Page 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

The beach looked busy. Worry filled her but Ben bumped her shoulder. “He’s still in Texas. We have someone keeping tabs on him. You’re fine.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“It’s a retired military guy. He’s not following Logan, but he lives near there and is just picking up conversations. Tex talked to the dude on Wednesday, and the guy said he would happily support the efforts to collect intelligence on Logan. He says it gives him something fun to do.”

“Wow. I had no idea anyone was watching him.”

“I was going to talk to you about it this weekend. I’ve been late from work a couple of times, and I wanted to see if the guy would stick with it. He will. He was military intelligence. He thinks it’s fun. He also set up an alert, so he knows if the guy books an airline ticket.”

She shook her head. “Is that legal?”

Ben shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“I don’t want to get any of you in trouble.”

“Trust me, we’ll be fine.”

She nodded, hoping she wasn’t too big of a bother for them. “Thank you. I don’t know how I’ll ever pay you all back.”

“Honestly, the retired guys love this stuff.”

“It’s just weird. I spent so much time alone. I’ve never had people looking after me.”

A couple seemed to be heading their way. “Is that Ellis?”

Ben lifted his chin. “Yes. Ellis and Trip.”

“Hey, Hop, this must be Vera,” Trip said.

Ellis shook her hand. “I’m Ellis. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Time for fun,” Ben said as he came up behind them.

They made their way to the volleyball nets, and she glanced around, taking in the atmosphere. The place was busy, but everyone seemed to be happy and minding their own business. She’d never been to see the Pacific Ocean, so excitement filled her as she stood there watching the waves roll in. In Texas, the waves weren’t this high unless a storm was rolling in. A couple came over while Trip was setting up the umbrella. Ellis hugged the woman, and for a second, Vera wasn’t sure she was going to be introduced. She felt awkward because she didn’t know how much to explain her situation.

“And this is Vera. Vera, I’d like you to meet Remi.”

“Remi. Nice to meet you.” She shook the woman’s hand, really studying her. She looked amazingly down to earth, someone Vera thought she would be friends with if they’d met in college.

“Hi, Vera. Are you new here?”

“Yes. Actually, I’ve never seen the Pacific Ocean before. So I feel like a dork staring at the big waves.”

Remi snorted. “I feel like a dork all the time. Want to walk down and put your feet in?”

Vera glanced back at Hop, wondering if she should. “Um, I think it’s okay. Let me tell Hop.”

She moved to the guys, and Hop flashed a smile as she came over. “I’m going to put my feet in the water.”

Hop glanced around, his gaze taking in the people. “You don’t see anyone you know, do you?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Put on the ball cap and sunglasses.”

“Sure.”

Since she didn’t have long hair anymore, it was easy to stuff her hair under the hat. When she got back to the women, they both smiled.

“Ready?” Remi asked.

“Sure.”

Ellis flashed a smile. “I’m going to stay here. I went for a jog with Trip this morning, and I’m exhausted.”

Remi chuckled. “There is no way I’m going running with Kevlar. And if you see me running, you know it’s bad, and you should run, too.”

Vera laughed as she followed behind Remi, catching up with her quickly. Remi glanced over at her and smiled. Remi’s hair blew in the wind and went straight into your mouth. She rolled her eyes as she pulled the hair out of her mouth.

“It’s nice that you can put all your hair up in that cap.”

Vera lifted her hand to brush her hair back, but it wasn’t there. “Um, yeah.”

Remi reached out and put her hand on Vera’s arm. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

Vera shook her head. She didn’t want to offend this woman who was being nice. “No. You didn’t say anything wrong. My ex did some horrible things. That’s one reason I’m here. One of the horrible things he did was chop off all my hair. It used to be almost to my butt.”

Remi stopped walking, horror written all over her face. “He what?”

Vera blew out a breath and held out her wrists. Vera ran her thumb over the rough scars, shaking her head.

“He took me out to the middle of nowhere and tied me to a tree. While tied up, he chopped off my hair. It was awful.”

“Oh, Vera, I’m so sorry. That really sucks.”

“I’m here now because Ben’s sister, or do you know him by Hop?”

“Hop is how I know him.”

“I was roommates with Frizz, his sister, in college. She set this up.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it here. And this is the Pacific.”

Vera yelled as the cold water ran up over her feet. They both laughed, and she screeched again as the water rolled up higher, hitting her mid-calf.

“Wow, that’s cold.”

Remi was laughing with her, and Vera realized she felt free. She could do this. Having Ben and his friends in her life would get her through the most difficult parts of it all.

“Hey, Remi!” a man with a scruffy beard and big muscles called out behind them.

“Oh, that’s Kevlar, my man.”

Vera chuckled. “He looks…fierce, big.”

“He’s a big ol’ teddy bear. I’m happy with him.”

“That’s good.”

“We should get back. We’re having dinner out tonight.”

Vera took off her sandals and walked back up the beach with Remi. When they got to Kevlar, Remi introduced them. Kevlar shook her hand, his smile friendly.

“It’s nice to meet you. Hop is a good man. He’ll keep you safe.”

She shrugged, wondering how many people knew about what had happened. “He’s good. I’m glad I know his sister. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d know where to go.”

