She waved at him and called out, “Aloha!” and continued toward Scott.
He was smiling by the time she got to him. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey,” she said, stepping into his personal space and tipping her head back. He obliged by bending and kissing her hard and deep, right there in front of all the tourists and locals milling about.
When he lifted his head after several moments, Elodie knew she had a ridiculous smile on her face.
“How was your day?” he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her toward his truck.
“Good. The clients each caught a marlin. They were thrilled.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“How’s your day been?” she asked.
“About like normal,” he said.
“Did you…did you talk to your team?”
He knew what she was referring to. “I did. And it’s all good. I’ll tell you about it tonight. You want me to take you to my place or yours?”
Elodie thought about it for a second, then said, “Mine, please.”
She liked that he didn’t complain or try to talk her into going to his place. He merely stood by as she climbed into his truck and shut the door behind her when she was settled. The drive to the house where she was renting a room was done in silence, but Elodie felt a little better when Scott reached over and took her hand in his as he drove.
When he pulled up in front of the house, he cut off the engine and turned to her. She held her breath, because the serious look on his face made her extremely nervous.
“The guys wanted to know when they were going to get a chance to meet you. They had all sorts of ideas…like working out with us, or having a cookout—for which they volunteered you to cook all the food.” He rolled his eyes and smirked. “I said no to both, by the way. I have no problem with them meeting you, but I’m not ready to share you yet. I hope that’s okay. It’s not that I’m trying to hide you or anything, I just…I’m feeling selfish and want to spend every second of my time off getting to know you, not playing host with my team.”
Elodie’s nervousness evaporated. “Okay.”
“I know that’s crazy, and I do want you to meet them. I think you’ll get along great. It’s not that I’m afraid you won’t like them or vice versa.”
She smiled. “I feel kinda selfish of your time myself, and I wouldn’t mind learning more about you before I’m thrown to the wolves, so to speak.”
Scott smiled. “Good. And I told them about your situation…and they’re looking into it.”
Elodie felt the blood drain from her face at the latter news.
“Don’t panic,” he ordered. “Pid’s good at what he does. He’s not going to do anything that will alert them to your whereabouts. He’s discreet. We just need to know what we’re dealing with here. How serious they are about finding you and how dangerous they really are. Trust us. Trust me,” he said urgently.
Elodie reminded herself that she knew this would happen when she opened up to Scott. It wasn’t even a question that he’d talk to his team about her, but she wasn’t as sure about them poking into the situation. Eventually, she nodded.
“We got this,” he said softly. “We’ll figure this out and then put it behind us and live happily ever after. Okay?”
Elodie took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Unfortunately, I need to get back to base, we’ve got more meetings this afternoon.”
“Is everything all right?” she asked. She had no idea what Scott normally did during the day, but important meetings couldn’t be a good thing for a SEAL, could they?
“Everything’s fine,” he said without seeming stressed. “We’ve always got our eyes on what’s going on in the world, and trying to keep up to date on the latest developments means we’re always in meetings. You want me to pick you up when I’m done?”
Yes! Of course she wanted that. But she didn’t want to seem too eager either. “If you’re going to be tired at the end of the day, it’s okay if you just want to go home.”
Without warning, Scott leaned over and palmed the back of her head and pulled her into him. He kissed her hard, then, staying nose to nose, said, “I’ll never be too tired to see you.”
Butterflies took off in her belly. “Okay, then I’d love for you to pick me up. I’d offer to let you stay here, but the view from your apartment is much better. As is your kitchen. Can I cook for you tonight?”
“Yes, but only if you don’t go out of your way.”
“I won’t,” she promised, her mind already racing to think of what she might make for him.
“Do you need to go to the grocery store? We can stop by after I pick you up.”
“No, I think I’m good,” Elodie told him as she mentally reviewed what she had in her landlord’s pantry.
“Okay. We need to talk about getting you a phone, but I’ll call your land line when I’m on my way.”
Elodie didn’t want to argue over the cell. She didn’t want Scott to pay for a phone for her, as she knew they weren’t cheap, and she still wasn’t comfortable carrying anything on her person that could be traced. She had no idea if Paul or his family had the connections to digitally trace someone, but she had to assume so, and didn’t want to take any chances.
“Right. I’m going to have a hard time winning that argument, aren’t I?” Scott asked with a smile. “It’s cool. I’ll see you in a few hours. El?”
“Yeah?”
“This is gonna be fine. We’re gonna work out, and Columbus isn’t going to win, we are. All right?”
She nodded. What else could she do? She wanted to believe him, with all her heart she wanted him to be right.
He leaned in, kissed her forehead gently, then sat back. Elodie climbed out of the truck and waved as she headed down the gravel driveway toward the side entrance to her room. She needed to shower, change, then decide what she wanted to make for dinner.
It had been a long time since she’d been excited to cook. She had no idea if this was a one-time thing, and once she actually got back into the kitchen the spark would die, as it had so many other times recently. But it was one more thing she could be grateful to Scott for. He was already changing her life in so many ways, she was losing track. And she couldn’t help but smile about that as she entered her apartment.
Chapter Fourteen
The last three weeks had been amazing. Stupendous. Better than Elodie could’ve ever imagined.
She’d kinda thought things between her and Scott would’ve gotten less intense as the weeks passed, as the newness of their relationship faded, but that hadn’t been the case. She still got butterflies when she saw him after work, and they hadn’t run out of things to talk about to each other.
Every day, she learned something new about Scott. How he absolutely hated spiders, but had no problem with picking up snakes. How he had a soft spot for the turtles on the island and even volunteered once a month to stand on Laniakea Beach on the North Shore to protect the giant green turtles that frequently crawled up on the sand to sun themselves there. Without volunteers like himself, the tourists would get way too close to the turtles and most likely act stupid—like put their children on their backs for pictures and other nonsense. She’d gone with him one Sunday, and she’d happily spent three hours sitting in the shade, watching her man educate the tourists and protect the turtles.