The Pursued Patriot: Georgia Patriots Romance

by Cami Checketts

Shar whirled and screamed as she glimpsed a massive shadow behind her. Throwing up her fists, she yelled, “Back off if you don’t want a lungful of mace!”

  The man lifted his hands, palms toward her, and backed up, revealing his face as he passed under the dim overhead light.

  Shar screamed again, “Oh, my, crap! Mike Kohler! Stop!”

  He stopped like a deer in the headlights. He was staring at her. Mike Kohler was staring at her. She’d dreamt of this moment for a long, long time, but he wasn’t staring at her like she was an amazing, accomplished, and gorgeous chef, like she usually heard from other men. He was staring like she was hoolie-hoot-oo, or translated for the layman, bat-crap crazy.

  “I’m sorry,” she gushed out. “I’m acting a bit nuts, and I’m not nuts …” She paused as she thought through the past few minutes of facing the dumpster and giving herself a pep talk to meet this dream man. She was barely able to squeak out, “Okay, I probably seem a little nuts. How much did you see?”

  His hands were still up as if he could ward her off. His handsome face was much too serious and those delectable lips she’d dreamt about kissing many a time were in a tight, concerned line. “Um, hey, it’s good. Sometimes I … talk to myself too.”

  Her heart melted. Though he didn’t put off any vibes of warmth toward her, he was such a nice guy. She knew this, as she’d observed him from afar at college and through the media. He’d come from a great family. His dad was a pastor, and his mama and three younger sisters were as beautiful, kind, and supportive as anyone could hope for. Since achieving success, Mike often took his entire family on humanitarian trips and did so many great things to help the people in his hometown of Birmingham, and now in Atlanta where he lived.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I must seem like a whack job, but I promise I’m not. Kelly humiliated me a few minutes ago by trying to set me up with you. I’ve idolized you for years, so you know how that goes. Okay, scratch that, you don’t know how that goes. I mean, who would Mike Kohler possibly idolize? Anyway, things just got all awkward and squirmy inside.” She showed him how she squirmed by pointing to her abdomen. His eyes flitted over her and made her hot and cold all over, but he didn’t say anything.

  “So, I came back here to give myself a pep talk, and all that jumping around stuff was just to pump me up to meet you. Then you obviously saw me, being all weird.” She blew out a breath and wished he wasn’t looking so wary of her. “I’m sorry, but I’m sure you get insane chick fans all the time. Old hat for you, right?”

  “It happens,” he admitted.

  Shar stepped toward him, and he backed up. It hurt that he backed away, probably because he did think she was nuts, but then it struck her as so funny. He was over a foot taller than her and twice her size with all kinds of lovely muscles his t-shirt couldn’t possibly hide. What did he think she was going to do to him? She started laughing. He cocked his head to the side and studied her with his eyebrows slightly lifted. Dang, he was so perfectly handsome. Seeing him up close and personal like this made her blood pressure spike, even though she was messing it all up.

  “What?” she asked. “Did you think I was going to come after you?”

  “Um …”

  “You did!” She started laughing harder, though she wanted to cry. This entire first meeting with her superstar crush was a disaster. Shar wasn’t one to wallow in misery, so she chose to laugh. He already thought she was nuts—she might as well laugh about it. “You’re like monstrous, and I’m a pipsqueak, and you think I’m going to come and take you out or something? Sorry, big guy. I left all my carving knives in the kitchen.”

  The look on his face made her laugh harder. He thought she was seriously disturbed. Shar had to shake this off and realize that she’d completely flubbed it up. Mike Kohler. The dream, somehow she had to let it go. Sadly, his over-the-top appeal was still there, for her, but there was no way he’d want to get to know her after this.

  “Wow.” She blew out a breath. “I meet the superstar of every one of my dreams, and I screw it all up.” She walked to go around him. She had to get back to the restaurant and get to work, because what else could she do at this point? When she got home tonight she’d wallow in the disappointment of messing up what could’ve been an unreal first meeting, but right now she had to just forget about it, or she’d dissolve in a puddle of tears.

