Ultimate Romance Collection. Rebecca Winters
“It’s okay, baby, I got you. I won’t let you fall,” he whispered close to her ear as he leaned down.
Too late, she thought. She’d already fallen. Head over heels in love with him. The very thought suddenly sent her mind spinning.
Hadn’t she just given herself a good talking to moments before he’d arrived? Told herself he was someone she could enjoy, both in and out of bed and nothing more? That he was someone she knew better than to give her heart to because she hadn’t wanted to take the risk?
What on earth had happened?
She knew the answer as she moved closer into the comfort of his warm naked body. David Holloway had happened. As much as she hadn’t meant to fall in love with him, she had.
It didn’t matter that she had known him less than three weeks. Somehow he had come into her world and turned it upside down, whether that had been his intent or not. When his work on the island was finished, he would move on and not look back. But still, knowing that he would leave hadn’t stopped him from winning her heart.
“Ready?”
She lifted her head and look up at him. “You know, David, that lone question will get us in trouble.”
He held her gaze for a long moment and then caressed the side of her face. “Or take us to places we really want to go and inspire us to do things that we really want to do.”
Then he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
“Great work finding out about that ink, Lieutenant Holloway. I knew there was no way Swan would have betrayed her country.”
“Yes, sir. Those are my thoughts as well,” Flipper said. He had placed his CO on speakerphone so his SEAL teammates could listen to the call. “There’s no doubt in my mind the persons naval intelligence should be concentrating on are Rafe Duggers and Horacio Jacinto.”
“I agree. I met with Admiral Martin and Director Levart this morning and they concur there’s a mole within the organization.”
“By meeting with them, sir, does that mean you feel certain they can be totally trusted as well?” Flipper felt he had to ask.
“Yes, Lieutenant Holloway. I do. I know that because of what you discovered and what went down with Lieutenant Westmoreland a few years ago involving those moles at Homeland Security, you’re not sure who you can trust. I understand that. However, I assure you that you can trust the three of us to protect Swan with our lives if we have to. We knew she was innocent, which was why we sent you there to prove we were right. You have. Now it’s up to us to find out who’s behind this and bring them to justice.”
“And in the meantime?”
“In the meantime, Lieutenant, you are free to consider this assignment completed. Go home to Texas and enjoy the remainder of your leave.”
There was no way he could consider this assignment completed, although under normal circumstances it would be once the CO said so. “I think I’ll hang around Key West for a while.”
“Why?” Commanding Officer Shields asked. “Do you think Swan’s life might be in immediate danger?”
“As long as Duggers and Jacinta don’t know they’re suspected of anything, then no. However...”
“However what, Lieutenant Holloway?”
Flipper had no problem being truthful to his CO. “However, Swan has come to mean a lot to me, sir.”
“Oh, I see.”
Flipper figured since his CO knew him so well, he did see. “In that case, Lieutenant Holloway, how you choose to spend the rest of your leave is your decision. But keep in mind, since this is an ongoing investigation, you cannot tell Swan anything, including your reason for being in the Keys in the first place. That in itself will place you in what might be perceived by her as a dishonorable situation.”
“I’m aware of that, sir, but I refuse to leave her until I have to. How long do you think it will take to wrap up the investigation?”
“Not sure. We will not only be investigating the original investigators but we’ll have to restart the entire case, making Duggers and Jacinta the primary suspects. If you remain in the Keys and notice anything I need to know, don’t hesitate to bring it to my attention.”
In other words, Commanding Officer Shields was pretty much giving Flipper the green light to do his own thing, unofficially. “Yes, sir.”
When Flipper clicked off the phone, he glanced up at his friends. “So what do you guys think?”
“Personally, I think you’re doing the right thing not leaving here until you’re certain Miss Jamison’s life is not in any danger,” Bane said.
“And since we don’t plan to leave until you do, it’s time we figure out just who is behind this,” Coop added.
“I agree with all the above,” Viper tacked on.
They all looked at Mac, who rubbed his chin as if contemplating something. Then he said, “Someone needs to play devil’s advocate, so I guess it has to be me.”
“No surprise there,” Bane said.
Mac shot Bane a glare and then glanced back at Flipper. “Think about what the CO said. You can’t tell Miss Jamison anything. Once she finds out the truth, that she was nothing more than an assignment to you, she’s not going to like it, no matter how noble or honorable your intentions might have been.”
Flipper drew in a deep breath. He knew Mac’s words to be true. Although Swan had yet to tell him anything about her affair with William Connors, it had been in the report. The man had betrayed her and there was a chance she would probably see Flipper as doing the same. “So, Mr. Know-It-All, what do you suggest I do?” he asked.
“Start drawing a line in your relationship and don’t cross it. In other words, stop seducing her,” Mac said.
Too late for that, Flipper thought. All he had to do was remember what they’d done yesterday in Swan’s office and again when he’d taken her home after dinner. Especially when he’d sat in one of her kitchen chairs and she’d straddled his body. The memories of what had started out in that chair and ended up in her bedroom made him feel hot. He hadn’t left her place until dawn this morning. There was no way he could put a freeze on his relationship with Swan like Mac was suggesting.
“That’s not an option, Mac. I’m going to do what I have to do now and worry about the consequences later.”
* * *
“What’s this about you having a boyfriend? I can’t leave you alone for one minute.”
Swan smiled when she glanced up at Rosie McCall, one of her frequent customers. Rosie, an older woman in her midforties who’d been away for the past three months visiting her family in Nevada, had returned to the Keys just yesterday. “I see Jamila has been talking again.”
“Doesn’t matter. So tell me, who is he?”
Swan closed the jewelry case. “First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just someone I’m seeing while he’s here on the island working, which won’t be much longer.”
“Um, short meaningless flings are the best kind. What’s his name?”
“David. David Holloway.”
“Where he is from?”
“Texas.”
“You said he’s here working. What does he do for a living?”
“Whoa, time-out,” Swan said, using her hand for the signal. “You don’t need to know all that. David’s a nice