Chapter 19
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CONFUSION CROSSED LUCIANA’Sface, and Harrison swallowed.He wasn’t about to share any military secrets, but it was understandable that she was confused.No doubt last night had given her the shock of her life.
“We’d been looking for you for the past month,” he told her.“Not in Panama, but we’ve been searching for any intelligence as to your whereabouts.When we finally got a tip, I didn’t wait for clearance from the U.S.Navy to go to you.I knew we couldn’t leave you there a moment longer.I flew to Panama City on my own, and the team joined me shortly thereafter.”
“You’re serious.”
“Dead serious,” he said.
“I’m surprised a U.S.Navy SEAL team would involve themselves in this.Don’t get me wrong, I am eternally grateful.I honestly didn’t expect anyone to come for me.”
He looked at her for a moment, his thoughts tumbling through his mind.“The team originally deployed when we discovered Avery’s whereabouts, but our plan was to rescue you then as well.We were aware that both of you had been kidnapped.Unfortunately, you’d been separated, which complicated things.”
“That is understandable.”
“None of us were okay with leaving you there,” Harrison continued.“I saw your photograph on the dossier we compiled, and I don’t have an explanation for it, but I had to get to you.”
She looked surprised, and he gazed at her a moment, almost in disbelief that she was in his living room.His big sweatshirt dwarfed her smaller frame, but he loved seeing her in his clothing.Luciana was delicate and feminine.Fiercely independent, but all woman.Her skin shone in the warm lamp light, her brunette tresses slightly tangled from sleep.He liked that she didn’t seem overly concerned about her appearance.She’d been nervous to be sitting there in her pajamas, but she wasn’t worried about looking good for him.
The thought that she’d had even a moment of fright irritated the hell out of him.His anger wasn’t toward her though.He was livid at the men who’d taken her freedom.
She shifted, and his gaze briefly dropped to her bare legs.They were long and slender, making his hands itch to caress all that smooth skin.He looked back to her face.Lusting after Luciana would get him exactly nowhere.Nothing could ever come of this, but strangely, he could see hundreds of nights of them together in his home.She fit here—just settled right in like she’d been meant to be here all along.Mere hours had passed since he’d brought her to his home, but they’d made dinner together like they’d done so a million times before.
“I’m not anyone special,” she told him, drawing his attention back to the present.“But I do owe you my gratitude.”She smiled, and Harrison swore it lit up the whole room.He’d purposefully sat nowhere near her, but he was drawn to her in a way that made little sense.Even from across the living room, it felt like she was sucking him in.Drawing him closer.He’d keep a respectable distance, but damn.If things had been different, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stay away.“I will cook that special dinner for you one night.It’s not enough to repay you—”
“You don’t need to repay me,” he interrupted.“I was just doing my job.”
She tilted her head, looking amused.“We both know that was not part of your regular job.Avery is lucky that her brother and boyfriend were on a Navy SEAL team, no?I doubt every American is rescued so promptly.”
The side of his mouth hitched up, and he nodded.She was right, of course.But he had the feeling that nothing would have stopped him from going to her.Harrison would literally tear down walls to make sure she was safe.And sitting with Luciana right now, in the dark of night in his living room, he had the strangest sense that his entire life was about to change.
