Delicate Promises

by Kelly Elliott

  “Why me?” I asked again.

  “Honestly? You’re one of the best, if not the best, sharpshooter I’ve ever seen. You have yet to miss a mark, and you’re quick on your feet. You can think under intense pressure, and you’re not afraid to take on a challenge. You don’t have anything tying you down at home. No wife, no kids. You’re the perfect person for the job.”

  An image of Kynslee popped through my mind. I had been planning on going home on leave next week to surprise her for her birthday. I was going to ask her to commit to me, exclusively, now that my time was almost up in the Marines.

  I’d wanted to commit to her that night, before I left for boot camp, but I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t sure if I was scared, worried she’d say no, or honestly not sure where my life was going. Kynslee had hinted to there being an us, and I had no idea how to respond to it at the time. Hell, I was twenty, brushing death every time I turned a corner it seemed like. The last thing I had wanted to do was drag Kynslee into that world. The idea of her worrying about me or being scared when I couldn’t contact her for weeks at a time…it wasn’t something I wanted for her. For either of us. I’d seen too many of my fellow brothers losing out on the women they loved because of our dangerous jobs.

  The other dark side to the lives we led involved cheating, which happened a lot since we were away from home for months at a time. I didn’t want Kynslee dealing with any of that, always wondering and worrying, so I convinced myself that I needed to let her go. At least for the time being. Then she’d seen the picture posted on my Facebook page of me kissing some girl I’d met when a few buddies of mine went out one night to blow off some steam. That didn’t lead anywhere, but it was enough to push Kynslee into dating some douche bag in college. And enough to make me delete all social media. Not that I was trying to hide anything from her. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Kynslee.

  Doug’s voice brought me back to the now.

  “Unless you’re leaving to get back home to someone?” Doug asked with a raised brow.

  When I didn’t say anything, he sweetened the deal. Taking out a piece of paper, he wrote down a number and slid it across the table. My eyes widened in shock.

  “What’s this?”

  “Your sign-on bonus. Give us five more years, Warner. Five years and then you can walk away and head back to your farm in Texas. I would imagine this type of money will probably pay off your mom’s home and the farm.”

  My eyes lifted from the number up to him. This would not only pay off the farm, it could take care of Steve and Lana, and leave me a nice little nest egg to start my life. “More than pay it off, sir.”

  He smiled like he had already known that. They had clearly done their homework and knew money would be my weakness—the whole reason I’d enlisted in the first place—and they were right.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. The idea of having enough money to take care of my family was too hard to pass up. I’d gotten us back on track with the mortgage by sending my mom every spare dime. As much as I wanted to get back to Hunt, to my family and friends, to Kynslee, I wanted to give my mother peace of mind, and this money would do it. Even if it meant I’d risk losing the one person I wanted most of all, even if it caused her to move on without me. I’d go home and explain everything to Kynslee. Maybe she would understand the reasons why I’d had to sign on for five more years. If she loved me, she’d realize I had no choice and she’d wait for me.

  “I’ll do it. But I need to make one thing happen every year, no matter where I am.”

  Doug looked intrigued.

  He nodded. “Okay. What’s the one thing you need done?”

  “I need to be able to call a friend on September 29.”

  Doug lifted a brow, not sure whether to agree to this or not. The logistics of this request could put the entire group in danger depending on where we were and what we were doing. He was probably thinking their background check on me had missed something, or someone, very important.

  “Girlfriend?”

  “No. Just someone very special to me.”

  He smiled. “You’ll still be able to go home, son, on leave.”

  “I need this one thing, sir. It’s important.”

  He nodded. “I can make that happen.”

  “Then I’ll do it.”

  Both men smiled as they each reached their hands out to shake mine. I had just landed on a small fortune, now I needed to make sure I stayed alive for the next five years to reap the rewards of signing my life away for those I love.

  Present day - Hunt, Texas

  I leaned against the fence and smiled when Kynslee rounded the corner on her horse. She stopped and looked at me, a shocked expression on her beautiful face. Hell, she hadn’t changed a bit in the five years since I’d last seen her.

  Correction, she had changed. She was even more beautiful now. Her eyes raked a slow gaze over my entire body. When my mother told me Kynslee and Jack had broken up after he asked her to marry him, and Kynslee said no, I hadn’t admitted to myself how fucking relieved I had been. Knowing she was with Jack had been the hardest thing I had ever had to endure.

  I had planned on telling her about the CIA the last time we’d been together. My new mission with the Marines. The five more years I had to give them. I had planned on telling her why I had to stay and prayed she would understand. I was going to do the most selfish thing imaginable…I was going to ask her to wait for me. Then I’d gotten the phone call for my first assignment: in Columbia, going after a drug lord who was one of the most dangerous men in South America. My heart dropped listening to my assignment on that call. How could I ask Kynslee to commit to a man who put his life on the line, and ask her to do it all over again, every day, for five years?

  I couldn’t. So, when I hung up, I did the one thing I thought was right for her. I made her feel like our night together hadn’t meant anything and basically pushed her into Jack’s arms. Little did I know she’d date the fucker for two years.

