by Lea Hart
FASCINATED
Book Two
LEA HART
Copyright © 2019 by Lea Hart
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Lea Hart
Visit my website at www.leahartauthor.com
DEDICATION
For My Daughters, My Heartbeat
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Janell Parque for her editorial wisdom.
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A journey of crashing grace.
CHAPTER ONE
Caid had been all over the world and prepped for more missions than he could remember, so he wasn’t quite sure why the one in front of him was messing with his flow.
The weather conditions were perfect, ingress to the insertion point was laughably easy, and there were no visible tangos on his six trying to bury a bullet in his back.
So why the fuck was he so jacked?
The target package he was after was the only reasonable explanation, and there was no doubt in his mind, he’d never encountered a wilier and more elusive HVT.
In fact, he wasn’t sure if the decade of experience he had on the Teams was going to be enough.
Sure, he was a world-class operator and at the top of his game but was any of that going to mean shit in this particular situation?
He wasn’t sure, and the fact that it was even a question was troubling on a lot more levels than he was comfortable with.
Clearing his mind of the unusual doubt, he watched a group of young children run out of the building and wondered if they’d encountered his target. The looks on their faces sure suggested it was possible, so he quickened his pace.
Briefly glancing up at the sun glinting off the glass of the tall dome-shaped building, he vowed not to let anything get in the way of his mission.
“Go time,” he mumbled as he mounted the stairs two at a time. Making a cursory survey of his surroundings, he noted nothing was out of place and did the unimaginable by walking straight through the front doors.
Once inside, he let his nerves settle and mentally pulled up the map he’d memorized of the interior and knew his target would be located somewhere within the busiest part of the building. Moving quickly and silently, he made his way across the vast interior and was on the threshold within a minute.
He stood at the entrance of the room and quartered the area, not letting the cacophony or riot of colors distract him in any way.
The place was bustling with civilians, and he knew it wasn’t going to change his SOP.
So what if they were riotous and short?
Didn’t mean they wouldn’t pose a barrier.
Adjusting his stance, he hoped the casual dress and lack of visual armaments would be enough. When he got a couple of surprised looks, he decided to go the extra mile and lifted the corners of his mouth, praying the thing forming on his face wasn’t a grimace.
When he received no more curious looks, his confidence returned, and he moved deeper into the room. Letting out a breath, he collected himself and blessedly heard the familiar voice of his HVT. “Gotcha,” he mumbled quietly as he checked his surroundings one final time and approached slowly.
Blessing his target with a confident smile, he was gratified to see his appearance had the shocking effect he’d hoped for. Courtney Walker, children’s librarian, was finally in his sights and there weren’t words to describe how fucking happy securing this particular HVT made him.
She’d been ghosting him for four days with no explanation, and he was here to get answers as to why. Leaning against a post, he crossed his arms and took in every beautiful detail and decided she was a thousand times more fascinating in person.
Facetime calls did not do the woman justice.
The long dark hair arranged over her shoulder was certainly glossier, the delicate line of cleavage, a hella lot more hypnotizing, and the flush of her cheeks…a thousand times more adorable than he could’ve ever imagined.
She had him spellbound.
And that was despite the fact that her warm chocolate eyes were shooting daggers and her luscious mouth was twisted up so tight it made the stank face she was giving him world class.
Note to self: make the next move a good one.
Surveying the twenty or so children sitting in a circle around his girl made him realize they were as good a place to start as any. He assessed the munchkins, decided they were not an unimpressive group of combatants and took special note of the boy in a purple cape sitting closest to Courtney. That’s the one I have to get on my side, he thought as he tipped his head in the kid’s direction and watched him point his paper sword directly at his heart. Knowing he’d do the exact same thing if he was in a similar position, he lifted his chin in acknowledgment. We’ll be getting it to later, young man; first, I gotta make an opening shot.
“Hey, Court, came to see what’s been keeping you so busy, and now that I have, I completely forgive you.”
A bold and inflammatory statement?
Absofuckinglutely.
But that’s what an operator had to do when a target was acting like a damn mole and avoiding the inevitable.
Her eyes narrowed, her small chin jutted out, and he couldn’t remember the last time he looked forward to a battle more. Giving her a wide grin, he knew that fascination was just a polite synonym for the obsession burning in his gut.
Which meant he needed to find out why she’d been blowing him off.
They’d gone from flirty phone calls to complete radio silence, and he had a bad feeling that some asshole had come along and usurped his place in line. Something he wasn’t about to tolerate.
