Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked

beach, their body language comfortable, intimate, as they stood close to one another still burned in his memory. The way Aidan had touched her. The hold had been brief, but the feeling behind it spoke loud and clear from where Garrett had watched them. Was he kidding himself trusting Sonya that her relationship with Aidan was over? It didn’t seem over to him. In fact, lately it seemed he didn’t find Sonya without Harte close by.
    Too close.
    Could that be why she’d put a kibosh on him sharing her bed? Was she confused over feelings she had for both of them? She had to feel something for him, to let caution fly the night they’d had each other against the side of the Jeep. Just the thought of their impulsive loving made him hard.
    Ah, hell. No way would he get to sleep with thoughts like that filling his mind.
    Garrett rolled to his side. He was going nowhere with this line of questions. He could speculate with the pros, after all he was a cop and that was part of his job. Wondering and worrying about Sonya was driving him nuts. He’d never been this tied up in knots over a woman before, and he didn’t like it. He should have kept things casual between them. Hell, he couldn’t figure out how his feelings had gotten away from him to begin with.
    He strangled the pillow, so tied up over Sonya that he was ready to be committed. He was beginning to think long-term, which was terrifying enough, but the thought of not having her in his life not only troubled but downright saddened him. Saddened him to depths he’d never rappelled down before. He kicked off the sleeping bag roasting him like a toasted marshmallow and willed himself to sleep.
    He’d been a SEAL, damn it. There’d been times he’d slept in places that weren’t fit to urinate in. He could sleep here. He shut his eyes and let his thoughts drift anywhere except the temptation of Sonya just a few feet below him.
    He must have dozed, for what felt like mere minutes, when he found himself instantly alert. A shadow loomed like a ghost over him. Reflex had the gun he’d tucked under his pillow palmed and aimed at the heart of the intruder.
    Then he caught a whiff of honeysuckle. “Sonya?”
    Shit .
    He released the hold on the trigger, his heartbeat stuttering to a halt, and let out a deep breath. “What’s wrong?”
    “Are you sleeping with a gun?”
    “Trooper, remember?” He tried to regulate his breathing. Having his own gun trained on Sonya had stopped his heart. “What’s wrong?”
    “I can’t sleep down there. You need to trade me bunks.”
    He leaned up on his elbow. “You are not sleeping up here. It’s too exposed. If I’m down there, I’ll be too far away from you in case there’s trouble.” He narrowed his eyes to try and see her features better, but the room was too full of shadows. “What’s really going on, Sonya?”
    She sighed. “Every time I close my eyes, I feel like I’m drowning. I know its stupid memories triggered from the boat taking on water today. The hold is too small, too dark, and I can hear water all around me.”
    He should have figured today’s scare would have generated nightmares of her past. “What if I come down and sleep with you?”
    “Just sleep, nothing fishy?”
    “If that’s what you want.” He held his breath hoping she’d say she wanted more.
    “That’s what I want.”
    He refused to let out the disappointed sigh stuck in his throat. “Okay.”
    She turned and climbed the ladder back into the hold. He booby-trapped the pilot house door with the garbage can she had tucked under the sink. Anyone sneaking in would trip over that first, and awaken him if he wasn’t already awake. He doubted he’d get any sleep anyway laying next to Sonya and not being able to do anything “fishy.” He grabbed his pillow and his weapon, and followed her below.
    The room was dark except for a weak beam of light coming from a flashlight, in need of a battery change, hanging from the wall at the head of the bed. It did provide enough light that he didn’t run into anything as he made his way to Sonya’s bed. The room smelled like her, dark honeyed-flowers with a touch of spring rain.
    She scooted in next to the wall, and he took the edge, lowering himself to a night of torture. She wiggled to her left, and then to her right, until finally settling. The boat swayed with the incoming tide. The water surging against the aluminum sides of the hull was different down here than up above in the pilot