Rescuing Emily (Delta Force Heroes Book 2) (14 page)

“Give it a day or so, I’m betting that’s how long he’ll be able to stay away from you,” Rayne quipped.

“
He
said a week or so.”

Rayne barked out a laugh. “He’s dreaming.”

Emily could only smile at the other woman. She turned when the door opened behind her and Fletch strode in. She stared at him in wonder. How he got better looking every time she saw him was beyond her.

“Everything all right tonight?” he asked Rayne and Mary.

“Yup. No problems,” Rayne told him easily.

“Ghost coming over to get you two?”

“Yeah, I just need to call him.”

“No need, I texted him and Truck before I moved my vehicle.”

Rayne rolled her eyes at Fletch, but didn’t protest.

Mary, on the other hand,
did
protest. “Why the fuck did you text Trucker? I’m going with Rayne.”

“Actually, no you’re not,” Fletch told the riled woman with a smile. “Truck told me to let him know when I got back so
he
could drive you home.”

“Well, he’s not my dad or my boyfriend, so he can just go to hell,” Mary stated emphatically with her arms crossed.

“Deal,” Fletch ordered unsympathetically. “Ghost had duty tonight. He’s tired, and even though you don’t live that far away, it would take an extra thirty or so minutes. Truck volunteered to pick you up so Ghost could get home with Rayne and get some much needed sleep.” Fletch was putting more emphasis on Ghost’s need for sleep than was actually necessary, but he’d do anything for his buddy Truck. And if Truck wanted to spend some time with the prickly Mary, he’d make it happen.

“Humph.” It wasn’t actually a word, more a sound, but Mary didn’t protest further.

“What time did you get Annie to bed?” Emily asked, wisely changing the subject.

“Did you know your daughter can read at a fifth-grade level?” Rayne asked.

The question was unexpected, but Emily simply smiled. “Yeah, it’s crazy isn’t it?”

“She’s delightful, but I don’t envy you. She’s gonna be a handful.”

“I know, but I look forward to every second,” Emily stated proudly.

“As you should. I read to her for about thirty minutes, then told her she could stay up as late as she wanted…as long as she was in bed reading.”

“Hey,” Emily gushed, “that’s a great idea. You’re a genius!”

Rayne laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I figure you can use it for a while before she cottons on to the fact that her friends and classmates can stay up late and don’t
have
to read.”

Emily shrugged. “Yeah, but if it gives me extra time now, I’m happy.”

The two women smiled at each other and Emily knew that they’d just solidified a start to a good friendship.

The four of them chit-chatted about nothing in particular for twenty or so more minutes until Ghost and Truck arrived.

“Stay here a minute, yeah?” Fletch asked the women. “I’ll be right back; I need to talk to my teammates for a second.”

“Of course,” Rayne agreed immediately. When he was out of sight, both she and Mary turned to Emily with raised eyebrows.

Emily sighed. “Yeah, so that Jacks guy showed up at the restaurant tonight.”

“He didn’t!” Rayne exclaimed.

“What a fucker,” Mary swore at the same time.

“He did. But Fletch took care of it. I’m sure that’s what he wants to talk to the guys about.”

“What an ass,” Rayne said, disgusted. Then clarified, “Jacks, not our guys.”

“I knew who you meant, and I agree,” Emily reassured her with a smile.

Fletch came back into the house not too much later, followed by Ghost and Truck. Emily watched as Ghost immediately went to Rayne and pulled her into his embrace as if they’d been apart for days instead of a few hours.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Rayne nodded.

Mary stood and crossed her arms, glaring at Truck. “Don’t make this a habit, Trucker.”

The large man merely smiled with that half smile of his and gestured toward the door. “After you.”

Mary rolled her eyes, hugged Rayne, but went out the door without any other comments.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Ghost promised Fletch before he left the house, his arm around Rayne’s waist.

“What’s up with Mary and Truck?” Emily asked Fletch once everyone had left.

He shrugged. “They like each other, but neither will admit it.”

“They’re acting like grade-school kids.”

“Yup.” Fletch was smiling. “But it’s amusing as hell. I can’t wait until they both let go of whatever it is that’s holding them back and go for it. It’s gonna be explosive.”

Emily nodded and looked up at Fletch nervously. She hadn’t felt like this when she’d been alone with him over the past week, but somehow the kisses she and Fletch had shared tonight made everything different. He walked over to her and kissed the top of her head gently.

“Get some sleep, Em. I’m sure Annie will be up at the crack of dawn wanting to know how our dinner went. I’ll keep her quiet for as long as I can so you can sleep in.”

“I can get up with her,” she protested.

“No need. I’m up anyway.”

