Because he was quite possibly the best thing that’d ever happened to her.
His quiet support, the way he believed in her, accepted her for who she was, all of it, was something she’d never before experienced. And how did she treat him? She’d nearly thrown it all away.
The EMT fussed at her a bit more, but she had no intention of going to a hospital anytime soon.
Shane sat by her, holding her hand the whole time.
The FBI agents on scene weren’t done chewing out Kyle for their little rescue stunt. If Shane’s team hadn’t done what they did, if they hadn’t rushed in, she’d have been dead. Without a doubt.
“You sure you won’t go to the hospital with us?” the EMT asked for the tenth time.
“I’m sure.” She didn’t want a doctor poking and prodding at her after everything.
“She’ll see someone tomorrow,” Shane said.
She glared at the side of his head, because it was habit. Deep down, the part of her that was getting used to his must-be-in-control mannerisms got all warm and fuzzy.
Shane at least meant to hang around until tomorrow so he could twist her arm into seeing a doctor.
“All right. Fine. Go.” The EMT did not seem happy about their decision, but it wasn’t like he could force her to go with him.
Shane stepped out of the ambulance and helped her down.
Officers and agents were still walking the building, covering it from top to bottom.
“Come here.” Shane pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.
She sniffled and buried her face against his chest, glad his Kevlar vest was gone for now.
“Hey, there’s no reason to cry. Aanya and Dev are on their way to her family’s hotel. Marcos and his guys are in custody. Everything’s fine.” Shane stroked her back, his soothing words not even touching the heart of the matter.
She opened her mouth, trying to form words, but they came out in a jumble. Her thoughts were so mixed she couldn’t pick a place to start.
“Lacey? Hey, take a breath. It’s okay.” He cupped her face in his hands.
But it wasn’t okay. Didn’t he get that?
She could have died.
This moment could have never happened.
She swiped at her face and took a deep breath, her abused throat protesting.
“What’s wrong?” Shane tugged her closer, still trying to fix things.
“I just—”
“Hey?” Isaac leaned around the rear of the vehicle.
Lacey glanced at Isaac, the moment getting away from her.
“Give us a minute,” Shane said in a hard tone that brokered no argument.
Isaac rolled his eyes and groaned.
“Lacey—”
“Shane, this is crazy.” Her voice broke. She laid her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes. For once, she couldn’t say what needed saying looking at him. “I just—I made a mistake before when I said—whatever. I think I’m in love with you, and I could have died without really wrapping my head around that and...”
She hiccupped, her voice failing her, overwhelmed by the intensity of it—and Shane’s silence.
“Come on.”
“Shut the fuck up and go sit down, Isaac,” Shane said without taking his eyes off Lacey.
She had her eyes screwed shut, and her face looked as though she were in pain.
Wasn’t that how the song went?
Love hurts.
He’d been ready for that, prepared his head a little for the eventual swift end of things, but this? It blindsided him.
What did he say?
He’d counseled himself to keep his thoughts to himself, that any feelings he had toward her were unwanted and not reciprocated. Everything had been shaken up and turned on its head now.
Shane cupped Lacey’s face and swiped his thumbs over her cheeks.
Her skin was still damp from her earlier crying jag, which she’d hated. A strong woman like her didn’t take to being helpless well, and love had a way of removing all that carefully-crafted control. Ever since that moment he’d given in and kissed her he hadn’t truly been the one calling the shots.
“Lacey? Look at me, sweetheart?”
“Do I have to?”
“I’d like you to.”
She didn’t immediately open her eyes.
The stubborn ass was likely considering it just to irritate him, but her strong-willed nature was one thing he liked about her. She didn’t capitulate to his wishes because it was what he wanted, it had to be what they both desired.
Lacey cracked one eye open, then the other.
“I realized watching you flirt our way into the airport that I’d gone and fallen for you when you stuck your finger under my nose and told me to stop overreacting. I don’t think I’ve stopped falling yet.”
“Oh my God, that’s like, sappy perfect. Who are you?” She pinched his cheek and sniffled.
“Stop that.” He frowned, but she just pinched harder. “I take it back.”
“You can’t do take-backs. You don’t fall up.” She stared up at him, all the kidding aside. “I don’t think this is a phase. Usually I’d say, give it an hour, it’ll pass, but...I think I’ve changed.”
“I don’t want you to change. Ever. I fell in love with this stubborn woman just the way she is.”
Epilogue.
Six months later...
Lacey hit the apartment door at a jog. She flung the door open, a list of things to do running through her head.
Shane would be home any moment and she needed to change out of her zoo uniform, double-check the packing list, and record a new vlog. She didn’t know how she’d do all three before he got home, but she had to try.
She sped through her shower, washing off the myriad of smells from the reptile house, and dressed as Shane had instructed, in something travel comfortable. He was picking up her lingo, learning her life, and she still wasn’t tired of being with him.
