SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (88 page)

“Reganne? What is it?” Every nerve snapped tense and taut.

“There’s someone outside.” Her voice wavered.

Grey put his mug on the table and rose to his feet. “Stay here.”

Before she could protest, he was out the front door, closing it silently behind him. Making no sound, he edged his way around the deck and down the steps. He rounded the house, finding no one.

Just to make sure there wasn’t a peeping tom, or worse, he scoured the beach. A couple strolled hand-in-hand a few hundred feet away, a small group had a bonfire going a quarter mile down. No one close enough to have been looking in the windows. Unless they were a fast runner. Or snuck into one of the houses down the beach. That would be a stretch, since Reganne had no immediate neighbors.

He crossed the sand, taking the steps back up to the front door. Reganne met him at the door, closing it behind him.

“What were you thinking going out there like that?”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean? You said you saw someone outside, I went to check it out.”

“You could’ve been hurt.”

The fear in her eyes made him realize she’d been worried about him. His worst nightmare come true. He put his hands on her shoulders. “I can handle myself. Never worry about me.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re a Navy SEAL. I will always worry about you.”

The one thing he vowed never to do to a woman. It hit him square in the chest, sent him reeling into the past when his mom self-medicated to ease the loneliness and worry.

He dropped his hands and took a step back. “Well, don’t. I didn’t find anyone outside. It’s late. I should go. If you have any more trouble, give me a call. I’ll be staying at my place tonight.”

With that he walked out the door, strung tighter than ever. Best he walked away now before his feelings for her grew into something he wasn’t prepared to handle.

*

Shaken by seeing
someone peeking in her window and now by Grey’s abrupt departure, Reganne let out a slow, calming breath. How could the perfect date have gone so wrong? He probably thought her a nutcase after her behavior at the party and then tonight.

Pressing a hand to her forehead, she shook her head. She’d royally screwed up what may have been the best thing to ever happen to her. Grey wasn’t like any other man she’d ever met. On the outside he looked like a hunky badass with all those muscles and intense gray eyes. The more she got to know him the more she realized he had a sense of humor, a sexy grin, and the manners of a saint. She’d invited him over for coffee on a whim. He had no idea how risky that had been for her. She didn’t let people into her life. Not anymore. But somehow he’d stormed her defenses and made her go against the rules she’d put in place to protect herself.

Then she’d seen a face in the window and sent Grey running. Yep, she’d really messed this night up.

Anger coursed through her. Dammit, she’d moved here to put that part of her life behind her. Here she was seeing her ex in a crowd, in the window, and thinking he’d snuck into her house to leave one of his poems. Which couldn’t ever happen because her security system would have gone off and the cops would have shown up. Whenever she left the house she closed and locked all of the windows and doors. Short of having iron bars on the windows, this place was a fortress. Common sense dictated that her imagination was running overtime and letting her past take control. Something she vowed never to let happen.

Well, Grey wouldn’t be calling her because she hadn’t given him her number. And she wasn’t about to be rejected again, so she couldn’t call him.

With a heavy sigh, she retrieved their cups, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher. Then she turned off the coffee pot and made her rounds through the house, checking all the windows and doors to make sure they were locked. Tonight she would sleep with the air conditioning on. Her nerves were on edge. She’d never get any sleep with them open.

After turning off the lights she went upstairs and prepared for bed. Exhausted and wired at the same time, she lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Images of Grey invaded her thoughts, making sleep even more impossible.

Flopping onto her side, she forced her eyes closed. Grey’s amazing eyes and sexy-as-sin smile filled her head, causing her womanly parts to tingle. Good Lord, at this rate, she’d never get any sleep.

Too bad she’d screwed up her date with him.

‡

G
rey sat in
his truck outside Reganne’s house unable to leave. He watched the lights go dark downstairs, then turn on upstairs. Minutes later the house went dark. Images of Reganne lying naked between her sheets invaded his good intentions. Not that he had any idea what she slept in, but nude painted a gorgeous picture in his head.

Damn. He’d planned on staking out her house for a bit in case someone had been peeking in her windows, not to have fantasies about her. God help the fool that decided to creep around Reganne’s house because his mood made him want to unleash on someone right now. Tonight had been the best date of his life. Before it all went downhill when Reganne said she’d always worry about him because of his career.

Storming out probably hadn’t been the best way to handle it. Hearing those words come out of her mouth had hit him square in the chest. He’d been unprepared for them.

He rubbed his forehead. He’d acted like an ass. If Reganne never called him, he wouldn’t blame her. This was exactly the reason he didn’t date. Too complicated.

Deuce and Tag could have marriage and relationships. He wanted nothing to do with that mess. One date had proven that.

