RULES OF LOVE (A Navy SEALs Romance) (9 page)

“You might want to pick those back up. I have something to show you.” Naomi limped up the stairs with Beau behind her, trying desperately to keep his eyes on the back of her head and no lower.

They walked to the room where the ceiling fell in, and Naomi pointed to a ten-foot step ladder underneath the hole and a small crawlspace that allowed easier access to the roof tiles than his way of scaling the house.

“I had Shane get it for you when you said you were going to work on it. Thought this way might be a bit easier and wouldn’t give me a bloody heart attack. I’ll see you for a late lunch?” She didn’t wait for an answer, just left Beau rubbing his neck in annoyance at the situation. When he was getting ready to climb up, she poked her head back in the room and said, “Oh, and two friends of mine will be stopping by soon. They’ve already been cleared with your boss and what not, so no need to worry.”

“What? How did you get them cleared?”

“I have my ways.” Beau opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off. “It’s just two people, Beau. It’ll be fine.”

“There are people trying to kill you, remember? What if these two lead them straight here?”
Damn the woman. She’s trying to drive me insane.

“I told you, it’s already taken care of—well, except that hole you’re supposed to be fixing.” She strode out of the room, calling back, “I don’t hear any hammering!”

Beau set his tools down and, grumbling, marched to her room to confront her about going behind his back like this, but when he got to the doorway, his mouth clamped shut. Naomi was humming softly, those damn hips of hers swaying as she sorted through files of some sort.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked him without looking up. “Do you need a hammer, or are you just going to use your fist? You can borrow mine if yours doesn’t hit hard enough.” Her lips twitched for a second, but no smile followed.

He folded his arms and leaned in the doorway thinking,
I’m just enjoying the show,
but said, “You used to dance, didn’t you?”

Naomi stopped for just a second to stare at him, pushing her tongue behind her upper lip like she did when he annoyed her. “A bit.”

“You were pretty good back then, weren’t you?”

She nodded. “I was, ‘til I got this bum leg. Can’t do much with it anymore, you know.”

Beau lifted an eyebrow and walked over to her. He took the papers from her and held out his hands to her, waiting patiently to see if she would accept his offer to dance.

“What are you doing? I can’t dance, I told you.”

What are you doing? Walk away, just walk away right now
. But he didn’t. He waited to see if she would pull away as he settled his hand at her back and gently lifted her until her feet rested on his. His other hand took hers, steadying her.

“Really?” She laughed as she glanced down at her feet on his. “I don’t want to break your toes.”

“You won’t,” he said quietly, his eyes on hers as he moved.

He wanted to do things to this woman, but he tried to keep his thoughts away from scenes of him helping her undress slowly before he carried her to her bed and laid her on it. Images of him driving her to cry out his name and forget about the man who’d hurt her.

Beau hummed as he spun them slowly around the room, Naomi’s feet on his and him holding her weight so she wouldn’t feel any pain in her leg. She grinned at his offbeat tune and lost it when he dipped her to the floor, pulling her back up into a spin. They rocked back and forth to his hummed version of some 1940’s serenade.

“How very romantic of you,” Naomi teased, and for a moment, she leaned into his touch.

The dangerous thoughts moved in again, and Beau’s hand pressed against her back, holding her closer. He waited for her to resist, but she didn’t. He breathed in her scent, closing his eyes on the subtle vanilla and citrus.

“What are you thinking about?” he whispered in her ear.

“Wondering what this would be like if we met years ago,” she said, words filled with bitterness. He leaned back in surprise at her answer. “You?”

They stopped swaying, her cold gaze locked onto his, and without thinking, he lowered his head and let his lips brush against hers. Beau waited to get punched as Naomi’s body stiffened in his arms, but she pressed her lips against his in return. The kiss was soft, unsure. Tension radiated from her, but there was more beneath it. Heat, an intense longing. The same responses he felt as his lips moved against hers. His hands moved to those hips he’d been dying to hold, and just when he thought they were making progress, her entire body became rigid. She staggered backwards off his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he reached out to steady her.

