Bride Protector SEAL (5 page)

Swede dropped down beside her and pulled off his boots, as well. He smelled of sweat, hay and manure. Not the kind of smell Allie associated with Damien. Her fiancé never seemed to sweat. Even when they rode horses together, he came back smelling like his aftershave, not the leather and dusty scent of being in the great outdoors.

Allie should prefer the clean scent of aftershave, but leather and dust, to her, was more manly and satisfying.

She drew in a deep breath, trying not to be too obvious. Yeah, Swede smelled like how Allie considered a man should. But then, she wasn’t marrying Damien because of his scent.

Then why was she marrying him?

Because he’d asked, and she didn’t want to marry any of the local men she’d grown up with. They were too much like brothers, who didn’t even consider going anywhere else but Montana or the nearest stock show or rodeo. Some didn’t even want to cross the border into Canada, preferring to remain on their ranches where they’d been born, lived all their lives and where they’d die.

“Do you like to travel?” Allie blurted out without thinking.

Swede shrugged. “I do. But some day I hope to have a place to call home. Traveling is all well and good, but roots help you appreciate where you’re going. You’re lucky you have a place to call home.”

“You don’t?” Allie wanted to travel, but like Swede said, she liked to have a home base to come back to.

“Not since my folks died. The closest I came were the apartments I rented near the bases where I was stationed. I rarely saw the insides of those places, having deployed often.”

“I’m sorry.” She pulled off the second boot and set it beside the first. “Where did your parents live?”

“In Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

She smiled softly. “So you have a vague idea of what cold winters are like.”

“I do. Not as cold as it gets in Montana, but I know my way around snow.”

She gave him an assessing glance. “Ever play hockey?”

Swede nodded. “That’s how I got this scar.” He pointed to the one on his chin.”

“And I thought you’d gotten that working as a SEAL.”

He shook his head, his glance shifting to his hand, which he lifted to the scar that ran along the side of his face, from his hairline to his cheekbone. “I got this one in Kandahar Province, on my last mission in Afghanistan.”

Allie took his hand in hers and studied the jagged scars between his thumb and forefinger. “And these?”

“Syria.”

“Does it still hurt?” she traced the jagged scars with the tip of her finger.

He clenched his hand, only closing it halfway. “A little. I haven’t gotten full range of motion yet, but don’t worry. I can fire a weapon accurately with either hand.”

Her eyes widened and she stared into his. “Holy hell. It didn’t even dawn on me that you shot that snake with your left hand. Are you even left-handed?”

Swede shook his head. “Not naturally, but I’ve learned to be since I joined the navy and became a SEAL. It was a challenge to learn to shoot with both hands. Now, I’m glad I did.”

Allie felt warmth filter from his hand into hers and up her arm. She let go of him, grabbed her boots and stood. “You can have the shower first.”

“You’re not going back out?” he asked.

“No. I thought I’d feed Ruger for you, if you like.” She bent to scratch the dog’s ears. “He’s proving to be useful around here.”

Swede’s lip quirked up in a half-smile. “He’s smart and learns quickly.”

Allie chuckled. “Like you?”

“I like to think I can do anything I set my mind to.”

“I’ll give you that. From what I’ve seen or read about SEAL training, anyone who can make it through to graduation has to have a lot of stamina and fortitude.” She glanced toward the house. “You better get going. I’d like to wash the stink off me, too.”

Swede grinned. “I never thought I’d say this, but horse manure smells pretty good on you.” He winked and held the door open.

She twisted her lips into a crooked smile. “Thanks. I think.”

“Ruger’s food is in the mud room,” Swede said. Then he turned to the dog. “Stay.”

Ruger sat on the porch and whined softly.

“I’ll be right back with food and water for you,” Allie said, and followed Swede inside.

Swede set his dirty boots inside the mudroom door and headed for the stairs.

