5. Nash

5

NASH

I’m not on my game. This whole day, I’ve felt off. Usually, I trust my gut and put myself on high alert, but since my talk with Emery the other night, I’m sure it’s that. Emery is all I’ve thought about.

I’ve wanted to talk to her, but I haven’t trusted myself. I would never hurt Emery, but I might say things I shouldn’t. I still can’t believe that she thinks I’m interested in another woman or that I would cheat on her. Fuck, even now that we’re divorced, I couldn’t look at another woman because to me, it would be cheating. I have followed her home. I’ve sat outside the bakery and waited for her to go in or to come out at night. I know she sees me, but she’s acting like she doesn’t. But that’s fine. I need to cool off a little bit more before I talk to her.

I’ve been working all morning, working on getting Colt caught up on files and cases. We’ve gone over procedures until he can recite them in his sleep. He’s ready. Hell, he was born for this.

I’m leaving the compound when I notice the car on the side of the road. I’m on my way to Sugar Glaze, hoping to see Emery before she walks into the shop, but when I notice the lone woman standing at the open hood, I ease my Suburban to the side of the road and turn on my hazard lights.

As I walk up to her car, she looks at me worriedly. “Thanks for stopping.”

I smile at her, just so she knows I’m not some kind of psycho. “No problem. What’s wrong?”

She sniffs, and I notice the bruise on her face. Instantly, my blood starts to boil. “Uh, it just started sputtering, and smoke started coming out from the hood.”

I lean down to look at the car when I hear the squeal of tires. I no sooner lift my head than there’s a car stopping next to us in the middle of the road. “You cheatin’ bitch, is this the man you’re leaving me for?”

It doesn’t register with me that he has a gun until it’s too late. He gets off a shot, and I’m shoving the woman to the ground on the other side of the vehicle. I feel the impact of the bullet in my arm. Stumbling on the uneven ground has me falling face first to the cement, and I hit hard metal on the way down.

Dazed and disoriented, I hear screaming from the woman and know I need to act fast or we’ll both be done. I pull the 380 from my belt holster and blink, trying to clear my vision. I shake my head, but that doesn’t seem to help because pain shoots behind my eyes.

I get to my knees, and I can tell the woman is struggling as the man is trying to grab her. I squint my eyes, and the picture before me comes clearer. I take the shot before I can second-guess myself, and the man falls. I crawl toward him and pocket his gun. The woman falls to the ground, crying, but I can’t focus on that right now. I can’t seem to focus on anything. I pull my phone from my pocket.

I use voice command. “Call Walker.”

When I hear Walker’s voice, I mutter the word “help” before everything goes black.

I don’t remember anything after that. Nothing. I know Walker will find me since everyone with the Ghost Team has tracking on our phones. I feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness, the voices and sirens, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to wake from the black hole I’m in.

It’s not until I’m being rolled down a hall of what I assume is Jasper Hospital when everything starts to come into focus. The overhead lights seem as if they’re blaring, and I can hear Walker, almost breathless as he walks next to me.

“Walker! Walker!”

“I’m here, brother. You’re going to be okay. The woman is fine.”

I can hear the pain and yearning in my voice as I plead to him. “Emery. I need Emery.”

“I got you, brother. I’ll make the call. The bullet took a chunk out of your arm, but they can sew it, no surgery. But they need to check your head. I’ll have Emery here when you get out.”

I groan my response. Everything seems to come into super focus and then get blurry again. I have no choice but to close my eyes and let the darkness seep in. I feel a twinge in my arm and I know they’re sewing me up.

Then I feel as if I’m in a tunnel, and I’m assuming they’re doing more tests. I let my thoughts wander, and it isn’t long before I’m thinking of Emery. My thoughts always go to her, and I shouldn’t expect anything different even though everything is grainy. I swear I feel as if I can reach out and touch her as the memory starts to play out in my head.

It was the first time we met, and it was the day my whole life changed.

I was at the bar with Walker and a few of the other guys. We were just getting started with the Ghost Team, and then we were located in Texas. Emery and her friends walked into the bar, and I could feel my heart stop. Literally, it stopped beating for a few seconds. I couldn’t breathe or anything. All I did was stare.

She’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I tried to pay attention to the guys talking, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Emery. She saw me too. She’d look at me and then glance away real quick when she noticed me watching her.

I was working up the courage to go and talk to her when the song changed on the juke box, and she and all her friends squealed and jumped up from their seats. The song was going on about this is how we do it, and she knew it word for word. She danced and laughed and shook her ass as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She was way out of my league, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

And it seems, no one else in the bar could either.

As soon as the song was over, she and her friends were laughing and talking, waiting for the next song when a man came toward her. I was up in an instant, and so were Walker and the rest of the guys. It sort of comes with the business to be on high alert and ready for anything. I held my hand up to them. “I got this. I’ll be back.”