  Pulling my thoughts back to the present, my gaze raked over her every feature.

  Her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail with a hat that read “Hey Y’all” covering the rest of her hair, and those meadow green eyes narrowed. Jesus, the way she was looking at me made my cock stir to life.

  She pulled in a slow, deep breath, then said my name. The same way she’d said it when we were eighteen years old, and I told her I was leaving for the Marines.

  “Miles.”

  “Surprise.”

  It was all I could think to say right then. But I knew she expected more from me.

  “Hey, Kynslee. Happy birthday! Long time no see.”

  Her mouth dropped open and then the air around us changed. It went from being charged with sexual attraction to absolute anger. Kynslee was pissed, and rightfully so.

  “Long time no see?” she repeated.

  I held up the box for her. “I thought I’d personally deliver this year’s present, so I could get to watch you open it in real time.”

  Kynslee swung her legs over Trigger and jumped off the horse. She wore a blank expression as she walked toward me. My Marines training kicked in and a part of me knew I should be worried by that look. I pushed off the fence, heading in her direction and went to say something when she pulled her arm back and punched me right in the jaw.

  I stumbled back. “What the fuck!” I said, rubbing my jaw as Kynslee shook her hand.

  “Ouch!” she cried out before she took off yelling. “You asshole! You jerk! Five years I don’t see you. Five, Miles!”

  “I called you! I sent text messages!”

  “Oh, okay, let me drop to my knees and thank you for those little nuggets you threw out. What, a couple phone calls a year? A text message every now and then to let me know you were alive or to show me how much fun you and your Marine buddies were having? Hell, half the time I had to get updates from your momma or Rich or Lana!”

  “I called you every fucking year on your goddamn birthday, and y
ou have no idea the logistics of making that happen in my line of work, Kyns.”

  She pulled her hand back again and swung. This time I ducked. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the hoops I had to jump through every year just to make a phone call.

  “What in the hell is wrong with you?” I asked.

  Kynslee balled her fists at her sides and growled. “What is wrong with me? You left me twelve years ago, Miles. Twelve. You promised me you’d be back.”

  “I am back.”

  She huffed. “So, then, are you out of the Marines now?”

  I smiled at her. God, she took my breath away. And Kynslee angry, hell it was a turn on.

  “You’re not, are you? Just here for another romp in the hay, because otherwise you showing up, out of the blue, on my birthday, makes zero sense.”

  Sealing my eyes on hers, I replied, “Yes, Kyns, I’m out of the Marines. I’m a civilian now, and I’m back home for good.”

  She took a step back, her hand coming up to her mouth like I’d slapped her. “What? For how long? When did you get out?”

  The way she looked at me nearly brought me to my knees. Only this woman could have that effect on me. Always had and always would.

  “A few weeks ago. I was discharged from the Marines but had to go through some debriefing shit with the CIA.”

  Her eyes widened. “The CIA? What do they have to do with you being in the Marines?”

  My hand went to the back of my neck. “I didn’t want to tell you about it because it was better that you didn’t know the whole truth. I was recruited by the CIA and have been working with them for the last five years. No one knows that but you, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “The CIA?” She laughed. When I didn’t return the laugh, her smile dropped. “Wait, you’re serious?”

  With a nod, I let out a breath. “I had planned on getting out five years ago. I wanted to back home, but they offered me money—a ridiculous amount of money, actually—and I couldn’t refuse it.”

  A confused look moved across her face. Her eyes went wide, then they turned dark. With anger.

  Oh hell.

  “So you made a deal to join the…CIA? For money?”

  I nodded. “Something like that.”

  “You picked money again. The almighty dollar over a life with your family and friends back in Hunt.”

  Now it was my turn to be confused. “Excuse me?”

  She placed her hands on my chest and pushed as hard as she could. “You asshole! I understood it the first time you enlisted. I hated it, but I knew why you did it. But five years ago, I know for a fact your momma was doing fine. Money wasn’t as big of an issue. So you picked money over…”

  “Over what?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You’re a real jerk. And now I know why Rich was acting like he was earlier. Because you’re home. You tell him not to tell me?”

  “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “Well, you did, and now you can leave.”

  I reached for her arm when she turned to walk away. “Stop acting like this, Kynslee. You obviously didn’t miss me all that much.”

  “I didn’t miss you? What the hell are you talking about? Of course, I missed you!”

  “You and Jack? You were hot and heavy for years, if memory serves me correctly.”

  Her eyes went wide again, and she clenched her jaw. I was waiting for her fist to start flying again, but it didn’t.

  “What?”

  “You never mentioned he asked you to marry him. Why?” She shook her head in disbelief. I was poking the lion, but I didn’t care. “Mom said he proposed. Must have been serious with him, you know, just like the college boyfriend you had. I highly doubt you had time to miss me.”

  This time hurt flashed through her eyes, but she quickly replaced it with anger. “Oh, and I suppose during all your travels and top-secret missions you were on with the Marines and the CIA that you remained celibate?”

  I laughed. “No, of course not.”

  She rolled her eyes and jerked her hand out of my grip.

  That was obviously the wrong response.

  “None of them meant anything to me, Kyns.”

