Page 88 of Protecting Hailey

Christian squeezed me. “Are you all right?”

I rubbed his arm. “I’ve never been better.”

My whole life, I’d never stood still. This was the first time I remember being present in a moment and feeling excited to be here, and I wasn’t writing, singing, or running around someplace. My mind was still and my heart was full.

We must have fallen asleep on those lounges, because when we awoke, the sun was lower in the sky. Cupping my eyes, I noticed three men walking side by side along the beach. They looked like runway models with their sunglasses on. One still had long pants on, but his shirt was unbuttoned halfway, revealing a sculpted chest whenever the breeze hit him. It wasn’t nearly as sexy as Christian’s rippled core, but it wasn’t too shabby. The others had swim shorts on and no shirts and turned heads as they walked by.

“I think they’re doing a photo shoot on the beach,” I said, pointing to the men.

Christian turned his head to where I was pointing and groaned. “Those aren’t models, baby. Those are my brothers.”

“Oh.”

He covered my eyes, and I laughed. “Stop it. I want to meet them.”

“I’m not sure I want you to meet them now.”

I turned toward him and kissed his cheek. “You’re the sexiest one.”

“You better think that.” He kissed me on the lips, slowly, taking his time to explore my mouth.

Someone cleared his throat behind us. Christian didn’t stop kissing me, and my lips curled into a smile. He was staking his claim. Silly man.

“Are you going to let the poor woman come up for air?”

I pushed away from Christian and turned toward the three men blocking the sun behind them. Their faces were shadowed, but there was no mistaking these men were all handsome, with their full lips and chiseled jaws.

“Hi, I’m Hailey.” I stood from the lounge chair and put out my hand. All three had brown hair, but only one had it long past his jaw. “I’m Will,” he said.

Next, I shook Jake’s and Jager’s hands.

“It is so nice that you all flew here. I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Christian speaks very highly of you all.”

“He does?” asked Jake.

I nodded, and Jake laughed. “Well, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet you when he told us you’d be coming here.”

Jager looked at Christian and motioned with his head to the side. “Mind if I speak to you privately for a minute, Chris?”

Christian caressed my hand. “It’s all right Jag. I told Hailey about our special ops background. She knows. You can speak freely in front of her.”

Jager cleared his throat. “It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

Jager ran a hand through his short hair. “It’s about your father.”

“My Dad? Is he all right?”

“Yes, yes. Man, I’m fucking this up.”

“Just say it, Jag. What about my dad?”

“He’s here.”

Christian stiffened behind me. He stood as still as a rock.

“In Puerto Rico?”

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