Allie set her boots on the floor and straightened, her gaze following the man up the stairs. He had a great butt that looked exceptional in jeans. And he didn’t wear fancy, expensive jeans like Damien. Swede wore the kind most of the cowboys around Eagle Rock wore. Plain, serviceable and tough. Like the man. Well, he wasn’t exactly plain.

His face wasn’t classicly handsome like Damien’s, with all his features completely symmetrical. Swede’s nose must have been broken more than once and didn’t sit exactly straight on his face. He had the scar on his chin, and the one on the side of his face, marring his otherwise rugged good looks. It was the breadth of his shoulders, the trimness of his waist, and the thickness of his thighs that made Allie’s heartbeat flutter.

Damn!
There she went again. Thinking about the SEAL, rather than dreaming about her future husband.

She picked up Ruger’s water bowl, strode into the kitchen and filled it. When she came back out on the deck, the dog sat exactly where Swede had told him to stay. His tail thumped against the porch boards.

Allie set the water in front of Ruger and went back inside for his food. When she came out, she saw he’d lapped up every drop of the water. Then he wolfed down the food she put in front of him, and looked up at her expectantly.

“More?” Allie laughed and gave him more.

When he was finished, she let him into the house.

The telephone rang on the stand in the hallway. Allie answered. “Bear Creek Ranch.”

“Allie, Hank here.”

“Hey,” she said, always glad to hear from her brother since he’d returned from the war in Afghanistan. “What’s up?”

“Sadie and I are going out to the Blue Moose Tavern tonight for some drinks and dancing. We thought you and Swede might want to join us.”

Allie frowned. Not
you and Damien
. But then, Damien was out of town, and Hank knew it from the fire. She sighed. “Sounds good.” She arranged for the time and place to meet and then ended the call.

She’d almost said no. After a hard day’s work, she wasn’t sure she had the energy to drink and dance. But, it did break the monotony of ranch life. Allie sniffed. First, a shower.

Allie headed upstairs.

Ruger followed and plopped down in front of the bathroom door to wait for Swede. “Traitor. I fed you, he didn’t.”

The dog stared up at her through soulful blue eyes.

“Fine. Stay here. See if I care.”

The door opened, and Swede stood there with a towel looped around his bare shoulders, his wet hair slicked back and wearing nothing but blue jeans, half buttoned up.

The air caught in Allie’s lungs, and she fought to push some past her vocal cords. When she finally did, she said, “Fed your dog.”

“Thank you. I’m sure Ruger appreciated that.” Swede smiled with that melt-me-to-the-core twist of his lips. “Your turn.”

Allie had to really focus to make sense of what he was saying. When she did, she nodded. “Great.” Then she spun on her socks and ran for her bedroom, where she pressed her palms to her burning cheeks. “What is wrong with me?” she whispered. Then she remembered.

“Oh, Swede?”

The man leaned into the doorway. “Yes, darlin’?”

Don’t do that!

She gulped to swallow past the constriction in her throat. “I’m going to meet Hank and Sadie at the Blue Moose Tavern for drinks after dinner.”

“Sounds good. What’s the dress code?”

“Dress code?” Allie laughed. “We’re in Montana, not the military.” She laughed, shut her door and leaned against it. She never laughed like that with Damien.

Why was she suddenly comparing everyone to Damien?

Not everyone. Just Swede.

Damn
.

S
wede dressed in clean jeans
, a white, button-down shirt, and his best cowboy boots he’d purchased before moving west to work in Montana. He didn’t know why he hadn’t owned a pair before. They were comfortable and easy to get into.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Allie to come down. They’d had dinner with Lloyd and the Edwards. After dinner, Allie excused herself to get dressed for their night out with her brother.

Swede didn’t see anything wrong with the jeans and T-shirt she’d worn. And her hair, though wet from her shower, was neatly combed and smelled like strawberries. Nope. He didn’t see anything wrong with that.

Ruger would remain out on the porch until they returned from the bar. No use keeping him up with loud music. Besides, they might not allow dogs inside.

