Deep Seal Page 3

  That time I reached my hand across the seat and lowered it over hers. “I apologize. The goal was to keep to myself and focus on my business. Not watch you come and go all the time. It didn’t help you were afraid to allow me in your house to install the timer.”

  I retracted my hand.

  She ran her fingers through her dark hair, gazing out of the window.

  I sighed. “I am a Navy SEALs Special Operative.”

  Her head darted back and her mouth dropped open. “How can that be? All you do is sit in your backyard alone drinking beer and cooking steaks. Good steaks too. Or at least they smell damn good. You’ve never invited me over once.” Her arms crossed her chest, and she grimaced.

  I laughed. “Again, I am alone for a reason. I prefer to stay that way.”

  She sucked her teeth. “I wasn’t coming on to you.”

  I threw my hand in the air between us like I was pumping the breaks.

  “I understand. It’s nothing personal. I was on active duty for seven years in other countries. I saw and smelled the stench of death every day. Not to mention I’ve buried too many of my friends.”

  Her eyes softened and she placed her hand over mine. “Thank you for your service, Aiden. And I am so sorry you, loss so many friends.”

  She withdrew her hand.

  “Thank you.” I raised my dark brow. “You know I didn’t expect to run to my neighbors defense and kill a man.”

  She ran her hands over her face. “Ugh! Why is this happening to me?”

  “Tell me what happened, Nadia.”

  “I was assigned to work on a coworkers files while she was out sick. I am an accountant. Long story short someone is laundering money through the company I work for. Several businesses on file show they have tenants but they don’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well one of the businesses I run past every Saturday morning. It’s vacant. And the other businesses...I may have drove over and checked to see if there were tenants.”

  My eyes widened. “You should have never done that. Nadia.”

  “Well, Aiden, what was I supposed to do?”

  “Inform your boss.”

  She ran her hand over her hair. “Well, about that. The next day I arrived at work, the receptionists informed me again I had to work on my coworkers file. I hoped I wouldn’t uncover more, but I did. This time I found two of the money trails leading right to my boss’s Cayman and Swiss accounts.”

  “Shit! What about the coworker did you confront her?”

  She hesitated. “Claudia hasn’t returned to work.”

  “Who else handled her accounts while she was out of the office?”

  “Nobody. This was the first time she’d been absent.”

  “Sounds like your boss or the people he’s working with are trying to cover their tracks. They may have killed Claudia.”

  “Oh no.” She shook her head.

  “They won’t stop until they find you.”

  “I have to find away to expose them.” She dug into her purse, then held up a flash drive. “I knew something wasn’t right. I made a copy of the files because I planned to dig deeper.”

  “I’ll help you get your life back. First, we have to lie low for a while and devise a plan.”

  “Thank you, Aiden. I am so sorry you had to get involved.” She placed her hands over her mouth.

  “Your practice? What are you going to do?”

  “I have partners. They will run the office.”

  She placed her hand over her chest and exhaled.

  “Those tiny cameras and bugs I planted in your house, before we left, should hopefully reveal who’s after you.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  NADIA

  The oversized beast stood outside my bathroom door twisting a man’s neck before my eyes. He tossed him aside like yesterday’s trash.

  He ordered me around like I was his responsibility. The shock of finding out men came to my home to kill me set my nerves on edge. Tremors pulsated through my entire body.

  Standing before the brooding man in my closet wrapped in only a towel, my heart raced. My hands and legs were jello while I climbed into my clothes. Minutes later, we stepped past the unconscious man on my back patio.

  The moment he reassured me I was safe with him, my heart beat slowed until we stepped into his closet and he opened the armory. The stone-cold killer would protect me? My eyes landed on his Navy commander uniform putting me at ease again. He fought for our country, but if didn’t explain why he lived in our neighborhood.

