Page 51 of Defending What's Mine

I lean down, kiss syrup from the corner of her mouth, and hold her gaze. “Romance is keeping you safe enough to tease me about it tomorrow.”

She softens, fingertips brushing my stubble. “Then I’ll be here tomorrow—and the day after that.”

It’s a promise, and a challenge. I straighten, slide back into operational mode, but the taste of syrup and Charlotte’s smile hangs with me long after. Wade may still be out there, but at 11:30 I’ll have Bravo, satellite feeds, and more resolve than ever. Because the mission isn’t just protect and serve.

22

Charlotte

The midday sun beats down on the resort’s infinity pool, turning the surface into a sheet of liquid glass. I lounge on a cushioned chaise beneath a striped umbrella, a sweating glass of pineapple lemonade balanced on my knee. Melanie reclines beside me, straw hat tilted low, sandals dangling off her polished toes. The air smells of coconut sunscreen and hints of chlorine. Somewhere behind us a speaker pipes lazy bossa-nova covers of Top-40 hits.

It should feel like paradise. Instead my pulse jitters with leftover adrenaline from last night’s activities. I swirl a toe in the cool water at the chaise’s edge, then glance at Melanie. Her smile seems genuine but her eyes keep darting to her phone face-down on the side table.

“You keep checking that thing like you’re waiting for the lottery numbers,” I tease, taking a sip of lemonade.

Melanie startles, then forces a laugh. “Old habit. Influencer life means nonstop notifications.” She sets the phone farther away.“Now, spill. You and Asher have been holed up for a while. I’m taking it, he liked the lingerie.”

Heat blooms under my bikini straps. I fiddle with the straw. “That obvious, huh?”

“Oh, honey,” she drawls, “Helen Keller could sense the sparks.”

I laugh but it comes out shaky. Part of me wants to gush—tell her how Asher’s lips felt like a promise, how his hands on my waist turned the whole ballroom into a snow globe with just us inside. I want to tell her about what happenedafterthe event. Instead I take the scenic route. “He’s… different. Solid. When I’m with him, the noise quiets. It’s terrifying and wonderful.”

Melanie pushes her sunglasses to the top of her head, revealing keen hazel eyes. “Ah, I wish I could be in love like that.”

It’s hard to talk to her about how I’m feeling without revealing the truth about us. “You’ll find it one day. It’s out there. I just know it.”

“Maybe.”

A thread of unease coils in my gut. Melanie is usually relentless with teasing, giddy for every romantic detail, yet today she keeps glancing away, fingertips tapping the armrest.

“You okay?” I ask, studying her. “You’re quieter than usual.”

“Me?” She flashes a grin too wide, too quick. “Perfectly peachy.”

“Liar.” I nudge her leg with mine. “Spill.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it and inhales. “It’s nothing big, just… some family drama. I’ll survive.” She waves a dismissive hand but doesn’t meet my gaze.

Before I can press, her phone buzzes with a message that makes her shoulders hitch. She flips it over so I can’t see the screen. The action is small, yet a chill slides along my spine. Something’s off.

Don’t borrow trouble,I tell myself. But the worry lingers.

I swing my legs off the chaise. “I promised Asher I’d meet him in the suite before lunch. He’s turbo-paranoid after the note.”

Melanie sits up, knotting her sarong. “You want me to walk back with you?”

I shake my head. “Stay and enjoy the sun. I’ll text when I’m safe and locked behind Fort Knox.”

“Deal.” She leans over, hugs me tight. “And, Char?”

“Yeah?”

“You deserve whatever good this man brings you. Don’t sabotage it.”

Emotion clogs my throat. I squeeze her hand, then slip into flip-flops and head for the path that winds past tropical planters and up to the main building.

The stone pathis hot beneath my soles, cicadas buzzing in the landscaping. A pair of toddlers toddle past with floaties bigger than their heads; a staff member wheels a linen cart toward the spa. Ordinary resort bustle. I breathe slower, letting the sun bake worries from my skin. In ten minutes I’ll be in the suite, Asher’s curt but comforting voice lecturing me about situational awareness.

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