Securing avery, p.9
Securing Avery, page 9
“Being a nurse is a calling, just like I imagine being a SEAL is for you. But have no doubt, I’m not a saint. If one of my captors or that traitor was lying in front of me bleeding to death, I’m not sure I’d find it in my heart to help them.”
“Rex is a lucky man,” Phantom said.
Avery frowned. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I did, but I’m not sure why you’re telling me that.”
“Because I see the way the two of you look at each other. I see how protective he is of you and how your eyes follow him wherever he goes.”
Avery wanted to deny his words, but couldn’t.
“In case there’s any doubt in your head, he likes you, Avery. Before you were deployed, he’d make up excuses to go to the hospital just so he could see you. We gave him crap because he was being a chicken shit about asking you out. It was obvious he liked you then, and when he found out that you were part of our mission, he about lost his mind. He’s a lucky man to get a woman like you. That’s what I meant.”
“I think it’s probably the other way around,” Avery said honestly. “I mean, he’s pretty darn amazing. I have no idea how in the world I caught his eye. All the other nurses at the hospital teased me about him. I knew he didn’t really have a reason to be at the hospital all the time.”
Phantom nodded. “Women like you are hard to find. But the other guys have all managed to find their diamonds in the rough, and things between us have changed.”
Before she could ask how, he continued.
“And I don’t mean that in a bad way. Things are just different. Instead of us all hanging out, we have barbeques on the beach and play with Ace and Piper’s kids. Or we’ll go to a bar and watch the women have a night out, then the rest of the team drives their women home to make sure they get there safely.”
“Do you want that for yourself?” Avery asked.
Phantom snorted. “No one would have me.”
“That’s not what I asked, but fine, I’ll bite. Why not?”
He shook his head. “I’m not exactly the smoothest guy out there. I say what I mean. I don’t like beating around the bush, and I’ll never be the kind of guy who will tell a woman she looks beautiful when she doesn’t. If someone asks me if their pants make their ass look big, I’ll be honest, which most likely won’t be what they want to hear. Besides that, I didn’t have the best role models growing up.”
“But you have them now, right?”
When Phantom didn’t answer, Avery went on. “Your teammates are all married or attached? And you said you hang out with them all. So what if you didn’t learn what a relationship should be from your mother and aunt? Fuck them. Seems to me that you’ve got some of the best role models right in front of you. You admire and respect your teammates, so why can’t you learn from them?”
She didn’t think Phantom was going to answer when his silence lingered. But then he said softly, “I’d make the worst father ever.”
“Do you want to be a father?” Avery asked.
Phantom shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. Not anytime soon, it’s just…I didn’t get an ounce of love when I was young. I don’t know how to talk to kids or what to do with them. When I’m around Ace’s kids, I just do what he tells me to.”
“I think out of all your friends, you’d make the best father, hands down.”
Phantom’s gaze met hers. “How can you say that? You don’t know the shit I went through growing up. I’m afraid the first time my kid pissed me off, I’d turn into my mother and hit him or her. That’s the last thing I’d want to do.”
“And that right there is why you’d make an amazing dad,” Avery said with conviction. “You know what it’s like to be abused and ignored. You know how it made you feel and what it did to you. So I think you’ll do whatever you can to not be that kind of parent to your own child.
“You’re a good man, Phantom. A little blunt, yes, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. It’s tiring trying to always figure out what you should and shouldn’t say all the time. And being nice to someone you don’t like sucks. I kind of envy you that. Anyway, back to my point, you’ll be one of the best fathers out there precisely because of what you’ve been through. You’ll be overly protective and possessive and will treat your wife and children like they’re the most precious things in the world…because to you, they are.
“Instead of fearing your background, you should embrace it. It’s made you the man you are today. The man who I have no doubt would do whatever it takes to keep me safe and get me home to see my own family.”
Phantom closed his eyes, and for a second Avery thought she’d gone too far. Overstepped her bounds. She’d just met this man, and here she was playing psychologist.
Just when she was about to apologize for presuming to know anything about his situation, he opened his eyes.
“Maybe, maybe not. But I’m not sure I’ll ever find a woman who can put up with my…quirks,” Phantom said.
Avery chuckled. “Is that what you’re calling them?”
He smiled, then sighed. “I haven’t had much luck in the dating department,” he told her. “Either the woman doesn’t hold any appeal once I get to know her, or she’s psycho.”
“Psycho? Sounds like there’s a story behind that,” Avery said with interest.
“Not much to tell,” Phantom replied with a shrug. “I met this woman, Mona Saterfield, when I was out one night. She was a cute little thing.”
“Everyone’s little next to you,” Avery interrupted with a chuckle. “You’re huge.”
“I’m only six-five,” Phantom complained.
“Only,” Avery said with an eye roll. “And sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your story. Go on.”