  Sitting across from him in his hemi truck, my nipples pebbled under my T-shirt. Shit, staring at his bulging tatted bicep sent shock waves to my pussy. I should have invited myself over to his house long ago. What could have gone wrong? Sex between neighbors wouldn’t have been bad. Creep over after work fuck him then stroll over to my house. The drought was catching up. And the second his big strong hand covered mine, I wanted to slide his fingers inside my jeans. Fuck, now I’d be alone in a cabin with him until we sorted out my problems. My dirty thoughts continued as I brought him up to speed on how I got into my mess.

  An hour and a half later, Aiden turned into a twenty-four-hour big box store parking lot.

  He scoured our surroundings then reached into his duffel bag on the back seat retrieving two hats. “Here, slip on the baseball cap.”

  I lowered the cap onto my head. He did the same. “Come on we need to buy food.”

  The lights in the store shined brighter than usual. Maybe because we were on the run. My heart thudded my chest as I kept his pace through the massive store. He slowed at the meat case. “Make a few selections.”

  I swallowed hard as I picked up a package of chicken breast. Fuck, I can’t cook, I quickly remembered.

  I met his gaze. “Cooking isn’t my specialty. But I know what I like to eat.”

  His eyebrows rustled together. “Explains the abundance of food deliveries. I thought maybe you were too tired to cook.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You noticed the delivery services?”

  “Observing my surroundings is what I do.”

  I shook my head. “Right.”

  “Grab whatever you want. I’ll cook.”

  I halted and peeked at him again. “I know you grill, but you can cook too?”

  “Yeah, I have to survive. Eating takeout all the time isn’t healthy.”

  Great a health nut. “Microwavable dinners worked fine for me.” There was no way I’d tell him my mother prepared meals I could freeze.

  He shook his head. “If you say so.” We turned down the spice aisle. He selected what he needed. The navy T-shirt clenched his biceps. His pecs flexed under his shirt with each movement. If he could re-frame from making physical contact, I’d be fine.

  “Are you all right?” His eyes narrowed.

  Shit, he caught me staring at his impeccable hard muscled body.

  “Yeah, I am fine.” I chuckled. I think the better question was how would I keep my hands off of him.

  His green eyes glinted and his lips curled upward. “Let’s move.”

  A flush of heat washed over me. Yeah, he knew I was staring. Fucking embarrassing. But to my defense, men can’t walk around with muscles rippling all over their bodies and expect women not to look. It was impossible not to.

  ∞

  Aiden dimmed the lights coasting through the woods toward a log cabin with a porch that stretched across the front.

  How I’d love to drink in his brooding stature in that Navy uniform. I shook my head in the shadows. Get your mind out of the gutter, Nadia.

  Gripping his shirt, I followed him as he checked every inch of the cabin. “The cabin is secure,” he stated upon returning to the living room.

  “I need to secure the grounds.”

  He slipped the green machine gun strap over his body.

  “You really think all the fire power is needed?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t bat an eye. “I’ll bring the groceries inside
after a while. Don’t turn on any lights. There are candles in the kitchen drawer next to the stove.”

  He placed a flashlight in my hand then stalked outside into the darkness before I could say a word.

  I removed the white sheets from the furniture. My fingertips swayed over the rustic hand made wooden counter.

  The candles were where he said they’d be. Did I think they wouldn’t be? Military men believed in order. Well, that was what my aunt said. She’d know. She was married to my father’s brother Arnold Kerns for twenty-five years. She said she enjoyed moving to a new state when my uncle was reassigned. My aunt Florine always had a bright outlook on life.

  Watching the candlelight flickering on the kitchen counter, I thought about Aiden’s words. ‘The goal was to keep to myself and focus on my business.’ A man as gorgeous as him choosing to ‘keep to himself.’ Hm, why?

  The thought of running my tongue along his angular jaw, down his neck, and over his pecs sent tingles all over my body. Yes, those pecs I caught a glimpse of when he slid on the T-shirt. A purple heart medal hung on the American flag which was tattooed over his right pec.

