Page 3 of Secrets in the Deep

The familiar name whispered in her head. She’d trained herself not to react to that name anymore. Not externally, anyway. It was everywhere though, like it followed her—to coffee shops, grocery stores, onto planes.

But it was never him.

She turned, her gaze cutting through the crew, the actors, and extras. She saw Roscoe first. The annoyed pinch of his brow. The thin line of his lips. He was short. Probably close to her size, which made the men look even bigger.

She looked beside him to…Connor?

She froze. Her lungs stopped functioning. Her pulse faltered. For a second, she didn’t even feel her aching knee.

Then she continued down the line of men.

Zac.

Ethan.

Joel.

Blood drained from her head at the last man—and for a single heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe.

Tall. Dark hair. A black tee hugging a body she knew by heart.

Everything about him was familiar. And yet…also different. There was a new hardness in his gaze.

A gaze fixed directly onher.

Her mother gripped her arm so tightly she almost broke skin with her nails. Then her mother uttered one whispered word. “No.”

But there was no wishing this away.

It was Ryan.HerRyan. Her mind wasn’t betraying her. After years of thinking of him, remembering and missing him, he was here, right in front of her. They stood in the same woods, the same town. A man she’d loved and lost.

But unlike her,hedidn’t look surprised to see her.

She didn’t hear anything Roscoe said. There was a roaring of blood between her ears. A white noise so loud, it blocked out every other sound.

Ryan’s expression was hard. Intense. Completely unreadable.

Breathe, Emily. You need to breathe.

But she couldn’t. She wanted to run but she wasn’t sure in which direction. Away? Toward? Somewhere so isolated no one would find her?

“I’m going to fix this,” her mother whispered into her ear. “I’m going to make sure he can’t hurt you again.”

She barely registered her mother walking away. Or Faye coming toward her, a grin on her face as she began talking. Words like “huge” and “hot” and “protection” slipped through Emily’s haze. But nothing made sense right now. Not Faye. Not the fact that Ryan was standing a few yards away.

“So cute,” Faye whispered, the words finally penetrating.

Emily almost laughed. Maybe she would have if she wasn’t having a complete internal meltdown. These men weren’t cute. They were dangerous. Former special operations. Former Navy SEALs, one of the most elite units in the military.

The crowd began to disperse. Ryan took a step in her direction.

She stumbled back. Her knee buckled, and she barely caught herself.

“Emily.” Faye touched her arm. “Are you okay?”

No. She wasn’t okay or calm or in the slightest bit prepared.

More steps. He was closing the distance between them, his strides long and sure.