  She smirked. “I’m not in the mood for this right now, Miles. It’s been a real shit-filled day and it just got worse with your arrival.”

  I grinned. Her eyes went to my dimples and that made me smile even bigger. “It’s your birthday. Your thirtieth birthday.”

  “Is that what brought you home? You had to see if I was an old maid? Did you think I was just waiting in Hunt pining over you? If you did, you were wrong, very wrong.”

  The corners of my mouth pulled up and that seemed to piss Kynslee off even more.

  “Jack did ask me to marry him and you can thank yourself for that relationship. So, thanks to you, I had two amazing years of sex with a guy who knew how to stick around.”

  Anger pulsed through my veins. “Yet, you said no to him. Must not have had the goods to keep you around, princess. So why did you tell him no?”

  Her mouth opened, then closed. Then she did it again. I wanted to laugh, but knew if I did, I’d only make her swing at me again. “What does it matter to you?”

  I shrugged. “I just want to know why you turned him down, Kynslee.”

  Her eye twitched and I knew she was about to flip her shit. “What are you doing here, Miles?”

  Change of subject. Okay.

  “Well, since I haven’t been able to see you in so long, I wanted to be here for your birthday. It’s sort of a special one.”

  Her brow raised. “Funny how you seemed to always show up when I wasn’t in town.”

  I shrugged. She didn’t know I had planned it that way. Perks of working alongside the CIA. I could get information on Kynslee easily. The idea of seeing her, risking us falling into bed again and asking her to wait around for me was too great a risk. In my mind, I’d done it for all the right reasons. Now, seeing how angry she was, I knew I had made another mistake when it came to this woman.

  She blew out a breath and asked, “What makes this birthday so special?”

  “It’s your thirtieth birthday. Mine was last month. So, you know what that means, sweetheart.”

  She chewed on her lower lip nervously. Good God, she still had that sweet little habit that made my cock come alive.

  I’m here to collect on that little promise you made me twelve years ago.

  “S-so?”

  I handed her the bag.

  “Happy birthday, Kynslee.”

  The way she eyed the bag almost made me laugh. My Kynslee was always a sucker for a present. She reached into it and pulled out the worn-out blue velvet bag. Her eyes lifted to mine and a slight smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. She might have been angry as hell with me, but every year when I called her and listened to her open her gift, I could hear the excitement in her voice. She had no idea how much I needed that call every year. How when I was in a situation I wasn’t sure I would get out of, her voice kept me going. She kept me going. Knowing someday I would be back home, looking into her eyes, was my lifeline.

  She smiled, and I felt my knees weaken slightly.

  Jesus. When did her lips get to be so pink and soft?

  I had the urge to lean down and kiss them. Not a friendly kiss, but a kiss that showed her exactly how much I had missed her.

  She opened the bag and pulled out the brown tissue paper. Carefully opening it, her hand froze when she saw it.

  “What is this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper and her hand shaking.

  “It’s an engagement ring.”

  She lifted those green eyes to meet my gaze. “Why are you giving me an engagement ring?”

  “You made me a promise.”

  Kynslee stared for a few moments, as if she was trying to decide if she had heard me correctly. Then she threw her head back and laughed. Hard. When I didn’t return the laughter, she stared at me with an open mouth.

  “Miles, t
his is a joke, right?”

  A part of me was pissed she wasn’t taking me seriously. “No. We made a promise to each other. I’m here to cash in on that promise.”

  And that was when I realized my biggest mistake yet. Using a phrase on her like I was here to collect my poker winnings or something.

  “Cash in? Cash. In?”

  I nodded, not sure what else to do and afraid to move. It was too late to take back my choice of words, so I played along with it. This time there was no doubt in my mind that she was about to hit me. What I hadn’t expected was that she would knee me right in the balls instead of coming at me with fists flying. I’d been in hand-to-hand battles with some of the most badass dudes in this world, and I’d come out alive on the other side of that fight. With Kynslee, though, I dropped to the ground like a damn rock and groaned.

  “You really are a fucking asshole of a dick wad, motherfucking, cock sucker, son of a living bitch whore!”

  Kynslee grabbed my hand, flipped it over and pushed the ring into it before she walked away. I attempted to speak, to tell her to wait and that I could explain, but the only thing that came out was a high-pitched moan.

  Okay. So maybe I went about that all wrong.

  Kynslee

  “HE DID WHAT?” my cousin Patty asked, a stunned look on her pretty face. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a braided ponytail with loose pieces of curls hanging down around her face courtesy of her daily run.

  “He told me he was here to ‘cash in’ on the promise we made before he left for the Marines.”

  Patty laughed. “He’s not serious, is he?”

  “He gave me a ring. And I’m almost positive it was real, Patty. And it was absolutely beautiful, at least what I saw of it before shoving it into his hand and walking away.”

  I hated that I had a dreamy sound in my voice. It was a beautiful ring, though.

  She leaned forward on the porch swing. “What did it look like?”

  “It was a princess cut diamond, pretty big, set in a white gold channel band. At least, I think it was white gold. Hell, it could’ve been platinum for all I know.”