I stalked across the room, and by the time I got close, the stranger had his hand wrapped around Emery’s elbow. My hands were fisted at my sides, but that was the only tell I was pissed. I didn’t want to risk scaring her off. “Sorry I’m late, sweetie.”

I reached out to Emery, and she came to me instantly. I held my arms open, and she stepped close to me. I put one arm around her waist and pulled her soft body against mine.

The man was big and obviously stupid. “Hey, she was just about to dance with me.”

I had been hoping to avoid any confrontation, but if this was what it came down to, fine. I looked down into the green eyes of the woman in my arms. She pressed one hand to my chest, and I brought up one hand to hold it there. Her palm spread out right over my heart. Huskily, I asked her, “You want to dance with him?”

I held my breath because I didn’t know what I’d do if she said yes. I didn’t think I could let her go.

She shook her head side to side, and I finally started to breathe easier. I forced my gaze off her and to the man, who was still standing there. “The lady doesn’t want to dance with you.”

The man was pissed. His cheeks were ruddy, and I was sure he was embarrassed because all eyes in the bar were on us. It’s times like this, where egos are on the line, that men sometimes do stupid things. I didn’t take my eyes off him. He seemed to stand up straighter and puffed his chest out. I was ready for the attack when I heard four chairs behind me make a loud grinding sound across the floor. I didn’t even have to look. I knew it was Walker and the guys, ready to come to my defense if need be. The man must have noticed them because he shrugged his shoulders, and with one last menacing look, he walked away.

Emery sighed loudly beside me. “Wow. Uh, thank you for that.”

Her friends were still standing off to the side, watching us. Emery tried to pull her hand away, but I didn’t let go. “You’re welcome. Can I ask you... two things?”

She looked at her friends, and they were all encouraging her. She looked back up at me. “Yes.”

I turned so we were facing each other. “What’s your name?”

“Emery. What’s yours?”

“Hunter. But everyone calls me Nash.”

She swallowed. “Nash, what’s your second question?”

“Emery, do you want to dance with me?”

She let out a small gasp and stuttered, “But, uh, there’s no music.”

Right then, the jukebox started playing a slow song. I looked over and Walker was leaning against it. I never thought Walker was a romantic type of guy, but I’d take all the help I could get.

“What about now?” I asked her, not wanting to pressure her but hoping and praying she wouldn’t say no either.

“Sure, I’d love to dance with you.”

I pulled her to me, afraid she’d change her mind. I’d never been good with women, and I was a blunt person, but with her I didn’t want to screw this up. I couldn’t think of anything but how Emery felt in my arms. I was committing it all to memory, the smell of her, the way her long hair brushed against my arm as we swayed back and forth, the way her body seemed to melt into mine. Everything.

She leaned her head back and looked up at me. “So is this your thing? You go bar to bar and save women that need help?”

I laughed. “No, it’s not my thing. I was just lucky today, I guess.”

She looked over at the table where my friends were. “Are you all in the military?”

I shrugged, tightening my hold on her. “Something like that.” There was no way I could explain it to her now, and I knew I didn’t want to. There was no way I wanted to give her any reason to walk away from me. “Tell me about you.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” I insisted.

The music continued, a soft ballad of love everlasting, and I’d never wanted a song to last forever in my life. “Well, let’s see. My name is Emery Mason, and I’m twenty-three years old. I have worked in my parents’ bakery since I was little. I love to bake–as you can see.”

She gestured toward her body and rolled her eyes. Fuck, I wondered, did she think she was fat? She was perfect. She was younger than me by about ten years, but I didn’t even care. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

She cleared her throat. “So do you live here, in Houston?”

“For now. I travel a lot... for my job.”

She nodded, looking back over at the guys, no doubt thinking that I was military. She looked up at me with a glint in her eye. “That’s too bad.... I think I would have liked getting to know you.”

I brought my hand up and cupped the side of her neck. “Oh honey, you’re definitely going to get to know me.”

She was almost breathless and panting when she asked, “Why?”

I leaned down until our lips were not even an inch apart. I could feel her warm breath on my cheek, and I watched as her eyes darkened, and her heart seemed to be racing in her chest. “Why? Because you’re going to be my wife.”

She gasped then, and I pressed my lips to hers. She started to pull away, but I deepened the kiss. Our lips meshed in perfect harmony as her body softened against mine. I knew she could feel my desire pushed against her belly, but she didn’t seem to care. She pressed into me, trying to get as close as she could.

She pulled back, almost dazed, but smiling. “How about a date first?”

She felt it. I knew she did. There was something between us, something stronger than I’d ever felt. I pressed my forehead to hers. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”

“Mr. Nash! Can you hear me?”

I try to ignore the voice calling out to me. I hate that someone is interrupting my memory, but I know I have to let it go. The sooner I wake up, the sooner I’ll get to see Emery. Walker promised he’d get her here, and I know she’ll come. I can’t let myself think otherwise.