Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker - Cat Johnson Page 0,59
the post office.”
He’d never said he was going to the post office. Just that he’d return the box to the son of a bitch who’d been such a bad boyfriend, he’d almost missed out on being with this amazing woman because of him.
“Yup. I can definitely handle this for you. No problem.”
The kiss he gave her before leaving encompassed all he felt. About her ex. About her. About them as a couple.
It said he was ready, willing and able to fight for her. And fight to win her heart.
His kiss left her reeling and flushed by the door and himself fueled with adrenaline and determination for the encounter to come.
It was getting late. Full dark. Long past business hours. That didn’t matter. This particular duty wasn’t one that could wait.
With the package on the passenger seat next to him, he punched the address into his GPS.
Moments later he had a battle plan. A map directly to the bastard’s location cued up on the screen on his dash.
Throwing the Jeep into gear, he found himself whistling the tune to Old Maui as he headed toward his destination.
Brian derived some satisfaction as the GPS directed him to a neighborhood of small rental bungalows not half as nice as the area where Alicia lived.
For some reason he didn’t want the guy who’d wounded her to have a nice house. Mean people—bad men, terrorists, whatever—none of them deserved nice things.
Grabbing the box from the passenger seat, he headed up the walkway to the door, still whistling the catchy tune stuck in his head.
There was a doorbell, which he pushed, but that didn’t satisfy him. He pounded a fist on the door as well, for good measure.
Lights flicked on and he heard a number of locks disengage before the door swung open.
He looked down, surprised the man was at least half a foot shorter, maybe more. From his vantage point, Brian could see the thinning hair on the top of Greg’s head. That detail might have widened his smile just a bit.
“Are you Greg Holloway?” He made a show of reading the name on the box, even though he’d long since memorized it.
“Yes. They got you guys working late.” He extended his scrawny arms toward the package.
Brian held it just out of his reach. “This delivery comes with a few strings attached.”
Greg frowned.
He continued, “You are never—and I mean never—to contact Alicia again. For any reason. Am I understood?”
Greg had the nerve to scoff at that order. “What business is it of yours?”
“That’s none of your business. Not anymore. You agree to my terms?”
Greg scowled. “No.”
“Okay. I’ll just take this back with me then. I gotta drop my garbage off at the dump anyway. It’s not a problem.” Brian turned and started down the path, very much aware he was wearing a sweatshirt with NAVY spelled out in big yellow letters across his broad back.
By now the dickhead would have figured out he was not a delivery man. Or at least he should have noticed he was driving a suped-up Jeep, not a big brown box truck.
“Wait! Okay.”
He stopped where he was and glanced back. “You agree?”
Greg looked pissed but he nodded. “Yes.”
“Say it.” He stood his ground, the coveted box still held hostage in his hands.
“I agree to never contact Alicia again.”
Nodding, he turned back, took the few steps to close the distance, then, ignoring Greg’s outstretched hands, let the box drop to the sidewalk. He didn’t know if there was anything fragile inside and to be honest, he didn’t care.
“Have a nice night.” Whistling yet again, he took his sweet time getting back to his vehicle.
As he sat in the driver’s seat, he glanced back and got one more glimpse of the man in the doorway clutching his box.
When Greg saw him looking, he scrambled back into the house and slammed the door, no doubt locking it for his own safety.
That made Brian chuckle. As if any locked door could keep him—or any SEAL—out.
Hyped up from the encounter, he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building and grabbed the cell from the dashboard.
He glanced at the time displayed on the screen.
It was late. But not that late. He navigated to the correct screen and tapped to make the call.
Seconds later, Alicia’s voice greeted him with, “Hey, there.”
He hadn’t meant it to be a test to see if she would answer, if she was done avoiding him, but he supposed in the back of this mind he’d been wondering. Filled with hope