Page 76 of What I Should Have Done

She shook her head. “No. All he knew is that he was supposed to kidnap me so the guy could come and ‘rescue’ me.”

Rescue her? Some guy hired a mercenary so that he could come and rescue her? Who the hell would do something like that? And who the hell had that kind of money? Mercenaries are expensive as fuck.

She gestured to the mirrored confusion on all of our faces. “Yeah, I agree.”

Ford shook his head as Dom spoke, “Look, let’s go back and get Thompson’s body. We’ll drive until the sun rises, hold up until night, and then finish the drive back to base. Maybe by then we can have come up with something to make all of this shit fucking make sense.”

Scottie shot a glance my way. Slipping through her hardened mask, fear coated her wide eyes.

I gave her a gentle, reassuring smile before looking back at the group. Everything in me raged like a storm, desperate to make sure something like that never happened again. Even though I knew it might, especially considering her line of work—our line of work.

But there was a sense of reassurance knowing that even if it did, at least I’d be right here. And she wasn’t one to go down without a fight. She’d proven that. Damn, she was one hell of a woman.

One hell of a fucking woman.

We stashed the buggies between some rolling dunes. With them camouflaged out of the way, we trekked in silence to a small dip in the sand knolls and slid beneath an overhanging outcrop. At least this would provide some shade and shelter from the midday blazing sun in the middle of the desert.

Despite the lack of sleep we’d had, my mind had yet to calm down. Every nerve in my body still fired with adrenaline. So, when Dom asked for watch rotations, I quickly volunteered to be up first.

That was the best way to keep my mind distracted from all that I’d failed on. Or maybe it wasn’t a failure, but it sure as hell felt like one despite knowing that we’d rescued Scottie in time.

I settled back against a boulder. Scanning the empty and flat horizon, heat rippled like a wave across the endless sand. There was nothing but orange and blistering desert as far as my eye could see. For the first time, there was a part of my heart that missed the rolling hills back home. Or maybe it was the idea that someday, Scottie and I could have a moment of true peace that sent an ache through my soul.

Rain would be nice. Anything to mix up the continual failure and spark an idea as to who hired Merlin. We needed a win. Some sort of positive moment to keep us going. I sure did.

The sun stretched higher into the sky as unexpected movement stirred by the mouth of the outcrop my team was resting under. Squinting through the blazing rays of light, the tension rolled off of my shoulders as a familiar figure staggered silently toward me.

Maybe Scottie was all the hope that I needed.

As I kept watch around her, she climbed steadily up the pathway until she stood directly in front of me. Exhaustion crumpled her usually strong body. And without a word, she crawled right onto my lap. Shoving my arms open, she curled up into a ball and then pulled my arms back around her figure.

Her body heat made things uncomfortably warm, but I didn’t mention anything. Ignoring the sweat that dripped down my back, I glanced down at her. She tucked her cheek tighter against my chest, a frown slipping onto her lips. “Damn, stupid fucking vest,” she grumbled, trying to shove herself into a more comfortable position.

I bit back my chuckle as she shifted in my lap. Her own PPE—minus her helmet—created even more space between us, but right now was not the time to remove any of it, and she finally sighed, giving up the useless fight.

Leaning my chin against the top of her head, loose strands of disheveled hair tickled beneath my nose, reminding me of my own facial hair I hadn’t shaved in a while. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Scotch, but we can’t make out since I actually need to be on watch,” I quietly teased, hoping to relieve some of the burden that I knew weighed heavily on her shoulders.

She shook her head lightly. “Of course that’s what you think when all I did was innocently come over here.”

“Snuggling into my lap is innocent?”

“Oh, hush up, Blondie, and just hold me,” she grumbled in response.

Wrapping one arm tightly around her body, I scanned our completely still surroundings and set my rifle up beside me against the rock. With my now free hand, I quickly undid her terribly redone bun, and let the hair cascade down her figure.

“You’re not worried anyone else will see?” I asked, letting the strands slip through my fingers.

“They’re all asleep and I have watch next, so we’re fine,” she answered, her shoulders falling.

“Still think this is innocent?” I teased.

“As long as you keep your dick under control, it will be,” she quipped.

“How he responds is all up to you.”

She lightly slapped my arm but snuggled in tighter and didn’t answer. A gentle silence swept between us. With every passing second, every tick in time that steadily clambered on, her body relaxed more and more. I couldn’t lie to myself how much I was reveling in the fact that she sought me for more comfort. Especially considering how disgusting I had to look right now.

“You doing okay?” I whispered. But my voice didn’t break the gentle bubble that settled around us. She inhaled deeply, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts.

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