Willow Cross’s fingers flew across her keyboard. The Ketchum Library was quiet, the only other sounds in the large room coming from the tapping of the three members of her study group, Janet, Rob, and Toby, as they typed along with her.
“Argh, Edmond’s class is going to be the death of me.”
Willow smiled at Janet’s frustrated words, her fingers never stopping. They were each writing their own paper on Promoting Positive Peer Relationships and Wellbeing Within The Classroom.
It was sheer luck that she’d found a local group of people also studying the same online course to become teachers. She’d found them when she put out a call for anyone nearby her new hometown of Cradle Mountain, Idaho, through the online university’s chat portal.
Toby scoffed. “Maybe if you did less complaining and more working, it wouldn’t be so bad.”
She looked up just in time to see Janet thump him lightly on the shoulder.
Glancing back down to her screen, Willow paused in her work. Her gaze scanned the table filled with printed articles. Where was that paper?
Leaning over, she shuffled through the sheets.
“What are you looking for?”
She glanced at Rob, sitting beside her. “The paper that makes the connection between peer group behavior and emotional development.”
He lifted a wad of stapled sheets, handing them over. “Ah, a favorite of mine. Here you go.”
She smiled, noticing how his gaze lingered on her a moment longer than what might seem friendly.
She swore she’d seen him do the same in their handful of study sessions since they’d met.
But then, it was entirely possible it was all in her head.
He was cute, with his light brown eyes and mid-length brown, pushed-back hair. He stood a little over six feet tall, and was physically fit. But he wasn’t Blake. No one was.
And wasn’t that just the story of her life?
She was just reading the first paragraph of the paper when her phone vibrated against the table. She looked down and her heart gave a little thump.
The man she was just thinking about. The man she was always thinking about.
Blake: You still out, honey? We’re just watching Frozen.
Even though they were separated, he still used endearments when he texted or spoke to her. And he always updated her on what he was doing with their daughter, Mila, on their days together.
He’d returned from his latest mission a few days ago. All she knew about the job was that it was overseas and it was dangerous. Weren’t they all, though?
Her heart clenched. Heck, her heart squeezed like someone had a fist around it every time the man left town. And the pressure never released until he returned. It had always been like that. Ever since he’d enlisted. He wasn’t a Navy SEAL anymore, his time was more his own, but not completely.
The worry never ended, together or not. Especially after the “mission” he hadn’t returned from for two years.
She sucked in a breath, giving herself a little shake before lifting the phone.
Willow: Yep, still at the library. Enjoy watching the movie for the 187th time. She’ll probably fall asleep before Olaf comes along.
Of course, that was entirely dependent on how much sugar he’d let her consume. Mila had a sweet tooth, and Blake loved to spoil her. Not that Willow minded. Mila and Blake had lost two years together. Years that had been stolen from them. They had a lot of making up to do.
Janet bumped her shoulder. “Who’s put that look on your face?”
She glanced up to see Janet’s dark brown eyes peering at Willow’s phone.
What exactly had been on her face? Relief that Blake had returned safely from the latest mission? Regret that he’d missed a chunk of his daughter’s life? Or maybe just lovesick longing…
She smiled at her friend. “Blake has Mila right now. They’re watching Frozen. It’s her favorite.” Favorite was probably an understatement. The kid was utterly obsessed.
The group knew she had a four-year-old daughter, and that she wasn’t with her daughter’s father anymore. Every time she had a study session, Mila stayed with Blake.
“Oh my gosh, your daughter has good taste. Frozen is my favorite, and I’m a thirty-year-old woman. And that kid of yours…” Janet’s eyes closed as she smiled. “I’ve got to meet her, because in the pictures you’ve shown me, she looks adorable. Honestly, I could just squeeze her. I love kids.”
Willow’s heart warmed. It always did when Mila was involved. “Thank you. I mean, I think she’s pretty adorable, but then, I’m her mother. And I’ve watched that movie so many times I could probably recite the entire thing word for word in my sleep.”
It was a joke. But not really. And those songs…gah, it was like the show made them as addictive and stick-in-your-head as possible.