The tide needed to be turned, and the lunch they were about to share was going to make that possible.
All he had to do was get her to agree.
Pushing himself up to his full height, he tipped his chin in Courtney’s direction and decided it was time she got herself familiar with his determination. Because, one way or another, it was on between them, and the sooner she figured that out, the better.
***
Courtney focused on the children in her Tuesday morning reading group and did everything in her power to ignore the big brutal man with a smile only the Devil would approve of.
Brash and presumptuous were some of the first words she’d use to describe Caid’s surprise visit, along with annoying and slightly off-putting.
Tearing her eyes away from his handsome face and wide shoulders, she reminded herself firmly that she wasn’t interested. Not only because alphas were too much trouble, but more importantly because his best friend was likely going to cause her best friend some major heartache.
Feeling a tug on her dress, she looked down and saw one of her favorite children give her a questioning glance and realized she’d lost her place in the book.
“Ms. Courtney, you just read the same line three times.”
“Thank you, Caspian, for letting me know. Seems I misplaced my concentration for a second.”
“Not at all,” she replied as she watched the four-year-old lift his tiny shoulders inside his purple cape and raise his paper sword in Caid’s direction.
“I can use my special powers and make him go away unless he’s your husband.”
“He’s definitely not my husband, but he is a…”
“Friend?” Caspian asked.
“Not particularly,” she replied, looking around the group and noticing the children were staring at Caid with blatant interest.
“Can I join you guys?” Caid asked, stepping closer.
Caspian moved closer and fisted a handful of Courtney’s skirt. “No, she’s mine.”
Smoothing out the boy’s hair, she gave him a small smile. “It’s not polite to be unkind, and perhaps our first response should be one of kindness.” She closed the book on her lap and folded her hands. “Should we invite him to join our group?”
“Nah, he’s too big and probably can’t make it down on the floor without crashing,” Elena commented. “I bet he can’t even do crisscross applesauce with his legs.”
Caspian jumped to his feet and fisted his hands on his sides. “I’m going to laser him with my special super-sonic glare.”
Courtney watched Caid drop his crossed arms and give the group an open smile. “Children, we’re inclusive and welcome everyone to our group.”
Caid took a step closer and tilted his head. “I’d like to join you guys, but maybe we should give Caspian a chance to use his special powers first.” He nodded toward the boy. “I think it would be cool to see if his super-sonic glare is enough to take down a SEAL.”
“You’re a man, not an animal,” Lilly said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s in the Navy, children, and is part of a group of men that are called SEALs. They protect the United States and make sure we can sleep peacefully at night.”
“Bet he’s no match for me,” Caspian mumbled.
“Go ahead, young man,” Caid said as he moved closer. “Give me your best shot.”
Courtney watched the determination in Caspian’s face and hoped that Caid was smart enough to play along. “All right, Caspian, you can give the Senior Chief your best super-duper laser eyes once and then we’ll return to the story.”
Caid nodded solemnly at his opponent and bent down. “I’m ready.”
“Expect no mercy,” Caspian replied as he took a step closer and narrowed his eyes.
Courtney watched the stare-off and felt some of her irritation melt away when Caid weaved back and forth, giving Caspian a good show. Dropping to his knees, he clutched his hands to his chest and let out a low moan before falling forward.
“I did it,” Caspian shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
Rolling on his back, Caid let out a loud groan and then flopped around. “You are a valiant opponent and have vanquished me.”
“What does that mean?” Caspian asked.
Courtney walked over and stood next to Caid’s prone body. “Vanquished means to defeat thoroughly, so you’ve won.” She took Caspian’s hand and tilted her head. “But I think we should bring him back to life since he’s too big to leave in the middle of the floor.”
“Kiss him,” Lilly shouted. “That’s how a prince gets brought back to life.”
“He’s not a prince,” Elena replied.
Lilly untangled her legs and stood up. “It could work.”
“Kissing definitely wouldn’t work,” Courtney said quickly. “But I bet tickling would.”
“I like tickling,” Caspian said before turning around and going back to his place in the circle. “But someone else has to do it because I’m tired.”
Caid jack-knifed up and gave Courtney a slow smile. “Just the sound of your sweet voice was enough to bring me to life.”
“As if,” she replied as he jumped to his feet and took her hand. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing the Queen’s hand.”
She watched him lift it slowly to his mouth and press a soft kiss to her skin. Feeling a wave of heat suffuse her body, she cleared her throat. “You shouldn’t…”
“Couldn’t help myself,” he said quietly before tightening his hold. “I thought I was prepared for seeing you in person, but, babe…shit like that just isn’t possible.”