Yet, here he sat outside her house watching over her. Protecting her. When he should be driving as fast as he could to the cabin and spend his leave fishing on his grandfather’s boat. Alone. No distractions. No rock in his gut because he’d screwed up. Letting peaceful Lake Toliver acclimate him to civilian life instead of sitting outside Reganne’s house thinking about her naked in bed. And wanting to be there with her.

Sex worked as a great way to blow off steam after a mission, but his attraction to Reganne threatened to go deeper than that.

Turning the key, he brought the engine to life and backed out of the driveway. As the headlights swung across the house he braked to a stop. A dark figure ran out from behind one of the pillars beneath the house.

With a curse, Grey slammed the truck into park and took off after him. His shoes sank into soft sand but it didn’t slow him down any. He’d trained on these beaches. Still ran five miles on them every morning during leave.

The figure darted between two houses. Grey followed, slowing down when he rounded the corner. A motion-sensor light triggered, illuminating the yard and road. Cars sat in driveways, some porch lights on, others dark. No dogs barked to alert him to the presence of the man he chased.

“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath, scanning both right and left and seeing nothing. Circling around, he jogged back to his truck, turned it off and grabbed the keys. Reganne had definitely seen someone in her window and the creep might still be around.

Like it or not, he wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

He climbed the steps and knocked on Reganne’s door. With luck she hadn’t fallen asleep yet. A light turned on upstairs, then down.

“Who’s there?” she called out.

“Reganne? It’s me, Grey. I need you to let me in.”

“Why?” Hesitant. Wary.

Not that he blamed her after the way he’d left earlier. “We need to talk.”

“It’s late. I really don’t feel like talking.” On the other side of the door now. “Why are you still here?”

“You were right. Someone was outside your window.”

The lock turned and the door opened to reveal a pale-faced Reganne wearing nothing but a silk nightie and matching robe that barely covered her thighs. The robe belted around her slender waist, the neckline plunging just deep enough to make him sweat.

“You saw someone?”

“Yes.”

She held the door open wider for him to enter. He brushed past her, waiting until she’d reset the alarm to move farther into the room.

“What did you see?” she asked, motioning for him to sit.

“A man ran out from underneath your house. I chased him, but lost him.”

“Wait. How did you see him? You left.”

He sat down on the sofa, much as he had earlier. Reganne remained standing, her arms wrapped around her waist.

“I decided to stake out your house for a while. In case the guy came back.”

Unsure how she’d react, he watched a myriad of emotions cross her face. None of them being anger.

She dropped down on the sofa opposite him, looking stunned. “You believed me?”

He frowned. “I did.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He got up and moved to sit next to her, wrapping his hand around hers where they folded in her lap. “What’s going on, Reganne?”

She stared at their hands. “I don’t know who to trust.” Her voice was sad and low.

“You can trust me.”

Her head lifted, her gaze meeting his. “I just met you.”

He grinned. “Yeah, but I’m a SEAL and I can’t lie.”

“Is that true?”

“No.”

She laughed. “You got me.”

“Got you to smile, though.”

“You do have a way of doing that.”

Pride swelled in his chest. Who could ever make this woman sad? Her smile lit up the room. He’d do anything to keep it there.

“Wanna tell me what’s got you so spooked?”

“Not really.”

His turn to laugh. He hadn’t expected such brutal honesty. “Well, I can’t force you to tell me, but I wish you would. Maybe I can help.”

Her gaze dropped. “If I’m right about who was here then no one can help.”

“Let me try.”

“The police weren’t able to stop him. What makes you think you can?”

He cupped her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. “Because it will be over my dead body that I ever let anyone hurt you.”

*

Reganne stared into
Grey’s intense grey eyes, the warmth of his hand calming her nerves a little. His gruff vow echoed through her head. So badly she wanted to trust him, confide in someone, but the last time she’d done that she’d ended up in a coma.

Besides, she didn’t know for sure if Carsen was the one who’d been at her window. Or left the poems. Or made the prank phone call. Even though they were his M.O. What was the chance she’d have another stalker?

If she had this all wrong and Carsen hadn’t found her then she would be confessing all for nothing. Admitting to Grey what a fool she’d been to trust a man like Carsen, to fall for his charms, to believe him the perfect man. To have missed the signs that seemed so glaringly obvious now.

She didn’t like admitting she’d fallen for a psycho.

If Carsen had found her then the last thing she intended to do was put Grey’s life in danger, too. No matter how flattered she was that he’d already endangered himself for her by chasing off the stranger.

Torn between wanting to lean on his broad shoulders and let him handle Carsen—because she wasn’t sure she could go through that again—and pushing him far, far away to protect him, Reganne leaned into his touch. She couldn’t help it. His callused hand felt so good. It had been a long time since a man had touched her.