Free Seduction Under Fire by Melissa Cutler Page B

such a jerk.” She pushed off the Jeep and put some space between them.
    “Let me explain.”
    She whirled on him. “Do I have a choice?”
    “That’s my point.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You haven’t had a choice in any of this.” His voice was firm, angry. “You were right last night, you know. Our number was up the second they took us hostage. We can never go home unless the cartel is miraculously destroyed. And here’s the part that really gets me—they weren’t even after you, Camille. You were literally in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like when you were shot. Wrong place, wrong time.”
    “You don’t know anything about me or the accident.”
    “Jacob told me everything about the accident that ruined your career. About the shoot-out at the meth house you were raiding, how you two positioned yourselves in a bathroom but forgot to check the tub. I know about the little boy hiding inside, how he pulled Jacob’s arm when he tried to fire into the hallway.
    “He hit you instead. It about killed Jacob to watch you bleed out on the floor of that filthy bathroom while they secured the house. He said you didn’t complain once. He said you insisted the paramedics take the boy away first.”
    “Any cop would’ve done the same.”
    “All you ever wanted to be in life was a police officer—you said it yourself today. That was your only dream and it died the day Jacob shot you. Don’t play me the fool by pretending your career is still on track. I know better.”
    “My past has nothing to do with this.” She spread her arms, indicating the compound and the surrounding desert.
    “You think one has nothing to do with the other? You don’t think I notice your hand shake when you hold a gun? Or that your limp gets worse with every step you take? Your leg hurts pretty badly right now, doesn’t it? Tell me I’m wrong.”
    “Shut up about how broken and pathetic I am.”
    “You’re missing my point.”
    “Is that so? Because all I’m hearing is that you’re a dirtbag.”
    “Camille, I pity you because you haven’t experienced enough happiness. Your whole life has been one letdown after another. All responsibility and pain, no joy. And what do you do for fun? Swim back and forth in a pool?” He swiped a hand across his forehead. “You need a life, and I stole any chance you had for one. Any chance you had to find some happiness, live a little, was destroyed because the day Juliana went into labor, you got to the hospital at the same time I did. Wrong place, wrong time. Boom, your life is over. It’s not fair.”
    Camille’s insides had turned to fire. The exacting pain she usually felt with the memory of her accident was more akin to a match, igniting flames of rage that licked at her heart and lungs. She yelled with all the strength left in her. “Stop. Shut up. Just shut up.”
    She couldn’t even see Aaron clearly, her eyes were so clouded by anger. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to keep from attacking him like she wanted to.
    Aaron took a tentative step toward her. “I pity you because you deserve so much more than the hand you’ve been dealt.”
    The pain in Camille’s leg returned to her attention in full force. She was exhausted and hurt—physically and mentally. She sat where she stood, stretched out her left leg, drew her right knee in and rested her head in her arms. She didn’t want to look at Aaron anymore. Or the vacant cartel compound. She didn’t want to see the never ending desert or the brilliant blue sky.
    “Camille, listen to me. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. And I know a lot of men who’ve been in battle, a lot of men who go up against murderers every day. You trump them all. You don’t let anything stand in your way, not a shaky trigger finger or a bum leg. I just... I respect that. You were caught up innocently in this whole mess, but without you, I’d probably be dead.”
    Camille’s eyes brimmed with moisture to the