Page 45 of Under Control

“We’ll head out in thirty.” He appeared behind her in the patio door, bringing her a steaming mug of hot coffee. “I’ve laid some breakfast out for you, and I just need some prep time. From this point on, you are my apprentice—and therewillbe a test at the end.”

“Where are we going?” she probed, taking a sip of the coffee.

“You’ll see,” he shot back, a devilish dark smile casting across his lips.

As his eyes spoke of scheming, she got hit with a feeling of insecurity—because he knew exactly how to get his way. And the man was clearly getting giddy at the idea of putting her through his own version of boot camp.

Clearly on a mission, he turned to head back inside, and she found herself anxiously jumping forward.

“Carrick, the point isn’t to train me as the next Navy SEAL!”

As it came off her lips, that was when the question hit Danica.Is Carrick a SEAL?And his reply corroborated exactly that.

“That’s the only way I know,” he called back, a smirk in his tone.

“Wait—” she started, but he was long gone.

She parted her lips as she looked back over the ocean in pure disbelief. A former Navy SEAL…was protectingher? No wonder the man feared nothing.

Two points for Carrick, she realized—and now they were tied.

Chapter Eighteen

Danica

It was turning out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. Danica beamed as she rode shotgun in Carrick’s truck—not the rental, but his own big, black pickup. Inside, it was new and had all the trappings of a fun, fast ride. With the music up and windows down, wind whipped into the cab, sending her long hair into a wild mess.

She feltfree.

It helped that she had made it her mission to push back on Carrick—and prove just how strong she was. She’d temporarily closed off the aching part of her, hurt from his words and actions. Now, she was determined to live in the moment and soak in as much as she could. She was going to have to pass boot camp, of course, if she was going to take the next step in her plan. A former Navy SEAL teaching her survival skills? She couldn’t ask for better.

Cruising the Pacific Coast Highway that, as its name indicated, ran all the way down the coastline, they passed all the hot beaches of Southern California—Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente. By that time of day, mid Sunday morning, beachgoers were out in droves, flocking toward the wide expanse of fine golden-white sand that framed the edges of the sparkling ocean. Finally, as they seemed to leave the unending city sprawl of LA behind them, she noticed that they had found wild country. On her right, of course, was the Pacific Ocean—blue and white, far and wide. On her left, up a steep cliff, tall, arid hills with a lot of packed dirt and desert flora rolled on and on for miles.

“What’s over here?” She motioned to the fenced-off hills, nearly yelling over the wind and music.

Carrick leaned forward and twisted the dial down, turning to her while he gripped the wheel with one strong arm.

“This is Camp Pendleton—a Marine Corps base.” He nodded up the hills. “It’s massive. There’s no space down here that’s not carved out and owned by someone.”

“Is that where you trained?” she asked, dying to learn more about his military service.

He laughed like she was breaking into a secret inside joke, grinning so wide that his eyes wrinkled deeply. “No, my dear—it is not.”

Before she could ask more, he leaned forward and brought the music back to loud. He’d streamed a hot-house list that she had started falling in love with. It fit perfectly with her taste, and really made her feel something she hadn’t experienced in a while.

Upbeat.

Soon, he pulled off the highway onto what appeared to be a quiet intersection heading toward another beach. The sign readSan Onofre. Her eyes widened as she realized where they were—a mecca for surfers. Real surfers, not just the tourists up in Huntington. San Onofre was known for the hardcore, and there wasn’t much around it in terms of amenities. Surrounded by military land, it was a lone beach, but it certainly stretched on like all the other colossal beaches they’d passed.

Carrick pulled into the state parking lot, which was oddly quiet considering it was a Sunday. As he parked the truck and went to jump out, Danica just sat in awe of where she was. If this is where he was planning on training her, she was all in.

They unloaded what he’d brought in the back of the truck and hauled their gear toward the deserted beach. Their kit included two surfboards and three duffel bags. She had no idea what was inside them but guessed that her life was about to get interesting.

At one point, Carrick stopped on the sand, throwing the gear down. Danica looked around and realized that he had taken them to a private enclave, built into the landscape off the edge of the main beach area. It was like a secret little nook with an incredible view.

Carrick was making camp, and Danica lunged forward to learn and help. She’d camped a thousand times with her vegan yogi friends, but this was going to be different. She just knew it.

“Where do we start?” she asked, looking at the two black bags.

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