“Right. So, Mona was cute. She was a foot shorter than I was and had pretty long blonde hair and blue eyes. She seemed…vulnerable. That’s not really the word I’m looking for, but it’ll do. She seemed skittish and out of her element at the bar, not like one of the usual bar bunnies who’re there trying to pick up sailors. We talked for a while, and then I asked for her number and said goodnight—no, I didn’t take her home for a one-night stand. I was interested in getting to know a woman for the first time in a long time.”
When Phantom didn’t continue right away, Avery asked, “And? I take it things didn’t work out?”
“You’d be right. We talked on the phone a few times, and I took her out for dinner about a week later. It was like she was a completely different person. She started talking about what kind of house she wanted to live in and how she’d stay at home with our kids while I worked. She thought being a SEAL was too dangerous, though, so she said I’d have to quit and find a safer job.”
“Holy crap! Really? On the first date?” Avery asked.
“Yup. And when I smiled at our waitress when she brought our food, Mona lost it. Telling the woman that I was her man, and she needed to keep her eyes to herself. It was totally nuts.”
“Wow! What’d you do?”
“We finished the meal, but when I took her home, I told her that I didn’t think it was going to work out between us. She was really upset. Crying, hyperventilating, the whole thing. Believe it or not, I’m not always an asshole, so I lied my ass off, telling her that she deserved a man who would put her first in his life, and I wouldn’t want her to always be worried about me when I was deployed. I was never so relieved in my life when she finally got out of my car.”
“Jeez, Phantom, just because you dated one crazy woman doesn’t mean we’re all like that,” Avery told him.
He shrugged. “You’re right, though…I probably would be protective and possessive of both my wife and kids. And too blunt. My kids would probably be swearing like sailors, pun intended, by the time they were four years old. I’m still mostly an asshole, and I know it. I can’t imagine what kind of woman would last through a few dates, forget about spending the rest of her life with me.”
“She’s out there,” Avery told him. “You might be a little rough around the edges, but not all women are psycho, like Mona, and some of us actually like it when our men are protective…as long as they aren’t controlling, abusive assholes in the process.”
They were both silent for a moment. Then Phantom spoke. “I will keep you safe, and I will get you back to your family,” he vowed.
“I know,” Avery said softly.
“And when we get back to the States, you and Rex had better get over the tiptoeing you’ve been doing around each other and go out already.”
Avery smiled, glad he’d lightened the mood. “I’ve already asked him out,” she informed Phantom.
“You told me that,” he said.
“Oh, that’s right.” She shook her head. “I just blurted it out when he came into the cave to get me. It was slightly embarrassing, actually,” Avery admitted.
Phantom chuckled. “Not for him. He was probably giving himself a mental high-five.”
Avery laughed at the visual.
“But seriously, you guys are made for each other. He needs someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“Yeah. Someone who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. Someone who will put him first. We’ve spent our whole career putting others’ lives before our own. He thought he was going to die back there in the river. I saw it in his eyes when he lifted his head to breathe. You could’ve easily let go of that tree trunk and floated downstream. But you didn’t. You fought to save his ass. I know he’s thankful, but more than that, I’m thankful. As the rest of the guys will be when they hear what happened. It’s not very often we come across someone who’s just as willing to put their lives on the line for us as we are for them.”
“I’m a nurse,” Avery reminded him. “It’s what I do.”
“Again, you’re perfect for him,” Phantom said.
“I feel like we’re talking in circles,” Avery teased.
“Then maybe you should just stop talking then.”
Avery didn’t take offense at all. She lightly socked him in the arm. “Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
“I said it first,” Avery informed him like she was six years old.
When Cole first said he was going to check out the area, she’d been nervous about being left alone with Phantom. But now she was glad she’d had a chance to talk to him. To really talk to him. She was once again reminded that everyone had a story. You couldn’t just look at someone and see a doctor, a soldier, a dancer, a homeless person, a clerk at a grocery store. There was so much more to them than what the world saw on the outside.
She liked him. He was real. Had flaws and worries just like she did. “How much longer do you think Cole is gonna be?”
Phantom shrugged. “Probably not too long. You wanna hear all about his flaws while we’re waiting? Might as well get them out in the open so there won’t be any surprises down the line after you’re dating.”
Avery rolled her eyes. “No.”
“Aw, come on, just a few? Like how his feet are the most disgusting-smelling things you’ll ever come across in your life?”
“Shut up, Phantom,” Avery said with a laugh. “Besides, I’ve smelled some pretty gross things as a nurse.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“There was a homeless veteran who was found on one of the beaches and brought to the hospital. He had maggots inside a festering wound on his leg. When we unwrapped the absolutely filthy bandages, hundreds of the things fell out onto the emergency room floor. And the smell…good God, it’s not something I’ll forget anytime soon.”
Avery couldn’t interpret the look on Phantom’s face, but she knew he was remembering something extremely unpleasant. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but was interrupted by Cole’s voice from behind her.
“Looks like your nefarious plan to spill all my secrets went awry, Phantom,” he said with a chuckle.
By the time Avery turned back around to look at Phantom, the haunted expression on his face was gone, replaced by a blank mask.