It was one of three hundred and two ways Fletch had made her feel cherished in the last week.

“Okay, thanks.”

Fletch stood back and turned to head into the kitchen and the words came blurting out before Emily could stop them. “You aren’t going to kiss me good night?”

Fletch turned slowly, but didn’t come closer. “No. And don’t get that pouty look on your face,” he teased, then got serious. “The next time my lips touch yours, I won’t be stopping. I’ll take you to my bed and make love to you all night. So no, no more kisses tonight. But you’ve been warned, Em.”

His words once again made Emily’s woman parts sit up and take notice. She smiled at him. “So noted. Good night, Fletch.”

“Night.”

Emily fell asleep in the double bed in Fletch’s guest bedroom with a smile on her face, knowing she’d dream about Fletch hovering over her as he thrust in and out of her satisfied body. She couldn’t wait.

J
acks paced his apartment
, his phone to his ear. “It’s almost time…Don’t be a pussy, it has to be this way…No one is gonna get hurt, but we have to do it if we want to get them out to the battlefield…I
told
you already, it’s not gonna hurt them, it’s just going to make them more compliant…Fine, we’ll talk about it later…
No.
You’re in this up to your eyeballs, just like I am. We’ll get this done and show them they aren’t the only soldiers on this base who’re badass. Get the others and we’ll meet at the battlefield to rehearse in an hour…Good. Later.”

He hung up the phone and threw it onto his couch, putting his hands over his ears to try to drown out the voice that had gotten louder and more insistent over the last couple of months.

Eliminate the threat.

They’re in the way.

If you don’t, you’ll look weak to the enemy!

Nodding, Jacks stalked into his bedroom to change into the black clothes he wore to blend into the darkness. He might’ve told the naïve and gullible privates in his squad that they were only playing a trick on the other soldiers, that the woman and kid wouldn’t be hurt, but he knew the truth. It was up to
him
to show those super-soldier fuckers that he was better than
all
of them. And if there were casualties…so be it.

“
T
his needs to end
,” Fletch demanded in a deadly tone to the colonel. “He needs to be in the brig until he’s chaptered out. He threatened Emily and her daughter to my face! He doesn’t give a shit about authority and he’s escalating.”

Fletch and the rest of the team were sitting around the table with the colonel, discussing the incident from the other night.

“He flat-out told me he was planning some grand scheme, and if he touches one hair on Emily or Annie’s head, I can’t guarantee his safety.”

The colonel held up his hand. “Look, I get that you’re pissed, but don’t overreact.”

It was Hollywood who spoke up this time, his words all the more effective because he was usually the quiet one who backed up his teammates, but never really started anything. “That’s bullshit and you know it, Sir. What would you do if this was
your
wife he was harassing? Would you like for someone to tell
you
not to overreact?”

“Of course not, but it’s being handled.”

Beatle shook his head. “Not very well. With all due respect, Sir, this needs to be moved up the chain of command.”

The older man sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I know, and I’m doing everything I can. All I’m asking is for you to not go crazy. So far it seems like, other than the money thing, he’s been all talk.”

“Talk leads to other shit,” Truck observed dryly.

“I know,” the colonel conceded. “I have a meeting with the general today. He’ll fast track this.”

“And lock him up until it’s done?” Fletch persisted.

“Yes. I will highly suggest he take that into consideration.”

Fletch wasn’t happy with the conversation, but honestly hadn’t thought it would go any other way. After being cut off from Emily, Jacks hadn’t really done anything that broke the law. There was nothing against showing up at the same restaurant where they were having dinner, but Fletch knew it was an intimidation tactic on the other man’s part. At least he wanted it to be. Unfortunately, or fortunately, he picked the wrong group of men to try to intimidate. It was one thing to be able to blackmail a mother with a young child, it was another altogether to try to do the same to a team of Delta Force soldiers…even if he didn’t
know
they were Delta.

“Appreciate anything you can do with this,” Ghost said, always the peacemaker. It was why he was their leader, he could schmooze with the best of them—but then turn around and stab them in the back if necessary.

After the colonel left, the team stuck around to try to figure out what their next step would be.

“Can we just beat the shit out of him and be done with it?” Truck asked, obviously pissed off.

The fact that his friends were upset on his and Emily’s behalf went a long way toward calming Fletch down. “We need to play this cool. We’ll put Tex on him and see what he can come up with. Otherwise it needs to be status quo on our parts,” Fletch stressed. “I’ll make sure Em knows to be on the lookout for anything odd. Annie too.”

“You’ll tell Annie what’s been going on?” Truck asked incredulously.

“Not the details, but she’s not stupid. She already knows that her mom had a ‘not nice’ friend and that he’s bad news.”