Her phone vibrated against the table again.
Blake: I’m counting on it. Have a nice night. Don’t leave too late. xox
Her cheeks heated at the kisses and hug at the end. When she looked up, it was to Janet’s knowing smile. “You tell me you’re not together anymore, but your face says otherwise.”
Oh, she could certainly share her life with the man again. So easily.
But as quickly as the thought entered her mind, so too did memories from before he’d been taken. Of the two years after Mila had been born. The absences. The loneliness. The darkness.
She forced a smile to her lips. “We’re just good friends who are able to co-parent well.”
Another message came through on her phone, drawing her gaze again. She couldn’t stop the smile that touched her lips if she tried. It wasn’t a text this time. Instead, Blake had sent a photo of him and Mila, wrapped in a blanket on the couch, bowl of popcorn between them.
Why did the man have to be so gorgeous? With his deep gray eyes that lightened and darkened with his mood, his short brown hair and ridiculous muscles that corded every inch of his body. And Mila, well, she was utterly adorable with her light brown ponytail and big brown eyes.
She felt heat against her side as Janet leaned closer. Then there was a short gasp. “Is that him? Holy wow, woman, he’s hot!”
Willow could have sworn she heard a little huff from Rob beside her. Then he was leaning over her other shoulder.
Blake was hot. Always had been. Even when he was a fifteen-year-old boy who’d moved in across the street from her.
Janet moved closer to the screen. “Wait, he looks familiar.”
Rob definitely huffed this time as he sat back in his seat, muttering something under his breath that Willow didn’t quite catch.
Janet grabbed Willow’s arm, clenching tightly. “Oh my God…is he…he’s one of those men who were all over the news months ago! He had those drugs given to him that altered his DNA.”
Willow swallowed, clicking out of the image and locking her phone. “Um, yeah. He is.”
A heavy silence descended over the table, three sets of eyes shooting hot beams into her, causing her to squirm in her seat.
An article had been written and published about Blake and his team. It had exploded on the internet, and media people from all over the country had come to Cradle Mountain, hounding the men for details. Heck, they’d even hounded Willow for information. For more stories.
Thank God the attention had died down. It had been a scary time.
Janet sat back, mouth open, disbelief and shock washing over her features.
“But he wasn’t what he is now when you became pregnant with your daughter?” It was Toby who asked. The man was quiet compared to the others, so his question surprised her.
“No, we had Mila before he was…taken.” Not that it was any of their business.
“You’re joking, right?”
The anger in Rob’s voice surprised Willow, causing her brows to tug together. “Excuse me?”
“You moved to Cradle Mountain to be closer to one of them?”
Them? She opened her mouth to ask exactly what he was getting at but quickly snapped it shut. She’d realized at the start of the media craze that there were people out there who didn’t like that Blake and his friends existed. She just hadn’t expected any of her study partners to be among the close-minded.
Closing her laptop, she shoved it into her bag. “You know what, I’ve just about finished my paper. I’m going to head home.” She was actually only halfway through, but no part of her wanted to stay. Not when they were looking at her like the father of her child landed on Earth in a spaceship and was here to wipe out the planet. Like there was something infinitely wrong with him.
A part of her hoped someone would speak up. Tell Rob that he’d overreacted and was being ridiculous. To reassure her that everything was fine.
So it only made it worse when no one did. No one said so much as a word when she pushed to her feet or threw the strap of the laptop bag over her shoulder.
Shaking her head, she left the library, stepping into the dark Idaho night. A night that had gone from great to terrible in about two seconds flat.
Grabbing her keys from her pocket, she’d just opened her car door when a hand touched her shoulder.
She turned, finding a slightly out-of-breath Janet behind her. “I’m sorry! We all are. We were just…shocked. And worried about you and Mila. What happened to those guys was…I mean, they’re not normal men anymore. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Her back straightened, anger expanding in her chest. “Safe? Mila and I are safer with Blake than we are with anyone else.” The man would walk through fire to protect them. “Blake and his team are still just like you and me, only stronger and faster,” Willow continued. “And they didn’t choose what was done to them. They were taken by force. Kidnapped and held hostage in a compound for two years. Drugged. Trained. They deserve your sympathy, not your judgment and incorrect assumptions.”