  As she walked toward him, Mike backed up a couple more steps until his back hit the restaurant wall. That ticked her off. She wasn’t armed and dangerous.

  She planted her hands on her hips and demanded, “If you think I’m such a crack job, why’d you follow me out here anyway?”

  “Well, the young redhead …”

  “Kelly,” she supplied.

  “She told me you … wanted to meet me and told me you’d be out here.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Do you regularly follow fans into dark alleys to ‘meet them’?” So at one point, he had wanted to meet her? He sure hadn’t acted like he’d wanted to meet her; he’d acted like she was insane. Which, she guessed she could give him. She had acted a little nuts.

  “No,” he admitted.

  “Why did I get so lucky?”

  “You’re Ally’s sister, so I figured … you’d be safe.” The look on his face didn’t say he thought she was safe at all. Was the tough Mike Kohler, in reality, a wimp who was afraid of super fans? “I didn’t get the chance to meet you at her and Preston’s wedding, so I thought I’d come say hi. Sorry I interrupted … whatever you were doing.”

  She nodded. This was going … marginally better. At least they were having a somewhat normal conversation. Though she wished he’d followed her out here because he thought her food was fabulous or her face beautiful, but having him want to meet Ally’s sister wasn’t awful. Both her sisters were famous in their own rights. Ally, as the marketing genius for the Patriots and wife to wide receiver Preston Steele, and Kim, who’d been a Disney star as a teenager and was getting back into acting after taking a long break because of a stalker. Shar was prouder of her sisters than any mother; prouder than her own mother that was for sure. “I’m sorry you saw that. I was giving myself the pump-up-the-team-at-halftime-when-we’re-losing-by-twenty speech.”

  “Oh, that’s what that was.” His smile slipped out, and she was the one faltering back a step. He was so incredibly irresistible, and she just wanted to freeze this moment. Those lips and sparkling dark eyes, his sculpted face and that beautiful chocolate brown skin. She wanted to squeal. Mike Kohler was smiling at her. “Well, it was nice to have met you,” he said. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

  And just like that, the dream was over. He’d obviously thought he wanted to meet her because she was Ally’s sister, and who in their right mind didn’t love Ally? Then he’d realized Shar needed a psychiatrist, not a date, because of the way she’d acted. So he was moving right along. Sadly, she couldn’t say that she blamed him.

  “Nice to meet you too,” Shar murmured.

  He nodded to her and strode back out of the alley. She watched him go. It was a beautiful picture, and she thought there might at least be a chance. He’d eat one of her specialties and fall in love with her cooking. After the meal was over, she could walk out and chat with him, flirt like a normal fangirl, and somewhat remedy this nightmare. There was still hope.

  Her jaw dropped, and her stomach churned, when he kept walking right on. He went toward the parking lot without even glancing back at her or inhaling the tantalizing scents coming from her kitchen. She sagged against the restaurant wall for a few seconds. A few disappointed tears squeaked out. She gave herself a ten-count, and then brushed the stupid tears brusquely away and headed back to the kitchen. Facing Kelly and Anna was going to bite the big one, but sometimes you won, and sometimes you lost. Tonight, Shar had failed big time.

  “What did you make of that?” Mike asked as he sat in the backseat of the bulletproof Escalade. Gunner was driving, and Lily sat in shotgun. They were headed to another r
estaurant across the island for dinner.

  “I thought she was chill when I met her at Preston and Ally’s wedding, but tonight? Definitely nuts,” Gunner said.

  “She’s funny, and I’ve always liked her,” Lily said.

  Mike hated to agree with Lily, but as he thought back over the conversation, she was funny, and he kind of liked her too. That was insane as she showed so many possibilities of being his stalker.

  Gunner rolled his eyes at his wife, which earned him an elbow in the gut. “If you look past the crazy, she does have a good sense of humor. I’ll give you that,” Gunner said. “But I’m definitely contacting Sutton while you two get tables for dinner. There are so many red flags with that chick. We have no choice but to check her out as a suspect and put up surveillance at her restaurant and home.”

