What he’d said was the truth. One that ran deep to the center of his very soul.
It didn’t matter to him what Webb’s contact claimed this woman had done. Kaamisha Dawari was not his enemy nor a danger to his team. He was willing to bet his life—alltheir lives—on it.
And no one was more surprised by that than him.
“You do?” The strength in Kam’s confident gaze became overshadowed by a well of unshed tears. “You really believe me?”
There was a slight hitch in her voice as it grew thick with emotion. The sight of her on the verge of tears made Van’s chest grow tight.
If his gut hadn’t already convinced him of the woman’s innocence, the look she was giving him now would have damn sure done the trick. And just like that, he became filledwith an overwhelming need to make sure she could trust his every word.
“I believe you, Kaamisha,” he told her again. He reached out with his free hand and gently cupped one side of her face.
Van knew he shouldn’t touch her. That he should drop his hand, turn around, and walk his ass straight back to bed.
He did none of those things.
A single tear fell in a silver streak down her other cheek. “I’m sorry.” Kam hastily swiped it away. “I’m not usually a crier, but…” Her voice cracked. “I’ve been alone in all of this.” Lines appeared in her otherwise flawless brow. “For so long, I’ve had no one to turn to or…to trust.”
“You can trust me, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart?
He didn’t talk like that. Not him. His teammates, sure. They were always calling their women sweetheart or baby, but not Van.
Whatever.
“I do trust you, Donovan,” Kam whispered as a breeze lifted the ends of her beautiful hair. “I’m trusting you with my life.”
He leaned in closer, bringing his lips to where they were a hair’s breadth from touching hers. She brought herself up a bit higher to meet him in the middle.
Her eyelids fell shut, and Van put his mouth to hers. With his gun still in his hand, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body flush with his.
At that exact same moment, something that sounded like rushing water reached his ears. Though he hated to do it, Van pulled back just in time to see the whale’s entire front half shoot up out of the water before falling straight back down.
“Look out!” His shouted warning came just as the enormous mammal’s body slammed against the water’s surface. Van did his best to cover Kam’s startled body with his.
The humpback’s fin smacked its way through the sea’sshallow waves, sending a rush of water flying high through the air. And because they were standing directly in its path, it rained down on top of their hunched-over forms.
Kam squealed, and Van sucked in a quick breath, his back muscles tensing as the dissipating droplets fell against his bare skin. When they uncurled their bodies back into their previously upright positions, he found an ear-to-ear smile spreading across her beautiful face and her shoulders bouncing with boisterous laughter as she looked out over the sea.
“Oh, my gosh!” Kam giggled—actuallygiggled—while scanning the water for the whale. “I can’t believe that just happened!”
Yeah, well…that made two of them.
Did I seriously just get cock blocked by a freaking humpback whale?
She continued laughing, excitedly searching the sparkling waves. The beautiful sound was contagious as hell, and the next thing Van knew…
He was laughing, too.
Hard, head-thrown-back, mouth-wide-open laughter. It felt so foreign it took him a minute to even realize what had occurred.
It had been years since he’d let his guard down enough to experience a moment like the one they were currently sharing. Sure, when he was with the guys, he’d let loose with the occasional grin or under-the-breath chuckle.
But this was different.Hewas beginning to feel different. And it was all because of her.
“I think it finally swam away.” Kam’s amused gaze slid from the stilled water and back over to him.