  There were other tattoos, but that one piqued my interest. His war stories should probably become movies. My lips curled upward as I shook and emptied a silver bag of coffee grounds into the small coffee pot. If we’d be awake all night, coffee would be what was needed.

  I turned, jumped back, eyes wide. “Eek! You scared the mess out of me.” I placed my hand over my heart.

  “Didn’t mean to startle you, but I called your name. You appeared to be in another world.” He sat the grocery bags on the counter.

  “Oh, I was thinking about how crazy this evening has been,” I said retrieving items from the bags, placing them in the fridge.

  “The coffee smells good. Just what I need tonight.”

  “What we need for our stakeout.” I straightened my spine, peering into his green eyes.

  He snickered. “No, you can take the bedroom. Rest. I will take the couch.”

  My eyebrows wrinkled. “But there are two bedrooms.”

  “The best view of the woods is out that front window.” He pointed.

  I stepped to the counter across from him. “You are protecting me. I can’t allow you to stay awake all night while I am fast asleep in the next room. Besides, I know nothing about you. I’d love to hear war stories,” I beamed.

  He exhaled, lifting the brim of the cap, and raked his fingers through his dark mane. “You don’t know how to follow rules.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “I am not one of your men, Commander Wilder.”

  He planted his palms on the counter and his jaw twitched in the candlelight. “You are right! You aren’t because they would follow orders.”

  I didn’t budge. We glared at each other.

  “You have two hours of talk time then off to bed,” he growled.

  “This explains why you are single. You’re too bossy,” I snarled.

  He stalked around the counter toward me. “You know why they say I am the best at what I do? Because I have lost the least amount of men under my command. When this great fucking nation is falling to the ground. I am the one they call. I am laying my life on the line...for you,” he roared.

  “Oh, so I am just another mission?” I grimaced.

  “Yes! You are a very attractive woman. I am not looking for a girlfriend or a wife. All I care about is helping you get your life back, so I can go back to mine.”

  My mouth dropped open. He stepped around me to the coffee pot.

  The connection you thought you two had in the truck isn’t there. He made it clear, Nadia he found you attractive but wants nothing at all to come of you two. My eyes glassed over. How could he be so crass? Well he didn’t become a Commander sparing his Sailors feelings. I strolled over to the couch and curled up at one end.

  He exhaled. “I apologize, Nadia. I was out of line.”

  “You’re an attractive man on the outside but you are ugly, cold, and bitter inside. Don’t take your frustrations out on me. I understand you are helping me. And I am truly thankful.”

  “You are right. I am bitter. I am bitter at myself for being a warrior. A person the Navy needs and calls on at the drop of a dime.”

  He placed a mug on a saucer on the wooden coffee table. “Would you like cream and sugar?”

  “Cream please.” I sat up, straightening my spine.

  He walked into the kitchen then returned with powder creamer.

  He sat at my side hunched over the coffee mug.

  “I enlisted in the Navy at eighteen, a year after my brother Valen enlisted. My job is dangerous. I fought for seven years. What if I’d gotten married and was killed in the line of duty? It was better I never had that worry on my shoulder. So many of my friends died over the years. Staring into my buddy’s wife tearful eyes three years ago crushed me. She was devastated she lost him.”

  I placed my hand on his bicep. “Aiden, his wife knew what she signed up for. My aunt loved my uncle with all her heart. There were plenty of days she didn’t know if he’d come home. But she didn’t stop loving him for one moment. She cherished every moment they had together like it was their last.”

  “Your aunt sounds like a special kind of woman.”

  I smiled, retracting my hand. “She is.” Scooping up the piping hot mug, I pressed my lips against the brim and blew. The strong coffee bean dangled under my nose. Aiden sipped the black coffee and strolled over to the window. Staring into the distance. “There are women who aren’t cut out to be military wives.”

  “I see. That’s what you’re worried about. If you would marry the wrong woman. Don’t you trust your instincts?”

