hoping that Jill didn’t tell him to get the hell away from her. He gave a little wave. “See you later, buddy.”
He headed out on the pier, and the old wood was sturdy beneath his feet. The scent of salt water tickled his nose. Hope. The town was gorgeous, a sweet little hideaway on the Florida Gulf Coast. It was early spring, so the place hadn’t gotten overwhelmed with tourists, not yet. Sure, a few hours away, the college kids were running amok at some of the bigger beachside cities, but Hope was quieter.
Softer.
Nothing ever happened in Hope.
Except for the abduction of a sweet redheaded girl...
The man who’d taken Jill had never been caught. And Hayden... For years, he’d woken up from nightmares in a cold sweat because of that fact. He’d been so worried that someone would take Jill from him.
And in the end, I’m the one who lost her. I did that all on my own.
He marched toward her. The wind ruffled her T-shirt and her hair, but she didn’t seem to care. She kept staring out at the waves, turbulent swells because a storm was coming.
When he was just a few feet away from her, Hayden stopped. “Hello, Jill.”
She didn’t whirl toward him in surprise. Didn’t give any shocked explanation. That wasn’t Jill’s style. Instead, she slowly turned to him with a look in her guarded green gaze that said she’d known all along that she was being watched.
But her green eyes widened just the faintest bit, a small show of surprise that told him... Jill had expected someone else to be on that pier. She just hadn’t expected that someone to be him.
“Hayden?” Her delicate brows arched as her gaze swept over him. “What are you doing here?”
He gave her a small smile even as he stalked a bit closer to her. That was the thing about Jill, she always made him want to get closer. Always pulled him in, even when he knew he should be staying away from her. Mingled with the scent of the ocean, he caught her fragrance. Sweet vanilla.
“I could ask you the same question,” he murmured. Damn but she looked good. Better than good. Heart-shaped face, wide eyes, full lips. She had just the faintest hint of freckles across the top of her nose, a little bit of the girl she’d been still hanging on to the woman she’d become.
She took a step toward him and her hands lifted, as if she’d reach out and hug him. Once, she would have done that. Once, she would have run right into his arms and held him tight.
And she would have fit perfectly against him. The way she always had.
But she faltered. Her hands fell. Uncertainty flashed on her face. “I’m here for a vacation. Isn’t that why most folks come to Hope?”
It wasn’t why he was back in Hope, and he didn’t believe for an instant that it was why she was back there, either.
His gaze swept over her. Jill was definitely grown-up now. She stood close to five foot six, and that meant his six-foot-three frame towered over her. When they’d been kids, she’d joked and asked him when he’d ever stop growing.
Every good memory I have is tied up in Jill West. So he didn’t stop, he didn’t falter. He closed the last bit of distance between them and wrapped her in a hug. Probably too tight, but he couldn’t really help himself. It had been far too long since he’d seen Jill. Even longer since he’d held her.
She still fit him. Far too perfectly. His arms slid around her back and he pulled her close. Her scent wrapped around him and reminded him of all that he’d missed. Too many years away from Jill.
Too many mistakes. And—
She was hugging him back. A quick tightening of her arms around him as if she were just as glad to see him. His heart thudded in his chest. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe he hadn’t screwed things to hell and back between them. Maybe—
She stopped hugging him. “Let me go,” Jill said, her voice soft.
He did. The same way he’d let her go before, ten years ago. She’d been nineteen. He’d been twenty-one.
His hands slid away from her. “Still as beautiful as ever.”
She frowned. Right, Jill never liked to be told she was beautiful. It made her uncomfortable.
“Am I supposed to say that you’re still as handsome as ever?” Her head cocked and her gaze swept over him. “You are. But I’m sure plenty of women tell you that.”
No other woman was Jill. His Jill.
“Mr. Navy SEAL.” She smiled, but the smile was just a twist of her lips. No gleam appeared in her eyes and her expression didn’t lighten. He’d always worked so hard to make her give him a grin—worked even harder to hear her laugh.
“Shouldn’t you be out defending the world? Working those secret missions?”
Actually... “I’m not active duty any longer.” He’d given ten years of his life to service. Now...now he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the years he had left. “I just bought a house here in Hope.”
He heard her quick exhale. Ah, so he had surprised her.
“And here I thought you liked traveling the world. You wanted to see everything, remember?” She turned away. “But now you’re back here.”
He reached for her hand. “And I thought you wanted to save the world.” No, he knew she’d wanted to save children, kids who’d been just like her.
Taken.
Stolen.
“So what’s a hotshot FBI agent like you doing in a small town like this?” His index finger slid along her inner wrist, a careless caress.
Or maybe a very careful one. Even he wasn’t sure about that.
“Hiding.” And this time, her smile broke what was left of his heart. “Because I’m really not so much of a hotshot.” She looked down at their hands. “I’ve got too much blood on me.”
Alarm pulsed through him. “Jill?”
“Let me go,” she said once more.
Another caress, a gentle touch right over her rapid pulse point, and his hand slid away from her.
“I need to head home,” she said, then seemed to catch herself. “Head to the cabin. I rented a place on the beach. The beach is supposed to be good for the soul, right?”
He wouldn’t know. The only thing that had ever been good for his soul...well, that was Jill. She’d changed him, though he didn’t think she realized just how much. He didn’t think Jill even realized how influential she’d been in his life.
She’d always thought that he’d saved her.
Oh, baby, that could not be further from the truth.
She slipped by him and started walking toward the parking lot.
“Jillian West.” Her name pulled from him.
She hesitated.
“We’re not kids any longer.”
Jill glanced over her shoulder. “I haven’t been a child since I was thirteen years old.”
No, she hadn’t been. He knew that. One terrible act had changed her world.
“I came back to Hope for many reasons,” Hayden said. Maybe she deserved that warning. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
“So soon? Why expect to see me at all?”
Ah, now that was just cold. “Do you ever think about us?”
She faced the front again. “I try not to.”
He took that hit straight on his heart. “Really? Because I pretty much think about you