“Well, answer me!” her mother shouted.
“Tell them that Josh can do anything he puts his mind to. That he’ll be a success. But the one thing he won’t have to endure is being tied down to a wife at eighteen freaking years old!”
Chapter Two
Dixie considered flipping a coin. Heads, she’d run from the stalker who’d followed her across twelve states—or tails, allow Navy SEAL Commander Josh Hunter into her life again.
Both options posed unforeseen perils.
An incoming text beeped and she dug her cell from the outer pocket of her leather purse.
Wait for me.
She snorted. If he’d asked that fifteen years ago, she might have considered his suggestion. Instead, he’d dumped her. She quickly tapped out a response.
Don’t need a babysitter.
Her ex-fiancé had offered to help find the guy who’d sent her creepy notes for years. Offered was the wrong term. He’d learned about the notes and instantly grabbed the reins with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Trapping her in the hallway of the Erotic Bean, he’d reminded her of their sizzling indiscretions as young adults. Followed with a sexually charged warning that time and distance hadn’t changed a thing.
Little did Josh know, everything had changed.
Dixie glanced around the Erotic Bean coffeehouse. The rich, wood-planked floors swept clean, crumbs beneath the maple tables and seating areas vacuumed, and ready for another day. Her staff had completed closing duties before vacating for the evening, which included sanitizing the equipment, restocking the fridges, and filling the hoppers. Four patio tables and their chairs were stacked neatly next to the front door.
Water trickled over the stone feature situated in the middle of her shop, interrupting the silence. Since leaving her childhood home in Utah, she’d learned to accept the life of a lone wolf. Contact with her family consisted of a couple conversations a year with her younger sister.
Now that her stalker had made his presence known again, uncertainty plugged her thoughts like one of her espresso-based ice cream frappés in a straw.
Her phone beeped with another text, but she ignored it. Josh needed a reminder too. She wasn’t one of his SEALs. If he thought he was going to take charge of her life, he was sadly mistaken.
Next to the entrance, the streetlight splashed through the large picture window and washed across Rayne Levy’s favorite spot when she’d visit the shop. A cozy corner with two seats and a palm tree. In a moment of weakness, Rayne had convinced Dixie to reveal her troubles to Josh.
Dix could chalk that up to another mistake. The SEAL wasn’t anything like the guy she’d nearly married.
After one fiery argument they’d gone their separate ways. Josh had joined the Navy and she’d attended college.
All water under a bridge the size of the arched crossing between Coronado Island and downtown San Diego.
It had been a year since Dixie settled here and opened the Erotic Bean. Owning a coffeehouse and bookstore combination had always been her dream. When she’d decided to take the entrepreneurial leap, Dixie could barely afford the lease located on a popular street that bled onto the Silver Strand, where the amphibious base was located.
She’d prayed her idea would pay off. Within a few weeks, new customers became regulars. Her fear of losing everything, including the five-year nest egg she’d saved, vanished.
Until now.
It had taken her stalker longer to find her this time. She could close the coffeehouse, pack her possessions in cardboard boxes and hit the road. U-Haul practically knew her on a first name basis.
The creepy notes had originally appeared twelve years ago, when she’d moved to New York after graduating college. Initially, she’d gone to the police, but law enforcement couldn’t help.
Twelve years and twelve states, but he had always tracked her down.
When she’d arrived in San Diego, Dix rented a small rambler not far from Old Town. The first note showed up in her mailbox a couple days ago. Like always, it was a sheet of paper with a few words.
Thought you could hide from me?
She sighed. No, she didn’t think she could hide, but for him to find her again and again meant he had some way of tailing her. A multitude of possibilities existed. Too tired to dwell on what she’d already rehashed in her mind literally a thousand times, Dixie walked across the shop toward the exit. She dug in her purse until she found the weighty ring of keys.
Time to call it a day. She set the alarm by the main entrance, then slipped outside. Standing in the alcove entry, she locked the door.
