Page 22 of Protecting Bree
“You mean you aren’t already ten feet tall?” she joked.
This woman. She was killing him. “You didn’t answer my question,” he reminded her. “Are we going to Caroline’s house or my apartment?”
“Caroline’s,” Bree said. “I want to meet Julie and Fiona. From everything I’ve heard about them, they sound amazing. They survived what Mateo has in store for me. I think it’s important to hear their stories from their own lips.”
“That isn’t your future,” Smiley growled.
“I know. I just…I think seeing them, knowing they survived hell, it’ll give me confidence thatifsomething happens, I can too.”
Smiley wanted to protest again. Tell her that nothing was going to happen to her. That he’d rather die than see her in the clutches of an asshole like Castillo, but he knew as well as she did that he couldn’t promise her safety. He couldn’t read the future. All he could do was make sure she was as prepared as she could be for the worst, and use every ounce of his training and connections to ensure shenever had to experience anything remotely like what had happened to Fiona and Julie.
Looking her in the eye, Smiley said, “I have no doubt that if the shit hits the fan, you’ll kick some major ass.”
She smiled up at him, and again his heart skipped a beat. “Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. The badass Navy SEAL that you are.”
Smiley shook his head and gestured toward the door with his head. “You ready to go?”
“I’m ready,” she said, sounding a little lighter than she had after waking up and seeing him scowling at his phone.
Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up in front of Caroline’s house. Except they had to park three houses down because of the number of cars lining the street. Smiley should’ve known the reason for the change of venue was becauseallthe women on Cookie’s team wanted in on the meeting with Bree.
“Um…there are a lot of cars here,” she said, after they’d gotten out of his truck.
Smiley sighed. This being social thing wasn’t easy. He’d gotten used to his solitary life. But in the less-than-a-week since he’d found Bree—or rather, she’d foundhim—he’d spent more time with his fellow SEALs and their women and families than he had in months.
“This wasnotmy idea,” he told her. “I thought this was going to be Fiona, Cookie, Julie, Hurt, Caroline, and Wolf. But apparently word’s gotten out and everyone wants to meet you.”
“Everyone?”
Looking at Bree, Smiley was relieved to see that she didn’t look freaked out, simply curious.
“Yeah. From the cars, it looks like Wolf’s entire team ishere. And who knows if any of them brought their kids or not. It’s gonna be a mad house in there evenwithoutthem. We can still leave.” He held his breath, hoping she’d take him up on that offer.
To his surprise, Bree stepped in front of him and tilted her head back to keep eye contact. She put a hand in the middle of his chest and said, “If you need to go, we go.”
Smiley frowned. “This isn’t about me.”
“It’s about both of us. And you forget—stalker. I already know you aren’t very comfortable in social situations. You’re always the first to leave any kind of get-together with your friends. You stand off to the side, and you don’t often initiate conversation. You’re more of a stand-back-and-observe kind of guy. It wasn’t very cool of your friends to spring this on us. We can go, I can meet Julie and Fiona another day.”
Smiley closed his eyes, afraid if he looked into her bottomless gaze, saw the compassion and concern for him one second longer, he’d grab her, haul her back into his truck, and take her back to his apartment to keep her all to himself forever. But he wasn’t a selfish man, or at least he tried not to be. And Bree needed to meet the other women. See for herself that life moved on, things worked out, adversity could be overcome.
“Smiley?” she asked in a quiet, concerned tone.
He opened his eyes—and couldn’t stop himself from burying one hand in her hair and wrapping his other arm around her waist. She fell against him with a smalloof, her other hand joining the first on his chest. But she didn’t push him away. Simply continued to look at him with that empathetic and gentle way she had. She made him feel as if they were the only two people in the world.
“I’m a little…miffedthat Cookie didn’t warn me that they’d all be here. But they mean well. And they’re my friends. I look up to these men. They’re legendary in our circles. The things they’ve been through, that their women have been through, it’s enough to bring lesser people to their knees. I can handle them. I just want to make sure no one is pushingyoutoo hard. This is all new to you. You’ve been living a very solitary life for months. If this gets overwhelming, just tell me and we’ll leave.”
“Does the reverse also apply?”
“Meaning?”
“Ifyou’refeeling overwhelmed, will you let me know you want to leave?” she asked.
It was in that moment when Smiley understood he was going to do whatever it took to make sure this woman never wanted to leave him—ever.
He’d always known he wanted her, didn’t want her to leave Riverton, either now or when her troubles were over. But in the back of his mind, he figured if she insisted on leaving, he’d have to let her go.
Now, he knew he’d fight to keep her. Turn his entire world upside down for her. He’d leave his grumpy disposition behind, turn into a social butterfly…hell, change everything about himself if it meant somehow convincing Bree to stay with him forever.