Hell, even now they dedicated their lives to protecting people, both through the missions they completed and their work at Blue Halo Security. They were protectors.
When all Janet did was wring her hands, Willow sighed, turning toward her car. “I need to go.”
“Willow…”
She ignored the woman, pulling her door closed and starting the engine. She didn’t spare a backward glance as she left the parking lot.
Well, there went the new study group she’d been so excited about. She shouldn’t be disappointed to lose them. They’d only met a month ago. She’d gotten through the first three years of her degree alone just fine, she’d manage the last year on her own as well.
She gritted her teeth and pressed her foot harder to the accelerator, trying to force the group’s words out of her head.
Her and Blake’s relationship may not have been the best before he was taken, but he was still a good man.
Memories came back of their time together. Their relationship had been so good before Mila was born. She’d assumed they would be together for the long haul. It wasn’t Mila’s fault the dynamics of their relationship had changed. Life happened. Blake had become a SEAL, and Willow…
She’d lost herself.
She swallowed hard. He wanted her back. She knew he did. And every time he asked her for another chance, her heart yearned to say yes.
Not just her heart. Every single limb and organ craved him.
Groaning, she pushed down the longing. The deep need to feel his lips against hers. His hands grazing her skin. The need to have him.
On paper, he was still her husband. Mostly because she hadn’t been able to bring herself to file for divorce.
God, she was a mess. Unable to divorce him. Unable to return to him.
She needed to just grow some courage and do it. Because she couldn’t go back. Mila was older now. If things regressed back to how they were when she was a baby…no. It wasn’t fair to her daughter.
Willow lifted a hand and massaged her temples. Blasted headaches. She was a damn magnet for them. And when she wasn’t careful, they almost always turned into migraines.
Luckily, she knew the signs well, having suffered from them since she was a kid. It started as tightness in the front of her temple. If she didn’t rest, the pain expanded behind her eyes. The back of her skull. Until a full-blown migraine wiped her out for hours, sometimes days.
She was still massaging her head when a small bang sounded from the engine. She gasped as the car began to slow.
What the heck?
Pulling the car over to the side of the dark road, Willow watched in dismay as smoke billowed from beneath the hood.
Crap. This was just what her night needed. Pulling her phone from her bag, she called Bert, the Cradle Mountain mechanic. Also, the only mechanic in town.
The phone rang. Then it rang some more. It got to about five rings when she knew the guy wasn’t going to answer.
Not. Good.
She pressed the button to open the hood, then climbed out of the car and walked around to the front. The second she lifted the hood, she took two big steps back, more smoke billowing into the night air.
As much as she’d like to say that this was a surprise, it really wasn’t. The car was old. How long had she had it now? Who the heck knew. Definitely since before Mila was born. And it hadn’t been new back then.
Nibbling her lip, she sighed and lifted her phone, knowing who she needed to call.
Unlike Bert, Blake answered on the first ring.
“Everything okay?”
The familiar sliver of awareness rushed through her system when she heard the man’s deep, gravelly voice.
“Not exactly. My car broke down. There’s a bit of smoke coming from beneath the hood.” A lot of smoke. “I don’t know if there’s a car service in Cradle Mountain that comes out at night? Or if one of the guys on your team could give me a lift home and I’ll call Bert tomorrow?”
There were seven other guys who ran Blue Halo Security with Blake. They’d all been taken by Project Arma together. The men were now like brothers.
“Send me a pin of your location.”
She almost sighed with relief. Of course the guy knew what to do. He always did.
Quickly, Willow fiddled with her phone, sending the pin before putting it back to her ear. “Done.”
“Good. Are you in your car?”
“No.” As the word left her mouth, a big gust of wind blew across her face, sending goose bumps pebbling over her skin. Christ, even in late August, Idaho was chilly at night.
“Get in your car and lock the doors. Help won’t be long.”
She nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “Okay.”
“And, honey, don’t open the doors for anyone you don’t know.”
