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Then Caesar barked and walked over to the dog, sitting beside the hound and staring at Ava.
“Girl? We staying the night or what?” Jo called out.
She needed to eat. She needed to rest. And yeah, a very small part of her wanted to hear what Cap had to say. She met Keegan’s gaze head on. “We’re safe here, Keegan? There are some really bad dudes after me and they are persistent. Are you married? Got kids?”
Keegan nodded.
“I’d hate to bring that to your doorstep,” she continued.
“I’m a retired SEAL, Ms. Maddigan. Cap, Holland, Scope, and Kyle are all here. Some of my SEAL friends from California are coming up tomorrow to visit. Hell, Jo is pretty badass herself. It don’t get any safer for you than right here, right now.”
“I’ll stay” she whispered.
The tension ratcheted down a notch and Jo sighed.
“Let’s get you settled then,” Keegan urged. “And call me Tex.”
“Call signs aren’t really my thing. I’ll call you Keegan and we’ll leave it at that,” she told him firmly.
He smothered a laugh and just waved her in the direction of one of the warehouses.
Ava walked in and confusion clouded her mind. “You live here?”
“Nah, but see those all-terrain vehicles over there?”
She nodded.
“We’ll take those to the main house at the back of the property.”
“Caesar—to me,” she called out. The dog was at her side immediately.
Keegan pointed to one of the ATVs and she slid into the passenger seat while Caesar hopped in the back. The hound hopped in beside Caesar.
Before she could protest, Cap settled his fine ass in the driver’s seat.
She started to get out and he placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t.”
He was asking for more than her acquiescence to his driving. So much more. And Ava didn’t have it in her. But she stayed put and with a short nod at him, they were off.
Cap had always had a distinctive way of taking over her space. It was less an invasion—more like an immersion in him. His smell, his heat, they did things to her. At one time those things had been welcome. Now? Not so much.
Ava sighed. She didn’t have the energy for this.
“We need to talk,” Cap began.
Ava raised a hand. “Let me rest, Cap. I’ve been run to ground today. I’m hungry and so damn sleepy I can’t see straight, and I still don’t feel safe even with all this military-trained testosterone around me.” She glanced at him, gaze locking on the contours of his face—the slope of his brow, the straight, patrician nose and sculpted jaw line. “Just not right this second, okay?”
He nodded and gripped the wheel tighter. “Promise me you won’t run.”
“I won’t promise you anything. You haven’t earned that from me. But I’ll let you have your say.” Ava knew she’d regret it but gave him the small vow anyway.
Damn.
They rode for about ten minutes, the beams from the ATVs the only slices of light in a cloud-dimmed night. Eventually, a house loomed and the ATV went from gravel to smooth driveway. Ava shifted in the seat and felt the pinch of the wound on her upper arm. She hissed in a breath.
“What’s wrong?” Cap asked, navy gaze black in the darkness.
“My arm—I was winged by a bullet this morning,” she said softly.
