She just had to keep her emotions under control. Phantom was taking her to Hawaii to get her head on straight before she went home and resumed her life. That was all. She couldn’t read anything more into it. She didn’t want to get too attached to her rescuer.
Rolling her eyes, Kalee realized just how ridiculous she was being. She and Phantom weren’t two people getting to know each other before deciding if they wanted to date. Besides, he probably had his pick of women. Even if they’d met in a normal situation, Phantom wouldn’t want to go out with her. She was broken. Tainted.
She shook her head. No. Fuck that. She wasn’t tainted. That was a thought a victim would have. She wasn’t a victim. She was a survivor.
She hadn’t asked for what had happened to her. She’d fought like hell until fighting wasn’t the best option anymore. Then she’d lain low and waited and watched. She wanted to think that eventually she would’ve escaped on her own. Had to believe that. But Phantom had shown up.
For the first time, she thought about the rebels voluntarily. She wondered how pissed they were when they’d woken up and she was gone. Had they searched for her? The thought of their frustration and anger thrilled her. Fuck them.
She’d escaped, and they’d always wonder how she’d done it and where she’d gone.
Good. Let them wonder. She hoped it drove them crazy.
Smiling, Kalee turned to Phantom. She wanted to share her thoughts with him, but the words wouldn’t come out.
But it turned out she didn’t need to share. Not really.
“I don’t know what put that smile on your face, but I like it,” Phantom told her softly.
He hadn’t moved an inch since she’d put her hand on his arm, and Kalee knew he was trying to make sure he didn’t crowd her. She appreciated it.
She squeezed his forearm, then reached for the magazine in the pocket in front of her, just to have something to do. She would’ve rather held on to Phantom, but she knew she needed to do everything in her power not to rely on him too much. He’d leave, go back to his life, and she had to figure out how to stand on her own two feet.
Phantom led the way through the Oahu airport to the taxi stands. He’d left his rental car at the house because he hadn’t known how long he’d be gone. He’d hoped to only be a day or two, but in reality, things could’ve gone much worse than they had.
He heard Kalee gasp and was moving before his brain had time to catch up. A man was walking behind her, and he had his hand on her arm and was trying to sell her a flower lei. He was harmless, only trying to ply his wares, but he was scaring her.
Phantom shifted to her side and brought his hand down on the man’s forearm with a sharp, sudden movement. The man yelped and immediately cradled his arm to his chest.
“Shit, man, that hurt!” he exclaimed.
“Good,” Phantom growled. “Maybe next time you’ll keep your hands to yourself. You don’t touch anyone without their permission, especially not her. You should feel lucky that I didn’t break it.”
“Crazy-ass motherfucker,” the man mumbled as he disappeared into the crowd of people around them.
Phantom glared at him for a beat before turning to Kalee. “Sorry. I let my attention wander. It won’t happen again. If you walk in front of me, I promise not to touch you, but it’ll let me protect your back.”
Kalee’s eyes were huge in her face, and it didn’t help that the yellow and green bruises made her look even more vulnerable. Phantom felt like shit that he hadn’t been able to keep that asshole from touching her.
She nodded, and he sighed in relief. “Thank you. There’s a taxi stand outside to the right. We’ll grab a cab up to the North Shore and I’ll make us some dinner. Tomorrow, you can hang out at the house and I’ll go shopping, or you can go with me. Whatever you want.”
She nodded again.
“Okay, precious. Let’s get out of here, yeah?”
With that, she turned to head toward where he’d indicated. Her steps were hesitant, and she kept looking back at him, but she moved in the direction they needed to go. Phantom glared at anyone stupid enough to get within five feet of them. He knew he was being unreasonable, but he couldn’t get Kalee’s panicked gasp out of his mind.
They made it to the taxi line without any other issues, just as Phantom’s phone started to ring. He wasn’t going to answer it, but he saw that it was Rocco.
Knowing he needed to deal with this sooner rather than later, he swiped to answer.
“Hey.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell us you were taking leave?” Rocco asked heatedly.
Phantom sighed. “Because I knew you’d worry.”
“Damn straight we would. Where are you?”
“Hawaii.”
“Bullshit. I know you better than that. You’re in Timor-Leste, aren’t you? Damn it, Phantom, you’re going to fuck up your career!”
Phantom knew he’d already done just that, but he didn’t give a fuck. Right now, he had to convince one of his best friends that he really was in Hawaii. “I’m really in Hawaii, Rocco,” he said calmly. “I called Mustang—you know, the SEAL team leader stationed here—and he got me a rental house on the North Shore. I had to go into town today, but I’m really here.”
“Prove it.”
“Fuck you,” Phantom growled.
“Prove to me that you really are in Hawaii,” Rocco ordered. “If you can’t, me and the rest of the team will be on our way to Timor-Leste.”
Phantom clenched the phone tightly. This was exactly why he hadn’t told his friends what he’d planned. He knew they’d refuse to stay behind. And not only would his career be ruined, but so would theirs. And they had wives, children, families to worry about. He didn’t.
Phantom’s eyes went to Kalee involuntarily. If he didn’t have a job, it would be hard to support a family. He’d have to move out of California; everything in the state was damn expensive. He’d have to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, what kind of job to apply for. He had no idea who would want a former Navy SEAL who hadn’t done anything else in his life but kick ass and take names.
“I’m. In. Hawaii,” he bit out.
“As I said, you’re going to have to prove it,” Rocco returned.
“And how am I supposed to do that?” Phantom asked.
“Figure it out. And it had better be good,” Rocco said, then hung up.
Phantom stared at his phone for a beat, surprised that one of his best friends had hung up on him, then sighed.
He felt Kalee’s hand on his bicep, and just like when he’d been on the plane, her touch calmed him.
He looked down at her. She was staring at him with concern in her eyes. Forcing himself to relax, Phantom attempted a smile. “It’s okay. That was Rocco. He’s worried about me. I’m going to have to change our plans tonight. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged and squeezed his arm.
“I need to invite some people over to the house.” He spoke quickly, so she didn’t panic. “It’s okay, you don’t have to interact with them. You can stay inside. I’ll just visit with them out back. Rocco doesn’t believe I’m really here in Hawaii. The fastest way to prove it is to invite Mustang and his friends over. He found the rental place, and Rocco knows him. Knows he’s stationed here. If he sees us all just lounging around by the ocean, shooting the shit, he’ll get off my back. You’ll need to stay inside while I’m talking with Rocco, though; the last thing I need is him seeing you. He’ll know for sure what I did.”