At the grim look on Truck’s face, Fletch continued, “Seriously, the kid lives for Nancy Drew and GI Joe. I’ll make it a game to her, she’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, Truck. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt or scare that little girl. She means the world to me. I wouldn’t do
anything
to mess with her head.”

His teammates nodded, knowing what Fletch said came from his heart.

“I do need a favor though.”

“Anything.”

“You got it.”

“Whatever you need.”

The reassurances from his friends made him thankful for the millionth time that he was privileged enough to work with these men. “I need someone, or a couple of you, to entertain Annie for a day, preferably as soon as possible.”

Seeing the smirks and sly grins, Fletch knew his friends knew exactly why he was asking.

“Movin’ in on that, huh?” Hollywood asked.

“Hell yeah. But I know Em will be uneasy if Annie’s around. I need her to understand how much she means to me…and I can’t do that if there’s the possibility of her daughter interrupting us.”

At the nods around the table, Fletch relaxed. He’d been ready to defend his escalation of his relationship with Emily if need be, but he shouldn’t have worried. After the team saw what Ghost and Rayne went through, and how Fletch was with Emily the night she was sick, everyone realized that she was it for their friend.

“How about this weekend? There’s that carnival thing on base. We could take her there,” Blade suggested.

“Yeah, and she likes military stuff, right? We could show her the museum,” Beatle added.

“And what about the PT grounds? She’d probably get a kick out of the obstacle course, right?” Truck chimed in.

“Thanks you guys, she’ll love it.”

“Think Emily will agree?” Ghost asked seriously. “It
has
been fast, and she doesn’t really know all of us that well yet.”

It was a legitimate question. “Yeah, I think so. I’ll talk to her. She knows that I’d trust you all with my life, so I think she’ll be okay with it. I’ll make her understand that the only people Annie would be safer with, other than me and her, is you guys.”

“It’s a plan then,” Beatle stated resolutely. “Anything else?”

“Not for now. Thanks.”

“Come on, the colonel wants us to go over the latest intel from the state department and give our thoughts. We have a long day of reviewing crappy surveillance and satellite video to get through,” Ghost told the group, standing.

Everyone groaned good-naturedly, but didn’t protest. In actuality, they all lived for this kind of thing, and they couldn’t wait to delve into the world of espionage and prevent terrorists from carrying out their pathetic attempts to hurt others.

L
ater that night
, after dinner and a lively conversation with Annie describing in minute detail how a bee makes honey, including lots of hand gestures and buzzing noises, when asked what she’d learned at school that day, Emily sat with Annie on her bed and tried to think of the best way to discuss with her all that was going on.

“How’re you doin’, baby?”

“Good, Mommy.”

“You like living in Fletch’s house?”

Annie nodded vigorously.

“And you like Fletch?”

“Yeah. He’s really smart, and I get to make breakfast with him every morning.”

Emily smiled at her daughter and ran her hand over her blonde hair lovingly. “I like Fletch too.”

“But you didn’t always.”

Emily shouldn’t have been surprised at Annie’s words, but she was. “Here’s the thing, baby. That other man—you know which one I’m talking about, right? The one I told you to run from if you ever saw him?”

Annie nodded solemnly.

“Well, he was telling me bad things about Fletch. Things that weren’t true. I’m ashamed to admit that I made a mistake and didn’t ask Fletch about them. I just believed the other man.”

“Like rumors?”

Emily nodded, remembering how she’d had to have a talk with Annie earlier that year because she’d come home telling stories about one of the other kids’ moms that she’d overheard some of the teachers talking about at recess. She’d explained that rumors can sometimes not be true and very hurtful to the person being talked about. “Exactly. I listened to rumors when I shouldn’t have.”

“But you like him again, so it’s okay now, right?”

“Right.”

“Are you gonna marry him?”

Emily laughed. “How about I start by going on a few dates with him first?”

Annie tilted her head in thought, then proclaimed, “Ten.”

“Ten what?”

“Ten dates. Then you can marry him. But I’m not wearing a dress. I want to wear an Army costume.”

“How about this,” Emily bargained, knowing better than to agree. If she agreed, she knew Annie would be demanding a wedding after exactly ten dates. “I’ll date Fletch, and after ten dates, I’ll update you as to how it’s going. Yeah?”

“And the dress?”

Emily leaned down to kiss Annie. “And I promise
if
Fletch and I get married, you don’t have to wear a dress. You can wear whatever you want.”

“I love you, Mommy. You look happy.”

“I
am
happy, baby. I’ll go get Fletch so he can read to you. Love you.”

