The SEAL's Virgin Hostage: A Virgin and Bad Boy Military Romance (SEAL Mercenaries Book 3) by Lilly Holden

Author:Lilly Holden [Holden, Lilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

5

Ryder

The sound of a log snapping in the fire was like a starter’s gun firing on a still day, except instead of jolting a person, the warmth of the fire was settling, comforting.

“Last night wasn’t the first time you’d used the name Alex Mitchell, was it?”

I looked up from my place on the sofa and the Lee Child book I was reading and regarded Paige as she sat in the armchair, dressed in a fresh pair of jeans and soft sky-blue sweater, holding a dog-eared copy of an old Robert Ludlum thriller.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“I didn’t think so. I mean”—she shrugged—“you had professionally printed business cards.”

“Alex Mitchell is an alias I use.” One of many.

Her expression turned guarded. “Is Ryder your real name, or another alias you’re using to hide your identity?” Her lips slanted with a wry smile. “Not that I’d expect you to tell me the truth if it was a lie, but I’d like to know.”

Fair question. “It’s my real name.” I didn’t question the force with which I wanted her to believe me. Gaining Paige’s trust was more than a step to obtaining an easy truce while she was held here. I wanted her to know she could trust me on a deeper level. “Charles and Shelley Nolan from Malibu, California. An investment advisor and an ER nurse. Three sons, one daughter, and Mom makes the best spaghetti and meatballs. We all think she has Italian blood somewhere in her genes.”

It was a risk, sharing personal information with her, but she was connected to Lance so my background was already at risk.

My reward was the way the corners of her mouth turned upward and the sound of her soft chuckle. “I love spaghetti and meatballs. Sounds like you are close to your family.”

“They’re crazy, but I love them, even though Mom tries to manage me from thousands of miles away. But that’s part of having a mom.”

A shadow flickered across her face, so fast I wasn’t sure it had happened except for the too-practiced neutral tone of her voice. “I wouldn’t know, but it sounds great.”

I wasn’t prepared to let the moment go without digging deeper. “What happened to your mom?”

“She died.” Paige closed her book, placing it on the pine side table next to her chair. “I was just a baby. Car accident.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Honestly, I was so young at the time, I never experienced her loss first hand. But I felt it every time I saw the pain on my dad’s face. In all the years I knew him, it never went away.” She stared into the fireplace as the embers glowed bright scarlet and orange and rubbed the chain of her gold locket between a finger and thumb. “He told me once he fell in love with her the first moment he saw her. She was in a bookstore, reading a book near the front window, and he was walking past. He got one look at her and walked inside, asked her out, and the rest is history.

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