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Kingston gave her a partial smile. “I’ll make sure to thump him in the next couple days so he knows what hurt feels like.”
She smiled too. She liked having a brother. “Let’s get to work training me. I have no idea how I’m going to stack up against Navy SEALs.”
“With me as your trainer? Easy.” His smile was almost full at that point, but she wasn’t certain if it was the thought of him training her to beat Navy SEALs or him getting the chance to thump Aiden. She didn’t want Aiden thumped.
Chalisa glanced back out of the stables. The three men were walking toward them. Aiden’s blue eyes were focused on her and a confident smile was on his lips. She couldn’t catch a breath. Turning away, she focused on Kingston, who was watching her as if she were so fragile she might break.
Kingston was going to thump Aiden for her. She didn’t want Aiden hurt, but maybe a little humility wouldn’t be out of line, and a little taste of how much he’d hurt her.
No. Kingston would obliterate Aiden. She couldn’t watch that. Besides, he needed to be in top shape to help her win the million dollars. Bringing health care to more under-insured or non-insured people had to be her focus. Not Aiden.
Captain Aiden Porter was her partner this week. He was a flashy, charming player who didn’t care about her. He wasn’t going to settle down. She couldn’t forget what Aiden was—not for a moment—or she’d humiliate herself and Kingston as she ran to Aiden and begged him to love her.
Chapter
Four
Aiden forced himself to concentrate on everything Stuart and Wes were teaching him. If only his gaze didn’t stray to Chalisa every few beats of his heart. The glares he got from Kingston only made him smile. He sensed the general was going to call him out soon. He looked forward to that fight. It would help release some of the tension of keeping himself away from Chalisa. Nothing could cure it completely except Chalisa pressed tight to his chest, her lips meeting his …
“What’s up with you and Chalisa?” Stuart asked in an undertone, breaking Aiden’s daydreams and longing looks at her.
It was probably only the twentieth time Aiden had glanced at Chalisa in the past half hour. Who could blame him? She was mesmerizing, glowed like an angel, and he hadn’t seen her in three horrifically long months.
Thankfully, the cameraman had mostly focused on Kingston and Chalisa as well. Smart. If the viewers of this reality show were all male, the ratings would be through the roof.
Then his fists clenched, thinking about all the men he would have to fight off. How had some smart man not snatched up the beautiful and charitable nurse practitioner? Everything about Chalisa, from her sweet nature to her beautiful blue eyes, enchanted him. He hated himself for hurting her. If he was Kingston, he’d want to thump him too.
If only he were any other man and hadn’t made an oath.
“I valiantly rescued her from a fate worse than death,” he told Stuart, grinning like the overly confident jerk he tried to portray.
“And fell in love with her,” Wes guessed.
Aiden’s breath rushed out of his body. Wes was perceptive. He’d give the guy that. “No time for love, boys. Let’s focus on beating some frogmen.” If only that wasn’t true for him. He had no time for love, no possibility of love in his life.
They both smirked at him, and he wondered if he’d ever been so transparent. But luckily, they agreed and focused.
Aiden had ridden horses, but he had a long way to go to be proficient enough to joust on the back of one. He could only hope neither of the SEALs were great on a horse.
For the next four hours, Stuart and Wes coached him on horseback riding and jousting. When they deemed he needed a break so he wouldn’t be saddle sore tomorrow and halt their progress, they moved on to archery. He could hold his own with a bow and arrow, but he wanted to be the top contender, so he listened, sharpened his skills, and improved. They took a few breaks for snacks and water but worked through lunch and into the late afternoon.
He reassured them that he needed no help on target shooting with a pistol, hand to hand combat, or sword fighting, so they didn’t waste time on those events.
Stuart and Wes were great. Stuart had a competitive streak a mile long; Aiden related to him well. Wes was deceptively easy-going. They were both incredibly strong, impressively trained in modern and ancient warfare, and fun to tease and laugh with. The only problem was they liked getting jabs in about Chalisa distracting him and how ticked Kingston was getting.
The difficulty of jousting and dialing in perfection with the archery almost diverted his attention from Chalisa. But not quite. She was adorable trying to hold a heavy sword and swing it around, fighting with her goliath of a brother-in-law, and she looked incredible on the horse. She’d obviously ridden before.
“The general has steam coming out his ears. He is going to come thrash you if you don’t stop with the moony eyes at his sister-in-law,” Stuart teased for probably the tenth time.
“She started it,” Aiden tried to tease as well, pulling back and releasing his arrow. It only missed the bull’s eye by an inch. “Have you seen how she’s eyeing me up and down?”
“Ha!” Stuart laughed. “For having a reputation as a womanizer and the ‘second top security specialist in the world, next to Sutton Smith,’ you sure are acting like a sap.”
“He’s a goner, that’s for sure,” Wes agreed.
Aiden smiled. He wished they’d confirm that Chalisa was in fact checking him out. He wasn’t certain. In all the many times he’d searched for a glimpse of her, he’d only caught her eyes on him a few times.
He had to bring his mental focus back to his life plan. He’d worked untold hours, and all his and his dad’s goals were going to come true. He revered Sutton, and he couldn’t think of a better man to be number two behind, but Aiden would be number one within the next ten years. Sutton had stepped into the role of surrogate father and advisor to him. The fabulous Brit would be as happy for him as his own dad.
