She didn’t move. One-twenty. A splash, then the dip of the far side of the raft, told her someone had climbed in. Another splash and dip said three of the good guys were with her.
“It’s me, Liz,” Reese said as he gently laid his hand on her shoulder.
She nodded. One-fifty -sixty -seventy… “One-eighty… No one can possibly hold their breath over three minutes. Right?”
“Don’t give up on your SEAL.” Reese took the spotlight from her and streamed the beam back and forth, skimming in and out of the waves. “If anyone can, it’s him.”
The first glimmer of sunrise sparked on the horizon. A slight pale-yellow glow stretching to sheet the water in daylight.
“Mitch…oh, Mitch don’t do this to me.” She laid her head on the side of the raft and stopped counting. Wiping the wetness from her cheeks, she realized the rain had stopped. Her tears kept flowing. “Please don’t leave me like this.”
“There! There’s one.” Reese tossed the spotlight aside and dove into the water.
She rolled to her knees, searching in the direction he was swimming. Another person jumped out of the chopper and followed his lead. Both of them closed fast on a man half floating, half pulling himself sideways through the water.
Smiling from ear to ear, Liz sucked in a few deep breaths. There was no doubt who she was looking at in the distance. None at all.
“Mitch…Mitch Granger.” She knew her man when she saw him.
Epilogue
Two and a half months later
The assignment had taken four days. Been a success. And was already filed away in a report. Now Mitch had only one thing on his mind—Liz. He’d called from the airport to let her know he’d be the one coming in the house later. Scaring her was not on his agenda. He had other things in mind for his third homecoming from an assignment.
Before he even got the door closed, she raced across the living room, jumped into his arms, and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Hey there, Dance Man.”
“Hey there, yourself.” He pushed the door closed and activated security, all the while nibbling the side of her neck. “I could get used to this greeting real fast.”
Gripping her fingernails into his shoulders, she wiggled her breasts against his chest. “Well, I’ll just have to see what I can do about that.”
While he was busy cupping his hands beneath her ass, she planted one big lips-and-tongue kiss on his mouth. Then whipped her sleep shirt off over her head.
Damn, life was good.
“You did okay while I was gone?” Sliding her to the floor, he pushed his shoes off.
“Yep.” Her hands were busy getting his shorts off. “You still in one piece?”
“Yeah.” He pushed her hands out of the way and ripped the shorts away himself. She was too slow. Way too slow. “You still plan to stay?”
“Looks like I’m here.” She pressed herself close and closer. Skin to skin. Heat to heat. Then looked him in the eyes. “Are you going to ask me that every time you come home from an assignment?”
Good question. Why couldn’t he just let it be? Take what was here and now? See where the path would take them? No, that’s not what he wanted. He needed this to be right for both of them. Going on these two assignments had been his test, too. He’d discovered he knew how to push his personal life aside and do his job. All he wanted now was to be with Liz forever. His choice had been made. What about her?
“That’s not what I asked. Are you—”
“Oh, for all that’s holy.” Panting, she took a step back. “Yes, I’m okay. Yes, I’ll be okay when you’re gone. Yes, I plan to stay forever.” She traced her finger down his chest. “Now, are you just gonna stand there and talk all night? Or are we getting this on, Agent Granger?”
He grinned. Getting this on? Oh, she had no idea how on he felt. “Yes, ma’am. We are”—he shucked the last of his clothes; there was no way they would make it to the bedroom—“getting this—”
They tumbled to the sofa. Made it to bed much, much later. And had a good, long swim the next day.
A week later, the Mariner’s Bar and Grill was packed with OPAQUE agents and their families. Even some CIA and FBI had joined them inside, otherwise they were unofficially guarding the outside. Drake’s semiannual get-together was in full steam complete with burgers and ribs, salad and fries, and, of course, the special shrimp tacos the Mariner’s was known for. Soda and coffee and tea and water flowed like a fountain. But Drake’s rule on only two beers per person had been strictly enforced.
After all, this was a family affair. Complete with Drake handing out pink-wrapped chocolate cigars announcing It’s A Girl. Everyone had been sky-high excited when the DNA test came back saying he was Liz’s dad. She still called him Drake, but her tone sounded more like “Dad.”
“Hey, Mitch.” Reese came over with a few of the other agents. “I was just telling these guys how CT screwed up by giving us too much time to get off the boat before it blew. Our team laid down a winning sprint that day.”
Joey shook his head and headed toward the door to the beach. “How many times are we gonna hear about—”
“Hey, they haven’t all heard the story.” Reese painted the picture with his hands, in broad strokes and storytelling embellishments. “No lie. A CIA crew was on its way to take the boat into port, so Stealth, Josh, and I had volunteered to stay on board until they arrived.”
“Everyone else had left.” Josh stepped farther into the group. “Reese had been using the binoculars, looking at the house lights up and down the beach and—”
“All of a sudden, I see Liz jumping up and down on the deck, waving her arms over her head,” Reese said. “Then some guy comes up behind her and yanks her back inside. That struck a nerve. Something was wrong.”