“You can’t use curse words around my kids.”
“Sorry,” he replied before pressing one more kiss to her hand.
Lilly clapped her hands loudly and let out a squeal. “Told you kissing worked.”
Moving her hand away, she cleared her throat and spun around, hoping that whatever had just happened never did again. She walked back to her place and sat down, giving the children a smile. “Let’s finish up Ms. Spider’s Tea Party, and then we can move on to the art activity.”
Once she was settled and back on the right page, she noticed that Elena had made a spot for Caid in the circle. When he sat down and crossed his legs, she silently calculated exactly how much resistance was going to be required to ignore his dancing eyes and guessed it was more than she had in reserve.
Which meant she needed to double her efforts in discouraging his interest because she had no intention of changing her mind about the kind of life she wanted.
Lifting her eyes away from the book, she caught his gaze and knew a man with more special sauce than McDonald’s was one to be avoided. Nothing good came out of twisting yourself up with trouble, and that’s what Caid Adams was. No two ways about it.
CHAPTER TWO
Caid studied Courtney as they walked toward Lolita’s restaurant and wondered exactly how many tiny buttons were running up the front of her dress. If he had to guess, he’d say fifty, but knew logically the number had to be closer twenty-five.
Not that the exact number mattered since he’d already come up with five ways to unfasten them with his teeth. And knowing it wasn’t going to be easy to talk her into the first three only made him all the more determined.
Which was probably a damn good thing since the words of protest flying out of her mouth at a blinding speed were impressive. They were also telling him she was in the fight of her life and very much disliked being attracted to him. “You might want to think about winding down on the speech you’ve blessed me with for the last two blocks since we’re almost to the restaurant.”
“I don’t even know why I agreed to have lunch with you.”
“I do.”
“Then please enlighten me, oh great one.”
“Glad to see you’re using my proper title.”
“You do understand sarcasm, don’t you?”
“Considering I’m a master at it, I sure the hell do.”
She sniffed and turned away. “Whatever.”
“I know the kids shamed you into coming out with me, and as much as I’d like to pretend it bothers me, I just can’t.”
“Which tells me all I need to know.”
“Doubt it, but that isn’t the point.”
“Then what is?”
“That we have a chance to spend time together and get to know one another.”
“I had a much different one in mind.”
“Figured as much, but that just tells you that we’re never going to be bored with one another.”
“Or that we’ll kill each other, given enough time and motivation.”
He let out a laugh and grabbed her hand. “Knew I liked you.”
“Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“Helping out with the art project. The kids were thrilled with the webs you made for their pipe-cleaner spiders, and it was very nice of you to spend all that time.”
“I’m a nice guy and am hoping you accept that by the end of lunch.” He stopped in front of the restaurant, opened the door, and gave Courtney a wide grin. “I liked hanging out with them and wouldn’t mind making it a regular thing when I’m in town
.”
“Really?”
“Don’t look so shocked.”
Sweeping past him, she walked into the restaurant. “It’s a little difficult not to since spending time with the under ten set isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time.”
“But it sure is yours.”
“Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it is.”
“I could tell because you were totally in the zone when you were interacting with the kids. Which makes you real lucky.”
“Meaning?’
“You found your life’s work. Not everyone does and seeing someone in flow in their day job is pretty cool.”
“I never thought of it that way, but you’re right.” Crossing her arms, she looked him over. “You surprise me.”
“In a good way?”
“I’m not sure yet, but honestly, I never would’ve guessed you’d have so much fun with the kids.”
Grabbing her hand, he smirked. “How could I not since I got lasered by a four-year-old in a purple cape, almost got kissed by the prettiest queen in the land, and took on a half-dozen girls who turned out to be kick-ass ninja warriors?”
“Don’t forget about the homemade cookies Miguel’s mom brought and the juice box Elena insisted you drink.”
He led her over to the counter and then brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Like I said, it was definitely a good time, and maybe during my next visit the beautiful queen librarian will decide I’m worthy of a kiss.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped away. “Doubt it.”
“You couldn’t wait until after lunch to stomp on my dream?”
“No, since encouraging you will only lead to trouble.”
“I like trouble.”
“I figured that out during our first conversation.”
“I have a feeling you do too but have somehow convinced yourself otherwise.”
“I’m all about smart choices and…”
“Someone burned your biscuits, and you think, given the chance, I’ll likely do the same.”