The warm May air brushed against her bare arms. A glance at her watch revealed it was ten p.m. The other shops on Orange Avenue that bustled with tourists and locals had already closed, except for Breakers. Loud music pumped from the bar a half block away. A place populated with military types from NAB Coronado, the hangout didn’t pose any competition to her. Breakers served pub food and boasted live music on weekends.
Dixie crossed Orange Avenue after a Porsche convertible rolled past, its shiny hubcaps refracting light from the streetlamps.
As she walked down the deserted sidewalk, her skin prickled with unease. Ever since the notes had started arriving again, she’d been on edge.
Her stalker had violated her business today, depositing his twisted idea of a love letter on a bookshelf. Kent, one of her employees, found the sheet and showed her immediately. It had been the first time her stalker threatened to kill her. A cheap threat. One she didn’t believe for a second.
Taking a left into the back lane behind a group of mom-and-pop shops, she headed for her car. She’d made an arrangement with the owner of Nado Baked Goods, located across the street from the Erotic Bean. Avis was a gal dipping her toes into entrepreneurship and hoping her idea paid off. She didn’t rely on cupcakes and cookies, Avis baked international favorites. Her Tiramisu deserved a wall of blue ribbons.
In return for one of four parking spots behind the bakery, Dixie stocked the Erotic Bean with some of Avis’s products.
Most shops didn’t provide parking on Coronado. Square footage cost a premium on the island. Visitors could find an empty spot along a sidewalk for an hour or so to have lunch or wander through the boutique shops, but Dixie’s hours were a lot longer than that.
Without any streetlights, the moonless night pressed in on all sides and her nerves tightened. She wore comfortable flats not only to last the fourteen-hour work day, but if necessary, to outrun her unwanted admirer if he ever showed himself.
Sick of being emotionally terrorized by a guy who kept to the shadows, she wished he’d confront her.
The bass from Breakers’ Saturday night band thumped in the background. In the distance, the haunting tone of a siren wailed. Coronado was a relatively safe place, but she didn’t feel safe anymore.
Dix heard footsteps. Her pulse ticked faster. Stopping, she turned to gaze down the deserted lane. Dark blue garbage bins lined the rear of the shops. Palm fronds dotted the gravel-covered ground.
Adrenaline leeched into her blood, tingling with warning. Car keys in hand, she walked backwards, looking for any shadow that moved.
She was so sick of this. Of him.
With her gaze strained to even the minutest movement, she wasn’t prepared for a hand to grip her shoulder from behind.
She screeched and whirled around, thrusting herself backward at the same time.
“Easy, Dix. It’s me.”
Josh Hunter stood towering over her, his rugged features set in stone.
“You scared the shit out of me!”
He shrugged. “I told you to wait for me, but this worked just as well.”
With her heart pounding, she skewered him with a glare of disapproval. “Why is that?”
Josh gazed over her head, surveying the area. “Wanted to see if anyone followed you.”
“I thought I heard footsteps down that way.” She nodded toward the street.
He crossed his arms, his thick
biceps stretching the navy blue t-shirt. “It was a young couple. Probably heading to Breakers.”
She clicked her vehicle fob and the older than dirt BMW sports car beeped and the driver’s door unlocked with a click.
“I’ll follow you home,” he stated.
Dix spied a black Dodge pickup parked at the other end of the narrow lane. A waist-high hedge bled through the mesh fence, separating the alley from a ramshackle house.
“That yours?” she asked.
He lifted his hand and clicked his own fob. The lights on the truck flashed once. Guess that was a “yes.”
“If you don’t want to go home, we can head over to Breakers for a drink,” he suggested. “Looks like you need one.”
Loud music and rambunctious sailors grinding their stuff on the dance floor was the last thing she needed. “I’ll pass. Besides, aren’t you SEALs all about physical fitness and healthy lifestyles?”
