Page 30 of Holiday Hostage
I’d seen beautiful women before. Payton was more than that.
I’d known it from the instant I heard her in the old fort, and she cemented the fact when she busted my lip.
“Can I sit with you?” Her whispered plea wrenched my heart out of my chest, leaving me exposed.
I nodded and stood to find her a chair, being careful to pick up the rocking chair and carry it over next to mine so the noise wouldn’t wake Tarron or Maverick.
I wanted this time alone with Payton, a moment just the two of us. I was a selfish bastard but an honest one.
She sat and hooked her heels on the chair’s bottom rung, leaning into the cushioned back with a sigh. “Have you three been friends long?”
“You could say that.” I handed her a bottle of water from the pack at my side.
“How did you meet?”
Her open curiosity and genuineness forced me to be honest. “Army rangers. We were stationed together right after we joined. Kind of bonded over the twenty years we served together, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
A quiet, contemplative look tightened the skin around her eyes. “How long were you with the Rangers? You’re not still serving, right?”
“No.” I forced my hands to remain resting on my knees, driving my fingertips into my legs to stop the instant surge of anger at the reminder of our destroyed careers.
Not the kind of conversation I wanted to have tonight. “We’ve been out of the Rangers for a while. Several years.” I clarified when Payton gave me another of those arched brow looks I was coming to recognize as a sign of her pondering just how much you were sharing. “Maverick started a private business, and Tarron and I joined him.”
“How old are you?” She blushed as soon as she said it. “Sorry. You just don’t look old enough to have served that long.”
I chuckled. The sound melded with the storm outside, a storm that was building within me as it threatened to reach a breaking point.
“We’re in our forties. Mav’s forty-four. Me and Tarron are forty-two.”
She did that little open-mouthed gasp again, and this time it shot straight to my cock.
Did she make that sound when she came? Damn if I didn’t want to find out.
I rubbed my hands across my knees and winked at her. “What, surprised to find out we’re a bunch of old geezers?”
“You are not.” She smacked my arm with her palm, the touch light but electrifying. “You look younger than that. I never would have guessed you’re twenty years older than me.”
“Age is just a number.” A tight feeling cinched my chest.
This was the moment her interest would wane. I readied myself for the blow. “We needed every bit of our experience to get you out of there.”
“And I’m grateful. Youth is overrated. Older and wiser is the way to go.” She ducked her head as though embarrassed and picked at the edge of her blanket.
The red plaid set off her light skin and hair, but it was her eyes and the way every expression played out like she’d never had to hide a day in her life that drew me closer.
“What day is it?”
The question jolted me back to our situation. I checked my watch to verify, then showed her the glowing numbers on the dial. “Three days until Christmas.”
“Do you have family to go home to?” She asked it so quietly I almost missed it.
“Mav and Tarron are my family.” They were the only people who had mattered to me in a long, long time. “Our mission is to get you home by Christmas, and Mav isverygood at obeying directives.”
Payton stared at me in a way that slipped past the superficial facade I often portrayed. “I never thanked you for saving me.” Reaching forward, she ran her thumb over the tiny tear in my lower lip. “I’m sorry I hit you.”
I captured her hand in mine and kissed her inner wrist. “Don’t ever apologize for defending yourself.”
“Does it hurt?” Her fingers curled inward, the brush of skin tightening where I held her hand.
