Page 20 of Protecting Bree
“You aren’t goinganywhere. You aren’t homeless—you livehere. You didn’t force yourself into my life—hell, woman,I’ve been searching for you for months. Iwantedyou in my life, and yet you were too smart to let yourself be found. If Fiona and Julie are in anyone’s crosshairs, it isn’t because of you. It’s because some asshole is an asshole. Got it?”
She stared up at him. Speechless.
Smiley took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to go. I’ve just found you. And now that I’m getting to know you, watching you with my friends, with the kids tonight, I’m already realizing that I’ve been missing out on a fuck of a lot. You light up a room when you enter, and you have a way of making everyone your friend. Within seconds of meeting you, Yana wanted to share her most prized possessions with you—her dolls.
“You need me, Bree. Need my expertise. Need my friends to help find this Castillo fucker and take him out once and for all. But more importantly, I needyou. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve hung out with one of my teammates at their homes. I…I’ve missed it. MacGyver is a great guy, and seeing him with his family was nice, and eye-opening, and overdue. I need you to remind me that there’s more to life than working. That there are people out there who are good and kind. Who aren’t just all about themselves.”
Somehow, Bree’s hands had moved from the door to Smiley’s shirt, gripping it at his waist.
“Will you stay? With me? Let me find this guy and make sure he understands you’re off-limits?”
Bree couldn’t say no to that. She nodded.
“Good. And no more talk about you being anything except an amazing friend, a brave-as-fuck person who’s willing to step in and help perfect strangers, and thewoman I’m becoming addicted to, who fascinates the hell out of me.”
“Um…”
“And no arguing. I’m right. Just ask any of my friends. I’malwaysright.”
“Cocky,” Bree muttered, but she couldn’t stop the smile that crossed her lips.
“I swear I’d slay dragons and make a complete ass of myself if only to see that smile on your lips,” he murmured. Not giving her time to respond, he eased back and pushed her gently toward the hall. “Go get ready for bed. I have to get up way too early. And since I have to get up, so do you.”
“I like watching you guys work out,” Bree admitted. “As long as I don’t have to run alongside you and can ride the ATV, I’m good.”
“I’m glad, because until we find Castillo, your ass is gonna be on that ATV right by my side. We have to leave before the coffee place is open, but I’ll make you a cup to go before we leave in the morning.” When she just stared at him, he added, “Well? What are you standing there for? Go get changed, woman!”
Fighting another smile, Bree headed for the bedroom, where the few things she owned had been stashed. They were washed and folded, and seeing them stacked neatly in her suitcase on the floor in Smiley’s room gave her heart a little twinge. The man she was living with was more than a badass SEAL. He was considerate and went out of his way to make her life as easy as possible. She could get used to having him around…except this was probably temporary. Once he found this Mateo person, she’d likely be moving on.
He said that he wanted more, that he was “addicted” to her, but once her situation was solved, and she prayed that would be soon, he might feel differently. Get tired of her. She hoped not, but Bree didn’t want to get her hopes up and be crushed if he decided she wasn’t what he wanted after all.
The thought hurt, so she pushed it down. She needed to worry about today, not tomorrow. Thinking about the future was a useless endeavor. She had no idea what tomorrow would bring, so she had to live in the moment. And for now, she was going to do what she could to enjoy being with Smiley.
CHAPTER FIVE
The next few days went by quickly. Smiley brought Bree with him to PT every morning, then they’d go back to his apartment, shower and change, eat breakfast, and head back to the base.
He had plenty of meetings, but Bree seemed content to settle herself in one of the unused offices nearby.
The trackers Tex had sent arrived the same day as their call with the man, as promised, and Smiley was pleased with the assortment. Bree didn’t seem as excited, but she’d admitted that was more because she couldn’t help thinking about thereasonwhy she needed to wear the earrings with the trackers embedded. Or the necklace. Or the barrette. Tex had even sent a belt that had a tracker in the buckle. The note included in the box instructed her to switch up which tracker she wore each day, in case anyone was watching her.
Thathad freaked Bree out. It wasn’t as if she was being naïve and refusing to believe she was being hunted. She’dspent time on the run for that very reason. It was more about how blunt Tex had been, and that, along with the trackers, apparently had the situation sinking in that much more. She’d admitted as much to Smiley but, thankfully, wore the trackers without complaint.
Now, today was the day Bree was set to meet Julie Hurt and Fiona Knox. They were getting together at Julie’s secondhand clothing store, My Sister’s Closet. Bree had been resisting getting more clothes, saying she had plenty back in storage in Las Vegas and she didn’t want to spend any more of Smiley’s money than she had already.
But Smiley was determined to see her expand her wardrobe. It wasn’t that he actually cared what she wore, but seeing the same four outfits over and over hurt his heart…because it was a reminder that those few items were all she owned in the world.
Well, all she had access to at the moment.
He strode out of the conference room he’d been holed up in for a few hours with his team and headed straight for the office where he’d left Bree. When he opened the door, he panicked when he didn’t immediately see her. Then every muscle in his body relaxed when he saw she was lying on the small couch, curled into a ball, fast asleep. Her hands under her head as a makeshift pillow.
They’d been staying up late talking, playing cards, watching TV, as if neither of them wanted to end their time together. And of course, they’d been getting up early for PT. It was no wonder she was napping. He wanted to let her sleep, but if they were going to get to My Sister’s Closet to meet with the women, they needed to leave.
He’d taken a single step toward her when his phonevibrated. Stopping to look at it, Smiley frowned when he saw Cookie had texted.
Cookie: Change of plans. We’re meeting at Caroline’s house instead of the store.
Smiley: Why?
