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Almost.

The word had been rolling around through Chase’s brain since the damn thing fell from Scottie’s soft, luscious lips. Throughout the rest of dinner. During coffee and dessert. Even as they sat across from one another, sharing more lighthearted stories during their separated pasts, it was impossible to ignore.

Almost.

Her whispered response could have meant any number of things. Maybe she didn’t like working at the shelter as much as she’d let on. Could be as simple as she didn’t like where she lived or the car that she drove.

But when Scottie’s soft whisper had reached his ears, Chase could have sworn it was solely meant for him. As if he was the one who could turn “almost” into…

Everything.

His chest grew tight with thoughts from their uncomfortable past. A past that very well may predict his future.

The need to clear the air between them—to finally address the giant elephant that had been skulking around them throughout the entire evening—was suddenly stronger than ever. And Chase refused to waste any more time living a life without this woman being a part of it.

If she wasn’t interested in him romantically, so be it. For him, Scottie had always been the one that got away. When he dreamed of a future, it was always her face filling his sights. When he imagined his life ten, twenty years from now, she was always the one he saw standing by his side.

Yeah, he was only thirty, and yes, they’d only recently reconnected. But Chase had always been of the mindset that if he saw something he wanted, he went after it.

The Navy. BUD/S. DEVGRU. Eagle’s Nest.

Every success he’d achieved was because he’d fought tooth and nail to reach his goal. His one and only personal defeat was losing Scottie.

She was a regret he still lived with every day of his life. And the shitty thing was, he had no one to blame but himself.

I didn’t fight for her back then, but I’m damn sure going to fight for her now.

But first…

“Listen, Scottie.” He spoke up while escorting her down the sidewalk to her car. “I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of staying in touch with you.”

“I didn’t give you much of a choice in the matter, Chase.” Scottie turned to look up at him. “And if anything, I’m the one who owes you the apology. The way I ended things?—”

“You were barely sixteen,” he reminded her. “You’d just gone through one of the most traumatic life events anyone can. And hell, it wasn’t as if you had a choice. Even back then, I understood why you had to go with your grandparents instead of staying in Texas.”

The stubborn woman was already shaking her head.

“It doesn’t matter,” Scottie rebutted his claim. “Moving away from you may not have been my decision, but the way I acted that last time we were together…” Her swallow was audible. “That was unforgivable.”

“No.” A stern response. “It wasn’t.”

As if he hadn’t said a word, Scottie continued with an admission she apparently thought he was owed.

“I tried so hard to pretend I didn’t care. That my heart wasn’t being ripped out of my chest piece by jagged piece while I stood there, staring straight into those amazing eyes of yours as I lied through my teeth.”

The sadness in her eyes tugged at Chase’s heart. As for the other…

Scottie didn’t lie. Not ever. It was one of the billion reasons he’d fallen for her so quickly. She was good. Kind. And honest to the core.

But his curiosity got the better of him, so he cocked his head to the side and asked her, “What did you lie about?”

“Everything,” she murmured softly. A flash of guilt filled Scottie’s green gaze before she turned and focused on the sidewalk up ahead. “I made it seem as if I believed we never had a chance. That we’d end up breaking up once you left for the Navy no matter what. But…” The waves of her sandy blonde hair slid back and forth across her sweatered shoulders. “The truth is, if my mom hadn’t gotten sick…” A quick lick of her lips. “If she hadn’t died and I’d been able to stay…I would have done everything humanly possible to keep us together.”

“I know.”

“I would have waited for you while you went to boot camp,” she confessed, presumably not having heard what he’d just said. “I would’ve saved every penny I had, and after graduation, I would have moved to wherever you were stationed. I would have made a home for us while you were on missions with your team, and if the job moved you…” She brought her mesmerizing stare back to his. “I wouldn’t have hesitated to follow you to the ends of the earth.”

Ah, Scottie.

Needing to make sure she heard him this time, Chase spoke a tad more forcefully when he told her again, “I know you would have, sweetheart.”

The confusion spreading across her beautiful face would have been comical if its mere presence wasn’t breaking his damn heart. “You…do?”

“Of course, I do. Knew it back then, too. That’s why I didn’t push you more that night. I understood what was really going on. Not at first, I’ll admit. But it didn’t take long to figure it out. I knew in my heart that, no matter what you said, you loved me as much as I loved you.”

Those incredible eyes of hers grew wide. Lips he longed to taste—again—parted ever so slightly with the woman’s sharp intake of air. Unshed tears shimmered in the beams of a nearby streetlamp standing guard a few feet away.

“Y-you never said anything.” More tears formed, and as one began to fall, Scottie quickly reached up and swiped it away. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I knew going to Ohio with your grandparents was the best thing for you back then.” It sucked balls, and sliced his teenage heart in two, but he got it. “Your grandparents loved you, and I knew they’d do everything they could to help you work through your grief. I knew they’d be there for you when I couldn’t.” He took a step toward her. “Knowing you were safe…that you had someone in your corner and that you’d be taken care of…” Another step. “In that moment, that was what mattered the most.”