Dressed in his best black silk suit, black shirt, and black spit-shined shoes, Stealth hung back at the fringes of the growing crowd of agents. The jungle fighter agent liked his privacy.
“The three of us didn’t even take time to think. We just dove into the water. Good thing. The damn boat blew to hell and back before we hit the water.” Josh cleared his throat. “You might say Liz saved our lives.”
Mitch stood silent. Watching his team tell their story of survival made him proud.
“Ten seconds less, and some of us might not be walking with a pair.” Reese swiped his brow. “As it was, there were hardly even singed eyebrows. Isn’t that right, Stealth?”
“All I know is one minute I’m hauling my ass to shore,” Stealth said. “The next, I’m helping Drake keep Mitch from bleeding out on the floor. And what’s Mitch doing? Just lying on the floor taking a nap. Didn’t do a damn thing to help us.”
Mitch narrowed his eyes, furrowed his brow. “Excuse the hell out of me. If you guys had been on time, I wouldn’t have been lying there bleeding out and gasping for air.” He fist-bumped Stealth on the bicep. “Besides, since when do you need help taking down a few bad guys?”
“You think that was bad? I’m the one who talked my CIA buddy into taking his chopper up in a storm.” Reese shook his head. “I even pulled Mitch’s ass out of the water.”
“Well, I’m the one who told him when to jump in the first place.” Stealth leaned forward and took one small hop.
Everyone burst out laughing.
The group of people gathered around grew larger by the minute. Everyone was anxious to know what might be true in the latest story about the escapades of Drake’s elite team—the Shades of Leverage.
Mitch would do anything for his team and any other team that needed an extra man. There was only one thing wrong with telling larger-than-life stories, though—most of the time they were real.
He motioned Liz to join the Shades team as the larger group dispersed to hear other tall tales.
“Where were you?” Mitch couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
She kissed his cheek. “Cat and I were picking up a few shells out on the beach.”
Stealth stretched his neck, s
eeming to search for something. Or someone.
“Joey’s helping her wash off the shells. They might need some help.” Liz pointed toward the beach area.
“She’d better be ready to give language lessons next week,” Stealth grumped.
“Why?”
“Drake’s sending me on a specialized mission. May run into some people who don’t speak English, so I need to be able to fake it enough to live.” Stealth spoke as if he’d just explained why he wanted ice cream instead of cake.
“Okay,” Liz said. “But I meant why would Cat being able to give language lessons be important.”
Stealth glanced toward the door to the beach as it opened. Cat and Joey walked in laughing, then headed in the group’s direction.
Quick as lightning, Stealth looked back at Liz. “She speaks five languages. English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and German. On a good day, she’s like a walking translator.”
“You must be talking about me.” Barefoot, with her shiny, straight, dark hair draped over the shoulder of her colorful caftan, Cat smiled. “Don’t forget Creole, Dutch, Swedish, plus a few other indigenous languages. Oh, and Italian.”
All the agents in the group shook their head in unison. “Trust us. She’s not that good at Italian.”
“I’ve got an idea, Stealth.” The corners of Liz’s lips tipped slightly upward when he looked in her direction. “Why not just take Cat with you on the mission? That way she can translate for you in real time.”
A bubble of silence enclosed the group. No one made a comment. Or a sarcastic joke. Or even cleared their throat. Drake, who’d just walked within earshot of the group, turned and headed back in the direction he’d come. Cat raised her chin, turned, swirling her caftan behind her, then walked away. Clenching his jaw, Stealth narrowed his eyes at Liz and took a step forward.
Placing himself between her and Stealth, Mitch stop-signed his fellow agent. “Ease it on back.”
Stealth stared at him for a few moments. Testosterone playing a game of ping pong between the two men.
Finally, Stealth lowered his eyes, grunted, and shook his head as he glanced in Cat’s direction.
Taking Liz’s elbow, Mitch guided her toward the jukebox area.
“What did I say that upset everyone?” she asked. “All I meant was that I had to use a translator a number of times on my newspaper assignments.”
“Don’t worry, honey. Stealth and Cat will get over it.”
“Um, I smell a story there,” Liz said.
Mitch pulled her into a slow dance as the music from the jukebox eased around the room. “Someday I’ll tell you about it. For now, let it go.”
She giggled as she tweaked his lower lip with her finger, letting the tip of her fingernail trail beneath his chin and down his neck. “What say I let everything go but you?”
He grabbed her fingers and shot her his you’re-gonna-get-in-trouble expression, then kissed her lightly. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Hey, Short Stuff.” Reese looped his arm across Liz’s shoulders. “What are you going to do while Mitch is out fighting the bad guys?”
“I’m going to have some fun of my own,” she said. “I’ve taken a consulting position with some slightly official government agencies.”
Mitch was proud of her, but mostly he was glad she’d found something that made her happy. He included himself in those things that made her happy.
She’d even gone to a movie with him…in a theater…in the dark. Just for her, he’d picked two seats on the end of the row, within easy sight of the exit. Halfway through the show, she’d stopped clutching his hand, but he’d picked hers back up again. He’d missed the warmth of her against his skin.
