SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (18 page)

No, it had to be Dane.

“Not at all,” he said. “I’m a professional, and I take my job seriously.”

“Excellent,” Matt said. “Now let’s get moving.”

‡

O
h, this was
a bad idea. No matter what Dane had said, it was bad.

Ivy stood in the living area of the bungalow she now inhabited with her ex-freaking-husband and gazed at the two bedroom doors sitting side by side. They were both open, and Dane was moving around on the other side of one of them. Ivy strode over and peeked in. When she saw which room Dane was in, she took the opposite one.

It didn’t take long to hang her clothes and put her toiletries in the bathroom—the
shared
bathroom, for heaven’s sake. She thought about closing the bedroom door and locking it for a while so she could lie down and think, but that wouldn’t work because how could she think with Dane next door?

Ivy chafed her arms as she returned to the living area. When she’d first seen that man in her bathroom, she’d had a split second of hoping it was Dane. But of course it wasn’t—and that was a good thing, really. She didn’t need to have sex with her ex-husband, which she would have wanted to do pretty badly if he’d been the one who’d walked in on her in the shower earlier.

Because it had been him she’d pictured while she touched herself. His hands and mouth she remembered. His cock entering her body.

“You doing okay?”

She spun to find Dane watching her. Her heart skipped a beat as she let her eyes slide over his face. Oh, it was so unfair he was that pretty. That damned appealing.

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to infuse her voice with starch instead of honey. Because the honey wanted to drip into her tone for some reason, which wasn’t appropriate anymore with him.

“Matt sent someone to inquire about the resort staff. It’s entirely possible he was there for some maintenance and got distracted when he saw you in the shower.”

Ivy snorted. “Yes, he came through the back door, heard the shower, kept on going, and opened the bathroom door when it was clear someone was in there. He was very startled. Probably sucking down a Jack and Coke somewhere and trying to recover.”

Dane spread his hands. “Hey, I don’t believe it either, but we have to check all the angles. If he was a maintenance man with a penchant for spying on guests, that’s better than nothing. It would also mean that whoever threatened you isn’t here looking for you.”

Ivy frowned. She didn’t think the Ruizes had come for her in the Keys because the timing was wrong for that, but what if they had? What if they were crazy enough to make a move now instead of at any other point in the past few years? Maybe they blamed her for their lost submarine, or maybe they thought she’d lead them to it.

Ivy shook her head. That was craziness right there.

“I put nothing past the Ruiz brothers, but even this is a bit too far-fetched for them.”

Dane shrugged. Then he went and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. When he held out one for her, she took it.

“Whoever it was, they’ll have to go through me now,” he said, his expression hard.

She knew he meant it, and it made her shiver deep inside. “Why would you risk yourself for me?”

Because he hated her, and it made no sense. But he was here, offering to do just that. Or maybe he planned to open the door and let them have her…

Ivy shook her head. That wasn’t Dane’s style. He really was here to protect her.

“It’s what I do,” he said, shrugging.

Heat blossomed in her cheeks. “So it’s the job. No other reason.”

His blue eyes were steady. “That’s right.”

She pushed her long hair back over her shoulder and took a sip of water. Her fingers still trembled, though not as badly as before. She shouldn’t have missed the target when she’d fired her weapon.

She’d been distracted. That had to be the issue—and what was distracting her was standing a few feet away and looking as delicious and tempting as ever.

“I still don’t understand why it had to be you. Any of those men could watch my back—and it would be a lot less awkward.”

“And what if it was more so? You’re a gorgeous woman, Ivy. Another man might be distracted by you—and that could prove dangerous, don’t you think?”

She heard what he didn’t say—that
he
would not be distracted at all.

“Not every man on earth is attracted to me, Dane. Not to mention, several of those guys are in relationships.”

“That doesn’t stop some.”

A sharpness pierced her. “Would it have stopped you?”

The instant she said it, she regretted it. It was too personal—and too far in the past to even think about.

He straightened, his expression hardening. “When I was married to you, you were the only woman in my life. I’d have never broken the vows I made to you. Never.”

Her heart thumped and her stomach tightened. “I shouldn’t have asked. It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

He came around the kitchen island and stalked toward her. But he stopped before he reached her, and her body trembled with excitement. God, if he would only sweep her up into his arms and—

No.

“It matters to me. It matters if you think my integrity is so meaningless to me that I’d have thrown it away the first time we were apart.”

“I didn’t say that.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.

“You didn’t have to. But the one thing you never seemed to understand is that I’m not like your father. He might have screwed around on your mother before he left, but I’d have never done that to you. Our marriage vows meant something to me.”

She wanted to reach out and touch him. Wanted, more than anything, to dial back the clock and return to a time when there wasn’t so much anger and hurt between them.

But that was impossible. Ivy dropped her gaze to the floor, her chest aching with unshed tears and a truckload of regrets.

“I’m sorry, Dane.”

He took a step toward her—and then he blew out a breath and turned away, put distance between them. She looked up again, watched him retreat. Her heart hurt in a way it hadn’t in a very long time. It was like someone had ripped the bandage off a wound just when it was starting to heal.

“Come on,” Dane said over his shoulder. “We’ve got a team meeting to attend.”

