The Player
Page 15
Jamie nodded. “She’s…it,” he finally finished, releasing a pent-up breath. And he’d blown the hell out of any chance with her. “I’ve screwed up. I should have told her and I didn’t. And she was right. I’ve had plenty of time, I just…” He laughed bitterly.
“You just thought she’d never have to know,” Payne finished.
“Stupid bastard,” Guy chimed in. “Granted I am not the authority on women that you are, but even I know they don’t like being lied to.”
Payne peered out the window. “Or made a fool of. She thinks she fell for an act, and the longer she ruminates on that, the harder it’s going to be to change her mind.”
He was right, Jamie realized. Whether she’d wanted him to leave or not, by walking away he’d just made himself look all the more guilty. What the hell had he been thinking? Had he lost his freaking mind? He didn’t retreat, dammit. He’d been a Ranger, for chrissakes. He didn’t back down. He’d never walked away from a fight in his life and wasn’t about to start now. Not when he had so much to lose.
Namely her.
Jamie sprang up from his chair and headed toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Guy asked, startled.
“I’m taking that hill,” Jamie said, referencing the old military adage. And he was prepared to die on it if need be. His lips quirked with bitter humor.
Considering Garrett wanted to kill him, that was a distinct possibility.
15
* * *
“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN why you did it, Gramps. It was wrong,” Audrey told him, giving him no quarter.
“Well, I never said I was right,” the Colonel replied with a self-righteous sniff. “I said I did what I thought was right. There’s a difference.”
Though she was angry and aching, Audrey felt a smile pull at her lips. “Are you sure you shouldn’t be an attorney? Because that sounds like a load of crap to me.”
“Young lady,” he scolded.
“Save it,” she replied firmly. “You’re not going to ‘young lady’ me on this. You had no right to do what you did. All of this could have been avoided if you had merely asked me if I was going to marry Derrick. I would have told you.”
He blinked as though the idea had never occurred to him.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter now.” She stood and pushed a hand through her hair. At this point she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts and properly nurse her wounds in private. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll put fresh sheets in the guest bedroom.”
“Oh, I’ve got to go have a little chat with Flanagan before I go to bed,” he said with an ominous chuckle.
Audrey drew up short. “No, you don’t. I forbid it.”
His eyebrows soared up his forehead. “You forbid it?”
“That’s right. No more meddling.” Honestly, Jamie deserved nothing better than a load of brimstone from her grandfather, but she needed to set a precedent here—the Colonel had to start butting out. “You are no longer permitted to meddle in my personal affairs.”
“But—”
For the second time that evening, a knock sounded at her door, then someone burst through.
Only this time that person was Jamie.
Evidently used to it by now, Moses merely lifted his head, saw that it was Jamie and lay down once more. Her grandfather, however, wasn’t so relaxed.
He scowled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” he demanded.
His face a mask of determination, Jamie pointed a finger at him. “Stay out of it.”
“What? Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”
“My former boss,” Jamie replied smoothly. “And I didn’t come here to talk to you.” His gaze tangled with hers, causing the fine hairs on her arms to stand on end and an unwelcome bittersweet pang of joy to rattle her aching heart. “I came here to see you.”
“Get out,” the Colonel ordered.
“Hear me out, Audrey,” Jamie said. “That’s all I ask.”
“You either get out or I’ll put you out,” her grandfather ordered, advancing on him.
“I love her, dammit,” Jamie snapped, rounding on him. “Either shut the hell up or I’ll shut you up.”
Audrey witnessed a phenomenon she’d never imagined she’d ever see—her grandfather speechless.
“Give us a minute, would you, Gramps?”
Though he looked like he wanted to argue, he didn’t. “All right,” he grumbled. He stalked to the back of the house, mumbling something under his breath about “mouthy upstarts” and “in my day…”
Had she really heard him correctly? Audrey wondered, shooting Jamie a questioning glance. Had he really just said he loved her? A hopeful sprout of happiness grew in her chest.
For the first time since he’d charged back into her living room, Jamie looked unsure of himself. It was curiously endearing.
