Page 50 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

I found her sitting on the back deck, staring out into the vast landscape of rolling hills. Far in the distance, you could see the mountains, but we wouldn’t be going close enough to see them. I took a seat beside her, hoping that just being near her would calm her down. She was putting up a good front, but I knew her mind was going a million miles a minute.

“Rae said you’re kind of a bad choice.”

I turned to her in surprise, both that she told me and that Rae had said that to her. “She did, huh?”

Without turning to look at me, she continued. “She said you’re kind of crazy, but that you had to be as a sniper.”

“Yeah,” I said slowly, unsure of where she was going with this. “I actually think some of my guys are even crazier.”

She snorted out a laugh. “You think?” She jerked her head toward Fox, who was practicing his knife throwing in the distance. “What’s with singing show tunes? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t know. He’s never said, and I just kind of went with it.”

“Really? You’re not curious?”

“I’m very curious, but Fox is…something else. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with how he grew up, but I’m not prying into that shit. If he wanted me to know, he would tell me.”

“But you could be a good friend and ask him. Maybe he needs to talk about it.”

“Trust me, I’m a damn good friend. Do you know how many musicals I’ve gone to see with him? And I’m not talking in the movie theater. Honest to God theaters, where you have to dress up and shit.”

Her eyes finally flicked to mine, dancing with humor. “He dresses up?”

“Well…his cargo pants are black. One time he wore one of those t-shirts that has the picture of a tux ironed on. I think that’s about as close as he got.”

Standing up, I walked over to her and held out my hand to her. She looked at me funny before sliding her hand in mine. I walked down the steps, moving away from the house so we could have some privacy. “Look, about earlier—”

“You don’t have to explain,” she said quickly. “I’m not expecting anything from you. We had a good time, and it was what I needed, but—”

“Hold on just one fucking minute,” I snapped. “First, we did not have a good time. That doesn’t even come close to describing what happened between us. Second, I do have to explain, because I have a feeling you’re creating a different story in your head.”

Her brows furrowed as she waited for what I was going to say.

“Eva, from the moment I met you, I knew there was something different. I was drawn to you, and it wasn’t because I wanted to save you. I admit, I may have jumped to the wrong conclusions, but that’s my head getting in the way of what I already know.”

“What’s that?” she asked quietly.

“This thing between us is not going away. I don’t care what story you’ve made up in your head. I didn’t sleep with you because you were convenient. I do wish it would have happened differently. This is not the ideal situation to start a relationship.”

“Which is why we should just put this on the back burner and forget anything happened,” she said, shoving past me.

I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me. “You don’t get to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend that everything would be easier if nothing happened between us. Youaskedme.”

“I know, and that was stupid of me.”

“No, it was fucking stupid of me to ever think I could resist you. Just one look at you, and I’m in knots. I can’t stop fucking thinking about you, and now that we’re together, we’re staying together. You can think whatever you want, but the moment you gave yourself to me, you became mine.”

“I’m nobody’s,” she snapped angrily.

“Well, that’s just too damn bad,” I said, gripping her by the back of the neck and hauling her closer to me. “Because the moment I sank inside you, there was no chance of you ever escaping.”

I slammed my lips down on hers and slipped my tongue inside, showing her just who she belonged to. I wasn’t going to be gentle with her, or go back and forth to make her feel better. We were past all that shit. We’d been through too much to walk away now.

I pulled her closer, but stepped back when she cried out in pain. “What’s wrong?”

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