“Darn, I was just about to tell her how loudly you snore.”
“I don’t snore, asshole,” Cole said, then turned his gaze on Avery. “You all right?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.
“No reason,” he said with a smile. “So, you and Phantom got along?”
“Yup,” Avery said, not elaborating.
The smile on Cole’s face widened for a moment, then he got serious and turned to Phantom. “This is gonna be tricky.”
The other SEAL nodded. “Yeah, I figured as much.”
“Why?” Avery asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, per se,” Cole told her. “The actual landing zone for the chopper is tight but—”
“Meaning?” Avery interrupted, not understanding the terminology.
“Meaning there’s barely room for our guys to land, but that won’t matter. There’s lots of cover leading up to the top of the mountain, though once we’re there, it thins out and we’ll be sitting ducks when we run to the helicopter. And the rocks may give us cover before we catch our ride—but they’ll also give the insurgents cover as well. That’s our biggest issue. There’s a small camp on the other side from where we are right now; must be where those guys came from earlier. If they got their share of the weapons from that convoy, this isn’t going to be the easy extraction we were hoping for.”
“Should we cancel it and go back the other way?” Avery asked, nervous now.
Phantom shook his head. “No. We need to get you out of here. You need to see a doctor then work on identifying the traitor who put you in this position in the first place. Rocco told me there’s a team of Delta Force who just arrived to help track down the assholes who killed their army brethren, and I’m sure they’ll be interested in hearing what you saw as well. We’ve been in trickier situations than this, Avery, don’t worry.”
Don’t worry. Yeah, right. Avery didn’t like the sound of a “camp” of insurgents being on the other side of the mountain they were climbing to get a ride back to the American military base. “I’m fine,” she said stubbornly. “I can walk to another pickup point.”
Cole moved then, came closer and squatted down in front of her. She did her best not to let her gaze rest between his legs, but come on, he’d pretty much made that impossible. Before raising her eyes, she noted that he was extremely well-built. All over.
Smirking, as if he knew exactly where her eyes had been, he brushed a fingertip over her cheek. “God, you’re pretty when you blush.”
Which of course made her blush even more.
“A team of Night Stalkers will be flying in to get us. Do you know who they are?”
Avery shook her head.
“They’re a specialized unit of helicopter pilots who are tasked to work with special forces. They’re used to flying in and out of hot zones and they’re the best of the best. It’ll take two minutes, tops, for them to arrive, drop a ladder, allow us to grab it, and take off while hoisting us into the helicopter. It takes longer than that for an RPG to be readied and fired.”
Avery wasn’t exactly convinced, but she felt as if she’d be ungrateful if she continued to argue. “Okay.”
Cole huffed out a breath, as if he knew she was only going along with him because she had no other choice.
“If we change the plan now, we’ll be on our own for at least another two days. We don’t have enough water purification tablets or food for the three of us for that long. Phantom and I could go without easily, but you can’t. Not after two weeks of nothing to eat. But most worrisome are the insurgents. We took a chance on doubling back to this area to lose the men chasing us. It worked, but in the last twelve hours, it looks as if those terrorists have come home to roost, so to speak. The last thing any of us want is to risk you being recaptured.
“You’re the most important asset right now, Avery. You’re the only one who can identify the traitor and avenge the two privates who were killed, and possibly the hundreds more men and women who will be murdered as a direct result of those weapons getting into the hands of the insurgents.”
“Jeez,” Avery complained, “when you put it like that, I feel like an asshole for hesitating.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said. “I don’t mean to give you a guilt trip. All I’m trying to do is make sure you realize that this is the best option at the moment. Phantom and I will do everything in our power to make sure you get out of this in one piece.”
“I know. As long as you don’t do anything stupid,” Avery said.
“Never,” Cole said with a smile and a wink. “Now, if you and Phantom are done having a nice cuppa tea and a chat, how about we make our way to the extraction point?”
Avery nodded and stood, with Cole’s assistance. The second she was upright, he pulled her into a hug. Avery hung on tightly, feeling his beard rub against her cheek as he embraced her. It felt good.
“Trust me,” Cole said softly. “I’m not going to do anything to screw up that date you promised me. I’ve waited too long to just fuck that up at the zero hour.”
Avery chuckled, then said softly, “Would it make you think less of me if I admitted that I’m scared to death?”
“No. I’d be more concerned if you were looking at this as some grand adventure,” Cole told her.
Then he shocked the shit out of her by kissing her temple, then her cheek, then brushing his lips lightly against her own. His beard tickled her face, and she liked it. Without thought, she brought a hand up and stroked the side of his face and beard.
“It’s soft,” she whispered.
He smiled, and when she went to drop her hand, he brought his own up, trapping her palm against his cheek. “I need to get it trimmed,” he said.
“Maybe a little, but I kinda like it.”
Cole’s intense dark eyes bored into hers. “I’m glad. It helps me blend in on the job in countries like this, but honestly, I’ve gotten used to it. I think I’d feel naked without it.”