“Audrey, I’m sorry,” he said simply, the sincerest form of an apology. Regret painted his face with worry. “I’m not proud of going along with this. I just—” He paused. “I just wanted out of the military and your grandfather helped make that process easier than it should have been. I owed him. I agreed to a favor.” He shook his head and his intense gaze tangled with hers. “But I never counted on anything like this. And I damned sure didn’t count on coming up here and falling in love with you.” He took a step toward her and grasped her shoulders. “I love you.” A helpless laugh escaped him. “You are—You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I know I was wrong, but—But don’t cut me out over it. This evening you offered me an open invitation. Don’t take it back. Please.”
Audrey considered him a moment. “Why did you make love to me when you’d already gotten the answer you were sent here to get?”
Another helpless laugh rolled out his mouth. “Because I couldn’t not make love to you. I need you.”
A tremulous smile shook her mouth. That had been the answer she’d been hoping for. And she completely understood it, because she needed him, too. She needed that crooked grin and those sexy twinkling eyes. She needed his warmth and his strength and his loyalty and integrity. All of the qualities which had made him a good soldier also made him a good partner. He’d charged up the hill and taken on her grandfather for her, Audrey thought shaking her head. Now, that took courage.
Jamie caressed her cheek, sending a wave of warmth and longing washing through her. Her lids fluttered shut, absorbing the feel of him.
“What do you say, Audrey? Can you forgive me?”
Audrey moved into the safe circle of his embrace, wrapped her arms around his waist, then looked up and pressed a kiss to his jaw. She smiled up at him. “Haven’t you heard? I’m nothing if not forgiving.”
Jamie chuckled, then lowered his mouth to hers.
“No, you’re nothing if not mine.”
Epilogue
* * *
Washington, DC
Three months later…
“I WISH YOU COULD HAVE met him,” Jamie said with a somber sigh. He and Audrey stood in Arlington National Cemetery, next to a plain white marble cross which marked the spot where Danny had been buried. More than a year later and Jamie was still grieving, but thanks to his wife—God, he was proud to call her that, Jamie thought, still in awe—he was allowing himself to mourn instead of blaming himself.
He glanced over his shoulder at Guy and Payne, who were standing a few markers down with the Colonel. The Colonel seemed to be in deep conversation with Payne and, judging from the unhappy look on his friend’s face, he wasn’t enjoying what he was hearing. Welcome to my world, Jamie thought, smiling. He didn’t always enjoy his conversations with the Colonel either.
Garrett had received a commendation this morning and they’d all flown in to be there for him. Despite the interfering way he’d handled things, Jamie still owed him. The man had inadvertently introduced him to the love of his life, after all.
“I wish I could have met him, too.” Audrey sighed. She squeezed his hand.
“Daniel Garrett Flanagan,” she announced matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“If we have a boy,” she said. “We should name him after your friend and my grandfather.”
It was a nice thought, but…Jamie grinned down at her. “I like it, but shouldn’t we worry about that when you actually get pregnant?”
Audrey chewed the inside of her cheek, but didn’t say anything.
Jamie stilled as hope leaped inside him. His heart began to race. “Audrey,” he said slowly. “Are you?” he asked.
A huge grin spread across her lips and she nodded.
Jamie whooped with joy, snatched her up and whirled her around. My God, he thought. He was going to be a father. It was…It was…He shook his head. There were no words.
Except for these. “She’s pregnant!” he bellowed to his baffled friends.
The Colonel beamed at them. “Audrey?” he asked for confirmation.
She nodded again. “Behave yourself and we’ll name a boy after you.”
Guy and Payne sidled over and slapped Jamie on the back. “Congratulations, man,” Guy said, smiling. “We’re honorary uncles, right?”
Jamie grinned. “Definitely.”
Payne looked happy for him, but oddly distracted. And The Specialist rarely became distracted. “Is something wrong?” Jamie asked him, concerned.
“It’ll keep.”
“No,” Jamie insisted. “You can tell me now. What’s wrong?”
He glanced at Audrey, seemed to hesitate. “He just called my favor in.”
So that’s what they’d been talking about. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. He’s going to brief me on the return flight.” He cast Audrey an uneasy look. “There aren’t any more unattached women in your family I need to know about, are there?”
Audrey smiled. “Not that I know of.”
Jamie laughed and wrapped an arm around Payne’s shoulders. “Man, all I can say is, I hope you’re as lucky with your mission as I was with mine.”
Payne grimaced. From the look on his face, he hoped differently.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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®and™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2007
by Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Rhonda Nelson 2006
ISBN 978-1-408-91478-6
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