Someone Like Her(89)

 If only he’d stepped onto the plane when he was supposed to. Yet, if he had it to do over, knowing Maria was in danger, he’d do the same thing again. So, where did that leave him? The only safe thing would have been to return to his old life, the one where nothing but the job mattered. There had been no risk of anyone or anything diverting his attention from a mission.

 And now?

 Peeking under his elbow, he stared at the condom as it slid down the tent’s wall. If they’d made a baby, that changed everything. His child would have a father. After his parting words, he doubted she wanted anything to do with him anymore. Because of his crudeness toward her, he didn’t blame her. If he’d realized the condom had torn, he’d have handled it differently, but at the time, he’d done it for her. He’d wanted to make her hate him, thinking it would be easier for her that way.

 If she was pregnant, he’d have a truckload of groveling to do, but he deserved that and more. Should she point to the ground and order him to beg on his knees, he’d do it. For Maria, he’d do anything she asked.

 The thought that they had possibly created a child settled in his heart, surprising him by how much he wanted it. And if they hadn’t? Then she was free to find happiness with someone who deserved her. His hands clinched with the need to grind whoever that man was to nothing but pulp.

 It would be at least a month before he knew, so the question was, what would he do with his time until then? What should he do about Maria? Leave her alone until he knew if she was pregnant, or apologize and try to make things right just in case?

 What if she was, but didn’t tell him? Or worse, what if he’d made her hate him enough that she couldn’t bear the thought of having his kid and got rid of it? Would she do that? Somehow, he didn’t believe she would have an abortion without telling him, but he should go talk to her immediately. Make sure she understood that if she was pregnant, he had a right to know.



       Jake sat up, not sure what had awakened him. That he’d fallen asleep after Maria left just went to show how damn tired he was. Of everything. He reached for a pair of shorts and slipped them on. The tent flap flew open and two hundred pounds of muscles with a badass attitude tackled him to the ground.

 “You son of a bitch. I warned you.”

 Jake’s first instinct was to fight back, and he got in a good hit to Kincaid’s gut, grinning in satisfaction when an Oomph, rasped in the air between them. Then he dropped his arms to his sides and opened himself up to the assault. He had this coming and wouldn’t fight Maria’s brother.

 “Damn you, you fucking shit. Fight me.”

 Jake looked into eyes turned black by rage and shook his head. “Not gonna.”

 Straddled above him, Kincaid grunted his displeasure just before he reared back his arm and swung a fisted hand right at Jake’s jaw—one he saw coming a mile away and did nothing to stop.



     Someone was talking to him, but the fuzzy state surrounding Jake was just too comfortable for him to respond. A hard slap across his face had him rearing up and sputtering. “What the hell?”

 “Get up you piece of shit.”

 Jake blinked his eyes in an attempt to focus. As his vision cleared, he saw the boss crouched on the end of the air mattress, his arms braced on his knees.

 “Feel better?” Jake asked and swiped his hand across his face. When he saw blood on his hand, he ran a finger around his teeth to make sure they were all still there. A ray of bright sunshine fell on his eyes through the open flap of the tent and he squinted. How long had he been out?

 Kincaid grunted. “Not yet, but I will when you make things right with Maria. Which you’re gonna do today. When she cries, I’m not happy.”

 He’d made her cry? Well, of course he had. What had he expected, that he could use her, then turn nasty and mean without hurting her? That she’d understand he was doing it for her?

 “I did what I thought was best for her,” he said. Saying it aloud made it sound stupid. He’d have to think about that when his head cleared and he could think again.

 “You’re an ass. Get up. Let’s go swimming.”

 Oh, Christ, Kincaid was going to lure him into the Gulf and drown him. Jake narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

 “Cause I’m hoping a shark’ll come along and eat you. C’mon, get your lazy ass up.”

 The thirty-minute swim did the job of clearing the cobwebs Maria’s brother had planted in his head. Now, as he jogged down the beach alongside the boss, Jake began to feel like he was back in SEAL training.