Page 43 of Dangerous Mission
Swallow. Swallow. Breathe.
“Of course I defended you.”
Her gaze softens as she glances at my lips.
No. Fucking hell. Don’t look at me like that.
I’m not.I can’t.
I’ll never be the man that deserves for her to look at me like that.
With my chest constricted, I step back. Anger seeps into my tone. “He’s not diving with you.”
When I turn and walk away, her feet tap quickly on the patio stones behind me.
There’s a sharp tug on my shirt sleeve. “Scout! You can’tpull the plug on the mission.”
Against my better judgment, I turn around to look down at her. She’s fisting my shirt. But she is not touching my skin.
The fire in her eyes sets something inside me ablaze. A dangerous fuel that has no place in my life.
With color brightening her cheeks, she inhales quickly. “I’m here to do a job. That woman your team is looking for could be dying in that cave right now. She needs us to set personal bullshit aside. You heard the professor. We have to dive today or the chance to explore that chamber is gone.”
“I know.” My voice is rough as fuck.
Rife with confusion, my brain tries to lock onto anything that makes sense.
Worry tugs her brows together as she searches my face. “Griff is out for who knows how long. Brundage has to dive with me.”
Tension spreads through my body at lightning speed until I’m wound like a coil. “No. He won’t be getting into the water with you. I don’t trust your life to him.”
Shock echoes through her gaze. “But…”
“I’m taking his place.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
You could knock me over with a feather right now.
A hundred reasons why this is not happening come to mind—Scout is not replacing Brundage.
“That’s not possible. Cave diving is incredibly dangerous. You can’t just…”
Scout looks at me like I’ve slapped him and called him a pansy.
“I was a United States Navy SEAL for more than a decade, Aria.” His angular jaw hardens. “I trained in the harshest underwater environments in the world. Including caves. I’ve been in more dangerous diving environments than that asshole ever has.”
I can’t suppress a shiver that races down my arms, turning my fingertips cold.
SEALs are competent divers.
I’ve been on rescues with them before. But…
With fear crawling up my throat, I fist his shirt sleeve more tightly. “This situation is not good, the cave could be incredibly dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
His reply is instant. “Then we will make a good team.”
The gravity of that remark hits hard.