Page 35 of Hazard

She shrugged. “I clocked her back.”

“Wow, you’re quite the warrior.” She stiffened, not understanding where that sharp pain came from at his words, but she couldn’t agree with him. She shook her head, but let it go. She eyed the bandage on his upper arm. “How did that happen?”

“Ricochet,” he said with a shrug.

A bullet wound. She swallowed hard, wanting to touch him so badly. She reached out and caressed his forearm, then squeezed. The solemn expression in his eyes altered, changing to a heart-stopping look that made Leigh’s heart roll over. Of course, she knew what he did for a living, but this was all so surreal. She had experienced the dark side of the world, and it was more terrifying than she had expected. But truly, unless she was part of this special operations orbit, how could she comprehend how awful it would be? “Tell me what happened to the team.”

“Breakneck saved us from the ambush,” he said flatly. “He’s the hero.”

Experiencing an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, she set down her fork. The way his face went blank, and his eyes shuttered. He didn’t want to share what happened, probably because it was bad. “Oh, how?”

He shrugged again. “He covered us while we assaulted the cartel.”

Something suddenly slipped inside her, and she started to tremble. “As succinct and detailed as that was. I will need a bit more information,” she said dryly.

He pulled back a wisp of hair, his touch soft and sensual, but the glint in his eyes was mostly amusement. “Not much more to tell, Leelee.”

“What did you just call me?” A flicker of annoyance got the best of her, and she exhaled a hard breath. “No one calls me that, and the last male who called me that nickname got a punch in the kisser.”

Amusement—at her expense, no less—danced in his gaze. “Well, I’m calling you that, and what is this guy’s name?”

“Billy Rathbone, and he was eight years old.”

“Did he stop calling you that?”

“Better yet, he avoided me.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He stuck out his chin and gave her a fierce, defiant look. “You’re still my charge, and I’m your bodyguard, so we’re stuck together, Leelee.”

“For that, I’m not sharing half of this cookie.”

He stiffened and she thought he was responding to her, but it was clear he was listening to his earpiece. She was right when he said, “Copy that, boss.” Then he turned that silvery gaze to hers, nothing but conviction in those eyes. “I gave it up for you, anyway.” He rose but bent down, and the very male glint in his eyes making her knees weak, whispered, “We all know what happened the last time you offered me a bite of your dessert.”

He gave her one final amused look, then headed for the door. “I’m on guard duty, but I’ll be back.”

Before it could close, Breakneck walked by him, nodding to him. “I just came to see how you’re doing,” he said, not moving from the door as it closed on Hazard’s back.

“Thank you. I’m doing better.”

He nodded, then walked in and she saw that he had a cookie in his hands. I…um…thought you would like this. It’s chocolate chip.” He offered it to her, and her heart melted all over again. These big bad SEALs were a soft touch.

“Thanks.” He came closer and offered her the cookie.

“You do look better,” he murmured, coming around to sit on the cot across from her. “That’s good. I’m sorry you got taken into the gap.”

“Me, too,” she said. “But thank you for coming to get me out.”

He nodded. “Of course, that’s a no-brainer. We weren’t about to leave you to those bastards, especially after that fucking, sorry for my language, ambush.”

“Yeah, Hazard said you saved them. He called you a hero.”

Breakneck frowned. “That’s what he told you? It was me?”

“Yes. Is that wrong?”

“One hundred percent. Hazard left the cover of the warehouse and went into the open to recon, and it’s a good thing he did. He spied a fifty-cal bearing down on us and exposed himself to the cartel to get closer to the gun.” The excitement in his voice told her that even though it had been dangerous as hell, Breakneck had been excited by it all. She couldn’t forget: these men ran into the bullets. “It would have torn us apart. He devised a plan to take control of it, and that’s what he did. He jumped on that gun, risked his life for all of us. All I did was give him covering fire. He’s the hero.” She broke the cookie in half, pretty sated by her meal, and handed it to him. He smiled and accepted it with a nod. “I heard Iceman talking to Preach. He said if it wasn’t for Hazard, we would have had major casualties. He’s putting him in for a medal of valor.” He took a bite and swallowed. He was so unselfconscious and sweetly open. It was his youth most likely. “Hazard won’t like it. None of us like getting medals.”

“Why?”

---