Page 24 of Harbored by the SEAL
Cowboy's voice startled her. “Piece of cake.”
Charlotte’s eyes flew open and she ran to him, her arms open wide. Then he was against her, his body solid and whole, and the tears she had been struggling to contain stung her eyes. “You stupid shit,” she said, punching his arm. “I thought you could be dead.”
Cowboy chuckled. “Don’t mince words, Charlotte. Tell me what you really think.”
Abby thumped Cowboy on the back. “Great job, Leo.”
Charlotte smiled against Cowboy’s neck. “You’re all sweaty.”
“That happens when your life flashes before your eyes.”
She let him go and looked into his smiling face. He was beautiful, and he was alive. She took a deep breath and exhaled with relief. “You should take me to dinner after all of this is over.”
“Should I?”
Oh, fuck.
She’d crossed the line, stepped out of the box, violated their unspoken agreement. She had offered him a fling — sex, and only sex — not a relationship and certainly not a commitment. Although she wanted to tell herself it was just dinner, she knew she was asking for more than that and it was clear as day to both of them. Who could blame Cowboy for feeling blindsided?
“Never mind. You don’t have to,” she said.
“Relax.” He smiled. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“You were?”
“Yep.”
Between him being alive and him wanting to date her, Charlotte thought her heart might burst.
A quick, rhythmic thump reverberated through the ship, slowly getting louder. “What is that?” asked Harrison.
Cowboy’s eyes went wide. “Helicopter.” He ran down the hallway, calling over his shoulder, “HERO Force is here.”
22
An enormous rotor spunatop the chopper, interrupting the spray of rain like an umbrella. The first mate stared disbelieving out the window of the bridge as the helicopter hovered in front of him. His eyes fell to the green helipad below, illuminated by lights and clearly visible despite the weather.
Anger surged through his bloodstream. They had no right to board this ship. He moved to the controls. If he could slow the ship down enough at the right moment, they would miss the helipad and go over the bow, right under the ship if he was lucky.
He screamed in impotent frustration when the controls failed to respond to his touch. Of course, all control had been taken over by the second bridge, and the irony that he now needed that power back at the helm was not lost on him.
He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. “There is a chopper landing on the bow. Send two men to shoot it down, now. They must not be permitted to board the ship!”
The door to the bridge opened behind him and he spun around.
“What can I do?” asked Abby.
He exhaled with a huff. “Go to the dance club. They’ll need your help there.”
“But the chopper! These men are from HERO Force—”
“I will take care of them.”
She bowed her head and left the room. He turned back in time to watch his first man go down. His slammed his open hand on the console. He should be out there himself. No one else could be trusted to take out the men in the helicopter.
They were so close he could feel it. He looked at his watch.
Just over an hour until the first bombs went off. The passengers would panic and the damaged vessel would limp to the closest port, Nassau in the Bahamas, where thousands of tourists sat waiting on the beach, their cameras close at hand.