  “I’ve never had a woman so no.”

  “Aiden, I think you should be honest with whoever you date. Ask the woman a litany of questions.” My eyebrows rose as I snapped my fingers. “Or you could date a female Sailor. I bet the thought never crossed your mind?”

  “No,” he sighed. “Soon Admiral Cutner will send me on a new mission. Not sure how long I’d be away this time. Three years was the longest time I’d been off duty.”

  Now I understood why he was defensive. He was afraid to fall in love. He didn’t want to break a woman’s heart, and he surely didn’t want his heart broken. Maybe I gave him hope to open his heart to love. Too bad he’d never allow me into his heart. He was the kind of man I’d cherish but would share with the world. Because he was a hero.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  AIDEN

  I’d only been in her presence for two-and-a-half hours and she already tugged at my heartstrings.

  “Mr. Grizzly, have you calmed down? Am I allowed to learn more about the man who saved my life?”

  I chuckled and glanced back at her over the rim of my mug. “Yes... I am from Atlanta, GA. My mother was strung out on drugs and lost me in to the family courts. I was placed in the foster care system. After a couple of years, my last foster family, Barry and Mary-Anne Wilder, adopted me. Their son Valen was a year older than me. My birth last name was Fuller.”

  “Does my past abuse of drugs make you hold animosity toward me?”

  My eyebrows wrinkled. “No, actually, I respect you for cleaning up your life. That was something my mother couldn’t or wouldn’t do.”

  “Was it hard changing your last name? Did you feel you were losing a part of your mother?”

  “It was weird at first but, I wanted the same name as my new family. I made the decision a year after living with them. They were loving people. Only wanted the best for Valen and I. We lived in Blue Ridge Mountain, GA. A small town known for camping. Maybe that’s why I was drawn to this cabin. It’s a little piece of home. I miss my parents and my brother. He and I were close. I shook my head. We are still close.”

  “Why did you two join the military?”

  “We wanted to fight the war on terror.”

  “Is your brother married?”

  I stared into the dark cup. “Divorced
.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, they were high school sweethearts. She said she would always be by his side. Instead of his wife greeting him when he returned home from active duty, he found divorce papers on the kitchen table.”

  I sighed. “I thought she would remain by his side no matter what. Like I said every person isn’t built for military life.”

  I peeked at her. She removed the baseball cap from her head and slid her fingers through her wavy locks.

  Shit, stop staring asshole.

  My eyes peered into the darkened night.

  “It all makes sense now. You are afraid you’ll meet a woman who will break your heart the same way.”

  “Would you like another cup of coffee?”

  “Yes.”

  I swiped up her mug and strolled into the kitchen.

  “Aiden, do you plan to avoid the elephant in the room?”

  I felt her eyes on me.

  “Nadia, it doesn’t matter. I am comfortable being alone.”

  I prepared a fresh pot of coffee after filling our mugs.

  “Forever?”

  My eyebrows rustled together. She reached for her mug as I approached. I sat beside her.

  “Yes, Nadia, forever.”

  She scratched her head. “Do you have a friend with benefits?”

  I chuckled. “No.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You’re celibate?”

  “Yeah. What’s the matter? I don’t see the problem.”

  “How long has it been?”

  I blew then sipped the steaming hot coffee. “Three and a half years.”

  She bent over coughing. I slapped her back a few times.

  “Are you ok?”

  She raised her index finger.

  “The co... ffee... went... down.”

  “Don’t talk. Relax.” I rubbed her back.

  She nodded, sipping the coffee. “I feel better.” She leaned back against the sofa. “Sorry I thought you’d say a few months. Its been about the same length of time for me... three years. Guys at work, try to make conversation. I’m sure they’d like to hook up. I want more. I’d love to have forever with the perfect guy. Hopefully, he’s out there. Not sure how I expect to meet him living in the retirement community.” She placed her hand over her chest and laughed.