  “Agreed.” Mike leaned back against the cushions and looked out at the illuminated beautiful homes sliding by, massive trees in their yards looking a bit eerie against the night sky.

  Red flags. Lots of red flags. And he definitely wanted to stay far away from his stalker. Yet why was he so attracted to Shar Heathrow when she showed signs of being his stalker? He’d been as confused by his reaction to her beauty and the funny way she phrased things as he was by how off she came across. But there was something in her dark eyes that was appealing and very sane. If she was his stalker, would she really have made a comment about knives and said he was “the superstar of her dreams”? He didn’t think so, but how did he know how a stalker would act?

  It was good that Gunner was checking into her and getting Sutton on it. Yet Mike still hoped sometime this weekend he’d get to see her again. He’d never admit that to Gunner, but as Lily gave him a wink over her shoulder, he thought maybe she’d understand.

  Chapter Three

  Shar awoke at five-thirty the next morning and headed out to the biking and running paths that crisscrossed her beautiful Hilton Head Island. You’d think, with getting home after eleven p.m., she’d be able to sleep in, but no. Her body was just wired to go, and she woke and pushed herself physically every morning. Then, she got to the restaurant by ten to start lunch, and usually worked until closing at ten, even if she wasn’t scheduled to.

  She ran along the beautiful path under the live oaks with Spanish moss dripping from them, past the famous PGA golf course and so many beautiful homes. She noticed quite a few alligators in the lagoons next to the trail, but her mind was focused on her conversation with Mike last night. She was humiliated that he’d seen her so unhinged. She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, but the pit in her stomach wouldn’t disappear. Mike Kohler. Her dream man had come to talk to her in reality. And she’d completely messed it up.

  She saw a runner coming the other direction. There were often runners and bikers along these trails, but it was usually pretty quiet this early in the morning. The person coming was tall and built. She felt a little twinge of worry and fingered the pepper spray in her pocket. The man got closer, and in the pre-dawn light, she could see smooth, brown skin in a tank top and shorts, and the most handsome face on the planet. Mike Kohler. Her heart leaped with excitement, even as she told herself she should just stay away and not push him toward nominating her for the asylum. Did they even have asylums any more, or was that politically incorrect? Hmm. She’d have to Google that.

  Mike’s gaze met hers, and he blinked in surprise. Slowing, he stopped in front of her. “Hey,” he said softly.

  “Oh, hey.” She wanted to say something funny but didn’t want to scare him away again.

  He tilted his chin at her and gave a very forced smile. “These trails are great.”

  “Yeah. I’m a lucky duck getting to live here and run the trails or the beach every morning. Show off my superhuman speed.” She pumped her eyebrows. “I’m faster than Dash. You know, from the Incredibles?”

  “For sure.” His smile seemed a little softer. Apparently, he at least appreciated her goofy sense of humor.

  “Do you want to race?” she asked.

  He actually laughed. It was a great laugh. “You do realize I run the forty in under four-forty.”

  “Ooh.” She pursed her lips and pretended a shudder. Yes, she knew that. She knew most of his stats. “That is fast. Come on then, let’s see it.” She took off running as hard as she could. She knew he could easily catch her, and maybe he’d think she was crazy again for trying to race him, but it was super fun to banter with him, and him chasing after her would fulfill so many fantasies.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw he was watching her with a bemused smile. She beckoned to him. “Come on! Don’t make me beat you, superstar.”

  He pushed off then and sprinted toward her. His eyes changed quickly from laughing to concerned. “Shar!” he yelled, pointing.

  Shar turned back around and realized that the path had curved, and she was flirting with the edge. The edge that went down to one of the many lagoons next to these paths, lagoons that were full of alligators.

  Shar screamed and tried to correct her footing, but she was already sliding in the loose gravel down the steep incline. She could spot several alligators. One was half out of the water not far below her, and the scream caught in her throat as icy horror encased her body and seemed to seal off her vocal cords.

  Mike’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm, easily hauling her back up the hill. Shar scrambled for solid footing and landed back on the trail with Mike’s arm wrapped around her lower back. She flung both arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. “Big teeth, alligators, scary, bite my head off,” she stuttered out, trembling as she clung to him.