At the three month mark, she’d begun to panic, wondering if maybe she was broken, if the whole Marcos kidnapping incident had changed her in a way that couldn’t be repaired. Shane had held her hand through the fretting and worry, and in the end they’d taken a trip back to Jamaica so she could face those fears. Looking at that compound, the places she remembered, it didn’t haunt her anymore. She just didn’t have the urge to be on the go constantly.
She took a deep breath and sat in front of her laptop.
As popular as her exotic locations had become with viewers, this new endeavor was just as lucrative. Who would have known that getaways focusing on romantic weekends would be more popular? She was easily bringing in more revenue with fewer hours and dollars spent traveling.
Lacey hit the record button and smiled as the countdown ticked across the screen.
“Hi, guys, Lacey Miles here for a quick update. I’ll be posting to social media this weekend, but I don’t have any idea where we’re going.” She held up her hands and the thrill of excitement unfurled into a full-on body tingle. “That’s right, my Travel Buddy has planned a long weekend trip for us and I couldn’t be more excited. Take a page from this guy’s book, because if you want to surprise your significant other with a trip out of town, he’s mastered the art.”
Lacey ran through her top five list of tips for the mysterious weekend. She left off some of the more personal touches Shane had put into the trip, because not all of their relationship was public and there were some things people did not need to know.
She finished off the vlog with a highlight of what she was working on for the future and closed it off with a smile.
Viewers hadn’t seemed to notice much of a change in her from pre-Jamaica and after, which was good.
There were better things to focus on, like where the hell was Shane taking her?
Lacey hit send on the file, shooting it off to her new editor, a friend of Shane’s boss that was another successful YouTuber. No sooner had she clicked on the button than the front door opened.<
br />
“Shane!”
She bounded out of her chair and across the living room before he’d kicked the door shut. He dropped his bag not a moment too soon. She hopped, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. He caught her, bracing a hand on the kitchen bar to the right.
“Do I get to know now?” She batted her eyelashes.
His face creased and his smile spread.
“Nope. Not yet.” He carried her to the kitchen counter and set her bottom on the edge. “Look what came today.”
The postcard was bright and the back full of neat, tight text.
“Aanya?” She pulled the postcard from his fingers and skimmed the words.
While Lacey wouldn’t call Aanya and Dev friends, they were linked by a series of events that would forever make them special to her.
“They said this new treatment is working.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yup.” Shane kissed her cheek. “I’m going to go get ready. We leave in twenty.”
Lacey leaned into the kiss while she re-read the postcard.
Life worked in strange ways.
After Marcos’ arrest, there was no one to pay the bills for his son to continue receiving the experimental treatment that was his only hope at a future. The child should have been brought back to America and put into the foster system, since there were no remaining relatives. Instead, Aanya and Dev had seen a child they were uniquely prepared to help, and with Marcos’ begrudged blessing, they adopted their kidnapper’s son.
It simply drove home the fact that good could come from bad.
After all, she got Shane and a lifetime of love to look forward to.
Shane’s insides were knotted so tight. It was a strength of will to keep his knee from bobbing the whole ride to the airport.
Lacey chattered away, doing her best to guess. She had their whole list memorized, but that was the problem. She was working off a list they’d come up with together of places to go for a weekend.
They weren’t going for a weekend.
He’d gone behind her back to her boss and explained what it is he wanted to do. It hadn’t taken much convincing, once he’d pulled out the ring box. He’d all but been tossed out of the office and told to leave immediately, but that couldn’t happen. Trips like this took some planning.
Their taxi pulled up to the curb at the airport. He got out, paid the driver, and took possession of their bags, while Lacey had their carry-ons. She’d fussed about so much stuff, but he’d been firm.
“Do I get to know now?” Lacey tipped her head back and sighed with all the dramatics of a much put-upon toddler.
Her excitement was infectious, and he could neither deny her the knowledge or keep her from it any more.
“You’ll be needing this.” Shane handed over her passport and her brows rose. “Come on. We’re cutting this close.”
He used the self check-in kiosk just in the door to print their boarding passes and baggage tags.
“South Africa?” Lacey practically screeched the words. She smacked his arm. “Are you serious?”
“Ouch. Elder abuse, damn it.” He rubbed his arm.
“Shane!”
He checked their bags while she bounded along next to him. The cat was out of the bag and he could grin now. Almost four weeks of hatching this plan, and he could finally enjoy it.
“But we’re only going to be there three days. We’ll spent most of our time on planes.” Her shoulders dropped, and she stared up at him with a heartbroken expression.
Shane cupped her cheeks.
“About that—we’re going to be gone for ten days.”
“What?”
“I cleared it with your boss. Now you see why I was adamant about bringing so much stuff?”
“Are you serious?” She bounced on the balls of her feet.
“Come on, before we get left behind.” He took her hand and they ducked into the security line.
Lacey kept glancing at him, her whole face glowing.
He liked this look on her. It never got old. Life excited Lacey, in all its forms. She got as excited about South Africa as she did going to the park or spending a night that was just the two of them. She put wonder back into his world and helped him see that there was magic in the every day.
They cleared security without a problem and strolled hand in hand toward their gate.
“What are we doing in South Africa?” she asked.
