Page 2 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)

Writing the whole thing off as a youthful blunder, he’d moved on with his life.

Joined the military and made it into an elite SEAL unit, he hung out with his friends, and hooked up with women, any woman.

It didn't matter to him who the woman was as long as she was single and not looking for anything serious.

Life was good and yet …

As he crossed the quiet lobby of the world-renowned Prey Security, Micah found it hard to admit that something was missing. Something he’d been doing a great job of ignoring right up until Nathaniel caught the love bug.

Seeing one of his best friends suddenly smitten with a woman, a woman that Micah admitted was every bit the tough warrior as any of the men he served with, possibly tougher since she’d fought so hard without the benefit of the same training they had, had forced him to confront his unresolved feelings.

It might have been over a decade since he realized love was a lie, he might be older now, wiser, but when it came down to it, a part of him had died that day, and he was now having to accept that he hadn't moved on at all. All he’d done was ignore the whole mess and pretend that it hadn't meant anything at all.

But it had.

When he was a teenager, it had meant everything.

And now …

“Oommff.”

The startled sound came from the person on the other side of the building’s front door as she pushed it open at the same moment he pulled it open.

Caught off-balance, the person stumbled, and it was purely automatic for him to reach out to steady them.

“Sorry,” Micah apologized. “Didn't see anyone on the other side. Guess I was a little lost in thought.” As a special forces operator, he should know better than that, his life relied on him being aware of his surroundings, as did the lives of his teammates.

But he was off duty, in a secure building, and a little messed up by watching the happy couple upstairs.

What he needed was to get out of there, find a bar, hang out for a while, check out the women there, then find one who was down for a fun night and nothing more.

Maybe that would get all thoughts of love and forever out of his head.

Love wasn't forever, it barely lasted any time at all, he knew that from personal experience.

“That’s okay, I wasn't looking either,” the person said as she gently tugged herself out of his grip.

Again, it was instinct that had his fingers tightening around the shoulders he’d grabbed a moment ago to steady the person he now knew was a woman.

A beautiful woman with flawless olive skin, huge chocolate brown eyes rimmed by the longest lashes he’d ever seen, and full lips currently parting to form an O as she looked up at him.

That voice.

It was one he’d never forget.

Not for as long as he lived.

If he could go back in time, the one thing he would change was that the last time he heard it, it wouldn't be moaning as another man had sex with her. He wished he’d never gone over to her place that night, then he never would have seen it.

Then again, he also wouldn't have known what kind of woman she was.

Now here Teresa Dash was, all grown up and even more stunning than she’d been as a teen.

But what was she doing here ?

At Prey Security?

This billion-dollar private security company was the best in the world, and he couldn’t imagine that someone like Teresa would have any business being there.

“Think you might be in the wrong building,” he told her, pushing back ever so slightly. Just because he didn't work there didn't mean he wouldn't call Nathaniel in a heartbeat to tell him that someone was on the property who didn't belong.

“Actually, I'm not,” Teresa said, trying to pull free from his grip, and he reluctantly let her go.

This woman might have shattered his nineteen-year-old heart, but he knew he’d never gotten over her and knew he never really would.

Young love, first love, she’d been his from the time they met when he was sixteen and she was fourteen.

For those three years, they’d been nearly inseparable, and he’d never had anything like it since.

“Come on, Teresa, what would you need to be here for?” he asked.

The girl he’d known back then had no plans to join the military or law enforcement, so he couldn’t imagine that she’d have a job there.

She had no cleaning supplies on her, and the receptionist who he’d met earlier had already left for the day, so she wasn't there for administrative purposes.

Slowly, those big eyes of hers blinked. “Sorry, do I know you?”

For a moment he froze, caught off-guard by the cool tone of her voice and the lack of recognition in her gaze.

Did she really not know who he was?

Was he that insignificant a part of her past that she’d already forgotten him?

Back then, she’d been his everything, and he couldn’t forget her no matter how badly he’d wanted to, yet she didn't seem to have that same problem.

No.

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize him. They might have been teens back then, but he still looked the same, just older. She did too. Micah would recognize her anywhere.

Besides, the way her lips had parted to form that O told him she knew exactly who he was.

“Nuh-uh, not buying it. You know who I am,” he said confidently.

“I really don’t, sir, and I'm going to have to ask you to step aside,” Teresa said, her voice calm and detached like she was telling the truth.

“You shouldn’t be here, Teresa. This is private property. This building belongs to Prey Security.”

“I'm aware of who my employer is, sir. Now, please move immediately or I’ll have to call security and have you removed from the premises.”

What the hell?

Teresa worked there?

It wasn't that he didn't think she was smart enough. She’d been a straight A student in high school while also juggling a part-time job, running the home because her mom was always working, and looking after her two brothers, one of whom was in trouble with the law more often than he wasn't, and the other who was developmentally delayed.

Stepping back, he watched as Teresa moved past him.

If it hadn't been for the fact that she made a very clear effort not to so much as brush against him, he might have bought what she was trying to sell.

But she knew him, hadn't forgotten him, he knew it deep down in his soul as he watched her scurry across the quiet lobby and swipe a keycard to access the elevator.

That blast from the past was the last thing he expected tonight, but he couldn’t deny the timing was crazy.

Here he was watching a friend fall in love and thinking about the past and the girl he’d once thought he would spend his life with, and then she popped up at the same place he was, quite literally walking right into him.

A sign, it had to be. But a sign for what?

That he should remember the lesson she’d taught him as a teenager and steer clear of relationships for the remainder of his life? That the past could be fixed, and that he shouldn’t give up on it just yet? Or that there was no right or wrong answer, and what his future looked like was up to him?