  Mike held her close and murmured, “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

  His strong arms around her felt so safe and secure, and the trembling gradually changed from fear of becoming an alligator’s breakfast to the euphoria of him holding her close. She knew she worked too much and didn’t date often, but she was certain this was an over-the-top hug. The tingly, good feelings that Mike’s body infused into her as he held her had never been matched with previous manly embraces. He smelled wonderful, clean and crisp, and she wanted to just bury her head in his chest and never let go.

  He stepped back first. Of course, he did, but he stared down at her with such protection and depth in his gaze, she almost fell back into the alligator-filled pond. “You’re okay,” he muttered.

  “I didn’t even get a toe, or a finger, nibbled off,” she reassured him.

  He chuckled, and then he was hugging her again. Wow. She’d take a near-miss with an alligator to have this kind of attention from Mike. Closing her eyes, she just hung on for as long as he’d let her.

  Two people were upon them before Shar even noticed anyone approaching. Mike pulled back and then released her completely. “Oh, hey,” he said.

  Shar forced herself to look at the couple, and her eyes widened in surprise. “Gunner? Lily? What are you two doing here?” These were her sister’s in-laws and super cool people. They traveled the world on protection details for Sutton Smith, fighting human trafficking, drug lords, and all sorts of bad dudes. Gunner was super tough, and from what Preston said, had known his entire life that his career would be military and protection. Lily, on the other hand, had ditched her famous singer dad and actress mom when she turned eighteen to live on her own. She’d learned self-defense, and when Gunner rescued her from her mom’s crazy plan to kill them both, she’d convinced him to teach her how to be a security op so they could always be together. Why would they be in Hilton Head? She knew she couldn’t ask because they were probably protecting someone awesome and famous. She stared at Mike. Someone awesome and famous? Could they be his bodyguards? How cool was that?

  Gunner’s face was much too serious, big surprise, but Lily was smiling and welcoming as always. “Hey, Shar! Crazy running into you out here. We’re on a weekend getaway. Ally told us to come eat at your restaurant.”

  “I’d love that. Come by anytime.” A weekend getaway. That made sense. Mike w
as famous but would someone as tough as him need bodyguards like Gunner and Lily Steele? It did seem like overkill. “Do you both know Mike Kohler?”

  “Of course,” Lily said. “Through Preston,” she hastily added.

  Gunner shook Mike’s hand, and Lily gave him a brief hug.

  “You two just out running?” Gunner arched an eyebrow as if they were committing a sin or something.

  “We just ran into each other,” Shar spoke up when Mike didn’t respond besides giving Gunner a stern glance. What was that all about? “And I almost fell in that,” she pointed, “and Mike saved me.” She gave a shudder as a gator slid through the water.

  “Wow.” Lily’s eyes widened. “Watch where you’re going, chickee.”

  “I will, from now on. I challenged Mike to a sprint and wasn’t paying attention.”

  “You challenged Mike Kohler to a sprint?” Gunner’s disbelieving voice showed how mentally slow he thought she was.

  “I was just trying to be funny.”

  Lily elbowed her husband and said, “That is funny. Remember when we first met at that lake in Idaho and I tried to beat you at running, swimming, wakeboarding, fighting.” She ticked off the list on her fingers and winked at Shar. “The only thing I could beat him at was flirting.”

  Gunner actually smiled at his wife, and Shar liked seeing a happy side of him. The guy was way too serious and had the look of, I’m-a-military-man-and-will-kill-you-with-my-bare-hands, down to a science. He wrapped his arm around Lily and said in an undertone, “I’ll let you beat me at anything.”

  Ah, they were so cute. Lily made Gunner soft, and Shar loved that. They stared at each for a beat, but then Gunner glanced back at Mike and Shar and stiffened.

  There was an awkward pause before Lily tilted her head to the side and started walking away. Gunner didn’t move with her, so she grabbed his hand. “We’d better finish our run. We’ll come see you soon, Shar.”

  “Great. It’s on the house for sure.”