Georgia stepped into the hallway, wiping her hands on her apron. “My, don’t you look nice?”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Swede said.

She untied the apron in the back and lifted the strap up over her head. “I was about to leave and go to our house. Is there anything you need before I call it a night?”

“No, ma’am,” he answered.

Georgia glanced up the staircase. “There you are. You’ve kept this man waiting long enough.” The older woman smiled. “I’m sure he’ll agree it was worth it.”

Swede followed Georgia’s gaze, his eyes widening, a low whistle escaping from his lips. “Wow.”

Allie wore a short white dress that caressed her body perfectly, the skirt brushing against the middle of her thighs with every step she took. She’d dried her hair and it lay in big, soft curls around her shoulders, framing her face. The makeup she’d applied naturally enhanced her cheeks and made her green eyes stand out.

“Wow,” he repeated.

Her lips quirked. “You said that.” She came down the steps in strappy sandals that drew attention to her toned and tanned calves.

Swede struggled to pull his jaw off the floor and act like a bodyguard, not a teenager on his first date. He couldn’t help but look at her several times as if she weren’t real, but a figment of his imagination. She was stunningly beautiful in a fresh, girl-next-door way.

“Well, I must say that dress is you.” Georgia took her hands and smiled, her eyes misting. “Isn’t it one you bought for your honeymoon to the Cayman Islands?”

Allie shrugged. “I felt like wearing it. After all, I’ll be out in public with Sadie McClain. Not that I can compete with her. She’s amazing.”

“Sweetie, you don’t have to compete,” Georgia said. “You’re beautiful in your own way.”

“Thanks.” Allie hugged Georgia and then turned toward Swede, her shoulders thrown back, making her breasts rise. “Ready?”

Swede was almost certain he wasn’t ready to take Allie for a night on the town. Thankfully, it was only to Eagle Rock, a village with a population of maybe a thousand, counting all of the outlying ranch owners, ranch hands and hound dogs. Surely they’d roll up the sidewalks by 9:00.

“I’ll drive.” Swede hooked her elbow and guided her to his truck, opened the door and handed her up.

He couldn’t get over the transformation from the sweaty, dirt-covered ranch girl to the sexy redheaded temptress. His gaze swung her direction several times on the drive into Eagle Rock.

At least two dozen trucks lined the parking lot and the street around the Blue Moose Tavern. The thumps of drums and a bass guitar could be heard all the way out into the street even before Swede opened his door.

“I see Hank’s truck,” Allie said. “He and Sadie must already be inside.” She waited for Swede to get out and come around to open her door. He reached in to capture her around the waist and helped her to the ground. He held on a moment or two longer than he should have, but he couldn’t get his fingers to loosen their hold on her body.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

Oh, hell no.
“Yes.”

From the outside, the bar didn’t look like much. Inside, it was a lot bigger than the exterior storefront indicated.

A three-man band played country-western music, and several couples were two-stepping their way around the dance floor.

“I see them.” Allie grabbed his hand and led him, weaving between the tables, saying hello to almost everyone in the room. Several cowboys whistled when she walked by. One reached out to touch her leg, but a hard stare from Swede made him back off and turn his reach into a wave.

Hank and Sadie sat at a table facing the front entrance, with a broad-shouldered man seated in front of them with his back to the room.

Swede and Allie arrived at the table and the stranger turned and jumped to his feet, with a smile and a wince. “Swede. You son of a bitch. Good to see you.” Bear, the Delta Force friend he’d made during rehab, pounded his back and hugged him so hard it hurt his ribs. The guy didn’t know his own strength. The leg wound had done nothing to diminish his arm strength.

“And this must be your assignment.” Bear winked. “Hi, Tate Parker. But call me Bear.”

“Alyssa Patterson, but you can call me Allie.” She shook his hand, but was pulled into a hug similar to the one Swede had endured.

