Protecting His Pregnant Lover (Southern Soldiers of Fortune 1)

“I have to get back to the school.” Olive stood, her gaze distant as she tried to move past him, and Levon’s fears tripled. She had to be in shock—she couldn’t be thinking clearly. He took her arm, preventing her from reaching the door. But that look. He’d seen that look before. Back when they’d been working together on a particularly heinous assignment in the lab. Olive was piecing together clues. She was thinking. And given the current circumstances, that could only mean more trouble. Levon hauled her back in front of him, his frown stern. “No, Olive. You’re not going anywhere.”

“Excuse me?” Olive tried to pull free, but his grip was unshakeable. Still, she was not in the mood to take any crap, especially from him. “I’m not sure I heard you right.”

“You heard me.” A small muscle ticked near Levon’s tight jaw. He stared down at her and she suspected he was struggling to find the words he wanted. She also knew she wasn’t making his progress any easier, but maybe that was the point. “Jesus, you think so loud it practically fills the room with noise.”

Olive’s own temper rose. “What did you just say?”

“Olive, your brain is not welcome in this conversation.” Levon leveled a steely stare at her. “You’re too close to this to see what’s really happening. I never should’ve let you get involved to begin with.”

“You don’t ‘let’ me do anything, Levon.” She did pull free then, rubbing her sore arm where he’d gripped her hard, her voice hissing with hurt. Pain dug deep into her core and dammit, she wanted him to feel it too. Wanted him to feel something for her. Wanted to be more than just a burden or another situation to be handled. “I’m not your prisoner. I’m a grown woman, and I think—”

“And there you go again. Thinking.” Levon shook his head and muttered under his breath. “Dammit, Olive. There are some things that you can’t think your way out of. This is one of them. Your safety and that of our baby overrides everything else, and since you don’t seem to be in the right place mentally to prioritize it, I’m doing it for you.”

Oh. My. God. Fury fumed inside her like a boiling pot ready to explode. If she wasn’t pregnant and he wasn’t so damned big, she’d have kicked his ass. The baby kicked hard as if in accord. As it was, all she could do was pace. Pace and plot painful retribution for his caveman ideas. Sure, he was a SEAL, but that didn’t mean muscle was the end-all-be-all way to handle all the world’s problems. And yes, she was close to Franklin Monroe. She was close to all her students. Took an active interest in them and their wellbeing. That wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, if Levon would just listen to her, it might be a good thing. Very good. But no. He had to act like a stubborn ass instead. “Stop treating me like a child. You’re not my boss and you’re certainly not in charge of me. I’m an adult. I have a college degree. And I thought we were partners in this case. You may think I’m too close to this, but I can still contribute.”

“No, you can’t.” He turned away, crossing his arms and refusing to budge from his spot in front of the door, blocking her exit. “And this isn’t a partnership, Olive—not really. This is still my case. Mine and the local police. That’s it. I’m sorry if you thought any differently.”

Her throat constricted so hard she thought she might choke. Where anger had flamed within her moments earlier, now ice froze her blood. She gripped the back of the sofa for support as her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. She’d wanted an answer earlier about their future and it looked like she’d gotten one. Still, she had to be sure. Lips numb, she forced herself to ask, “And what about after this case is over? Are we partners then?”

Levon looked at her as the question hung heavy between them and the air grew taut. At last he turned away, raking his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, Olive. I can’t think about that now. There’s too much going on with the case. I have to concentrate on what’s in front of me. It won’t do either of us any good to jump too far ahead.”

He stalked off into the kitchen to grab a bottled water from the fridge, downing half the contents in one long swallow, his expression preoccupied, distracted. Olive sank onto the sofa before she fell down.

Well, she had her answer. On his list of priorities, she and the baby came after his job and his case. That was fine. Good. After all, she’d known as much going into this, right? He was here on a mission, nothing more. The fact that they’d been reunited after all these months had just been a happy coincidence. Or maybe just a coincidence—not happy at all. Because what she felt inside at the moment was anything but happy. In fact, she seriously thought she might throw up. Stomach churning with regret and self-recriminations, she stumbled to her feet and down the hall to the bedroom, closing the door behind her, then leaning back against it as tears tumbled down her cheeks.

She’d been a fool. A total and complete fool to think Levon Asher would ever be her happily ever after. The truth was, he saw her as nothing more than a nuisance, another situation to handle on the road to his future. And his future didn’t lie here, in Harper’s Forge, with her and the baby. He had bigger things ahead, like his new life in Arlington. Maybe he even had a girlfriend there. A wife, kids, a new beginning. Leaving Olive to pick up the pieces of her foolish, heartbroken life.

God. This was why she didn’t get involved in anything as messy as a romance, why she was better off in her facts and figures bubble. Love did nothing but sucker-punch you in the gut. Love wa

s irrational and stupid and heartbreakingly unfair. Love sucked, pure and simple.

Swiping the back of her hand across her damp cheeks, Olive sniffled and pushed away from the door to flop down on the bed, her thoughts whirling a mile a minute. There was no turning her brain off now. What she had feared all along was coming to pass. Levon didn’t see her as forever material. Baby or not, she was just a burden to him now, a negative variable that was turning out to be not worth the energy. One that was drawing him away from his real focus, which had never been her, nor the baby, nor the potential life they might build together.

All of the fantasies she had formed in spite of herself burned away in an instant. Olive rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, crying softly until, exhausted, she fell asleep alone.

17

“I’m going out,” Olive informed Levon two days later.

“Oh?” Dread pooled in his stomach like he’d just taken a swift gulp of ice water, but he played it cool. It wasn’t a brilliant response, but it left him room to work from.

He was seated at the kitchen table, laptop open, poring over the most recently compiled update from headquarters. Unfortunately, the case wasn’t moving as swiftly as he’d hoped. The Reapers must have caught a whiff of something amiss, and while they had no concept of the hell that was coming their way, the SSoF needed to act before they went to ground. “Where?”

He had been so absorbed with his reading that he hadn’t even noticed Olive until she spoke. Mostly it had been deliberate, since they’d been avoiding each other, practically walking on eggshells, since their argument. Still, he couldn’t help noticing she still looked lovely, dressed in a soft sea-green knit dress that draped her body fetchingly. Her hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders and framed her pale face, hiding her expression.

“My neighbor Tom and his wife are taking me shopping to get some stuff for the baby in Norfolk,” Olive said, her tone chilly.

A twinge of remorse pinched his chest. If he’d handled things differently the other day, it might have been him going with her to buy stuff for their baby, but now he’d pretty much blown any chance she’d let him be involved. He tried to tell himself it was fine. Up until a few weeks ago he’d not even known he’d fathered a kid and his life had been all good.

Hadn’t it?

He frowned down at his computer screen without seeing it, uncertainty churning inside him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure how good it had been. Honestly, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore, except his continuing responsibility to protect Olive and the baby. And speaking of that, “Before you go, I need you to contact Franklin. He’s our key to getting the Reapers gang leadership on the record about their level of involvement.”

“No.” Olive met his gaze with a flat look. “I’m not doing that.”

Levon rocked back in his chair, frowning. “Why?”

“Because I’m done with this. You said you made a mistake getting me involved in the case, so I’m rectifying that for you.” She crossed her arms and raised a brow at him. “Ask Principal James to do it, since he seems to be the one you trust to help you now.”