Drake joined the group, fitting in with them as more than just the Director of OPAQUE that was his official job. “You about ready?”
“Yeah.” Mitch turned to Liz. “The guys have been practicing some moves on the Q40s. Thought they’d give a little show. Why don’t we walk on down to the shoreline and watch from there? That way I can let them know if there’s anything they need to change.”
“Sound like fun.” She tugged off her shoes.
He followed suit, then they walked across the sand, hand in hand, while Drake and the others stayed back on the Mariner’s deck.
Waiting at the shoreline, Mitch squeezed her hand, tipped up her chin, and kissed her. A kiss he hoped relayed that she was more than the love, lust, and good times they’d been having. A kiss he hoped was the key to his future.
“I love you, Liz.”
She palmed his cheek. “I love you, too. Forever.”
They kissed again just as the Shades sped into view on their Q40s. Speed and flips and turns—and a few moves straight out of what not to do on a Q40—received hoots and hollers and applause from the crowd on the deck.
Then Reese, Josh, and Stealth peeled off from the group and headed in to shore, stopping next to each other twenty feet out. Standing balanced on the Q40s’ seats.
“Now or never, man,” Stealth shouted.
Clutching the ring tight in his fist, Mitch turned to Liz and dropped to one knee. He’d never been so scared in his life. He’d never been so sure.
Her eyes lit with anticipation as the depth of what was happening seemed to dawn on her. And, unconsciously, she licked her lips then focused on his eyes and smiled. Waiting…waiting for him.
“I promise I’ll always love you. Always protect you. And always be…damn good and hot in bed.” He held up the ring. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes. Oh, yes, yes, yes.” She slipped her finger into the ring as he pulled her down in the sand.
Once again, the crowd on the deck erupted into hoots and hollers and applause. Dinging their glasses with their fingers. “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.”
“I was afraid you might say no,” Mitch confessed as he rolled them over a couple of times in the sand.
“Don’t you know? You’re my one and only Dance Man forever.” She kissed him nice and gentle, just like the first time they’d kissed back on the Q40.
And, just like then, he wrapped his hand around her head and kissed her with every burning need inside of him. By this time tomorrow night, they’d be home in their own completely remodeled house. The one with a front-row view of the Gulf, a swimming pool shower that opened to the stars, and a soft red throw tossed on the end of their king-sized bed.
He was one lucky man.
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Acknowledgments
Some of my fondest memories center around the water. Growing up, my parents took me to Kentucky Dam or Lake once a week during the summer. After I married, my husband and I raised our sons in a sixty-five-acre lake community, making fun moments swimming and fishing. And years later, we enjoyed more swimming, fishing, and boating at our Lake of the Ozarks waterfront home. Plus, there were lots of water-oriented vacations including Pensacola Beach, Cancun, Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island, and Captiva! Even though I don’t get to the water as often as I’d like anymore, all those memories soothe my soul with remembered shoreline-lapping waves, roaring ocean surf at sunset, and the gentle serenity of watching my fishing bobber float on smooth-as-glass water. Without those times, this book (and others) would not have been possible.
My family is the world to me! Always remember that each one of you is an important piece in the puzzle of my being. Without you all, my heart would be empty. So, thanks for the jokes and laughter, discussions and debates, silliness and love. Keep it coming forever. Love ya’!
I am so grateful to the entire Entangled Publishing group who keeps me on track and makes all the behind-the-scenes work seem so easy. Thanks to Entangled CEO Liz Pelletier for always seeing the new paths in publishing and taking chances on new storylines. And a special round of applause to my EP editor Robin Haseltine—once again you are the best! Every time you push for just a bit more in my hero or heroine, I find another whole layer of my characters.
Then the
re’s my “Cosmos with a Twist” critique group—Michelle Sharp, Linda Gilman, Suzie T. Roos—who never tires of catching me (which isn’t often) when I’ve written something where the hero isn’t being alpha, considerate, masculine, or sexy enough. What would I do without your purple ink scribbles on my first drafts?
To all my readers, I appreciate that you follow me on my social media sites, join my newsletter group, stop to say hello at my book signings, and keep buying my books. You brighten my writing world every time you recommend my novels to your friends, leave a review on one of the book-selling websites, or drop me an e-mail to let me know you enjoyed the story. Plus, you’re the reason I keep putting words on paper, even when the bags under my eyes have bags of their own. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Here’s to riding the waves!
Claudia Shelton
About the Author
Award-winning author Claudia Shelton could write her name before the first day of school, but now she writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and thrillers. In addition, she presents workshops for readers and authors. Her debut novel, Risk of a Lifetime, released to five-star reviews, reached Amazon’s Best Sellers Romance Series Top 100, and was named one of eBooks Galore top reads for 2014. She is also a two-time Daphne Du Maurier (Unpublished) finalist for excellence in mystery. On a personal note, Claudia considers herself a traveler, music lover, and water person. A cool drink while listening to the splash of waves is always nice—so is a mug of hot chocolate in the falling snow. Her main priority is spending time with family, friends, and her two sweet, conniving rescue dogs.
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