“Well, you’ll be safe here. We’ll make sure of it.”

She nodded, unsure what to say. It was odd that so many of these guys seemed to really want to help. They were really good people, but she guessed that was something about the Navy. Or maybe guys like Ben, people who wanted to help, tended to like the same types of jobs. She said goodbye to Remi and Kevlar, then took a seat next to Ellis.

“The water is cold.”

Ellis chuckled. “It is. It probably would have felt good on my feet, but I was too tired to walk more.” They watched the guys play, and Ellis turned to her. “Have you been with Hop for long?”

Her stomach tightened as desire pumped through her. It made her sad that she couldn’t say she was with him. “Oh, I’m not with him. I just live there.”

“Really?”

“Um, yeah. My ex did some stuff, and I needed a place to stay. I know Ben—well, Hop’s sister. She was my college roommate.”

“You weren’t in California before, right?”

“No, I was in Texas. You really haven’t heard about this?”

Ellis chuckled. “Those men keep secrets locked up tight. I won’t say anything. I know being in bad situations really sucks. My ex put a tracker on my car. He caused a lot of problems. It’s how I met Trip, so I guess it all turned out okay in the end.”

“Oh, wow. That sucks.”

“Yeah, ex-boyfriends can be assholes.”

“I didn’t date Logan for that long. Like six months, and then I left him. He kept upping the pain he inflicted. He’s the one who cut my hair off. It used to be long.”

Ellis reached out and squeezed her hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m alive. He couldn’t kill me. He tried, but I survived.”

“I’m so glad you did because I think we’re going to become friends.”

Vera smiled, realizing that it would be good to have a friend out here. Ellis seemed like a good person, and she could see a friendship developing between them. She was glad she’d met Remi, too. Maybe moving to California would really be good for her.

The guys started playing volleyball against another group of guys. There was one guy out there with them she didn’t know, but Ellis helped her with their names. By the end of the game, she knew who each of Ben’s friends were.

As the guys were wrapping up their game, Vera headed over to the bathrooms. She finished quickly and had just stepped out of the bathroom when her new flip-flop broke. She groaned loudly, and a few people stared at her.

She bent, picking up the now useless shoe and inspecting it. There was no way to salvage the thing. Living here, she needed to invest in some decent sandals.

Once she stepped out of the shade, the burning on her feet was so bad she jumped back into the shade. It had been years since she’d walked outside barefoot, and her feet were tender. There was no way she would make it back to the umbrella.

She inspected her shoe again, not seeing any way to fix it. She was stuck unless she just made a run for it. It would hurt, but she could run fast-ish and hopefully not damage the bottom of her feet too badly.

In her head, she gave herself a countdown, getting ready to make a dash for it, when Ben called to her from across the lot.

“Hey, what’s up?”

She shielded her eyes, making sure he was really calling to her. He’d taken off his shirt, which should have been illegal. His body was honed to perfection. He had a light dusting of dark hair across his pecs that ran down the center of his body then got real dark right above the waistband of his shorts. She was staring. Not good. As an afterthought, she raised her hand holding the broken flip flop and waved it. “It broke.”

“Stay there.”

He jogged over and pulled on his shirt just before he got to her. She wasn’t sure she could take her eyes off the broad expanse of his chest if he hadn’t put on his shirt. After a quick shake of her head, she met his gaze, forcing herself not to rake her gaze down his body. He was way too good-looking. She’d done okay for the most part, ignoring how hot he was, but she was starting to have difficulty not noticing.

“Let me see.”

She handed him her flip flops, and he shook his head. “Yeah. That’s blown out. Maybe we can fix it.” He shoved the flip flops into his pocket then turned. “Jump on, and I’ll carry you.”

The gasp that escaped her lips made him turn back around with his eyebrows raised.

“I’m too heavy.”

He threw back his head, laughter spilling out. “I have to carry those guys with my pack on. Trust me, you are not heavy.”

“Are you sure?”

He tilted his head and gave her a look that spoke volumes. She shrugged and circled her finger in the air, telling him to turn around.

When he bent, she jumped up, and he caught her around her thighs, lifting her up so she could hold on around his neck.

“You good?”

She nodded then spoke. Her voice came out low and breathy. “Yeah, I’m good.” But she wasn’t sure she would ever be good again after being pressed up against him, almost skin to skin.

The masculine scent of his skin mixed with the fresh salt air made her want to lick up the column of his neck just to taste him. She forced herself to think of something else as he jogged back across the lot and over to the beach umbrella, where everyone was milling around.

Heat rose up her neck to her face. What would these guys and Ellis think of her? She really wasn’t trying to hit on Ben and make him carry her so that her body was pressed so close against his that she would never forget what he felt like. Her shoe had broken, but she feared this looked like a setup. The last thing she wanted was for them to think she was trying to force Ben into a relationship.

If she didn’t tame her reactions to him, she would end up on the streets. Her living in his house was just a favor for his sister, and she needed to respect that. Though the skin-to-skin contact with him was driving her insane with need. She was only here because of that favor and not because he wanted her. She needed to keep that in mind, and not his ridiculously sexy body or the super sweet way he treated her.