Page 21 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)

His fingers twitched with the urge to rake his fingers through the long, thick strands. To fill his fist with it as he tilted her head back and slammed his mouth to?—

“There you are.”

He blinked, realizing only then that she’d turned around to face him. Resuming his steps, Van walked the rest of the way, doing his damnedest to keep his expression schooled to avoid being called out for having been caught staring.

Staring? More like you were ogling the poor woman like a dog in heat.

With a quick clearing of his throat, he returned to the boat’s exterior helm. Rather than picking up the conversation where the two of them had left off, he decided it was time to change course.

“Grab a seat,” he told her. “I’ll take us out a little farther.”

If he was driving the boat, they wouldn’t have to talk. Because if they continued the conversation they’d been having moments before, Van was afraid he’d do something monumentally stupid, like blurting out the fact that he was really starting to like her.

Perhaps a little too much.

“Oh.” Kam’s assessing gaze held his for a beat. “Okay.”

She went to the bench where she’d been sitting before. Once he’d made sure she was settled in, he fired up the engine, slid the gearshift forward, and then…

He drove.

Van didn’t keep track of the time or the distance they were traveling. Truth be told, the farther from land they were, the safer he felt Kam would be .

He wasn’t worried about getting lost or struggling to find his way back to Elliott Bay. Having lived in Seattle for well over a year, he’d explored these waters enough to be confident in his ability to get them back home.

So he continued speeding across the water’s surface.

At one point during the drive, Kam stretched out onto the cushioned bench. With her eyes closed, it was nearly impossible to tell whether she was enjoying the afternoon sun had fallen asleep.

It wasn’t until the sky above them became filled with an amber glow that he realized just how much time had passed. Between that and his growling stomach, he knew the time had come for them to stop for the night.

He cut the engine, waiting until the biggest of the boat’s rocking movements eased before pushing himself out of his chair. Without a word to his passenger, he walked over to where one of the boat’s two anchors lay.

The water splashed as the weight of forged steel struck the surface. Van held the anchor’s thick rope between his hands, carefully guiding it as it continued to sink. When he was finished with the one, he walked over to the opposite side of the bow.

With the boat’s position secured in the water, he looked over to the bench to find Kam alert and watching.

“Does that mean we are staying here?” Her gaze scanned the area around them.

He knew what she was seeing. Water for as far as the eye could see, with the nearest strip of land far off in the distance.

Van cleared the dryness from his throat and nodded. “If you’re not comfortable with that, I can pull the anchors back up, and we can head back to the marina.”

It would take hours for them to make it back to his slip, but if that’s what she wanted…

“It’s like you said last night.” She rose to her feet. “If you wanted me dead, I’d be dead. Right? ”

His chest grew tight. “I won’t hurt you, Kam.” Not here.

Not ever.

“I believe you, Van.” She smiled.

Damn, but she truly was beautiful.

“You hungry?”

“I could definitely eat. But you don’t have to keep waiting on me.” She gave a slight shake of her head. “If you’ll tell me what you want, I’m happy to make us something for dinner.”

He considered this before responding with, “Or we could make it together.”

Together? Are you an idiot or just a masochist?

Apparently, he was both because Van couldn’t seem to find it within him to withdraw the invitation for her to help. Worse yet, when Kam’s smile grew even wider, he found himself feeling…

Happy.

Okay, maybe not happy . But he couldn’t deny the tendrils of something he didn’t normally feel bubbling up inside.

“Come on.” He jutted his chin toward the other end of the boat. “I’ll show you our options, and then you can choose.”

“Me?” Her dark brows arched high. “I’m honored.”

“You should be,” he teased.

And where the hell had that come from? He didn’t tease. He didn’t joke. Not like Lucky and the other guys on his team.

What is happening to me?

But as he motioned for her to walk ahead of him—because ladies first and all that—Van already knew the answer.

It was her. She was what was happening to him. And if he could feel himself changing inside after only being around the woman for a couple of days, what would be left of the man he once was by the time Webb and his men took her off his hands?

His steps faltered and his stomach filled with a sense of dread as he followed her on the railed deck running along the starboard side of the boat.

Van watched her moving casually, as if she didn’t have a care in the world, oblivious to his team’s plan to hand her over to SECNAV as soon as the other man landed in Seattle.

They had another day before that happened. Maybe two. After that…

I’ll never see her again.

The gnawing feeling from before began to twist at the thought of what could very well happen to Kam if he did as planned and put her life in Webb’s hands.

At best, she’d end up behind bars with the charge of murdering an American soldier. At worst…

The bastard would have her killed.

Van pulled in a deep breath, being sure to keep the movement of his lungs silent to avoid alerting her to his disturbing thoughts. Officially, SECNAV would never condone or commission the killing of a foreign citizen without first allowing them the due process they deserved. Unofficially…

Enemies of the State disappeared all the time. Some were kept in undisclosed locations for as long as the government deemed them useful to their cause. Others, well..

They simply vanished, never to be seen or heard from again.

I can’t let that happen. Not to her.

He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to prevent it, but the decision was made. Despite his team’s earlier agreement with Webb, Van would do whatever it took to keep Kam as far away from the man—or any other government entity for that matter—as he could.

Because she was innocent of that which she’d been accused. He knew it in his gut…and in his hardened heart.

Now he just had to prove it.