Naomi moved out of his reach and held up her hand. “Just stay there, please.”

What the hell did I just do?

“Naomi? Are you alright?”

She nodded once but didn’t meet his eyes. “I’m fine… I’ll be fine.” She glanced at him then quickly away, but in that one second, he saw fear in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it was me. I shouldn’t have done that.” Beau rubbed a hand over his face, more aggravated with himself when she didn’t say anything else.
That was a smart move. Now, you’re just gonna drive her away completely. Way to go, champ.

Her phone rang, and she grabbed it from her back pocket. “I have to take this,” she said, barely loudly enough for him to hear. She turned her back on him and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

Beau screwed up, and he couldn’t fix it. Whoever hurt Naomi made sure it had stuck. Never mind an electric wheelchair. He was going to rip the guy apart with his bare hands if he ever learned his name.

Beau returned to the bedroom and hauled the rest of the tools up into the crawlspace in the other room. He set to work, mentally yelling at himself the entire time to stop thinking of Naomi Veri as the sexiest woman he’d ever kissed but rather as just another civilian who needed his protection.

One hour later, nothing had changed. Beau was in trouble.

***

“You are a lifesaver,” Eddie whispered to Jackie when she answered her phone.

“Oh, really. So I take it you and the macho man are still not getting along?”

“Wouldn’t say that. The damn man just kissed me.”

Silence. Jackie was never this quiet, and Eddie thought she lost the connection until her friend came back on the line. “He kissed you? Is he still alive or do you need help burying the body?”

“It didn’t last too long,” she said, regretting the moment she pulled back. Everything felt fine—the building heat and the throbbing need—until his hands touched her hips, hips that had once been held by another man, and she’d lost it.

“You can tell me all about it, but I need you to do me a favor.”

“And that would be what?”

“Open your front gate so I can get in.” Jackie hung up the phone as Eddie chuckled.

When she reached the front entry, she pushed a call button, opening the front gate for her friend. Eddie walked out the front door just in time to see Jackie and Gareth’s blue Mustang pull up the drive, the latter being Jackie’s fiancé. The passenger door flew open and Jackie stepped out, rushing to give Eddie a hug.

“Good to see you haven’t killed yourself with that cane yet… or anyone else, for that matter,” Jackie teased, pulling away from Eddie.

Eddie shrugged and muttered something about it never being too late as she eyed her friend. Jackie looked almost the same as the last time she’d seen her five months ago. Her skin was chocolate-brown and her eyes still overflowed with sweetness, but her hair was longer, curlier, and with red-blonde highlights in it.

“What, may I ask, did you do to your lovely hair?” Eddie asked, making a face at the chunk she picked up. “You did this to yourself, didn’t you?”

“Oh, shut up. He likes it, and that’s all that matters,” she said, motioning towards the six-foot-plus man who got out of the driver’s side.

Gareth walked around the front of the car and picked Eddie up in a bear hug. “Nice to see you’re still alive,” she said.

Gareth set her down and let out his booming laugh. He popped open the trunk to get their luggage. “There’ve been a few close calls with all this damn wedding shit going on.” He grabbed two duffels and walked towards the house, yelling back over his shoulder, “Where am I supposed to put these?”

“The first door to the left on the second floor. Fixed up a guest room just for the two of you.”

Jackie linked arms with Eddie, and they strode into the house. “So, where’s this new macho G.I. Joe of yours?”

“Upstairs fixing that roof that keeps leaking.”

Jackie’s eyebrows shot up and her jaw about dropped when Eddie added that he had washed the dishes the other night. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and yelled up, “Gareth! Why can’t you fix our roof and wash our dishes, huh?”

