Free Ruined by the SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 2) by Zoe York

lawyers. What the hell is going on?”
    “I was on exercise,” Will laughed, clearly unperturbed by the fact Mick was losing his mind over an intoxicating woman. Of course, Mick hadn’t shared that fact with his best friend.Hadn’t full realized the extent of the problem until a few minutes ago. “Anyway, I’m sorry about the mess. I’ve put a call in to the senior associate at the law firm. Should have more information for you by the end of day tomorrow. Is the historical society lady giving you a lot of grief?”
    She’d given him a fucking hard-on. Did that count? “She’s got a lot invested in this place, Will. I don’tthink she’s going to accept being blown off.”
    “Just remember, Villa Sucre is our ticket, baby. Don’t worry about it.”
    Mick loved Will. A lot. Most of the time.
    But when his friend slipped into that easy-life, frat-boy, rich-kid mentality, totally used to getting his own way and believing that no obstacle was really a problem…
    It pissed Mick off.
    So for that reason, and not because he couldstill smell Cara’s scent all around him, he hung up the phone.
    And he didn’t answer it when Will called back thirty seconds later. Guilt lancing through his chest, he fired off a text message. Signal weak. Call later.
    Then he threw his phone onto his cot and grabbed a towel. He needed a swim before dusk fell. And he didn’t give a flying fuck how choppy the waves were. Anything would be calmerthan the storm brewing between him and Cara.

NINE

    C RASH . C ARA WOKE UP WITH A START . It was pitch black. She heard the same slam of wood against wood, set against a backdrop of wind and hammering rain.
    One of the shutters, she told herself, but it didn’t ease the pounding of her heart. All of a sudden, her tent seemed claustrophobic. Cursing under her breath, she blindly reached around for her phone. Where the hell was it?
    It was pitchblack inside her little room within the larger cavernous room. She’d liked the tent at first but now it seemed weird and eerie. Calm down. She took a deep breath and tried to think about where she’d put it when she fell asleep.
      She’d been reading on it. She’d rolled to her side…and yes . There it was. A relieved sob tore from her chest as she turned on the flashlight feature and pointed it atthe zipper.
    Then her battery died.
    “Motherfu—“ She cut herself off and tossed the phone back against her pillow with a growl. “Of course you’re dead, you asshole jerk of a phone!”
    Her fingers stiff, she found the zipper again and slid it open to only find more of the same inky darkness. Fantastic. She fell forward, resting on her hands and knees for a minute, half inside and half outside thetent.
    She was all alone in a half-torn-apart mansion in the middle of nowhere. And her phone was dead. She’d bet any money that the power had gone out, too, since she couldn’t hear the hum of the fridge, either.
    It was deadly quiet.
    Creak.
    She screamed louder than she’d ever heard herself scream before and lunged for the rock that she knew was holding the door to the ballroom open.
    Grippingthe heavy weight in her hand, she huddled against the doorframe and tried to make out movement in the shadows.
    Nothing.
    She wanted to laugh at herself, but frankly, she was still petrified.
    “Cara?”
    She sagged with relief at the urgent shout. She knew that strong voice. Mick . “Yeah.” She scrambled to her feet, and made her way down the hall and into the kitchen. He stood in the open hole wherethe door used to be—now it hung off the hinges at an alarming angle and bounced uselessly against the wall.
    The rain lashed against his skin, but he didn’t come inside. Instead he braced his arms on either side of the doorframe and raked his gaze up and down her body. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “I heard a scream.”
    She pointed to the door. “That woke me up, I guess, when it blew open.” Shetook a deep breath. “It scared me.” And then