Page 8 of Protecting Bree
“You don’t know?”
“Obviously not,” she told him, a little miffed.
“Then I’ll tell you after.”
“After what?”
“After this is done. After the asshole is caught and you’re safe.”
“You’re annoying,” Bree blurted.
Smiley chuckled. “I know.”
“And cocky,” she added.
“It’s not cockiness that has me so sure whoever is after you will pay for terrorizing you, and however many others. Or has me knowing that whoever is ultimately behind this—not the goons after you, but the man at the top of the chain—will regret his chosen path in life. It’s the bone-deep knowledge that we were meant to meet. To be right here, right now, at this moment in both our lives. And that we have a future together. We can’t have that with this threat hanging over us. So we’ll resolve it and move on.”
Goose bumps broke out on Bree’s arms. She’d never met anyone like Smiley before. He didn’t beat around the bush. Went after what he wanted. And it seemed as if he wantedher. Little nobody Bree Haynes.
The truth was, she wanted him too. More than she’d wanted anything in her life.
She’d do whatever she had to do in order to survive this. Whatever “this” was. She’d wear a hundred trackers, let him stand in the bathroom door while she peed. Meet all his friends. Whatever he asked, she’d do it. Because the truth was, she was terrified. And she wanted to make it to the other side of whatever was happening, if only to experience one night in Smiley’s arms.
“Sleep, Bree. Tomorrow’s going to be busy.”
Instead of worrying about exactly what that meant, Bree dutifully closed her eyes. She thought she’d lie awake thinking and worrying, but instead, she fell asleep almost instantly. And had dreams that alternated between terrifying images of her being thrown into a trunk of a car, and standing on the sand by the ocean, staring into Smiley’s eyes as they said their marriage vows.
CHAPTER THREE
Bree’s face hurt from smiling. Which was weird, because it felt as if it had been years since she’d been this carefree. Oh, her life was still a shitshow. She could practicallyfeelshe was still being hunted. But for right this second? She felt free.
Smiley hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. She figured it wasmostlybecause he was worried about whoever was after her…but also a little because he didn’t completely trust she wouldn’t take off again.
She wasn’t going to do that. For one, she’d promised. But more importantly? She’d be a complete idiot to not take the help Smiley was offering. She needed his assistance and wasn’t about to do something idiotic…like think she could hide out for the rest of her life.
And for the moment, she was having more fun than she’d had in years.
Smiley had woken her up at the ass crack of dawn and dragged her out to his Ford Ranger, bringing her to thenaval base, where he’d met up with the rest of his team for their morning PT workout.
It was a little awkward meeting the team officially, especially since she’d been stalking them for quite a while now. She knew where they all lived, what they drove, what their girlfriends and wives drove. She’d followed them to Aces Bar and Grill, and to what she assumed were some of their other favorite restaurants in Riverton. Hell, she even knew where Addison and MacGyver’s kids went to school.
Everyone was polite, and Bree expected there would come a time when they’d want to ask her questions. They were all extremely protective, and she figured they’d want to make sure she wasn’t a danger to their teammate—which was funny, as she was certainly no harm to anyone.
Well…maybe everyone except MacGyver and Flash would question her. After making sure she was all right with it, those two men had actually given her long, heartfelt hugs, which had felt amazing. But she hadn’t helped their loved ones for any kind of thanks. She’d kind of been on autopilot, only doing what instinct told her to do. She was relieved that her actions had helped save others…but the fact remained, she’d only been in the right place at the right time because she was stalking Smiley and his friends.
Figuring she’d have some explanations to make later, Bree was relieved when Kevlar announced it was time to start. To her surprise, Smiley led her over to an ATV parked next to one of the lifeguard towers. He’d handed her the keys and told her to keep up.
He hadn’t asked if she’d ridden an ATV before, or if she knew how to operate it—she hadn’t and didn’t, but managed to figure it out pretty fast—just gave her a look she couldn’t interpret and turned back to his friends.
That’s how Bree came to be cruising down the beach as the sun came up, watching seven incredibly in-shape men run, skip, and even crawl through the sand and surf. They took their workout very seriously, and it wasn’t a hardship to watch their muscles flex and strain as they did what they needed to do in order to stay in shape, ready to save the world.
She had no idea how Smiley had gotten permission for her to use the ATV the lifeguards obviously used while they were on duty, but she was grateful. There was something so freeing about racing over the sand this early in the morning, without having to worry about running over any sunbathers or swerving around little kids who weren’t paying attention to their surroundings.
She was currently sitting still, soaking in the breathtaking morning sunrise and watching the team do some sort of sadistic burpee combination that involved pushups, rolling in the sand to the right, jumping jacks, and then more rolling—when Smiley abruptly stopped what he was doing and jogged toward her.
Sitting up straight, Bree frowned and looked around. Was something wrong? Why was he stopping?
He walked over to where she was sitting on the ATV while his teammates continued their workout and asked, “You good?”