Scottie blinked at the moisture filling her eyes, the greens darkening with a visible wave of emotion. “But you…” Her voice cracked. “You let me walk away so easily.”

Chase intensified his stare as he brought a hand to one side of her gorgeous face. The hitch in Scottie’s breath reached his ears the moment his palm made contact with her flawless skin.

But the doubt in her eyes was still there. Still gnawing at his gut. There was a time when she would have believed anything he told her. A time when she used to trust him.

Trust me now, sweetheart. I need you to believe me now.

“Letting you walk away from me that day was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” he confessed.

Those pretty eyes of hers gave a cute-as-hell roll. “You were a Navy SEAL, Chase. I’m willing to bet you faced worse things in the military than your high school girlfriend dumping you out of some misguided sense of grief.”

He barked out a laugh because…how could he not?

Still as adorably cynical as ever.

“I’ve faced some shit, absolutely,” he admitted. “But losing you…”

His body inched closer to hers, hints of warm vanilla and lavender filling the air with a passing breeze. Chase smiled to himself, grateful to know some things hadn’t changed.

“I really am sorry, Chase.” She reached up and covered the back of his hand with hers. “I was a total wreck back then. But you…you were the only thing holding me together. When my mom got sick, at the end, during her funeral…” Her voice grew thick as a few tears fell freely from the corners of her eyes. “You were there through it all. Right by my side. The only sign I was given that everything would eventually be okay. And then I?—”

“Was forced to move to Ohio,” he finished for her.

“I didn’t want to go,” she whispered softly. “I wanted to stay with you.”

“You needed to be with your family.”

Scottie shook her head from side to side. “I needed you.”

“I know, sugar.” The intensity in his gaze softened. “I needed you, too.”

Still do.

“Chase…”

His focus dropped as her chin lifted. Those full, tempting lips parted in a seductive, inviting way. Not intentionally, he didn’t think. Even as a hot as hell teenage girl, the woman had never seemed to see what he saw when he looked at her.

What everyone saw.

“Beautiful,” Chase uttered low. He leaned in, bringing his own lips closer, the desire to kiss her erasing everything else around them.

The buildings. The car-lined street behind her. The scattered few passing by.

All of it vanished the moment he realized…

She wants to kiss me, too.

Chase leaned in closer. Scottie rose onto her tiptoes. He pressed his lips to hers, his lids slowly beginning to fall shut. And then?—

Movement caught his attention from one of the cars parked across the street. Though he wasn’t sure what it was at first, it was out of place enough to make him pull away.

What the…

He zeroed in on the dark-colored sedan. Or rather, the man inside.

“Chase?” Concern laced Scottie’s soft tone. “What is it? What are you?—”

His hand dropped from her face to her shoulder, the gentle yet firm move preventing her from following his line of sight. With his expression schooled and his attention split between the car and her, Chase looked down at Scottie and forced his lips to smile.

“Don’t look, but there’s a man sitting in a car across the street, and it looks as if he’s…watching us.”

“Seriously?” Her eyes widened with alarm. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s just passing the time while he waits for someone.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

For some reason, his gut didn’t think so. He wasn’t even sure why the stranger had caught his attention the way he had. Not until…

There!

The asshole lifted what looked to be a camera, its lens pointing straight in his direction. Though Chase didn’t see a flash or the man’s fingers move, it sure looked as if the asshole was taking his picture.

Son of a ? —

“Stay here.” He released the protective grip he’d had on Scottie’s shoulder, stepping around her toward the edge of the sidewalk’s curb.

“Wait!” She spun around. “Where are you going?”

“To find out what the guy finds so damn interesting.”

He had a pretty good idea why someone would be watching him, and he’d be damned if he was going to sit back and become a target. Or worse…Scottie.

“Hey!” Chase did a quick check both ways before marching his infuriated ass across the quiet street. “Hold up! I want to talk to you.”

The chickenshit wasted no time dropping the camera in the passenger seat and firing up his car’s engine.

Shit.

“Come on, now. Don’t do that.” Chase shook his head, his booted feet covering a good distance of pavement through a series of long, purposeful steps. “You’re so interested in me, why don’t you stay here and talk to me like a man?”

When the car was shoved into gear, Chase knew his time with the dickhead was limited. He also had a feeling he knew why the man was determined not to engage.

“Did the person who hired you to find me order you not to make contact? Is that why you’re leaving? She tell you to keep your distance? Report back what you find?” he asked, referring to Kaamisha Dawari, the woman who’d had her men torture Webb’s CIA asset.

A woman they now believed was responsible for Hunter’s death.

He couldn’t deny the timing. First, they learn about the possible target still on their backs, and now there was this asshole…

It was all far too coincidental for his liking.

