Chapter 21
Jace sighed as Amy nuzzled into him beneath the star-filled sky. He’d always liked the Burns tradition of sprawling out in hammocks on the beach after a day of food and fun, but having Amy by his side made it all the sweeter.
“My parents are crazy about Willis and Henry,” he said. “Think it’s because they secretly love Leo and Kip the most.”
She laughed that beautiful laugh of hers, and Jace found himself wishing he could bottle the sound of it somehow. “Seems like you’re pretty fond of the little guys too. They were all over you during Ultimate Frisbee.”
He pictured the way Henry’s face scrunched up in concentration as he prepared to throw the Frisbee. And the way Willis balled his hands into hard fists every time he ran. “Yeah,” he admitted. “First time I’ve ever found myself wanting twins, I’ll tell you that much.”
“Oh,” Amy said, her fingertips floating over his bicep, “I’ve got to tell you something.”
“You have a crush on Leo,” Jace said. “I knew it.”
She laughed again. “No, but when I thanked him for the bookshelf…”
Jace groaned. “Aw, I should have warned you not to say anything.”
“Well, he was very surprised that you were the one who’d taken it. In fact, I think his words were something along the lines of,‘I knew he secretly loved that shelf.’”
“Tsk. I felt sorry for him, is why I took it. No one else wanted it.”
Amy brought her face close to his, rubbed the cool tip of her nose over his cheek. “You’re such a sweet brother,” she said before shifting to nuzzle into him once more. “You know, I love your family. I had such a great time today.”
Jace grinned, pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Me too.”
“I hardly thought about it today,” she said quietly.
Itmeaning the tremendous danger they faced. A deep ache sank into his chest. That nagging feeling that things could go terribly wrong. “I’m glad,” he said, thinking back on the BBQ. “I had a great time today. You get along with my family really well. I think they like you more than me.”
She let out that cute little giggle of hers, then sighed as she tugged at the fabric of his shirt. Jace let himself picture a future together. Imagined what it might be like to bring a few kids of their own to the beach.
“Hopefully, your parents can join us soon,” he said. “Once they’re done with their trip across America thing.”
At his comment, Amy pulled away, shifting suddenly until she sat up altogether.
“What’s wrong?” Jace asked, balancing the hammock as they dropped their feet off the edge and faced the water.
Amy shook her head. Words hung on the parted set of her mouth, he could sense it, but she tightened her lips and dropped her chin.
Jace braced himself, hoping to calm the ache in his chest. “Really, Amy, what’s bothering you?” He rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his question. “I mean, is it something besides the obvious?”
Amy caught her lip between her teeth and shrugged. “I just… I don’t know exactly what the plan is, but I’m not stupid. I know there’ll be some level of risk. Having Kassy, Darren, and the kids at the beach today… I got to love on all of them when we said goodbye. But my parents, they’re not planning to even call until Tuesday. If something were to happen to me—”
“Nothing’sgoing to happen to you,” he promised through a clenched jaw. He’d make sure of it.
Amy lifted her chin to look at him. Moonlight bounced off a fresh tear as it streamed down her cheek.
Never had the sight of a single tear been so potent.
“Yeah, but itcould.”She sighed a shaky breath. “I just wish they had some sort of head’s up. Kassy too. They’ll be so blindsided if things go wrong.”
Jace wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, wanting to erase every ounce of fear from her heart. “I’m sorry you’ve been put in this situation,” he murmured into her hair.
Amy sunk into his embrace for a breath, then sniffed and pulled back enough to look at him. “Jace,” she said, her voice quivering. “If you get yourself hurt or killed in all this …” She dropped off there and threw her arms around him. “I can’t handle the thought of something happening to you. You made it through years as a Navy SEAL, and to have something go wrong during a mission so small in comparison, it’s sickening to think about.”
Jace pulled back to cup her shoulders and fixed his gaze on her, a stern set pulling at his brow. “There’snothingsmall about protecting you. About stopping these guys and what they’re doing. All right?”
A burning heat sank hard into his chest as he took in her quivering chin, wet lashes, and sad, tear-filled eyes. He’d noticed that she was different today. At peace. But Jace could see that that was gone now. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his chest once more. “Amy, you’re just going to have to trust that I know what I’m doing. I know how to stay alive.”
“You’re not invincible, Jace,” she said, the words echoing in the small hollow between them.
It came back to him then. The concern he’d had the other day. After going through an ordeal like the one that lay ahead of them, Amy might wish she hadn’t gotten her feelings involved. Seeing, firsthand, the kind of danger Jace faced on his job could have her saying goodbye, the way Mindy had.
A near-foreign dose of fear trickled over him as he considered missing out on a lifetime with the woman he loved. And there was no doubt about it, he loved Amy Nelson. Hoped that, once they made it through this mission, they could enjoy a life together.
He felt words working to form their way onto his lips.I love you. I’m falling in love with you. I’ve already fallen in love with you, Amy.But was it a selfish thing to declare? He recalled the time his team members had chosen to set their women back home free by breaking things off with them, in case something happened and their team wound up dead or went missing, never to be discovered again.
Was it fair to tell Amy that he loved her and get her sucked into something deeper with a man who could be dead tomorrow?
He couldn’t answer that question. Instead, Jace pressed kisses to the top of her head, committing her sweet, familiar scent to memory, and vowed to do what he could to save them both.
