Page 58 of Under Pressure

He turned his attention back to the animals, nuzzling into his touch. It was easier than looking at Blue and feeling his heart ripping out of his chest. “What for?” Sean found an itch spot under Bear’s chin and Bear started thumping the ground with his back foot with one loud thud after another.

“I shouldn’t have come,” she said.

Sean stood and faced her. “Why did you?”

She folded her arms in front of her chest, and the movement made her look so small and fragile. He wanted to scoop her up and hold her. Reassure her that everything would be all right, but she wasn’t his to do that for anymore. “Your grandpa invited me and I wanted to see your family. They always treated me so well.”

“They love you,” Sean said matter-of-factly.

“I know they do,” she said, brushing a lock of her spun gold and silver chin length strands behind her ear.

Taking a deep breath, Sean braced himself and stepped forward, placing a hand on her arm—the temptation to rub his thumb over her silky skin was strong, but he refrained. “I’m glad you came. So are they. It’s been too long.”

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she said, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I just . . . “

He dropped his hand. “It’s been ten years, Blue, but I’m never going to be comfortable seeing you with anyone else.”

Her mouth fell open, and everything in him told him to kiss her. Instead, he took a step back, reminding himself that shebelonged to someone else now, and of all the responsibilities he had hanging on his shoulders.

He had less than thirty-six hours to get all the treasures off theRey Del Maror it could be lost forever, he had an entire country, not just Ryker, depending on him and his team, and he was short two men—of all the times command demanded Liam and Mack come in, it would be during a hurricane. If a ship being stuck in a reef with a hurricane fast approaching wasn’t the definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, he didn’t know what was.

Sean turned his back on Blue.

“Sean,” she called after him as he headed down the path.

“It was good to see you, Blue,” he called over his shoulder, then went into a jog. He had to get out of here—away from Blue as fast as he could. Also, a box of strudels called his name.

10

Chapter 10

Blue

Unlike the afternoon sky, which was clear and calm, Blue’s stomach—and emotions—swirled, taking hazardous flight, like the impending hurricane. How dare Sean! How dare he act like he knew her better than Jonah after all these years and say she didn’t like the spotlight.

She didn’t like it, and did her level best to avoid it—even when Jonah was trying to get her to be on his show—but that wasn’t the point.

And what was with him telling her he’d never be comfortable seeing her with someone else and then just walking off like that—without even giving her the chance to reply? She squeezed the buttery leather seats at the sides of her hips in a death grip.

“I wonder how often your boy and his crew actually find treasure,” Jonah said, parking behind Leather and Lace. Blue lived in the apartment above her store. He stared at the leather console of his Porsche like he was a million miles away and didn’t expect her to answer.

So she didn’t.

Sean just walked away like he had the right to the last word. And after he’d been the one to end it all those years ago! The nerve of the man.

“So interesting that he’d go from being a SEAL to a treasure hunter,” Jonah said. “I mean, there’s got to be money in that. Why else would he do it?”

“Because he loves the ocean,” Blue answered absentmindedly.

“He can’t love it that much,” Jonah laughed.

What was she doing torturing herself by going back to that moment, that phrase, that glint of longing in his eye before he turned away? She and Sean were through, had been a long time. And she had a good man who wanted to marry her.

“Maybe for our next show, we’ll dive in some wrecks,” Jonah said. “That’d be something our viewers wouldn’t expect. With sharks. What do you think?”

What did she think? She thought a lot of things. But right now, she was wondering what it was she was waiting for. The past was obviously in the past. She took a fortifying breath of new car smell and spun in her seat to look at Jonah. “I want to get married.”

“Whoa, darlin’,” Jonah said holding up both his hands, his eyes wide. “What?”

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