Show No Fear - By Marliss Melton Page 0,92

summoning the waitress by name. “We’re going to need that pizza to go,” she informed her with a grimace of apology.

Glancing at Gus, she found a crooked smile on his face. “Good thinking,” he murmured.

“Yeah? You want to hear something else?” she asked, a wicked smile kicking up the corners of her mouth.

“Sure.”

She leaned toward him, a sultry invitation in her eyes. “The windows of my SUV are tinted,” she whispered in his ear. “We don’t even have to go anywhere.”

“Hot damn,” he murmured, his eyes darkening with desire.

But then Lucy glanced at the dozen roses and her grin faded. “Oh, we can’t do that, the roses will wilt.”

“To hell with the roses,” said Gus, folding up his napkin. “I’ll buy you more next time.”

Because there would be a next time, Lucy swore. And then a next time after that. After everything they had been through, nothing could get in the way of their happy ever after.

EPILOGUE

Six months later

Lucy entered her boss’s third-floor office suite with a drag in her step. She knew she was ready for a new assignment. Her PTSD, reawakened by the trauma in Colombia, was on the wane, and there was only so much paper pushing a girl like her could stand. But finding time to spend with Gus was her priority these days, and that was about to get much harder with her job sending her overseas.

Rhonda, Gordon’s secretary, glanced up as she eased into the doorway. “Oh, honey,” she sympathized, whipping off her glasses, “it’s not going to be that bad, I promise.”

“Right,” said Lucy forcing her chin up. God, was she that transparent?

“He said for you just to go right in,” Rhonda added with a reassuring smile.

Behind the closed door, Lucy could hear Gordon either talking on the phone or in person with a third party. For no reason whatsoever, except that he was always on her mind, Lucy thought of Gus, who’d been training for the last two months in the Mediterranean. She pictured him tan and vibrant, surrounded by way too many girls wearing bikinis. Wrenching the latch on Gordon’s door, she thrust her way into his office and drew up short.

Her sour mood fled as she beheld the object of her obsession rising from his seat with a shy smile on his face. Two months in the Mediterranean had put copper highlights in his hair. He looked so healthy and vibrant that Lucy had to lean on the door to steady her weak knees.

“Gus,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”

He glanced at Gordon. “I’ll let the boss answer that question, since he’s the one who wanted to surprise you.”

Spearing Gordon with a sharply curious look, Lucy managed to cross toward Gus with outward poise, brushing a kiss across his cheek while resisting the impulse to lean against his solid, suit-clad body. “You look good,” she added faintly.

His whisky-brown eyes raked her with a look that sent her heart pounding. “Likewise,” he replied.

She sank weakly into the seat beside him. “So, what’s up?” she asked, her curiosity thoroughly piqued.

Gordon’s dark eyes danced with amusement. “Well, Lucy, I have a new assignment for you,” he announced.

She nodded. “I figured as much. That doesn’t explain why Gus is here.”

“I think you should be the one to tell her,” Gordon said to Gus.

Lucy’s gaze swung back and forth between them. “Tell me what?” she demanded, her anticipation rising. She could sense positive vibes coming from both men.

Gus drew himself up straighter and announced definitively, “I resigned my commission.”

Stunned, certain she’d misheard him, Lucy just looked at him. “What commission?” she asked.

“My officer’s commission. I’m no longer in the Navy.”

Aware that her mouth was hanging open, Lucy snapped it shut. “But why? You worked so hard to make it.”

“I did it for my father, Luce,” he explained, holding her gaze with a steady look. “At the time, it was the right thing to do. But today I’d be honoring his memory more by spending time with you.”

Lucy shot a guilty glance at Gordon, who grinned. “It’s okay,” he reassured her. “Your passion for Gus isn’t exactly a secret. Nor is your closeness surprising, given all you’ve been through.”

She turned her attention back to Gus. “Are you sure it’s what you want?” she asked, even as her heart expanded in relief. It would be so much easier to get together now that he wasn’t a Navy SEAL.

“Positive,” he said, grinning at her happily.

“Gus has decided to join us full-time,” Gordon announced, adding to her incredulity,