Gareth came down the stairs, pretending to think seriously. “Well, our roof isn’t leaking last time I checked, and neither of us are ever home to have dirty dishes. That answer your question?” Gareth leaned in and kissed Jackie, wrapping her up in a hug.

Eddie strolled into the kitchen. “You two make me sick.”

Jackie came up behind her, whispering in her ear. “Get a call from Reinhart?”

“Yeah. Not good, either. I’ll tell you later.”

Hammering echoed through the house as Beau continued with the repairs. “How long has that poor man been up there?” Jackie asked curiously, leaning against the counter.

“Not too long, but let him keep working. Keeps him from invading my thoughts. Why don’t we go out back and talk? Gareth, make yourself at home.”

Gareth, also part of their cover team and here as backup with his fiancé, saluted Eddie before raiding the fridge for a beer and some leftover pasta while Jackie and Eddie walked towards the garden paths.

They chatted about normal things, the things two best friends should talk about before the topic of their current mission finally came up after Jackie finished describing her last mission—tailing a possible arms dealer moving into southern Europe.

“We were in Rome the whole time, but the man’s in custody. Team moved in late last night and seized him and his store. Damn guy had rocket launchers, for God’s sake. I was just happy we were able to get out here so fast to help you out, amongst other things.”

“We really can ignore my birthday. I’m okay with that. There’s a bit going on here that we need to take care of.”

Jackie eyed her. “If I told Beau it was your birthday, do you really think he wouldn’t let you have one night of fun?”

“Except we can’t have fun because we have to protect him.”

“And here, I thought you would enjoy playing civilian.”

“Hate it with a passion. I’d be of more use if I could stick to what I’m good at instead of playing the helpless victim.”

“We’ll do what we can to help, but my man and I can only stay a few nights. We’re being put up in a hotel. Reinhart has to brief us on another mission.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot going on,” Eddie said enviously, thinking of what she could be doing if her knee wasn’t practically useless. She’d been damn good out in the field, and now, she was regulated to babysitting the mark.

“Yeah, you just got lucky with that leg of yours, kid.”

“Trust me, I’d rather have twenty missions at a time than be forced to walk with a cane. Could go without the pain, too.”

Jackie halted the conversation, asking sternly, “You’ve been taking your meds again, right?”

“Don’t have a shit fit. The damn Navy knows about it now. Practically shoved one down my throat this morning.”

“Good! It’s about time someone got on your case about all the crap you’re not doing. How about those nightmares you told me were gone? And that kiss?”

Eddie cringed. “I’d rather not talk about the nightmares I’m not
having.”

“How bad are they?” Eddie avoided Jackie’s eyes. “You better tell me, or we’re going to be out here for a while.”

“Fine! Apparently, I wake up screaming.”

“You what? And you didn’t call me because?”

“I didn’t want you worrying. I already have Beau freaking out every other second of the bloody day. He keeps asking me about my past, why I… why I flinch when certain people try to touch me. And he’s beginning to realize it has something to do with a man. Especially after he kissed me.”

“What were you two doing that he kissed you?”

Eddie’s mind drifted back to that brief moment of happiness in a world where she saw nightmares everywhere. “Dancing. It was as if the accident never happened, and he held me, he kissed me… And then I freaked out and ended it.”

Jackie sighed, pulling her friend along, and Eddie knew exactly what was going through her mind. It was so long ago, but for Eddie, it still seemed like yesterday. They came around a bend in the path and saw Shane and Gareth sharing beers out on the back patio as if there wasn’t someone on their way to kill their mark. That’s what happened when you were on the job too long. One death threat was nothing to get excited about anymore.

“Maybe, for once in your life, stop being so stubborn. You don’t need to prove yourself to anybody anymore. Okay? If he wants to kiss you, let the man kiss you. Maybe it’ll knock some sense back into that head of yours and chase the other asshole out for good.” Eddie nodded, and they hugged. “You’ve been through a lot. It’ll be a big step if you can talk to someone—anyone—about everything that happened.”