CHAPTER ONE

 

 

I TOLD YOU we’d be back in time,” Holden said as he and Chasen walked into the restaurant. He looked around for everyone else. Hayley had said something about reserving a back room for the rehearsal dinner. “I don’t why you ever doubted me.”

“Maybe because we made it to the church for the rehearsal with less than five minutes to spare.” Chasen scanned the crowded bar and grill. Obviously, he didn’t know where the party was being held any better than Holden did. “If we’d been any later, the priest would have charged us overtime.”

Holden chuckled. “I’m pretty sure priests don’t have overtime rates. Actually, I don’t think they have base rates. God doesn’t charge fees, so his priests can’t either.”

Chasen considered that. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Hayley mentioned something about a big donation to the church.”

Holden shrugged. “Can’t help you there. The guy is due whatever donation he can get.”

He glanced around again, hoping to catch sight of someone he knew. It would have been easier if he and Chasen had come there with everyone else after the wedding rehearsal, but the priest had wanted to talk with Chasen about marriage certificates or something, so Hayley and the others had headed to the restaurant to make sure they didn’t lose the room she’d reserved.

Holden was about to pull out his phone and shoot a text to Wes asking where the hell they were when he noticed a server disappear down a hallway to the left of the bar with a big tray of drinks.

“I think that’s our party,” he said, motioning in that direction. “Unless there’s another group back there that likes to start off dinner with Jagerbombs.”

Chasen chuckled and headed that way.

Holden followed, once more thanking God they’d all gotten back in time for the wedding. That asshole of a CIA handler had kept hammering at them for another day and a half nonstop, running scenario after scenario throughout the night until they could barely stand up straight, much less shoot straight. Then, out of the blue early that morning, he’d ended the exercise and told them to be ready for a helicopter extraction within the hour.

That was it. No after-action brief, no breakdown of how well they’d done or why they’d been doing it. Not even a word about what would happen next if that kind of terrorist situation ever showed up for real.

Hell, the friggin’ guy hadn’t even said goodbye.

“I told you I’m not having a drink with you!”

“Okay, so let’s just get out of here then.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, either!”

Holden didn’t make a habit of eavesdropping, but it was hard not to pay attention to the argument the couple at the bar were having, especially since he was standing two feet away. He wasn’t sure why he slowed to glance at them. But one look at the woman and he did a double take.

With long, blond hair and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen, in a word, she was gorgeous. It wasn’t merely her beauty that had made him come to a standstill. It was the mix of emotions on her face. There was anger for sure, along with a healthy dose of worry and embarrassment. All of it focused on the man casually sitting on the bar stool beside her. Holden couldn’t see his face because the guy had his back to him, but judging from her expression, he was from that very well-traveled part of the country known as asshole land.

“I’ll catch up with you in a few,” he said to Chasen.

His chief nodded and disappeared into the crowd.

By the time he turned back to the couple again, the blond beauty was getting to her feet. The guy immediately did the same, using his greater height to try to intimidate her. Holden cursed under his breath. He’d seen that same move dozens of times. And it always pissed him off.

“Why don’t you want to leave with me?” the man demanded.

Now that the a-hole was on his feet, Holden could see the man’s face and he automatically assessed him. The guy was tall and fit, maybe five years older than the woman, with a face that should have put her way out of his league.

“Because I’m meeting someone,” she said.

Tall, Dark, and Ugly didn’t seem to like that. “Oh yeah? Who?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“So, text him and tell him you met someone else.” The man gave her a smarmy grin. “Come on. Let’s go back to your place. It’ll be like old times.”

The woman stared at the annoying ass-hat in disbelief. “This conversation is over.”

She started to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm.

Holden cursed again, this time out loud. He was done watching this train wreck. Time to put himself in the middle of it and fuck somebody up.

“Honey,” he said, swooping in and pushing the a-hole’s hand aside. He slipped an arm around the woman’s waist at the same time, tugging her close and putting his body between her and the man who’d been pawing at her. Then he flashed her a smile. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic on the 805 was murder.”

She immediately tensed in his arms, probably wondering if she’d gone from the frying pan into the fire, but after moving her gaze back and forth between him and the creep who’d been harassing her, she finally seemed to figure out what was going on. Visibly relaxing, she smiled at him.

Damn. He thought she’d been beautiful before, but when she smiled, he was sure his eyes bulged, his heart beat out of his chest, his mouth fell open and his tongue rolled across the floor like he was in some flippin’ cartoon. Obviously, none of that must have happened because the gorgeous blond wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. He couldn’t help noticing her body was amazing, that perfect combination of firm and soft that drove him insane. She fit against him like she’d been made for him.

“No problem.” Still smiling, she pulled back to look at him. “Your timing is perfect.”

Holden turned to find Tall, Dark, and Ugly glaring at him, his face twisted up like he’d been sucking on a lemon.

“Mind if I borrow that chair?” Holden said, gesturing at the one the guy had been using. “Since you’re done with it.”

While Holden kept his voice even, he speared the other man with his gaze, imagining twenty different ways he could seriously damage the fool without leaving a single mark on him. The guy tensed as if he knew exactly what Holden was thinking. When Tall, Dark, and Ugly didn’t back down, Holden thought he might actually be stupid enough to start something. Finally, after giving him and the woman a glare, the jerk stormed off, muttering under his breath and heading for the exit.

Holden turned back to the blond to find her smiling at him again. Damn, a smile like that could make a man do some stupid things. Like charging to the rescue of a woman he’d never met before.

“I’m Holden Lockwood,” he said. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong, putting my hands on you like that. Getting grabby wasn’t my intent.”

