Page 52 of Tempted by a SEAL

“You won’t get through for hours,” the policeman said, his gaze flicking over Hunter’s uniform. “There’s been an emergency on the bridge. No way on or off right now.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“Kidnapping,” he said. “A woman was grabbed from a vehicle—seems she’d been targeted.”

Hunter took a sharp breath as his gaze swept back toward the bridge up ahead. As he eyed the cars lined up, sunlight gleaming off the metal, and the boats bobbing up and down in the water below.

“Was she British?”

“I believe so. Why, do you know her?”

Hunter’s heart pounded as he tried to think of the fastest way to get across the water. Call his CO? Run? Rustle up some favors and get someone to fly in with a damn helicopter?

“Fortunately, some state troopers were on the bridge and stopped them,” the police officer said. “Pretty stupid to try a move like that in this kind of traffic over a goddamn bridge. What’d they think they were going to do to get away? Jump?”

Hunter blew out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

“My girlfriend,” Hunter explained. “We had a fight earlier, and she called a cab and took off for the airport in Richmond. She was, uh, involved in an incident back in London. There were men after her—I brought her here and—damn it! I should’ve been with her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Emma,” he said. “Her name is Emma.”

“It seems that she was shaken up but otherwise unharmed. There are police and medics tending to her now. You won’t be able to get there unless you walk.”

“Walk? I’ll run the whole damn way.”

Hunter pulled his car in front of the police officer, and then climbed out of his vehicle, anger roaring through him. He ignored the cars lining up beside him as traffic backed up even further and took off running.

A few heads turned to gawk at him from inside of their vehicles, but he didn’t care.

All that mattered was getting to Emma.

He was halfway across before he finally spotted her.

She was sitting in the back of an ambulance, sobbing, as a medic took her blood pressure. A police officer was standing beside her with an open notepad, and four other officers had two men on the ground in handcuffs. He was tempted to go kick their asses himself, but right now all that mattered was her.

“Hunter,” she gasped, watching in disbelief as he hurried over to her. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here?” he asked, crouching down in front of her. Feeling his gut clench at the tears running down her cheeks. “I came after you! Patrick told me you left, and I came to stop you from going to the airport. But holy hell—I never should’ve left you alone.”

“I used a credit card to buy a ticket—I know that was stupid since they’d been tracking me, but I figured I was safe here.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching up to cup her face.

“I don’t know—I just…you were mad and just left before,” she said, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. “You didn’t even try to talk to me—you just walked right out.”

“I was angry, yes, and that was stupid on my part. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I found something when your backpack spilled over—”

“The ring, I know. I saw it on the ground and realized what had happened. But you should have just come talked to me.”

Hunter muttered a curse. “I hate that I wasn’t there for you—that you ran away and those assholes tried to kidnap you again.”

“But why are you here now?”

He took her hand, hating the way that it trembled. “Why am I here? Because I care about you. I came after you to stop you from flying back. And when the police just told me what happened? I left my car on the other side of the bridge and ran to get to you.”

She burst into tears again, and Hunter pulled her into his arms. Held her tightly. Felt her entire body melt into his as he held her—exactly where she belonged.

“Come home with me,” he murmured. “I made a mistake, but you flew across a damn ocean to stay with me. Let’s not let one misunderstanding get in the way of that.”

“Okay,” she whispered, looking into his eyes. “Take me home.”

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