Page 9 of A Soldier's Temptation
During the last mission, Gus and Disco gave him a rash of shit for mooning about some woman, that he looked like some kind of a lovesick puppy. Lovesick? Who the fuck even said that anymore. It didn’t matter how much he denied it, they were taking bets on how long it would take him to settle down.
Crazy. Yup, that’s what they were. SEALs didn’t do well in long-term relationships. Elwood reminded him about his friend Rafe on the Black Eagle team. His woman had been involved in a mission too. What were the odds of that? Could he do that to a woman he loved? Leave her behind with the chance of never coming back? It had been a close call last time, only he and Frost had made it back alive. It was a moot point, getting involved with Ariana wasn’t an option. He was just helping out a buddy and trying to keep her safe.
Hell, just thinking about how she’d react when she found out the truth was almost enough to make him back off, almost. At first, he’d felt guilty about using the plant to get closer to her, but it was nothing compared to what he was really hiding. John was trustworthy. He was a freakin’ Navy SEAL, and that had to count for something. Hopefully, enough of a something for her to forgive him for the ruse.
A lot of downtime before being assigned to Charlie Team gave him time to keep an eye on Ariana. He’d bumped into her a few times and been intrigued when he’d seen her working out in the building’s gym. That was before it became an assignment. He’d been watching her for months and knew all about her friend Shira Redmond, this was the first time he’d met her.
When FBI Agent Colin Rogers, his former college roommate, asked for some unofficial help with a witness who refused Witness Protection he’d been intrigued. According to Colin, most jumped at the chance for a new life, but not Ariana Nelson.
Waiting had been driving him crazy. Patience was not one of his virtues and even doing PT daily wasn’t enough to keep him from climbing the walls with boredom. The recertification process took time for a reason, but he didn’t want to hear it. His body was healed, and he’d passed all the tests. Waiting for the official word had sucked.
The notification that he’d been cleared, good to go by medical couldn’t have made him happier. He’d just about given up on ever getting back on the Teams. He’d even considered his ex-chief’s job offer. Chase Brennan, Frost when he was on the Teams, ran the Eagle Security & Protection Agency in Florida. John had no real ties to California other than his friends on the Teams so it would have been easy enough to move. But he wasn’t ready to give up being a frogman. It was all he’d ever wanted.
Now that he was back to work and assigned to Charlie Team it felt like he was back where he belonged. Except for Ariana. When he was off on a mission he worried that something would happen without him to watch out for her. Colin put someone else on the job. But even though at that point he’d never spoken to her, he wasn’t ready to give up on his damsel in distress. Needing a reason to talk to her, check on her, make sure she was safe, had become a part of his life.
The plant seemed like the perfect solution at the time. He’d been toast the first time he’d spoken to her at the gym. He didn’t need the facilities, he had better equipment on base, but it was the least threatening way he could think to approach her.
Ariana was funny, smart, stubborn as nails, and unlike any of the women he usually dated. Without even realizing it, the prickly little ball of fire had stolen his heart. He tried to tell himself it was brotherly concern at first. Yeah, no. That worked for about ten seconds. He was supposed to be a professional. Falling for his ‘assignment’ was not an option.
There was nothing he could do about any of it now, it would have to play out, and he hoped like hell Ariana would understand when she found out the truth. With a sigh, he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and dropped onto the sofa to see if there was a game on. As he channel surfed, his cell phone rang.
“Hey, Colin. How’s it going?” Gotta love caller ID. How had they lived without it?
“Good. I heard you were back.”
“How did you…oh never mind. But damn, if I’m on a top-secret mission overseas I don’t want to know how you find out this stuff.”
“Let’s just say that because of our girl I know more than I should.”
“Ariana? I just saw her, she seemed fine. She’s even got a dog now.”
“She’s not fine. She got an email that spooked her bad. I’m on my way to her place.”
“Do you want me to stop by?”
“No. It’s why I’m calling, to give you the heads up that I’ll be there so we don’t bump into each other.”
“Why don’t you let me go over there instead? I still think we should just level with her. What harm could it do to let her know I’ve been watching out for her?” John prayed he’d say yes, although he already knew the answer. The freakin’ FBI was as bad as the CIA and never shared anything until they had to. But he didn’t work for them, this was off-book, and technically Colin couldn’t do a damn thing if he told Ariana.
“Are you really asking me that? We still need to figure out who else is involved. He had at least one accomplice, and we need to smoke them out.”
“Okay, I get it, but you’re an FBI agent. Don’t you think they know who you are? I’m just a guy that’s been hanging around her. And for the record, I’m not going to lie to her forever.”
“You’re not lying, you’re protecting her. And, you’re supposed to be off the case. You’re only still involved because you want to be, and you should just leave it to us. I have two guys on her. Once you went back on active duty, you were done. I could lose my badge for this. I shouldn’t have involved you, but we didn’t think she would be in danger, so it was more like a precaution.”
“Fine. I’ll keep it quiet for now. But I won’t stop checking on her when I’m home. I like her.”
“You forget I lived with you for four years and you sniff out trouble like a bloodhound. I know how you are. Do yourself a favor and don’t fall for her. I’m still hoping we can get her into WITSEC. Even after Chen’s trial, she won’t be safe, especially if we can’t find the other bad actors involved.”
“Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself. But I really think I should be the one to go see her now.”
“I’m already in the parking lot. Besides, they’d expect her to call me. It would be odd if you went back after just being there. I’ll let you know when I have more. Later.”
Colin was a pain in his ass, but that was part of what made him an excellent agent. He’d moved up through the ranks faster than anyone else in his class at Quantico. If he didn’t love working in the field so much, he’d be a supervisor. John understood the thrill of the hunt.
Too antsy to watch TV, John took his beer onto the balcony. He wasn’t close enough to see Ariana’s apartment, but he checked out the area. It made him feel a little better. Chen’s trial was supposed to happen in a week. He’d expected an escalation of trouble before now. Whoever was involved had done the usual crap: hang-ups, untraceable email threats, and slashed tires. Ariana had been strong through all of it, until now. What had spooked in that email? It was eating him up inside not being there to make sure she was okay.
Tired from the mission and frustrated about Ariana did not make a good combination. Grabbing another beer from the fridge he sat on the balcony. Maybe Colin was right, maybe he needed to back off. Just because he was attracted to her didn’t mean the feeling was mutual. Chen had put her through hell, still was. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d never trust another man.
