Page 35 of Cajuns. Love. Curves.

But let’s be honest. All those “innocent” touches and little kisses have completely saturated my panties and I’m surprised my nipples haven’t drilled holes through my lace bralette. I know everything from Nick is just for show. He’s designated himself my protector for this vacation and definitely has something he wants to prove.

It does seem that people are beginning to notice though. Especially since Tripp is glancing over at us.

When he catches me looking back, he starts guiltily, visibly gathers his composure, then gives me a polite nod.

“I guess with a name like that, he and I were never going to work out.” I sigh. “He’s not a bad guy though.”

“Just to be clear.” Nick’s voice is suddenly ice cold. “He slept with another woman when he was still with you. He’s not a good guy.”

I don’t want to be in a position of having to defend Tripp, because, yeah, what he did was in-fucking-excusable. If he didn’t want to be with me, he should have had the balls to just tell me and end it.

Still, I try to explain. “Oh, we got along. He liked me. Maybe he even loved me. At least, he said he did. I think mostly he loved the idea of what we could be together. I think we both did. I was what he thought he wanted, but I was never going to be who he actually wanted. I was never going to be someone like Delany. Someone who would stroke his ego and hang on his every word.”

“Some guys need that,” Nick says quietly. “Some guys don’t have the balls to stand on their own. To stand beside someone else who is just as strong as they are or maybe even stronger. But that’s a shit way to go through life.”

I study him, this strong, kind man who’s become my friend over the past few years. I know Nick, but I’m still surprised by his attitude, because I also know the kind of arrogance it takes to make it through BUD/S. To be a SEAL.

He glances down at me, and must see the question in my gaze, and quirks a brow.

“That is … unexpectedly humble,” I admit.

He just shrugs, like it’s no big deal. “You can’t have that attitude on the team. I know what I’m good at. I know what the rest of the team is good at. None of us is the best at everything. That’s why it takes sixteen of us to get the job done.”

There’s something in the quiet, steely strength of his that soothes me in ways I didn’t even know I needed soothing. That brings me peace I didn’t know I needed.

“I’m glad you’re on my brother’s team. I’m glad you have his back.”

I know there are no guarantees in the SEALs. I know bad things sometimes happen to good people. I mean, that happens in real life, right? But in the SEAls? Heading in and out of war zones? Doing all the shit they do that no mere mortal men can do?

Yeah. There are no guarantees.

I get that. Even if I didn’t get it when I was younger, I certainly do since Wade’s accident. Wade, at six years older than me, was always the more reticent of my brothers. Maybe it’s because I’m the youngest, or maybe it’s because I’m girl. I’m not sure which, but there was always a distance between us. He was stern, serious. Thoughtful.

Since he lost his legs, all of that focus and intensity has morphed into a walled-off silence I don’t know how to breach or if anyone ever will.

But, despite all that, despite the hardship he’s already faced and that he’ll continue to face, I also know that he’s alive today because other members of his team dragged him out of there and kept him alive. So, yeah, I’m glad his team had his back. And I’m glad Remy has Nick with him, looking out for him.

And I can’t help but wish I had Nick, too.

Almost as if he can read my mind, he says, “You know I’ve got your back too, right?”

His words, plus the expression in his gaze, the intensity in those whiskey brown eyes of his … all of it. It hits me like a punch to the chest.

I can’t breathe when he looks at me like that. I can’t think. I can’t speak.

All I know is that I want to give myself over to him completely. I want to lose myself in him.

chaptersixteen

Nick

I’ve been to a lot of shit holes around the world, but I’ve also been to a lot of places that are take-your-breath-away gorgeous. This resort McPherson Inc is sending us to is definitely near the top of my take-your-breath-away gorgeous list.

The island the resort is on, Creciente Caye, is one of the hundreds of tiny islands off the coast of Belize. It’s all part of the Belize Barrier Reef system, which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. The diving and snorkeling here are pristine and about the best in the world.

Yeah, I’ve been diving here before. Lots of times, actually. I wasn’t lying to Cassie when I told her I would never pass up a trip to go diving in Belize. But I’ve never faced the kind of luxury that greets us when we get off the boat at Creciente Caye.

As its name implies, Creciente Caye is a crescent-shaped swath of sand and palm trees. The Blue Crown Resort—named after the blue-crowned mot-mot that birders come here to see—isn’t the only thing on the island, but it occupies most of the land.

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