Page 13 of Protecting Vera

Vera chuckled. “He looks…fierce, big.”

“He’s a big ol’ teddy bear. I’m happy with him.”

“That’s good.”

“We should get back. We’re having dinner out tonight.”

Vera took off her sandals and walked back up the beach with Remi. When they got to Kevlar, Remi introduced them. Kevlar shook her hand, his smile friendly.

“It’s nice to meet you. Hop is a good man. He’ll keep you safe.”

She shrugged, wondering how many people knew about what had happened. “He’s good. I’m glad I know his sister. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d know where to go.”

“Well, you’ll be safe here. We’ll make sure of it.”

She nodded, unsure what to say. It was odd that so many of these guys seemed to really want to help. They were really good people, but she guessed that was something about the Navy. Or maybe guys like Ben, people who wanted to help, tended to like the same types of jobs. She said goodbye to Remi and Kevlar, then took a seat next to Ellis.

“The water is cold.”

Ellis chuckled. “It is. It probably would have felt good on my feet, but I was too tired to walk more.” They watched the guys play, and Ellis turned to her. “Have you been with Hop for long?”

Her stomach tightened as desire pumped through her. It made her sad that she couldn’t say she was with him. “Oh, I’m not with him. I just live there.”

“Really?”

“Um, yeah. My ex did some stuff, and I needed a place to stay. I know Ben—well, Hop’s sister. She was my college roommate.”

“You weren’t in California before, right?”

“No, I was in Texas. You really haven’t heard about this?”

Ellis chuckled. “Those men keep secrets locked up tight. I won’t say anything. I know being in bad situations really sucks. My ex put a tracker on my car. He caused a lot of problems. It’s how I met Trip, so I guess it all turned out okay in the end.”

“Oh, wow. That sucks.”

“Yeah, ex-boyfriends can be assholes.”

“I didn’t date Logan for that long. Like six months, and then I left him. He kept upping the pain he inflicted. He’s the one who cut my hair off. It used to be long.”

Ellis reached out and squeezed her hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m alive. He couldn’t kill me. He tried, but I survived.”

“I’m so glad you did because I think we’re going to become friends.”

Vera smiled, realizing that it would be good to have a friend out here. Ellis seemed like a good person, and she could see a friendship developing between them. She was glad she’d met Remi, too. Maybe moving to California would really be good for her.

The guys started playing volleyball against another group of guys. There was one guy out there with them she didn’t know, but Ellis helped her with their names. By the end of the game, she knew who each of Ben’s friends were.

As the guys were wrapping up their game, Vera headed over to the bathrooms. She finished quickly and had just stepped out of the bathroom when her new flip-flop broke. She groaned loudly, and a few people stared at her.

She bent, picking up the now useless shoe and inspecting it. There was no way to salvage the thing. Living here, she needed to invest in some decent sandals.

Once she stepped out of the shade, the burning on her feet was so bad she jumped back into the shade. It had been years since she’d walked outside barefoot, and her feet were tender. There was no way she would make it back to the umbrella.

She inspected her shoe again, not seeing any way to fix it. She was stuck unless she just made a run for it. It would hurt, but she could run fast-ish and hopefully not damage the bottom of her feet too badly.

In her head, she gave herself a countdown, getting ready to make a dash for it, when Ben called to her from across the lot.

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