Free SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle by Lynn Raye Harris, Elle Kennedy, Anne Marsh, Delilah Devlin, Sharon Hamilton, Jennifer Lowery, Cora Seton, Elle James, S.M. Butler, Zoe York, Kimberley Troutte Page B

wasn’t playing!”
    “Okay.” She grinned. “Now excuse me, I have a range to own.”
    And she did own that round. Even Rik couldn’t beat her. But that was where her luck ran out. She hung in the top three, but by the end of the twenty-five meter pistol shoot, Rik and Vince—who’d shot nearly perfectly—were tied for the lead.
    Her haven was slipping through her fingers.
    But maybe you don’t need it anymore . She’d been on the island almost exclusively since she’d been hired by Rik, only leaving with the team for their missions. And even then, she was the sniper. Solitude was her way of life, hiding up high or far away. Watching and listening, taking out threats. Keeping everything at bay.
    Not Vince. She couldn’t keep him at bay. Didn’t even want to try.
    Jackson and Trent put up the green flag, and moved the targets out to fifty meters. She paced back and forth, trying to do the math on what she’d need to shoot to win.
    Better than she’d ever shot in her life. And Vince and Rik would both need to miss.
    It wasn’t going to happen.
    “This was a stupid idea,” she griped as Vince walked over, scuffing the pale, sandy dirt. “And don’t tell me again that I need to have faith in myself.”
    “No.” He bumped her shoulder with his arm. “You just need to shoot better.”
    “Shoot perfect, you mean.”
    “Yeah. So do that.”
    She just snorted, and he didn’t say anything else. They watched Trent, Jackson and Mats all take their shots, then it was her turn.
    She hadn’t really been in the zone all afternoon, but now as she settled onto her spot, knees relaxed, arms loose, she felt that calm slip over her. She could see the target, could feel the muscles that she’d need all twitch in readiness.
    Her slow-fire cluster was good. She knew it in her bones. But her rapid-fire cluster was actually perfect. She didn’t need to see the target paper.
    She stepped back, nodding to Rik that it was his turn. She didn’t look over at Vince. She didn’t need to. She could feel his smile.
    Her boss had a decent round, then another, but it wasn’t good enough, she was pretty sure. Now it was down to Vince.
    As Rik cleaned his weapon, she could feel him watching her watch their newest team member.
    “Go on,” she sighed. “Say what’s on your mind.”
    “Two days ago you were demanding I kick him off the island.”
    She grinned. “Yeah.”
    “I take it you’re withdrawing your objection?”
    Her eyes stayed trained on the man she couldn’t get enough of, standing tall and determined as he aimed down the range. “Definitely no objections.”
    Pop. Pop. Pop. He wasn’t throwing the competition, that was for sure. From a distance, it looked like his cluster was impossibly tight.
    “Well, RSO?” asked Jackson, only throwing a tiny bit of snark on the acronym for range safety officer. “Can we put up the green flag and tally our miserable scores?”
    “Yep.” She headed for the flag stand.
    “Wait,” Vince said behind her.
    She glanced over her shoulder.
    He shrugged. “We could just call it a draw.”
    “You scared, Nash?” She shook her head and pointed at the targets. “No draw. Let’s go find out who won.”
    *
    He’d thought about blowing the last target. It wasn’t in his nature, but for Larken…
    Except she’d kick his ass if he did that. If he won this round, she’d get him next time. This wasn’t a do-or-die fight. The real measure was how they dealt with it.
    He huffed a quiet laugh as he followed her down the lines. He’d already failed, then. He didn’t want to beat her. He wanted her to invite him to stay in her cottage, to make it their cottage—on her terms, not as part of a bet.
    She started with the other guys, marking their scores on her clipboard. Then it was his turn. He counted along with her in his head, half-hoping she’d miscount. Of course she didn’t. Out of a possible perfect score of a hundred, because each shot could be ten points for nailing the