Page 13 of Rescued By the SEAL

“You and Landon have been brought back together for a reason,” I whisper to myself with my hand pressed against my head, wishing the headache would go the hell away. “Fate made this happen for a reason. We’re here, together. We need to make the most of it. My God, think of all the times you’ve wanted this to happen, all the times you’ve dreamed of it, wanted it.”

And I have, too. I can admit that now in the darkness, with Landon beside me. For over a decade, ever since I got my tattoo and I took it to show Landon, I’ve dreamed about waysthat we could find one another once more and restart the best relationship that I’ve ever had in my life. Now it’s here, and I need to make the best of it. I need to enjoy it so freaking much.

I lean into him and hug him tight, bringing that smile back on my face where it belongs. Sure, tomorrow could change everything all over again, so that’s even more reason to enjoy this moment. Then tomorrow, we can maybe discuss how we’re going to make our completely contrasting lives mesh together and work. Therehasto be a way if we have enough love.

Love conquers all. It has to. Otherwise, what’s the point of everything? Love needs to be the answer.

“Just go to sleep,” I hiss angrily at myself. “Enjoy sleeping next to this man just in case it’s the only time.”

Funny how when I was lying on the couch watching a movie with Landon, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but now when I should be emotionally drained and finished, my brain is spinning too fiercely for me to shut off for even a moment. Thoughts are darting everywhere all over the place, and they aren’t the good ones I had before. I can no longer drift off imagining the past and the present together because I’m too mixed up and confused. I wish I could join Landon in rest, but I can’t.

“Water.” All of a sudden, I decide to leave the bed and get myself a drink as if that might calm my body down a little bit. I slide out of the bedsheets carefully because I don’t want to disturb Landon, and I head over to the door. At first, I make my way into the kitchen and grab myself a drink because it’s the only thing on my mind, but very quickly, curiosity takes over.

Landon Ross isn’t someone I’ve been able to track down online. He seems to have kept his life very private, but now I want tofind out more about him. I get a sense of who he is being back in his arms, and I can see that he’s a good person just like he always was, but I want to know everything. I don’t intend to sneak around and look at anything private, but when we came to his apartment, I was all freaked out and didn’t get a chance to see what he has on display. Now I can. I see it all too well.

Feeling just the littlest bit naughty, I creep around his home, just to see what I can find, and honestly, I’m stunned. His home is a lot like mine, devoid of anything meaningful, anything that suggests a life has been started. I’m shocked by the matching empty walls and the lack of photographs anywhere. I didn’t even realize that I hadn’t decorated my home properly until now.

It’s almost as if we’ve both been living in limbo for far too long, just waiting for our real life to begin. I kinda feel a flow of happiness surging through my body as I consider this. At least it isn’t just me who’s been waiting. This could have been awful if it had turned out that he had truly moved on with his life and I was the only one clinging to the past.

My God, if I had come here and discovered a family, a wife, a life without me, it would crush me. I would have had to run back out into danger, into Bill’s stupid plan for me just to get away. I wouldn’t be strong enough. The heartbreak and embarrassment would absolutely finish me off. I shudder painfully at the mere idea of it and it hasn’t even happened.

I’m not crazy. I was right to cling to what happened years ago. Now I don’t feel nearly so bad for holding on as long as I have. All the times I'd tried to convince myself that it was time to move on and date around to find the right guy, I was wrong. There was a reason I held off from it and could never give myself over to the process completely. It’s because of this right here. BecauseLandon and I were always going to find our way back to one another. I feel okay about it now.

With that one thought in mind and a total sense that love really will be the answer and we will make it together, I take my sorry ass back to bed where I can finally lie down and enjoy a sense of peace. We might have a lot of shit surrounding us, and of course, it’s going to be a bit crazy to deal with all of this, but it’ll be worth it. I can fight for that knowing that it will lead me to having absolutely everything. All my dreams will come true if I battle for Landon.

Finally, I snuggle in close to Landon once more and breathe him in deep. My God, even his masculine scent is utterly intoxicating. I could lie here and smell him all day long. There is still something very familiar about his smell. I’ve never forgotten that, but there is a newness to it too. I guess that’s a good representation of him and me, isn’t it? There will be a lot of familiarity going on, but a lot of differences too. We’re adults now, and things can progress a whole lot further. It’s exciting, thrilling, but warm and comforting too. The idea of falling back in love with Landon, or maybe even accepting that I’ve always been in love with him, isn’t terrifying. Giving anything up to commit to him wouldn’t trouble me at all. Even knowing that his father is a scary criminal and that his mother might be too, and even knowing that my father would hate it doesn’t bother me.

Landon and I are destiny. I knew it when I was a teenager, I knew it when I got my tattoo, and I know it now. I know it with every inch of my heart and I’m going to find a way to fight for this, to make it happen. Whatever it takes.

12

LANDON

Bang, bang, bang!What the hell is that? Am I dreaming or losing my freaking mind?Bang, bang, bang!

I don’t even want to open my eyes because I’m enjoying every moment of lying in this bed next to Heather. It’s beautiful and I never want to let it go. But the moment she begins shaking me, I know it’s over. Something really is going on.

“Landon, someone’s at your door.” There’s terror in her tone. She’s really freaking out. “What if it’s your father?”

Those words make me bolt into a sitting position. It’d be naive of me to assume that my father is incapable of finding me. Just because he seems like a strange junkie who’s barely able to function, doesn’t mean that’s all he is. Plus, I’ve no goddamn idea who he’s working with, so I can’t be sure what his gang is capable of. Shit could be about to get real.

“You stay here,” I warn Heather. She must be able to sense my emotions more than I mean her to because her eyes almost pop out of her head in shock. She pulls the blankets up over her, almost as if they’re there to protect her. “Don’t worry. Whoever itis, I’ll get rid of them. No one is going to find out that you’re here, so you don’t need to panic about anything.”

Of course, my words do nothing to calm her down, and why would they? I can’t really promise anything when I don’t know what I’m up against. I half wonder if I should contact Max first before I answer anything to see what his advice is, but the banging on the door is growing in insistence and I just know that they will come through it in a moment if I do nothing.

“Who is it?” I yell as I reach over to the table to grab my gun. I want to protect us both at all costs. “Who’s there?”

“Open this fucking door, you little asshole. I’m not going to keep banging on it. I’ll smash it down if I need to.”

“Why would you do that? Who is it?” I insist. Only an idiot would respond positively to that. “What do you want?”

“You have my goddamn daughter in there, Landon Ross. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on. I’ll kill you!”

Holy shit. This is Heather’s father. Somehow, even though I told Max not to mention my name, he’s found out that I’m the one protecting Heather and he’s also found out where I live. I guess there are advantages to being a police officer.

“Okay, I’m coming. I’m opening the door,” I promise him. “We can talk about this. Nothing crazy needs to happen here.”

Maybe I’m the one being naive here, but considering I’m an adult now, we both are, and I’m clearly not a criminal, I feel like Mr. Buchan and I can talk about this sensibly. I’m not worth risking his police career over, anyway, if he acts out…

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