Page 16 of Shielding his Legacy (Shattered SEALs #7)

Eva sat in the backseat of Gavin’s truck with the baby as they cruised down the highway. Snow was coming down at a pretty good clip, the fat flakes just beginning to accumulate on the wet pavement.

She’d listened as Gavin called his boss at HERO Force and told him what had happened at his cabin.

Learning there’d been four men—and that Gavin had killed them all—wasn’t helping her calm down.

Apparently, Gavin had already asked somebody named Moto to look into the murder she’d gotten on film, which made her wonder what else Gavin had done that he hadn’t shared with her.

His boss said he’d send several men to meet them, which at least made her think it wouldn’t be four against one if they encountered trouble again. She could barely stand to think about how close they’d come to being hurt or killed. The moment she’d heard gunfire, she froze with fear.

She knew she needed to protect her child at all costs. There wasn’t time for fear or trepidation, there was only time for action. She’d grabbed the baby and made her way to the shed, determined to find a weapon of some kind while she hid from the men out front.

The shed was so full of planters and gardening supplies that it looked like a home improvement store commercial.

All that was missing was the middle-aged woman with gardening gloves and a smile.

Was this another side of Gavin she’d yet to see?

Each time she thought she knew who he was, he revealed another facet of himself like the changing design in a kaleidoscope.

Her mind flashed back to their kisses. At least some things didn’t change. He still had the ability to arouse her like no man ever had. It was even worse now, because her body knew what it hadn’t back then—that his kiss held the promise of pleasure beyond her wildest dreams.

Her cheeks heated, today’s stolen kisses mixing with those in her memory like a churning vat of roiling hot liquid. She couldn’t resist him if she tried, yet he thought he’d forced himself on her!

Her face fell as she pondered what that must have been like for him to believe all this time.

She wouldn’t have chosen to make love to him without a condom, that much was true.

She certainly hadn’t volunteered to be impregnated and thrown out on the street by her family, but now that she had Abby, she would choose that outcome again and again.

She’d choose Gavin and their daughter, every single time.

“You okay?” he asked.

Her eyes shot to the rearview mirror, meeting his gaze in the dim light of the car. “Yes.”

He looked back to the road. “You’re not a very good liar.”

Tucking her chin, she focused on their sleeping daughter.

Her own wellbeing wasn’t the issue. Eva had stopped being the center of her own universe the day she’d learned she was pregnant.

Everything was for Abby now, but she didn’t want to explain herself to Gavin, so she just said, “You’re right, I’m not. ”

“She asleep?”

“Finally.”

“Want to come up here? It’s hard to hear you and I don’t want to talk too loudly and wake her up.”

Even that simple suggestion that she move closer to him was enough to make butterflies riot in her stomach. She was powerless to refuse. “Okay.” Unbuckling her seatbelt, she considered the best way to get over the bench seat that separated them.

Her head grazed his shoulder as she climbed over.

“Sorry,” she murmured, the intensely intimate scent of his body making her long to swing her leg around until she sat astride those muscular thighs, his view of the road be damned.

What was wrong with her? Her desire for this man was completely off the hook.

Reaching up, he offered his hand. “Let me help you.”

“I’ve got it.” Her right leg cleared the back of the seat first, but the other got stuck at the very last moment, snagging her progress just as she let go with her hands. She landed with her face in his lap, her left foot caught on the headrest behind her as she swore under her breath.

“You okay?” he asked as she scrambled to get herself out of that particular spot with all the haste of a cat getting out of a pool.

His hand touched her back as heat flooded her face and she writhed around, wrenching her foot away from the offending headrest and righting herself in the passenger seat with a huff.

A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest.

“It’s not funny,” she snapped, reaching for her seatbelt and feeling like she’d gone six rounds with Tyson.

His laughter intensified, his shoulders shaking though his mouth stayed closed. She swatted his arm. “Stop it.”

Now his mouth opened, his laughter rich and alluring despite her irritation. “My foot got stuck,” she said, feeling stupid but beginning to see the humor in the situation as her mouth spread in an involuntary grin. “It’s not funny.” She smacked him again, harder this time.

