Page 43 of Guarded By the SEAL
“Dancing.”
“What kind of dancing?”
“Any kind. I always wanted to take dance lessons when I was a kid, but I never got the chance, so I took them as an adult.” She knew what he was trying to do, and it was working. “I had my first recital on my twenty-third birthday. I got to wear sequins and everything.”
“Ooh, pretty!” said Ivy.
“You want to learn to dance?” Teslyn asked her, tilting her head to see the girl, who nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, please.”
If they got through this and managed to clear Teslyn’s name, Ivy would be living with her. Teslyn would be her guardian, and she’d be able to give the girl everything she herself had missed out on. Up until that moment, she’d only been thinking of it as a huge responsibility, but now she realized what a gift it could be, how healing.
“When we get out of this,” said Wyatt, “I’ll take you dancing. Both of you. Two-stepping, slow dance, you name it.”
Teslyn smiled despite herself. “I can’t picture it. You, slow dancing?” She slowly righted herself and eyed him. He was so damn masculine, she had a hard time imagining him putting a softer side on display.
He looked downright playful. “I’ll have you know, I’ve swept many a girl right off her feet.”
“I’ll bet you have. I just didn’t imagine there was an actual dance floor involved.” Heat flooded her cheeks as attraction washed over her. What was it about this man that drove her plum wild?
The barking of the police dogs was back, and far closer this time. Wyatt immediately dropped into a squat and used his hands like a muzzle over Jett’s mouth while telling him to heel.
A man’s voice could be heard in the distance. “…search the shops and businesses, anything that isn’t locked.”
Suddenly, she heard a car coming toward them and saw the glimmer of a large pickup truck visible between the slats of the fence as the vehicle came to a stop.
“That’s Cowboy,” said Wyatt, as he opened the gate. “Let’s go!”
He didn’t have to tell Teslyn twice. She grabbed Ivy, lifting her up and into the truck, followed by the dog and finally herself. Wyatt closed their door and climbed in the front seat. “Go, go, go! Ladies, get down.”
“Dog paws on my leather seats, Bulldog?” asked Cowboy. “Really?”
“We’ve got company. Georgia’s finest are on our tail. Not sure if they have vehicles on this side of the lake or if they’re on foot.”
“I saw three squad cars head into the park a minute ago.”
Wyatt cursed quietly. “I guess that’s a yes. Take us to HERO Force.”
“I figured as much. You hear about what happened?”
“Yeah.” Wyatt barely got the word out. “I can’t believe Ralph’s gone.”
Cowboy turned his head to look at Wyatt. “You don’t know about Hawk?”
“Steele’s men beat him, tortured him.”
“Bulldog, Hawk went into cardiac arrest a couple of hours ago. Internal bleeding. They had to shock him six times. They brought him back, but he needed surgery to fix the damage. He’s in the ICU in rough shape.”
Wyatt wouldn’t have believed it could get any worse. But Hawk was in danger of dying, too. Hawk who he’d trained with, prepared for his mission…
Stop it.
He couldn’t think about that now, couldn’t feel sorry for himself and worried for his friend and take care of Teslyn and Ivy all at the same time. There would be time for thinking later. “Is he going to make it?” he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“I don’t know, man.” Cowboy took the ramp to the expressway at breakneck speed. “I just don’t know.”
CHAPTER21