‡

H
e must have
been insane to agree to stay in the same space with Ivy. Dane leaned against the wall in the bungalow they were meeting in and listened to Matt and Big Mac talk about the plan. It was a little strange not being in charge of an op for once, but these guys were good. In fact, they were so good that his mind was mostly on Ivy.

She was sitting on a chair a few feet away, one leg crossed demurely over the other, the slit in her dress revealing a tanned calf and part of a thigh. A couple of the other guys glanced at her from time to time, and it made Dane crazy.

It shouldn’t make him feel anything at all, and that pissed him off even more. Why did he care who looked at his ex-wife or what she did with that sweet little body of hers anyway? He hadn’t made love to her in years, and he knew she hadn’t been celibate. Neither had he.

But right now, if he could strip her naked and explore every inch of her body with his tongue and fingers and cock, he’d be a happy man.

Which was crazy, because Ivy didn’t make him happy at all. She knotted him up inside, made him feel like his skin was too tight, like if he didn’t do something physical—fuck, punch something, run until he was exhausted—he’d explode.

He thought of the conversation he’d had with Matt earlier when the other man had taken him aside.

“I realize asking you to stay with her isn’t ideal,” Matt said, “but I get the impression pairing her up with another operator would make it worse for you.”

Dane scoffed. “Don’t know why you’d think that. We’re divorced. Ivy can do what she pleases.”

Matt looked at him for a long moment. “My best friend growing up was a girl. We went everywhere together, did everything—and then we hit high school and things got weird. I did shit I shouldn’t have done. She did shit too. It was a bad time in my life. I didn’t want her for my own, but I didn’t want anyone else to have her either. Then I left town. Didn’t see her for ten years.”

“So what happened when you saw her again?”

Matt grinned and put his hand over his heart like a love-struck girl. “I’m marrying her, man. Can’t live without her.”

“Can you do that, Dane?”

Dane gave himself a mental shake. Everyone was looking at him. Everyone except Ivy. She was studying her lap and her tightly clasped hands.

“Can you repeat that?” he asked.

Matt looked amused. “Sure. I need a happy couple to check out our friends with ties to the Freedom Force at the local nightclub. Dinner, dancing, observing who comes and goes. Can you and Ivy do that? Or should I assign someone else in your place?”

“Yeah, I can do it. Ivy?”

She glanced up, seemingly startled that he’d spoken to her. Her dark eyes fixed on his, and then she looked away. “Yes, I can do it with Dane.”

Do it with Dane.

Jesus, the pictures that brought up in his head.

“Good. Y’all can go tonight.” Matt lifted an eyebrow. “I guess I don’t have to explain that we need you to be a
happy
couple, right? You don’t have to do anything except smile at each other and pretend you’re dating. No need to carry it too far.”

“Got it,” Dane said.

“This is bullshit.” Ace had finally decided to speak. “Ivy’s my partner. I should be the one with her over there.”

Ivy turned to him and put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. This isn’t our op, and we need to do what we can to support it. Besides, I trust Dane.”

He could hear the hesitation in her tone and his gut clenched. She didn’t fully trust him. She never had. That was part of the problem.

“You trust him? After what he put you through?”

Dane really wanted to knock this guy’s head off. Ivy stiffened, and her mouth set in a straight line.

“Not now, Ace.”

Her partner glared daggers at Dane. “Fine, chica. Your choice. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Look,” Matt said, “I need a HOT operator out there, not two DEA agents who’ve never done this kind of mission before. It’s Ivy and someone from HOT, though I don’t much care who at this point—unless two of you fuckers want to pretend to be a gay couple. We can do that too.”

Flash yawned. “All right, all right. I’ll let Viking ogle my ass for the cause. But no cuddling, frogman. Not on a first date anyway.”

Nick “Brandy” Brandon snorted. Fiddler rolled his eyes. Sam “Knight Rider” McKnight chuckled. Ace’s head came up, his eyes flashing at the banter, but Dane had no idea what the fuck that was about. And he didn’t care.

“It’s okay. Ivy and I got this,” Dane said. Because first of all he wasn’t playing gay with Flash, and second he couldn’t stand the thought of someone else with their hands on Ivy. It was simply too much to process—and Matt somehow knew it, the fucker. “Ivy?”

Her mouth tightened. “Yep, got it. Already said so, didn’t I?”

The team talked for another fifteen minutes, and then Matt dismissed them all once the plan was set. Dane and Ivy would go on a date. The rest of the guys would spread out and find the other suspects while Flash and Knight Rider went to the marina to watch for any activity out there. Matt, Big Mac, and Billy “the Kid” Blake—the computer whiz—would stay here to monitor the comm feeds and pass on any information.

Dane walked Ivy back to their bungalow. The path through the resort was lush, planted with tropical foliage and studded with cute little bridges and swans and shit. He supposed it was a romantic place, the kind of spot where couples honeymooned or spent anniversaries.

And yet he kept an eye on the surroundings for danger, especially since the sun was beginning to set and the path was darkening in spots.

“You have to forgive Ace,” Ivy said, and Dane glanced at her, surprised.

“Actually, I don’t.”

She sighed. “He’s protective, that’s all. He’s a good guy and he cares. I might have talked a bit too much about why I’m never getting married again.”