She nodded. “Kendall Patton. And you didn’t come on too strong. I mean, yeah, putting your arm around me caught me by surprise, but in comparison to Isaac, you’re good.”

Before Holden could answer the bartender showed up, asking if they wanted something to drink. Holden gave Kendall a questioning look, at the same time deciding the name suited her.

“A glass of white wine would be great,” she said.

He glanced at the bartender. “Beer for me. Whatever Lager you have on tap.”

The man nodded and disappeared to grab their drinks.

“So…Isaac, huh?” Holden murmured. “Seemed like a jackass.”

Kendall snorted, then laughed. “Isaac is the kind of ex who makes a woman question her judgment in men.” She shook her head, her long, blond hair swinging around to feather across her lips in a way that made his fingers itch to reach out and brush it aside. “I don’t know why I ever dated him. I honestly can’t think of a single thing I liked about him now.” She fell silent as the bartender set their drinks down in front of them, waiting until he left again before adding, “I have no idea why I just told you all that.”

Holden shrugged. “It’s the face. It makes people want to confide in me. My coworkers are always telling me things they probably don’t intend to.”

“I can believe that,” Kendall said. “I’ve only known you a few minutes and I already feel like I should be telling you my deepest and darkest secrets.”

He chuckled. “You should probably resist the urge. Not that I won’t listen if you feel you have to spill, but I’m generally of the opinion that people should maintain the mystery as long as possible when they first meet.”

“I’ll do my best,” she promised, sipping her wine. He liked watching her purse her lips as she drank. It made him think things he definitely shouldn’t about a woman within the first five minutes of knowing her.

“This is going to sound like the worst pick-up line ever, but do you come here often?” he asked, dragging his gaze away from those perfect, plump lips. “Is that how Isaac happened to run into you?”

Kendall fixed her gaze on the mirror behind the bar, eyeing the crowded restaurant in the reflection of the glass as if she was worried about Isaac coming back.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever set foot in the place.” She looked at him. “I told Isaac I was meeting someone, but I made that up, hoping to get him to leave me alone. I was heading home from class and decided to stop.”

“Class?”

She nodded. “I’m working on my masters in political science at San Diego State. I’ve practically been living in the campus library for the past three weeks working on a project and came in here to unwind. I needed to hang out with people who aren’t buried up to their eyeballs in textbooks.”

Holden got that. Sometimes, after a particularly sucky deployment he’d go to the park or hang out at the beach simply so he could be around people who weren’t trying to kill each other. It was something he did to get his head back to normal, whatever the hell that was.

“I haven’t spent much time in a college library, but I understand what it’s like to get so deep into your work you forget what it’s like to be around other people.”

She regarded him curiously. “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m in the Navy.”

He purposely didn’t mention being in the SEALs. In his experience, he got one of two reactions when he told a woman he was a SEAL. They were either stoked at the idea of being with a guy who had a mysterious, dangerous job, or they immediately shut him down, not interested in getting involved with a guy who had a mysterious, dangerous job. He’d prefer to put off finding out which way Kendall would go once she found out what he really did for a living.

“Do you like it?” she asked. “The Navy, I mean.”

He swigged his beer. “Most of the time. Some days, I love it and can’t imagine doing anything else. Other days, I wonder why the hell I even joined.”

“Which day is today?”

“The one when I love it and can’t imagine doing anything else.” He flashed her a grin. “Luckily, there are way more of these kinds of days.”

That was true enough. He was about to ask Kendall about the political science program she was working on—because he didn’t have a clue what a person did with a degree like that—when her gaze darted to something over his shoulder. He spun, thinking it must be Isaac, only to relax when he saw it was Wes.

“Chasen sent me out check on you,” Wes said, regarding him and Kendall curiously. “We’re starting to order dinner, and he figured you wouldn’t want to miss out since he’s paying for everything.”

Holden chuckled. Chasen knew him well. Normally, he would have been doing everything he could to spend his chief’s money. But that was before he met Kendall.

“I didn’t realize I was keeping you from your friends,” she said, setting down her half-finished glass of wine. “You should have said something.”

He gave her a sheepish look. “To be honest, after we started talking, I completely forgot about my boss’s rehearsal dinner.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “How could you forget something as important as that?”

Holden smiled. “You’re kind of distracting, if you haven’t noticed.”

The compliment seemed to catch Kendall off guard and she stared at him for a moment before blushing and shyly returning his smile. Holden was doing his best not to lean over and kiss her when he heard Wes clear his throat. He glanced at his Teammate to see an amused expression on Wes’s face.

“Earth to Holden,” Wes said. “Standing right here and waiting for an introduction.”

Holden shook his head with a laugh. “Kendall Patton, Wes Marshall. He and I work together.”

“Nice meeting you.” Wes reached out to shake her hand, then glanced at Holden. “You’re going to ask her to have dinner with us, right?”

“Yeah, if you’d let me get a word in.” Holden glowered at Wes. He’d been going to ask his Teammate to tell Chasen and Hayley that he was going to bail to have dinner with Kendall, knowing they’d understand. But inviting her to the party sounded like an even better idea. He looked at her. “What do you think?”

She shook her head. “I can’t just show up at your boss’s rehearsal dinner. I don’t even know him or his fiancée.”

“Yet,” Holden agreed. “But when you do, you’ll see that they’re really cool. The guys I work with and I are all like family. If you come with me, you’re family, too. You said you came in here to unwind. What better way to do it than at a party?” He grinned. “What do you say?”

Kendall considered that for several long seconds before nodding and giving him another smile. “I say okay. Let’s do this.”