“How much is she paying you, huh?” Chase demanded as he grew closer to the man in the car. “Trust me, buddy. Whatever it is, it ain’t worth it.”

Rather than answer or engage in any sort of verbal confrontation, the man kept his eyes forward. Turning the wheel, he pressed on the gas, sending the front end of the car out from the one it had been parked behind.

Only a few important features were visible as the asshole spun his tires and took off down the road. Chase instantly began a mental catalog of everything he could see.

Mid-thirties. Tanned skin. Short, dark beard. Dark hair. Dark eyes.

Chase also caught the car’s license plate, though he expected it was probably a fake…

AMF0984.

With those important details locked away, he brought his attention back to Scottie.

“What the heck was—” she started to join him.

“Wait there!” he hollered over to her, raising a palm to stop her. “I’ll come to you.”

She listened and waited, though he could tell by the way she was biting her upper lip that her patience was rapidly wearing thin. Chase picked up the pace, deciding to jog the rest of the way.

“What was that all about?” She swung her gaze in the direction of the vanishing car.

“Don’t know.” He rejoined her near the sidewalk’s edge.

But I’m damn sure going to find out.

“I couldn’t see the man’s face from here,” she shared. “Do you…did you know him?”

“Never seen him before in my life.”

Fear flashed in her gaze as she brought her gorgeous stare back to his. “Are you sure he was watching us? Maybe he was just looking around at the same time we…you know…kissed.”

Shit. Not only had he spooked the asshole, but he’d also frightened her in the process.

Smooth, douchebag.

But fuck. When the guy pointed that damn camera in their direction, Chase had instantly connected the son of a bitch to the woman who may or may not be coming after the team. Given the facts as he knew them—and the timing of it all—he had no choice but to assume the Dawari woman had sent him.

Now he wasn’t so certain.

The guy hadn’t shot at him or even attempted to harm them in any way. Of course, if Kaamisha Dawari did send him, the job could easily have been a simple fact-finding mission.

Another possibility—the most likely scenario—was that Scottie was right. They’d been standing in the open, unabashedly kissing in front of God and everyone, and maybe…

Maybe my dumb ass overreacted.

“You’re right.” Chase did his best to put Scottie’s mind at ease. “I’m sure it was nothing. It’s just…when I thought he was purposely watching us, I got a little?—”

“Overprotective?”

His lips twitched at the urge to grin. Scottie used to accuse him of that very thing back in high school. But hell, who could blame him? She was the prettiest girl in school, and every horny asshole with a dick wanted her for themselves.

But she’d been his, which meant it was his job to keep her safe. And he hadn’t shied away from letting every one of those immature bastards know it.

“Sorry.” He smirked. “Occupational hazard, I guess. But listen, I’m parked at the end of the block.” He pointed to his truck parked just before the nearest intersection. “See that black pickup on the end? That’s me.”

“Okay…” She let the word dangle in the air.

“I want you to get into your car and head that way. I’ll get behind you and follow you to your place."

Scottie’s eyes flew to his, the confusion there unmistakable.

“Follow me? Why?”

“To be safe.” Chase gave one shoulder a quick shrug.

“I thought you just said there wasn’t anything to worry about.”

There’d better fucking not be.

“There isn’t.”

“It’s a really sweet offer, Chase, but is that really necessary?”

“Probably not, but it’ll sure make me feel better.”

Scottie’s gaze narrowed as she continued staring up at him. “You’re going to follow me no matter what, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“And there’s no way of talking you out of it, is there?”

“Nope.”

She held her stance a beat longer.

“Fine.” Scottie released a relenting sigh. “I guess it’s your time to waste.”

Lifting a slow hand toward her face, Chase used his knuckles to gently caress her cheek. With his eyes soaking in hers, he said, “Making sure you’re safe is never a waste of time.” Not fucking ever. “Now go.” He let that hand drop back to his side. “And don’t forget to buckle up.”

Scottie shook her head with a smile as she sidestepped him and headed for her car. From over her shoulder, she hollered a teasing, “Still as bossy as ever, I see.”

To which he responded, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The two laughed as she climbed into the safety of her vehicle and he continued toward his own. A noticeable warmth filled Chase’s chest, and he couldn’t help but smile wide.

The sweet. The sassy. The laughter.

Just like old times, it was almost as if no time at all had passed between them. And yet, it had been a lifetime too long.

Never, ever again.

He had no way of knowing what was going on inside Scottie’s brain regarding the two of them picking up where they’d left off, but he hoped to find out soon enough.

As far as he was concerned, God had brought her back into his life for a reason. And from the way she’d looked up at him in those final seconds just before they’d kissed, it wasn’t so they could continue on only as friends.

He had enough good friends in his life. The fucking best a guy could ask for. Until a few days ago, that had been enough. But now…

Now I’m ready for more.