AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She smiled at him. “It is.” Her smile disappeared. “I’ll let her tell you about the mission, or rather nightmare, for our angel girl. Come on.” She reached out as if to grab his hand, but seemed to think better of it.
Zeke’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. He’d had about as much touch today as he could handle. When he’d been here fighting with the Deltas to protect the secret weapon, Holly had forced him into one hug a day. He hoped she wouldn’t try for more than that now, since they weren’t all busy saving the world.
He followed Joseph and Holly through the entryway and into the sunny open living area with two-story windows overlooking the picturesque lake and mountains beyond. He remembered the scenic view. Now snow-covered, it was just as quaint. They had a huge, gorgeous pine tree all decked out in the corner, Christmas-y stuff on any shelf, mantle, or wall that could be decorated, and a fire going. Most people would say the home and view were beautiful, perfect, and appealing.
Zeke stopped walking and felt his jaw go slack as he took in a view more beautiful, perfect, and appealing than anything he’d seen in his vast world travels.
A woman stood from the couch as they walked in. Five-four. Athletic. Civilian. Blue fitted sweater dress with high-quality leather boots. Definitely wealthy. But there his usual analysis failed him. He somehow forgot analyzing and simply focused on the radiance of the woman herself. She had shoulder-length blonde hair that framed the sweetest-looking face he’d ever encountered. Her smooth skin and rosebud lips were appealing, but it was the mixture of purity and happiness in her brown-sugar eyes that stunned him. Their gazes met and held and time froze.
Then she smiled at him. Warmth immediately filled his body, and it felt like Chaos had gotten a lucky hit and slammed his powerful fist into Zeke’s sternum.
Push out a breath. Okay. Pull it in. Now back away slowly.
He backed up. He needed to get away from this woman. Double time.
“Zeke …” Holly was beaming at the woman and hadn’t noticed his signs of retreat. “This is Mia Burton. Mia … Captain Zeke Hendrickson, elite and accomplished Navy SEAL and pretty much the toughest, most highly-decorated and experienced soldier on the planet.”
Zeke should pull his gaze from Mia to tell Holly to tamp down on the bragging, but he couldn’t make himself do it.
“Sorry, Cap,” Joseph said. “You know she loves to brag about you like you’re one of her own.”
At least Joseph got it. Zeke had no idea how to respond to the introduction. What was he supposed to say to this captivating and stunning woman? He couldn’t think of another option besides escape. This was not a good situation. Beautiful women didn’t affect him. Emotions like warm flashes in his body and needing to breathe from a pretty lady’s smile couldn’t happen to him. He felt like he was soaring on some emotional high just having her smile at him. He couldn’t complete whatever mission they had in mind if this woman was involved.
Mia bounced across the space toward him, and he should’ve either run or taken her out. But he froze. Zeke never froze. It was as if she’d captured him in a snare he’d never been trained to defend against.
She was pint-sized, but there was energy and power in that small frame that intimidated him.
Intimidated? Yeah, right. Suicidal insurgents in Afghanistan hadn’t intimidated him. This miniscule blonde was no match for his strength or skills. She couldn’t capture or incapacitate him.
Not physically. But what about emotionally?
He pushed that away. There was no time to deal with it anyway, as she was right in his space. Close. Far too close. She smelled like lemon candy. He absolutely loved lemon candy. Old-fashioned lemon drops. Pretty much the only good memory from his childhood. A grandma at his church had given him one every week if he sat still during the children’s class. She had kept giving them to him even as a teenager. Grandma Hendrickson, she’d asked him to call her. He’d stolen her surname for his last name. He’d thought she was the nicest woman he’d ever met. Until Holly Delta.
The delicious-smelling woman standing in front of him stuck out her hand and used that smile on him. It made him feel strangely weak. He’d never felt weak before in his life. At least not since he’d escaped from his parents’ house, changed his name so they couldn’t find him and so he could have his own identity, and joined the military. He’d had so many drill sergeants try to break him, but their belittlement and abuse was nothing compared to what he’d lived with throughout childhood and teenage years. He’d absolutely excelled in the military.
He looked down at the woman’s hand and then back into those golden-brown eyes. Were those long lashes real? They were pretty; that was all he knew. Not many blondes had brown eyes, but maybe her hair was dyed. His throat was dry and his pulse thrummed far too fast. He was trying to catalogue, but the draw of her made everything off, and his head felt too big for his body.
“Zeke,” Holly said. “You can shake her hand.”
That broke his concentration on the woman, and he glanced quickly at Holly. He wanted to ask if he had to, but he could only imagine the answer, and asking would make him look weak in front of this beauty. He never wanted to look weak in front of anyone, but the thought of thisMiathinking he was weak when he wanted her to listen to Holly’s bragging about him and think he was a superhero had him sticking out his hand. Shaking hands was no big deal. He’d learned to do that as an adult and could get through it without making a fuss or obviously cringing and offending the other person.
Her hand slid along his so slowly he felt like the entire world had stopped, except for his heart that was thundering out of control and the delicious tingling filling his stomach.
First her fingertips caressed his, for far longer than was probably necessary, but who was he to complain? Then their fingers glided across each other, and finally the soft palm slid along his fingers and palms until they were aligned. She gently wrapped her fingers around the back of his hand and held on. Her small, soft, tantalizing hand fit in his better than any gun ever had.
His breath shortened, and he had absolutely no clue what he was feeling. This was new, and he’d never felt anything like it. He appreciated Holly’s mama hugs, and they gave him that odd comfort that he somewhat liked. Accepting hugs should be a positive thing; he recognized that.
But holding this woman’s hand had nothing to do with comfort. Her palm and fingers were warm, and it felt like his hand had found the spot it’d been searching for all his life. He didn’t move as she held his hand and blinked up at him with those intriguing brown eyes of hers, but he realized something in that moment …
Helikedher touching him.
That shocked him enough to pull away and clench his hand into a fist at his side. Crazily enough, he could still feel the warmth and feminine softness of her much smaller hand. He hadn’t really liked it, right? He’d just imagined he had because she was so pretty and seemed nice and soft and feminine and innocent …
Zeke took a step back. He had no choice. It was either that or he would touch her again, and Captain Zeke Hendrickson never voluntarily touched anyone. Unless he was fighting them.
“Blimey,” Mia said, shocking him yet again, blinking up at him with those big brown eyes and grinning invitingly. “You’re a right big and tough one, aren’t you now?”
She was British. That shouldn’t have surprised him with the security guard’s choice of weapon, but everything was surprising him today. Her accent was adorable.