“Well, do you remember suggesting once that a guy like me could be of use to the nature preserves?”
“Yes.”
“I got in touch with one of your friends and they helped me find a place. We will be assisting with a vaccination project for two days, and then have the rest of the time to explore the park. I figure we can take a look around, see if it’s something we’d be interested in...say a few years?”
Lacey skipped a few steps.
“It would have to be a few years. The Antiguan Racers aren’t even breeding weight yet. I can’t leave that project to anyone else.” She continued to chatter on about her precious pair of reptiles at the zoo, further confirming that this was a good plan for them.
He couldn’t wait for tomorrow night. They’d be jet lagged as hell, but he didn’t want to wait any longer. Spending the rest of his life with this woman was the best decision he’d ever made.
You can stay up to date on the whole Alpha Team crew in Dangerous in Action, coming this October.
Sign up for the New Release Newsletter at www.SidneyBristol.com to get inside scoops and free books.
Dangerous Attraction
Aegis Group 1
Ex-Navy SEAL Travis Ration is an expert hunter. Whether his prey is criminal or victim, he always gets his mark. He's no hero, just a man doing his job. It’s all he has after a felony conviction after a bad judgment call. When the FBI call in a favor and ask him to look into a serial killer over the holiday break, he jumps at the opportunity to fill the long, cold days with something besides regret and bad movies. In Las Vegas, he's on the hunt for a prolific serial killer no one wants to admit exists. The leads are dry and the evidence gone, until she walks into his life. Bliss Giles—curvy, sassy and everything he can't have.
What’s worse, Travis knows Bliss’ sister is the killer's latest victim. She fits the profile. Time is running out and the fastest way to retrace the killer's path is with Bliss at Travis' side. In the seat of danger. He vows to keep Bliss safe and his hands to himself, after all, a nice girl like her doesn't need a guy like him in her life. Too bad no one told Bliss Travis was off-limits. She tests his boundaries and pushes his control every minute they're together until he can't remember why wanting her is a bad idea.
The hunters become the hunted in this tale of serial killers and SEALs for hire. One broken man must unpack his baggage, a woman has make a leap of faith and a sister chooses to live in this new, romantic suspense serial by NYT & USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Bristol.
Warning: Hold onto your panties, because nothing is safe.
Dangerous in Training
Aegis Group 2
Disgraced Navy SEAL Mason Clark knows how to track his prey. He is an expert operative with a history of wrong-place-wrong-time luck. Landing a gig as a vacation bodyguard should have been an easy job—if he wasn't supposed to be protecting her body.
Hannah Stevens. His boss's virgin daughter. Their lust is forbidden and a relationship is out of the question—but what happens in Mexico is their secret. Getting lost between the sheets is their one and only goal, until Hannah's friends are brutally kidnapped by a human-trafficking ring. Things quickly spiral out of control when the kidnappers put Hannah in their cross hairs.
Mason is a man ready to put it all on the line to rescue the woman he loves. Love and honor are put to the test in this new, romantic suspense series by NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Bristol.
Warning: Deflowering virgins doesn't come with volume control.
Dangerous Games
Aegis Group 3
Ex-Navy SEAL Zain Lloyd is good with his hands and even better with his head. As the chief intelligence officer for the private security firm, Aegis Group, it's his job to tackle problems before they costs his friend's their lives. Which is why R&R time away from the high-stress environment is always a top priority, and a week at ComicCon is just what this closet-geek wants most, until a fateful elevator ride with the woman of his internet fantasies.
Andrea Clark can't trust anyone, least of all the mysteriously sexy man she meets outside of her trashed hotel room. But Zain might be her only hope of making it through the convention and home alive. He's her very own superhero, made of all the stuff to make her fall fast and hard. With no safety net in place, she can only pray that Zain will catch her when she falls.
A web of lies and deceit ensnare two lovers. Zain must use more than his brain and quick fingers to put a stop to the doxxing and death threats before a killer emerges from the ranks of Andrea's friends.
Warning: The geeks do it better.
Dangerous Assignment
Aegis Group 4
Veteran Navy SEAL Luke Briar has a solution for every problem, except when his latest job goes sideways. Things were so much simpler when all he had to worry about was how to put a smile on Abigail's face, though nothing he does chases the shadows from her eyes. Now Luke and his lovely new partner must protect a pair of criminals from people trying to kill them.
Abigail is a lie. Everything about her is false, but keeping the truth from her partner is becoming increasingly difficult. Her mission was simple, kill two internationally wanted criminals and get out. But she wasn't counting on him. Luke. He awakens parts of her she long thought were dead. But people like her don’t get second chances at life, and her betrayal will crush any happiness they might have had. Falling for Luke can't happen.
When the tables are turned and someone else gets to Abigail's targets before she can, all hell breaks loose. Luke doesn’t know if the woman he’s fallen for is a terrorist or something worse. Explosive desire isn't a license for murder, but he can’t live without her. With the authorities closing in, Luke must decide who to trust—law or love.
Dangerous in Love (Aegis Group Alpha Team, #1) Page 22