Page 30 of Sutton's Shadow

Her sweater underneath the coat was also damp. He reached for the hem and pulled it up, hoping she had something on underneath. Thankfully, she was wearing one of those skinny strap tank tops. He grabbed a towel from inside his truck and draped it over her shoulders.

Crouching in front of her, he swallowed the groan as his leg objected to the movement and unlaced her boots and pulled them off. The socks also had to come off since they were just as wet as everything else. She came back to herself when he reached for the clasp of her jeans. Pushing his hands out of the way, she peeled the jeans off while he reached for another towel. Wyatt averted his eyes, but not before glimpsing a bit of black lace. He sucked in a breath as he held out a towel. Her hands shook as she grabbed it from him and wrapped it around her lower body.

Feeling like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner, he reached into the back seat for his go bag. Wyatt remembered there were some sweatpants in there. He rummaged around in the bag until he found them. They would be huge on her, but at least they were dry.

“Sorry, I don’t have anything better for you to wear,” he said, handing over the sweats.

“It’s f-fine,” she muttered as her teeth chattered. He grabbed his coat from the back seat as well and helped her into it. It swamped her, but it would warm her up faster than the towel.

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. He led her to the passenger side of his truck and got her to climb in. After walking around to the driver’s side, he climbed in and turned it on while rubbing the twinge out of his left leg. He fiddled with the settings for the heat and turned on the seat warmers. “Sit here and warm up for a bit. I need to get my board.”

Eyes slightly glassy with shock, she glanced over at him and nodded. Wyatt reached over and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “You okay?” he asked. She nodded again. She shook with cold as he touched her. He studied her eyes for a moment, feeling a strange mix of anger and sympathy toward her. Dropping his hand, he said, “I’ll be right back.”

Wyatt ran to where he’d dropped his equipment, cursing his leg that continued to ache and pissed beyond belief that the little blue-eyed siren he couldn’t get out of his head had acted so recklessly. He knew she was new to the area, but almost everybody knew to stay off the pier on a day like today. Especially once they saw the waves crashing over the concrete. Lake water levels had been steadily rising over the last few years. It was a common occurrence for the water to douse the pier.

But to stand out there taking pictures... what had Sutton been thinking? He had thought the stories he’d heard of the photojournalist were overinflated, but seeing her acting irresponsible today... he guessed they weren’t exaggerations after all.

After bending to grab his gear, he took one last wistful look at the other kiteboarders and sighed. He’d had such high hopes for this day.

Chapter 9

Suttoncouldn’tblamehimfor being mad. She was pretty pissed at herself too. She had been living the last two years in a gray bubble. Hiding. From herself. From her past mistakes. She thought she’d exorcised the reckless devil that lived inside of her. The desire to get the shot no matter the consequences. That aspiration had driven her throughout her career. She’d never imagined the consequence would have been Liam. He’d risked everything to keep her safe and made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving her struggling to come to terms with her feelings of guilt.

And now, here she was. Back at it again. So focused on the job. On getting the shot. Ignoring the danger. She knew better. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew to stay off the pier when the water was high, had thought she was back far enough. The water hadn’t been crashing over the pier where she’d stopped to take pictures. How had she neglected to notice the approaching danger?

Recognizing the anger in Wyatt’s eyes as he made his way back to the truck, his limp more pronounced, Sutton lowered her head in shame. She was still risking other people’s lives unnecessarily. And what made it worse was she hadn’t even meant to. She didn’t set off to go into a dangerous situation like she had in the past. She was just trying to get shots of the kiteboarders. Not extremists in a dangerous war zone.

She shivered. And not just from the cold. Wyatt could have died. Just like Liam. Because of her. Liam’s death had taught her that no life was worth the perfect shot. She’d given up that life, content to hide in her studio doing family portraits. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. Especially on those days when the adventure junkie in her wanted to be let out.

There had to be a happy medium between the two lives. Between the old wild and irresponsible Sutton and the new scared of her own shadow Sutton. And she needed to find it before she wasted away. Before she lost more of herself than she already had.

But realizing his anger was directed at her—at her carelessness—she shivered again. He’d risked his life for her. Rationally, she knew that was what he did for a living with the Nighthawks. But she never wanted to be responsible for someone’s life again.

Suddenly, Wyatt’s words registered. He’d said “they” were right about her. That she was dangerous. First, was that true? Was she dangerous? It must be, since she’d gotten Liam killed. But again, she thought she’d packed that person away.

Second, who were “they”? She was just now stepping out of her bubble to meet people in town. She didn’t know many people yet. And the ones she knew probably wouldn’t call her dangerous.

Then it dawned on her. He knew the men who’d been Liam’s teammates that day, and they must have filled him in on her faults.

Sutton watched as Wyatt placed his board in the truck’s bed. After stashing the gear, he opened the driver’s side door, then peeled down the wetsuit. He had a rash guard on and... oh God... a pair of bicycle shorts that left nothing to the imagination. Sutton tried not to stare, but then he pulled the rash guard up over his head, his muscles bunching and moving with the effort.

Heat rose into Sutton’s cheeks. He was a perfect specimen of a man. All hard angles and ridges. A six-pack, of course. She’d expect nothing less from a Ranger. Or from a Nighthawk. Those men all kept themselves in top physical condition. And Wyatt’s top physical condition was on full display.

Sutton closed her eyes and turned her head away from the Adonis in front of her as he reached inside the truck for a pair of cargo pants. What was wrong with her lately? Why did this man make her woman parts take notice? She immediately opened her eyes, unwilling to let her imagination go there.

Then she noticed the blood. She gasped, feeling lightheaded. The blood was all she could see until suddenly she wasn’t in Lake Haven anymore.

She was in the back of a Humvee, racing away from the village in Colombia. Her hands covered in a red, sticky substance. Liam’s blood. It was everywhere, and all she could do was stare at her hands covered in it. Her body jolted when the shot rang out, a piercing agony hitting her head before everything went black.

But it wasn’t a gunshot; it was Wyatt closing his car door. And yet the jungle, the blood, bombarded her senses. All she could feel was the terror, the anguish.

“Sutton?” She met his gaze but didn’t see him.

“Blood.” She gasped. There was so much of it. Why was there so much blood? It covered her, suffocated her. The metallic tang of it burned her senses.

“It’s just a scratch.” She heard the words but knew that wasn’t possible. There was too much blood for a scratch. She shook her head, raising her trembling hands to... to do what? What could she do with that much blood loss? She would lose him. She wanted to rage, she wanted to wail, but the sounds stuck in her throat.

“Sutton!” The harsh tone of the voice made her blink. When she opened her eyes again, the blood was gone, and her hands were clean. She blinked again, willing away the last vestiges of the vision, the acrid smell that she was sure she’d never be able to eradicate.

---