He grinned. “I’m healthier than ten athletes put together, Dixie. If I have a beer once in a while, doesn’t mean a one-way ticket to Hell.” He paused. “Believe me, I’ve seen Hell. Many times.”
Dix had recently learned that Navy SEALs were sent on extremely dangerous missions. She’d scoured the internet to learn about the elite force after Josh showed up in her shop months ago. Seeing her old boyfriend had shocked her system, their reunion far from pleasant.
Since that first meeting, he’d kept his distance, although she’d seen him come into the Erotic Bean with other men, probably Special Operators like himself.
“I’m tired, Josh. Some other time.”
Instead of the khaki clothes he’d worn earlier when he’d found out about the notes, he wore Navy slacks, or whatever they called their camouflage-spotted uniforms. Her exposure to the military was negligible. Even though many of her customers worked at the base, she didn’t know the nuances between the Forces.
Regardless, her ex certainly suited the alpha warrior persona and looked hot as hell in a uniform.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“I am, but way past exhausted. Crackers and cheese is about all the prep work I want to worry about.”
He grinned and their lengthy hiatus evaporated. The creases around his eyes and across his forehead had deepened over time. Blessed with perfect white teeth, his smile served as a calling card and used to attract every girl in high school. Josh wore his thick, brown hair in a style longer on the top, but short on the sides. Nothing like a buzz cut that many of his ilk wore. At eighteen, he’d been cocky. Now, his assuredness surrounded him like a shield of strength. But she did notice one thing. His dark blue eyes held secrets in their depths. The weight of his experiences in the Special Forces had stolen his innocence. His cocky aura had altered to cautious. An air of calm control radiated from the guy she’d once played with as a girl, then loved as a young woman.
“I’ll pick up some Chinese on the way,” he said.
“Not if it’s deep-fried everything.”
She tried to consume healthy, whole foods. Hamburgers and fries were a naughty indulgence she resisted—most of the time. The same would go for the rapid pulse Josh caused in her veins. Ignoring her sizzling attraction would be the smartest choice.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Head home, I’ll be right behind you.”
When he’d trapped her in the hallway outside her office today and whispered an erotic tale of their future in her ear, a nearly forgotten flame roared through her body. She’d doused her sex-starved libido quickly, but the embers still glowed.
Dix didn’t know him anymore. He didn’t know her.
Sighing, she looked up at him. “I get that you’re a take-action kind of guy. Probably more so now that you’re a SEAL, but staying at my place isn’t necessary. I’ve been dealing with this guy for years. I doubt he’ll reveal himself.”
Josh chuffed out a short laugh. “I humbly disagree. The notes he sent in the past have always indicated a sense of distance. Today’s note took a different turn. A physical one.”
“Do you think he’s watching me all the time?” Her ex-fiancé’s gaze kept circling the buildings, even the rooftops. “He’s a stalker, not a sniper, Josh.”
“What?” The creases next to his eyes deepened and he chuckled. “Get your stubborn ass in the car, Dix.”
After opening the driver’s door, she asked, “Don’t you need my address?”
He shook his head. “Got it already. I’ll be there soon. Any sign of trouble, call me.”
His effort to help her didn’t make sense. They hadn’t parted on good terms all those years ago.
She tossed her clutch purse onto the passenger seat. “No one can catch him. Why bother trying?”
Josh removed the space between them until he stood a few feet away. His familiar, rugged features reminded her of how much he’d meant to her at one time.
He nudged his head to signal she should get moving. “If it means you’ll stay in San Diego, then I’ll catch him.”
Gazing into his stern blue eyes, she saw determination rather than bullshit. “You’re wasting your time.”
He backed away. “Straight home. No stopping.”
She saluted him. “Yes, sir.” And slid behind the wheel, then opened the driver’s side window.
After she’d left for college, she’d missed him. Numerous times she’d picked up the phone to call his parents’ house, but hung up before dialing. Josh had obviously found his dream, but never tried to find her. What they had as teenagers was part of a scrapbook of adolescent memories.
