Page 8 of Romancing Rayne

“Is that all?”

“No. I wanted to know you more than I wanted to see you naked. There was something about you that made butterflies swarm in my stomach, something exciting and scary at the same time. And even though all I knew about you was your name was John Benbrook from Fort Worth, Texas, I knew you’d change my life.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t apologize. It’s part of our story, and I wouldn’t change a thing.” As the silence continued, I mentally berated myself for bringing up the fact I hadn’t known his real name the first time we were together. Sure, when I found out he’d lied it’d stung but I quickly came to understand why he’d used an alias. “I’m serious; it’s part of our journey—part of why I fell in love with you.”

“How’s that?” He still didn’t look convinced, and I searched for the words to make him understand.

“First, I’d like to point out that while your ID said your name was John, you never hid your identity from me. You told me to call you Ghost, and that’s who you are, the real you. It’s funny to think about, but how many times have I called you Keane? Hell, most of the time I forget that’s your name.”

His lips twitched, and I was happy to see his smile starting to return. “The man I fell in love with, the man you are, has a reason to conceal his name from the world. You save people, you put your life in jeopardy every time you go on a mission. You’re my real-life superhero. So, whether you introduced yourself as John, Jack, Leon, or Keane, it never mattered. I always knew the man behind the name.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“So, what were you thinking once you successfully got me into the taxi?”

He was quiet for a moment, and I hoped he wasn’t still stuck on the name thing. It had been years ago, water under the bridge. We’d worked past all those feelings, especially after he’d come home from the first mission he’d gone on after we were together. Mary had driven down to Killian with me, and when Ghost gave me shit about being there, Mary, being Mary, meaning she always had my back, went on the warpath. It was a wake-up call about just how dangerous his job really was.

Without thought my hand went to his arm, and I rubbed the faint scars left from the skin graft he’d received. We got lucky that deployment. If the explosion had been any closer, none of the guys would’ve made it back alive. After that, any minor obstacle in our way, like a first name, seemed trivial.

* * *

Ghost

I hadn’t thought about John Benbrook in a long time. I had those fake credentials in my safe and still had to use them from time to time. Hell, each of us on the team had a drawer full of bogus passports, driver’s licenses, press passes, and TWIC cards. You name it, we had it in a variety of names. It was a long time ago and something that was necessary, but I still hated that was how we’d met. The first time I made love to Rayne, she thought I was John. I never thought she’d forgive me; fuck, I hadn’t known how to forgive myself until Beatle reminded me I’d told her my call sign. That was who I really was. But I’d still been untruthful, and the one thing I wasn’t was a liar.

“Ghost?” Rayne’s voice snapped me back to the present.

“What do you remember about our first taxi ride together?” she repeated.

“For the first time in my life, I hated my job. I had this beautiful, sexy, intelligent, funny, spunky woman sitting next to me and I couldn’t keep her. And I wanted to. I remember sitting next to you and for a brief moment I could see what my life would be with you by my side. Then reality set in and I hated I had to let you go.”

We both fell silent, and I was surprised I’d admitted that to Rayne. I loved being a Delta. I loved my team. But in that moment, I’d wished I’d been anything but a highly trained, special forces operator.

“I couldn’t imagine you being anything else,” she said and quickly covered her mouth, stifling a yarn. “Sorry, I’m so tired all the time now.”

“You need to rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.” She moved her hand off my arm and settled in, one hand resting on her belly, the other secure in my grasp.

Thank God, fate had brought her back to me.

* * *

Ghost

“Princess, we’re here.”

Her eyes slowly came open, but when she saw where we were she shot up to an upright position. Now fully awake, she took in her surroundings.

“Seriously?” she gasped.

The look of surprise was worth the weeks of pestering, begging me to tell her the plans I’d made for our honeymoon.

The Park Plaza was a gamble. It was the hotel we’d stayed at the night we’d met but also the place I’d left her in the early morning hours. I’d snuck out of the bed we’d shared and left nothing more than a “thank you for last night” note with the front desk. I shook the thought from my head and focused on the present and the happiness that shone in Rayne’s eyes.

“Come on, let’s get inside.”

By the time we made it to the curb, the driver had our bags waiting; a quick thank you and exchange of money and we were on our way. We only had a few days in London, and I was excited to start our honeymoon.