Bear set her to arm’s length and raked his gaze over her. “Allie, wearing a dress like that, you need to be on the dance floor. Care to dance with me?” He held out his arm. “I can’t promise I won’t step on your toes. The docs said I’d never dance again. But I fooled them. I never could dance, but what I lack in skill, I make up for in enthusiasm.”

Allie laughed and followed Bear to the dance floor.

Swede stepped aside, wanting to punch his friend for taking off with his girl. Then he had to remind himself Allie wasn’t his girl. In fact, she was Reynolds’s girl, soon to be wife.

“What’s wrong, Swede? You look like you swallowed a lemon.” Hank nodded toward Bear. “I thought you would be happy to see your friend. He got in an hour ago and insisted on coming with us, even though he’s been up since four this morning.”

“Bear’s a force to be reckoned with. I swear, he knows no limits to his physical abilities.” Another glance Allie’s way and Swede turned back to Hank. “I take it Bear will fit in with the team you’re building?”

“Perfectly. I talked with him on the phone yesterday evening and had him on a plane first thing this morning.”

“Great.” Swede really was glad for the friend who’d been at his side through his own physical therapy and re-introduction into the civilian world. But did he have to hold Allie so close?

“I spoke with the fire chief. They found evidence of C-4 explosives and a detonator similar to the ones used by the military.”

“Great. That tells me that whoever set that charge probably knew what he was doing.”

Hank’s lips firmed. “Afraid so.”

Sadie leaned forward. “What I don’t understand is how Damien could walk away from it all and leave his fiancée to answer to the sheriff and fire fighters.” The pretty actress frowned. “If I were Allie, I’d dump his ass and call off the wedding.”

“Before the explosions, he said he had a business emergency he had to deal with and the plane was waiting,” Swede said. “But no business emergency is enough to leave the woman you love behind with the lingering threat of someone trying to blow you and her away.”

Sadie smacked her palm on the table. “Damn right. I’ve got half a mind to tell her that.”

Hank slipped his arm around Sadie. “That’s what I like about you. Your passion.” He kissed his wife. “Our baby is going to be hell on wheels when he’s born.”

Sadie lifted her chin. “She.”

Swede smiled at the happy couple, glad his teammate had found the woman of his dreams. But they still had a big problem on their hands. One involving Hank’s sister and her fiancé. “What do you know about Damien Reynolds, and any of the people who work for him?”

Hank retained his hold on his wife’s hand, but he turned his attention back to the case. “I searched the web, looking for anything linked to Damien and found an article about him and his corporation being awarded a big government construction contract. I have a call in to a friend of mine who works in procurement in D.C. I’ll let you know what I find.”

Swede nodded toward Bear. “What have you got for Bear to work on?”

“I take it you haven’t heard about the national guardsman who was attacked in Bozeman last night?”

Swede swung his gaze back to Hank. “No, I didn’t. What happened?”

“I don’t have all of the details. What I do know is that he was cut up pretty badly. Fortunately, someone found him shortly after the attack, and he was rushed to the hospital. Whoever did it sliced him open, basically eviscerating him.”

Sadie gasped and covered her belly. “That’s terrible!”

Swede’s own gut clenched. “And he survived?”

“The guy who found him performed basic first aid, applying pressure to the wound. The first responders were able to get to him before he bled out, and the surgeon put his intestines back together. He’s in ICU. He’s not good, but they’re hoping he makes it.”

“Why would someone do that?” Sadie sat back in her chair, her face pale, her hand resting over her flat tummy.

“I don’t know, but I’m putting Bear on it. The investigation doesn’t pay, but the victim is a fellow serviceman. I feel we owe it to him to do something. He’s a twenty-year-old kid, just back from deployment and only been home a day.”

Swede’s fists clenched. He wanted to kill the bastard who’d hurt the kid. He’d seen his share of stomach-turning atrocities, but that was in the Middle East where the Taliban and ISIS rebels had no regard for life. But this…Hell, they were on American soil with baseball and mom’s apple pie. “Things like that shouldn’t happen here,” he said.

