“We scanned you and your bags while you were asleep. You’re clear. They won’t be able to track us that way again,” Jangles said.
Okay, so that should have been creepy knowing they had scanned her while she was asleep and presumably gone through her things. She should probably be angry, but she wasn’t. She trusted these guys. Trusted Heath.
She took a deep breath and, with Heath still holding her tight to his side, stepped out into the night.
But as they crossed the parking lot to the hotel, Heath took a napkin out of his pocket and she saw he’d taken half of his meat and broke it up for the cats.
The guys laughed and shook their heads when Heath went and deposited the gift by the dumpsters for the hungry kittens, but Eleanor didn’t laugh.
No, her heart did a little flip in her chest at that. And damn if she didn’t fall a little bit in love with the big burly guy who would save his scraps for dumpster kitties.
Chapter 6
Heath watched Eleanor sleep from across the room. His arm was killing him and he should have taken his shift sleeping but he didn’t want to leave her side yet.
Not that he didn’t trust the guys on his team. These were his brothers and he knew they’d protect her with all they were, same as he would. But he was still thinking about the fact that she’d said she wasn’t married.
Why did that do something to him? He had no business wanting her the way he did. Wanting to have her back in his life. But his body wasn’t getting the message. He’d been half hard for her since the minute he’d set eyes on her. Didn’t seem to matter that it was a completely inappropriate response.
His body recognized her and there was no talking it out of the reaction.
He thought back to what they’d had in high school. He’d wanted a future with her back then. He had known from the minute they met that she was someone amazing. She was smart and funny and so damned sexy.
Now, he could see she was that and so much more. She’d always been book smart. It didn’t surprise him one bit that she was in the position she was at with the State Department or that she was being sent on an assignment like this one. This was no little thing. Demir was known for his ability to play with the people around him and to manipulate every interaction, every engagement to his advantage.
She had to be good at what she did for them to be sending her in to lead this negotiation.
He wanted to know the rest of her story. He didn’t remember her having a stepfather in high school. He wondered when he’d come into the picture and why Eleanor had decided to take his name, even though she had clearly been an adult when it happened.
He wondered everything about her. Just thinking about what had happened to her that last month they were in school made the old rage slam through his blood, seeming to boil him from the inside out. He hadn’t been able to keep her safe then. He’d been so naïve, not even smart enough to realize she needed protecting. And she’d paid the price for his incompetence.
He wanted to know if she’d gotten past it. Had she been happy in life despite what happened?
He wanted to know that and so much more. What did she do when she wasn’t working? Was there someone else waiting for her at home? Just because she wasn’t married didn’t mean there wasn’t someone else.
And what was wrong with him that he wanted to go sit on the bed with her like some creeper? What the fuck was that about?
Sure, he’d thought about her some over the years. Okay, he’d thought about her a lot. More than he should. But, she’d been the first one to make him feel like he wasn’t dumber than everyone around him. Somehow, she’d been able to explain things to him that brought his Ds up to Cs and even a few Bs.
It wasn’t until he got into the military that anyone else saw in him what Eleanor had. That anyone else made him feel like he was smart enough to be more than a piece of muscle.
Go figure. He thought he was joining the military to be just that for them: a strong guy who could do things with his body that other people couldn’t. But then he’d gotten into the Rangers and they’d taken him seriously for the first time. They’d taught him discipline and how to plan things through instead of just having fun or going off the cuff, making decisions based on emotions instead of hard cold facts and planning.
From there he’d gone to Delta where they expected him to study strategy and learn to speak other languages. He had to know how to do more than just turn a computer on. No one treated him like the jock or the class clown. Not one person there had assumed he couldn’t do it. In fact, they’d been damned sure he could.
And he did.
But that had all started with the woman lying in the bed across the room.
Heath pressed his feet to the ground to keep from going over to her. Fisted his good hand into a ball to keep from closing the space between them to brush a lock of hair off her face.
His other arm ached where he’d taken a bullet and the stitches Zip had put into his temple were itchy. He’d taken a cocktail of vitamins C and A, along with some zinc, to help him heal up but his body needed time and rest. He knew that.
Still, he wasn’t ready to leave her side.
Maybe if she hadn’t climbed in his lap the way she had when she was trying to cover them up in that bar. His body still tightened at the thought of her, his hands aching to hold her again, to pull her flush and feel all that softness against him.
Maybe if she hadn’t jumped between him and a guy who would have shot him dead without a second thought. Or if she hadn’t refused to leave him when the effects of the blow to his head meant he was putting her at risk instead of saving her the way he should have been.
Then, maybe he wouldn’t be feeling what he was. Wishing for things he wasn’t meant to have. Wishing for more than he could hope for.
His life was the military. His loyalty was to them. All he had become, he owed to his team and to the organization that had believed in him where no one else had.
Eleanor’s face tightened and she tossed in her sleep.
Heath took a step toward her and stopped, waiting.
She stilled for a minute but then started up again, whimpering and throwing her head back and forth. She lifted her arm and cried out.
To hell with this. Heath crossed the room in three large steps, pulling his arm out of his sling and tossing it aside. He settled onto the bed with her, pulling her close to him.
“Shhhhh, it’s okay Nori. I’ve got you.”
How many times had he said that to her in the last two days? It was true, though. This time, he’d be there for her. He wouldn’t let her get hurt the way he had when they were kids. He’d have her back until she was safe at home and he had to watch her walk away again. Until he had to give her up again.
Duff was taking his turn outside her door while Zip had the back of the hotel. They’d rotate soon and the others would take over. But Heath was staying right here.
Heath moved his hand over Eleanor’s temple and down her cheek, soothing her back to sleep. He hated seeing her suffer. He shifted and lay on the bed, stretching out alongside her like he’d done so many years ago. A lifetime ago.
He tried to ignore the fact that she felt so damned right in his arms. Like she’d been made to be there. Or maybe it was the other way around. Like he’d been made for her.