“I’m sorry,” he claimed, holding up his hand in mock defense, his continued mirth and the sing-song tone of his voice showing he clearly wasn’t sorry at all. “When you dove headfirst for my crotch all sorts of things came to mind.”

“I most certainly did not dive for your, your—” she protested, even though she knew it was true. “My foot got stuck.”

He could barely contain himself, he was laughing so hard.

Embarrassed, she unbuckled herself for the third time in as many minutes.

His hand reached for hers, but she pulled it away.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Back to my seat. She never sleeps long anyway.”

“Eva, I’m sorry. Don’t go.” He took her hand, holding tight when she reflexively pulled back, those big green eyes imploring. “Please.”

She was being childish, and she knew it.

A more sophisticated woman would laugh along with him, maybe sidle up next to that perfect body and blithely change the subject while running her fingertips up his arm.

But she wasn’t sophisticated, and she’d never done anything blithely in her twenty-three years on earth.

Not knowing how to undo her behavior, she scooted away from him and withdrew her hand. “Sorry for overreacting.”

He didn’t respond, only ran a hand through his hair and changed his position on the seat, splaying his legs wide. A subtle shift in the air made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

She settled against her seat and redid her seatbelt, wondering what she might have done to cause the sudden change in his mood.

She was probably reading too much into things, but this man was so unpredictable, she often felt off-balance.

They drove along in silence for several miles.

“Where exactly are we going?” she finally asked.

“Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks. About an hour and a half farther. Friend of mine’s got a cabin up there that’s vacant for the winter. It’s seasonal, but it has a fireplace to keep us warm. We can hole up there for as long as we need to while HERO Force figures out who’s after you.”

“Wait, it doesn’t have heat?”

He shot her a sideways glance and a grin. “It has a fireplace.”

Her gaze locked on his for a beat, her stomach fluttering with anticipation of the scene he described. Gavin’s place in the Catskills had been rustic, but high-end. This place sounded primitive, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t love the idea of huddling around a blazing fire for warmth.

Or other things.

Gavin’s phone vibrated, a cat meme flashing on the screen and disappearing before Eva got a good look at it. “Ugh,” he groaned. “Not cat pictures again.”

“Who is that?”

“My mom.” He was pretending to be frustrated, but it was obvious from his tone that he was amused.

“Are you guys close?”

“Yeah. My dad passed away when I was twelve, so it’s just been the two of us.”

“I’m sorry. How did he die?” The question was out of her mouth before she thought better of it, something about curiosity and a dead cat rattling around in her mind. But if it bothered Gavin that she asked, he didn’t show it.

“Transport accident.”

She cocked her head. “Transport? Like a delivery service or something?”

“Chopper went down on a training exercise. He was a Navy SEAL.”

“Oh.” Rather than satisfy her curiosity, his answer sparked new questions.

Eva lightly sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “How did your mom feel about you enlisting?”

He slowed the truck, taking an exit for Pottersville and making her think of It’s a Wonderful Life as the silence stretched out between them.

That movie had always gotten to her, but now that she’d had a baby, it resonated more than ever.

The life we get isn’t always the life we planned, but it could still be a good one.

The silence stretched out uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I ask too many questions.”

“It’s fine.” He came to a stop at the end of the ramp, casting an appraising look at her before checking the empty street for traffic and pulling onto the two-lane road without a light of any kind in sight. “She wasn’t thrilled when I enlisted, no.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

“You ever been up this way?”

He was changing the subject and being none-too-subtle about it. “No. I’ve heard of it, though. Mountains, right? Wilderness?”

“Mountains, lakes, rolling hillside, solitude. Throw in a six-pointed buck and a couple of black bears, you’ve damn near got the best place on earth.”

Her head pivoted toward him. “Bears?”

He grinned. “You don’t like bears?”

“No one likes bears. Bears eat people.”

“They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

“I doubt that very much.”

“You’ve just got to make a lot of noise, let them know you’re coming. Nine times out of ten, they’ll stay out of your way.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So only one time out of ten do you get a near-death experience. See your life flash before your eyes, that sort of thing.”

“Bears are cool.”

“Care Bears are cool. Gummy bears are cool. Black bears are definitely not cool.”