got a cold pack.”
 

He turned to his rucksack, and she marveled at all the things he had in there. It wasn’t huge, but it carried an arsenal of supplies, weaponry, and medicine. And condoms. Her eyes widened as he set some of those aside for a moment.
 

“Wow, you really are prepared.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “A bit of everything in here.”

“Including condoms.”

He grinned. “They’re for keeping ammo dry. You’d be surprised.”

“I guess I would.”

He pulled out a bag that he squeezed and shook. When he handed it to her, it was cold.
 

Gina put it to her face, wincing a little as she did so. “Thanks.”

He was putting stuff back in the pack. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop that from happening.”

Her heart contracted at the regret in his voice. He cared and she liked that. No one cared much about her as a person so much as they did about her status and money.
 

Stop. That’s pitiful, and you aren’t pitiful.

Damn straight. She’d never been pitiful and she wasn’t going to start now. Poor little rich girl. She was self-made, but money came with heartaches of its own. She’d learned that lesson only too well, but she still wasn’t going to whine.

“You saved my life. I’d be pretty ungrateful if I was angry because someone hit me first. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”

He grew still. “What does that mean?”

She was embarrassed she’d said that much—and then she thought,
What the hell?
He was a stranger to her and it no longer mattered. Maybe they wouldn’t make it out of here anyway, no matter what he said. Why keep pretending?

“It means I didn’t have a dad. It means I had a mother who changed boyfriends like most people change socks. It means that some of them were angry, and some of them lashed out.”

“Jesus,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’m over it.”

“If it helps, I’d shoot those men for you if I could.”

She laughed, though maybe she shouldn’t. “I almost wish you could.” She pulled in a breath and shifted the Mylar blanket he’d given her earlier over her body. “The worst one was a guy named Randy. He was a soldier. He liked to drink and slap women around. Mom first, then me. And then one day he had a bulge in his pants when he was hitting me—and I just knew I had to go.”

“Christ, Gina.” He sounded horrified, and she liked him even more.

“Nothing happened. I ran away that night, and that was it. The end of Regina Robertson and the beginning of Gina Domenico, though it took a lot of years of hard work. I slept on streets sometimes, in bus stations and dodgy apartments…” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“I don’t mind.”

“No selling your story to the tabloids later, all right?”

It was his turn to laugh. “Sweetheart, my boss would hang my ass from the spire of the Capitol if I did such a thing. Even if it wasn’t against my moral code, it’d be career suicide—and this is all I have now.”

She hated how lonely he sounded. She reached out and put her hand on his. His skin was warm, and once more that sizzle of lightning flooded her. “I was kidding, Jack. I know you won’t go to the press.”

He didn’t move for a long moment, and then he turned his hand and ran his fingers against her palm, softly, sweetly. It was as if he’d touched the heart of her, because her entire body grew tight with anticipation.

“What made you choose the name Gina Domenico?” His voice was soft, and she knew he was deliberately moving on. Getting her away from the awkwardness of what she’d just told him.

“My mom always called me Gina, so that was easy. And then I saw a story about an Italian artist named Domenico something-or-other.” She laughed. “I can’t remember his last name, but I never forgot Domenico. It sounded foreign, classy, and I decided that would be my stage name.”

“It worked for you.”

“Definitely.” She wanted to whimper when he dropped his hand away. “What about you, Jack? How did you end up here?”

“I joined the Army because I wanted adventure and a paycheck. Here I am.”

She sensed it wasn’t the whole story, but she had no right to push him. “Here you are. Good for me.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth and sparks snapped in her belly. It shocked her that she wanted to lean into him, press her mouth to his, and feel his heat and strength. After the last week with Athenasios, it surprised her that she could want that kind of closeness with any man right now.

He pushed away from her and crawled toward the mouth of the cave. Then he shot her a look over his shoulder. “Moon’s nearly gone. Want to get out of here for a bit?”

“Sure.” She crawled out of the cave and stood up. Jack walked away from her as if he couldn’t stand to be near her for a moment longer. She tried not to let it bother her as she strode down the beach and stopped at the edge of the water.
 

But it did.

* * *

Living in a tight cave with this woman wasn’t exactly easy. Or comfortable. Jack shifted for the millionth time that day, trying to relieve the pressure of a hard-on. Last night he’d had to get out of the cave before he did something stupid. She’d been looking at him with wide, trusting eyes, and he’d found himself wanting to kiss her.
 

It pissed him off. And scared him too.

He hadn’t wanted a woman since Hayley died, and now he was stuck in a tight spot with a woman who was miles out of his league by anyone’s measure—and all he could think about was stripping her out of that damn bikini and burying his aching cock in her body.
 

Shit.

She stirred against him and he knew she was waking. It was almost dark out, and soon they could get outside again. He couldn’t wait. Except, after they’d swam and exercised a bit last night, it had been chilly in the cave and they’d ended up huddling together for body heat since they couldn’t have a fire. The Mylar blanket was meant for one, so if he didn’t want to freeze, he had to get under it with her.

Her robe was pitiful protection against the cool night air, so he’d wrapped his arms around her and let her burrow.

They talked, but no matter how much they said or how many things they discussed, his body stayed in a perpetual state of arousal. He couldn’t wait for HOT to find them. He’d sent a signal, but he had to be careful with the electronics in case Metaxas’s men were also looking for them.