Sag Harbor Village 3: Touch Me Now by Donna Hill

Author:Donna Hill [Hill, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781459244559
Google: 7IUN3-IdKRYC
Amazon: B008X4BMEI
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The air remained charged between them. Layla watched the tight nerves jump beneath his smooth skin. His large hands curled into fists. His jaw flexed as if he was chewing back the words he wanted to hurl across the room.

All of that contained anger and hurt was volatile and as poisonous to his body and spirit as an illness. It was eating him from the inside out and Layla knew that until he fully addressed it, the pain wasn’t going anywhere.

“You’re holding on to so much blame and anger,” she said softly.

Maurice jerked his gaze in her direction. Layla held her breath. He studied her for a moment. “What happened between you and…the guy?” Maurice asked.

Deflection. He was real good at that. Layla curled herself into the couch and half turned toward him. “Brent.” She breathed deeply. “We met at a club. Hit it off. I was cautious at first, but he won my trust. He was attentive, fun, he had his own business, one that I was interested in as well. He took me under his wing…so to speak.” She made a sound of disgust in her throat. “We got involved and it got serious. At least I thought so.” She reached for her glass and took a sobering sip of her mojito.

Maurice’s expression softened. “You said I’m holding on to a lot of blame.” He inhaled deeply. “It’s all I have left,” he confessed.

Layla settled her focus on him and waited, hopeful that her revelation would open the door for his.

He stared off into a place that she could not go, back to that night. The plan had been in place for months. The teams had met repeatedly with the Secretary of Defense and the President. Every eventuality was taken into account. The two teams were handpicked. The intel they had was verified and re-verified. The only variable was the weather. There had to be enough cloud cover, but not enough to hinder visibility and the mission.

His was the command leader for his team of five SEALs, men that he’d trained and worked with over the years. They trusted each other with their lives. They trusted him and he’d destroyed that trust when their Black Hawk went down in the mountains of Afghanistan, two miles off of their target.

He had to look into the eyes of his buddys’ wives and families and see their pain. And there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even admit that he was part of the operation. Top Secret. No one blamed him. He’d been cleared of all wrongdoing by the Navy but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. No one seemed to understand that.

“I’ve tried to let go,” he said, his voice barely audible.

Layla took his hand and dared to curl up next to him. Maurice tentatively draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“You’ll let go when you are ready.” She lightly squeezed his hand. “You’ll forgive yourself when you’re ready.” She looked up at him.

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