“Agreed.”

“What do the Bozeman Police Department have to say about it?” Swede asked.

“They don’t know what to think. As far as they could tell, they have no suspects, and they couldn’t find a motivation for the attack. The guy’s wallet was still on him, and he had five hundred dollars inside. For now, they’re calling it a random act of violence.”

“Bullshit.” Swede’s fists bunched. “It’s just another way of saying they don’t have a suspect or a clue as to who might have done it.”

“Exactly. I want Bear to talk to the kid’s family and his CO. I’m sure the police will be doing the same, but I won’t feel right unless we do something to help find the bastard. In the meantime, you need to stick to Allie like glue. I don’t think the two incidents are related, but I’d rather not take any chances. I love my little sister and don’t want anything bad to happen.”

“I’m on it.” Swede pushed to his feet as the song ended. He crossed to the dance floor and tapped Bear’s shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”

Bear backed away, grinning. “Yes, I do mind, but I guess since it’s you, I won’t protest too much.” He turned to Allie and raised her hand to press a kiss to the backs of her knuckles. “Thank you for the two-step lesson.”

She nodded. “You’re a quick study. Thank you for the dance.”

Swede took her hand as the music transitioned into a slow, heart-breaking, belly-rubbing song.

Allie glanced up at him. “We can wait for a faster song, if you were hoping to two-step.”

“No, this one is perfect.” Perfect if she wasn’t engaged to another man. Perfect to hold her close and sniff the strawberry scent of her hair. Perfect if she wasn’t the body he was supposed to guard, and wasn’t a woman getting married on Saturday.

A
llie melted
into Swede’s arms, her body pressing close to his. She fit against him like they were made for each other. God, she had to stop thinking that way. On Saturday, she was supposed to marry the man of her dreams. What she was feeling was only pre-wedding jitters. Damien was the man for her, not Swede.

Then why was she leaning into his body, resting her cheek against his chest and wishing the song would never end?

With their hips touching, Allie knew immediately that she wasn’t the only one feeling whatever it was building between them. The hard ridge of his fly pressed into her belly, the slow song lending itself to false dreams and dangerous passion.

As if of their own volition, her hands slipped up his chest and wrapped around the back of his neck.

Swede cupped her face, turning it up to his. “Do you know what you do to me?” he whispered.

“I have an idea,” she said, her voice breathy. Allie couldn’t seem to breathe normally. Not with Swede so close and the heat building between them.

His head dipped lower, and his lips hovered over hers. If she leaned up on her toes, they’d kiss. It would be wrong. So very wrong. But…

As she bunched her muscles, she heard the music end, and the band announce a fifteen-minute break.

Swede straightened. “We should go back to the table.”

“Yes, we should.” Allie couldn’t make her feet move.

“Look.” Swede gripped her hands and squeezed hard. “Whatever this is, whatever we’re feeling right now, isn’t real.”

Allie’s chest tightened, and her eyes stung. “Of course, it isn’t,” she agreed, though her body felt otherwise.

“You’re getting married on Saturday, and I’ll move on to my next assignment. Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be.”

She nodded, knowing what he said couldn’t be truer, even though she still wanted to feel his lips against hers. “You’re right.”

Swede stepped back, his arms falling to his sides.

Allie pasted a smile on her lips and forced air past her vocal cords. “Thank you for the dance. If you’ll excuse me…” She made a beeline for the ladies’ room. Once inside, she stood in front of the mirror, staring at the face of a woman who was engaged to one man and lusting after another. Her mother and father had raised her better than that. She ran cold water from the tap, stuck her hands beneath the spray and then splashed her cheeks with her wet hands.

“Hey.” Sadie entered behind her and slipped an arm over Allie’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Too disturbed to come up with a lie, she shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You look a little flushed.” Sadie ripped a paper towel from the roll, wet it and squeezed out the excess before patting Allie’s face with it. “For a moment out there, I thought you and Swede were going to kiss.”