Page 5 of Lacey's Fight

That smile was pure sunshine.

If you bottled it, you could make a fortune.

Because the sudden lightening of his soul shook him, Ben lashed out in frustration.

“You shouldn’t have jumped in after her,” he said, reaching for the teenager and pulling her against his body.

Instead of responding with irritation, a laugh sounded over the storm. If anything, it seemed he had amused her.

His frustration grew.

This woman had no right to be putting her life at risk in such a reckless manner, no right to make him feel lighter with her smile, and no reason to ignore his anger like it didn’t exist.

It existed for a very good reason.

The only reason he was still sane.

Or at least marginally sane.

Turning his back on the woman, Ben began to swim toward the yacht when he realized he should check to make sure the Artemis woman wasn’t going to drown. She might have managed to annoy him in the whole three minutes or so that he’d known her, but he didn’t want her death on his conscience.

He already had enough to deal with on that front.

“You need help?” he growled.

“Nope, I can make it, easy-peasy.”

When he looked over his shoulder, he found she was right there, keeping pace, following along.

Maybe she really could do it on her own.

Unsure if he was more irritated with himself for respecting her more with each passing second or her for making him feel anything, he focused on his task.

Get the girl to the yacht, get Artemis Team to shore, and head home.

Simple steps. That was how he got through each day.

It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d worked with a woman. While there were no women in the SEALs they often worked with the CIA, NSA, DEA, and that meant working with whatever agents were assigned to the case, quite often female ones. He always did his best to treat them as he would a male agent, but he was sure more often than not he failed.

Wasn’t their fault.

Not at all.

Ben wasn’t sexist, he knew women were strong and capable, but women held the power to destroy what was left of him if he let them.

So, he couldn’t let them.

Reaching the yacht, he hoisted the teenager up into the waiting arms of his teammates. The girl hadn’t resisted him once, and he hoped that didn’t mean she was already dead.

When he turned to grab the Artemis woman and help her into the yacht, he froze.

She wasn’t there.

Damn.

Flinging himself back into the waves, he backtracked the way he’d come. She’d been doing so well, and he’d been so intent on getting as far away from the sunshiny woman that he hadn’t bothered to keep a check on her.

If she drowned it would be his fault.

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