F
letch smiled down at Annie
. Emily had called him upstairs and left him and her daughter alone for their new routine. She loved it when he read to her from the latest version of the
Army Survival Manual
. He’d finished chapter fourteen on tropical survival techniques—including things such as finding water and food and what plants to avoid—and left the book for Annie to read on her own during her “stay up as late as I want as long as I’m reading” time. He kissed her on the forehead and said, “Good night, squirt. See you in the morning.”

The little girl didn’t answer, she was too engrossed in finding out how to tell the difference between an edible plant and an inedible one.

Fletch entered the living room and sat on the couch, settling in to watch a rerun of
Seinfeld
with Emily. This had become their custom over the last few days, after finding out they both loved the show. They’d commiserated over the fact it’d ended, but decided it was for the best. The worst thing to happen to good shows, or a book series, was when they went on too long.

“Saturday the guys are taking Annie to the carnival on base,” Fletch informed Emily. “They’ll spend the day with her and will make sure she’s safe the entire time.” He knew his words weren’t questioning, they were matter of fact.

“They are? Why?”

“Because it’s time. Because I want you all to myself, and that seemed the best way to get what I want.”

Emily was quiet for a moment and Fletch could see her mulling over his words. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye then looked back at the television. “All day?”

Fletch smirked. “Yeah, Em. All day. I think their plan is to pick her up around eleven, then take her to dinner after the carnival. They’ll return her sometime early evening.”

This time Emily bit her lip and he saw her shift in her seat as if she was uncomfortable. She seemed to want to say something, but was hesitating.

“Say what you’re thinking. If you’re having second thoughts about us, don’t be afraid to tell me.”

“It’s not that,” Emily blurted out. She gave up her pretense of watching the sitcom and turned so she was facing him, tucking one leg under her as she shifted. “I just…it’s perfect. I’ve been racking my brain to figure out how it was going to work. I mean, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of sneaking down the hallway after Annie fell asleep, like I was in high school, or doing it out here on the couch while she was upstairs. I know you said you wanted to do it in your bed, but I figured we’d have to resort to your truck after all.”

Relieved more than he could put into words, Fletch relaxed. “There’s no way I want us to feel any anxiety over this, Em. The thought of Annie walking in on us is something I don’t think I’ll ever get over, even after we’ve been together for years, but our first time should be fun and exciting. I don’t want you to think about anything other than how I’m making you feel.” Fletch purposely threw in the line about being together years in the future, and was pleased as hell when it didn’t seem to bother Emily at all.

“Should I pencil this into my calendar?”

Fletch read the snark loud and clear and chuckled. “Doesn’t matter if you do or don’t…it’s happening regardless.”

Emily smiled at him, happily. “Thank you. I swear I feel like I spend half my life thanking you for something or other, but seriously. I’d love to spend the day with you. Even if all we did was sit around like this. There’s just something…calming about being around you. As if I don’t have to worry about anything, that you’ll take care of everything. Of me.”

“I will on both counts. And Annie. You’re my responsibility now. One I take very seriously.”

“I don’t want to be a responsibility, Fletch,” Emily protested, frowning at him.

“That came out wrong. I don’t mean it in a bad way at all. It feels good, here,” Fletch told her, putting a fist to his chest. “I like knowing you’ll be here in my house when I get home from work. When Annie yells my name and runs to the door when I come in? You’ll never know how much that means to me. The thought of anything happening to either of you makes me crazy. But the fear that I’ll do or say something that will hurt you also tears at me.
That
kind of responsibility. The kind that makes me want to be a better man. A better male figure in Annie’s life. A better lover.”

“Oh.” The word came out on a breath of air and Emily stared at him from across the couch.

“I’m looking forward to Saturday.” His words were the understatement of the century, but it seemed Emily was on the same wavelength.

“Me too. But now I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be.”

“Fletch, you can’t just tell a girl that you’re going to spend the day rocking her world and not expect her to be a bit freaked out about it.”

He chuckled at that. “I’m not nervous in the least.”

Emily snorted. “Well yeah, because you’re built like a real-live Ken doll. Perfect abs, perfect legs, not an ounce of—”

Fletch cut off Emily’s words by leaning over and grabbing her under the arms and laying back, hauling her over him in the process.

“Fletch! What are you doing?” Emily chided, laughing.

“You have nothing to worry about, woman,” he growled, holding Emily against him, letting her feel how hard he was and how much he wanted her. “We haven’t discussed this…I didn’t want to bring it up because I knew you’d be embarrassed, but I’ve seen you mostly naked, Em.” He ignored her gasp and continued on. “That night you were sick we had to get your temperature down. The fastest way was to put you in the tub. I held you in my arms as you shivered against me.”

“But…that…” Emily sputtered, looking everywhere but at him.