He’d done more than succeed in life. Josh had found the perfect career that matched the man she always knew he’d become. Brave. Solid. Dependable. Dixie’s concern deepened. Allowing Josh to insert himself into her life of loose ends wasn’t a smart move for her or for him. Her stalker wouldn’t approve. The threatening change in his latest note confirmed that. As bizarre as it was, her warped admirer had been the only consistent relationship she’d had for twelve years.
“Hey.” Josh palmed the frame of her door. “Problem?”
“What? No. I’m just trying to look into the future. I’m not sure I want your help.”
He leaned down to gaze at her. “I don’t care if you want my help or not. This guy has harassed you for too long. It stops now.”
She flicked a glance his way. “Don’t you have a terrorist to kill or something like that?”
His jaw stiffened and he narrowed a look of suspicion at her. “Why are you resisting my help, Dix?”
She inhaled the warm spring air to clear her mind. “I know I agreed earlier to let you help me, but I don’t want this situation to escalate. Yes, he’s a pain in my ass, but after all this time, I’ve learned to live with it.”
“Doesn’t make it right, sweetheart. Guys like this can change course and become a real threat. I don’t want you in his cross-hairs. You’re going to stand down and let me catch him.”
“You were always sure of yourself, but I don’t remember you being this bossy.”
“Guess I polished some rough edges since you told me to take a hike.”
Dixie squeezed the steering wheel with both hands. “I didn’t say that, and you know it. I wanted a degree after graduation, not a laundry basket filled with diapers. You’re the one who threw everything out the window and never looked back.”
He nodded, his lips tightening. “Yeah, I did. Because if I hadn’t, you would have stayed.”
“What?” She blinked.
“You know as well as I do, you would have buckled under your parents’ pressure. You’d have been miserable married to me. One of us had to leave. So I did.”
Dix turned the key in the ignition. “Yeah, you sure did. Without even a goodbye. You dumped everything in my lap. No surprise, my family blamed me.”
Josh rested his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “That was a mistake. One that I regretted but later rectified.”
“What do you mean you rectified?”
He sighed and s
quatted by her door. “About six months after I left, I called your father. I told him that you and I were too young and ambitious to settle down. If he needed to lay blame at someone’s feet, he could lay it at mine.”
She’d never spoken to her father again after boarding the bus to Pennsylvania. Nor her mother. She’d been blacklisted, but she’d expected nothing less. “How did he respond?”
“As you would probably guess. He told me they hadn’t heard from you. Said evil is cast out one way or the other, and the stain of sin was gone. Then he hung up on me.”
Dix snorted. “You’re right, I’m not surprised.” She stared through her windshield at the brick exterior wall of the bakery. “Why did you bother calling him?”
Josh shrugged a shoulder. “Mom hadn’t heard a thing after you left. I wanted to know if you were all right.”
“You knew where I was going to school.” She plucked up enough nerve to look into his eyes. “You could have found me if you’d wanted to.”
“Didn’t think you wanted to see my face.”
“Yeah. And what makes you think I want to see you now?”
His lips curled with amusement. “Think you’ve made it plain that you don’t, but it doesn’t mean I can’t take care of your problem. Which I will.” He stood. “Get moving. I’ll be right behind you.”
Josh was more of a threat than her stalker. She’d have to keep her wits about her and her ex at arm’s length.
Chapter Three
Josh knew a good card player never gave away his hand with a poker tell. The same could be said for a Special Operator. The rule always applied when engaging the enemy, but Dixie wasn’t his enemy.
She was the exception to every rule.
He’d found that out the hard way when she put the brakes on their wedding. Josh had responded without thinking things through and shut her out. Ended their relationship. He’d expected her to cry, maybe try to convince him otherwise. Dixie did neither. She’d straightened her shoulders and walked away. At eighteen, he’d been an arrogant prick. Not to be outdone, he’d packed a bag and joined the Navy.
Dixie Under Siege (A Warrior's Passion Book 2) Page 3