Sharpshooter (Shadow Agents 3)

“Gunner, let him go!” Sydney grabbed his arm. “You’re making a scene!”

“No, he did that when he shoved me.” But Gunner let the other man go.

Colin scrambled away, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. He headed for the door as fast as he could.

Well, so much for that dance. So much for the whole night. Sydney turned from Gunner and started marching for the door. The plan had been stupid, anyway. As if she was going to find some kind of Prince Charming in a bar like this.

She pushed open the front door, and the night air rushed over her. Sydney took two more steps, then...

She stopped. “Tell me that you aren’t following me home.” Because she knew he was behind her. As a rule, Gunner could move pretty soundlessly. That was one of the reasons he’d been so good during his time as a SEAL sharpshooter. But she could feel him, so she knew he was trailing her.

“We need to talk.”

Fabulous. “I thought there wasn’t anything to say. I mean, you had your chance at Whiskey Ridge...” When she’d ditched her pride and told him that she needed him.

But he’d stayed aloof.

Gunner always held back with her. Always saw the ghost of her fiancé, his half brother, between them.

She knew now that he wasn’t ever going to let that ghost go. She might want Gunner. Want him so badly that her heart had seemed to break when he kept pulling away, but she’d survive his rejection.

She’d survived much worse than not being wanted by Gunner Ortez.

“What do you want from me?” Gunner asked her.

Everything.

Sydney turned toward him. “I want you to look at me and just see a woman. Not a ghost.”

A muscle jerked in his jaw. “You’re pushing me too much.”

She shook her head. “I’m not pushing you at all. You’re the one who came here, to my town. You’re the one who showed up in the bar.” Frustrated, she demanded, “How did you even find me here? Did you follow my GPS location?” All of the EOD agents had trackers installed on their phones. But if he’d used that tracking system... Stalker much. “Now I’m the one walking away.”

Only she didn’t get to walk far. Four steps was all she took. Then Gunner’s hands were on her shoulders. He spun her back around and lifted her up on her tiptoes.

“When I close my eyes, I see your face.”

His words, so gravel-rough, had her heart racing.

“I don’t see a ghost, I just see you.” His eyes were on her mouth. “You’re driving me crazy, taking over every moment of my life.”

She couldn’t breathe. Because what he was saying—that was the way she felt. As if he’d taken over her life.

“I tried to walk away. I tried to be strong.” His head lowered. “But I don’t want you to be with anyone else.”

Sydney didn’t want to be with any other man. “Gunner...”

“There are some lines that if you cross them, you can’t ever go back.”

“I don’t want to go back.” There was nothing in her past to go back to. Only death.

Gunner was life.

“I won’t be able to let you go.”

She wouldn’t let him go. Before Gunner could say anything else, Sydney wrapped her hands around his neck and she pulled his head down toward her.

The kiss wasn’t easy or gentle. Wasn’t the tentative kiss of soon-to-be lovers.