Free Stranded with the SEAL by Amy Gamet

at us.”
    He forced his foot into a too-tight snow boot and looked at her like she was hallucinating. “No one was shooting at us.”
    “Trevor! Stop bullshitting me!”
    He turned back to the closet, searching for gloves and deciding what to say.
    “I don’t know who was on that snowmobile, but I don’t have a good feeling about them, and I’m going after them to see what I can find out.”
    She looked from his ski boots up to his face. “You can’t possibly catch him.”
    “I think I can.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?” she whispered.
    “Former Navy SEAL officer Trevor Hawkins, current lieutenant commander of HERO Force Alpha Squad. Put the fire out and the lights off until I know what we’re dealing with. Take this knife and keep it with you at all times.”
    She looked at the blade in her hand and took a step backward.
    He zipped up his parka and pulled the goggles over his eyes, then slipped out the door without another word.

15
    O livia hadn’t moved since Trevor left.
    Navy SEAL.
    Lieutenant Commander.
    HERO Force.
    No wonder he looked like a warrior. That’s exactly what he was.
    Even wounded, she believed him when he said he could catch up to the man on the snowmobile, physics be damned. The rules of motion hadn’t been formally introduced to Trevor Hawkins.
    She’d only known him for a short time, but she was in awe of this man. He was physically and emotionally strong, and he took care of her. Chasing after the guy on the snowmobile came as no surprise.
    Trevor was a man who would protect her.
    Olivia frowned. Somehow she knew she needed protecting, though from what, or whom, she couldn’t imagine. There was a fatigue in her bones that held its own memories, and it stood witness to hard times in her past and a lingering sadness she couldn’t explain.
    Trevor had crashed into her world, and her history had been wiped clean. Maybe that was no accident. Maybe the strength of his character had scared her reality away.
    You’re being melodramatic, and you’re getting too attached to a man who’s only bound to you by the weather.
    Where would he go if he were able to leave? Now that she knew what he did for a living, she wondered if he was on a mission. She blew out air at the cloak-and-dagger word. Mission. Did anyone really go on missions?
    He works for a group called HERO Force, and you’re making fun of the word mission?
    Seriously.
    Or maybe he really was here to see a woman.
    A lover.
    She crossed her arms. A man like that could have whatever woman he wanted, and he no doubt did.
    “That’s one lucky lady,” she said, then sighed. His body alone! Add to that, he was a protective, kind, Navy SEAL, and the women must be falling all over themselves to get to him. If she were available, she certainly would be.
    Her eyes popped open wide.
    If she were available?
    Goose bumps swept up her arms, but no more thoughts came, no picture of a man she should be missing. She should be thrilled at the slightest glimpse of her memory returning, but the contrast between her thoughts of Trevor and the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach at the idea of the real man in her life was alarming.
    She wandered through the darkening cabin. The fire was nearly out, but she put down her knife and used the fire poker to spread out the remaining coals before taking a seat by the window. Snow was falling softly against the luminous purple sky, the entire landscape covered in white, and glowing. He was out there somewhere, tangling with something neither of them understood, and she hoped he would come home soon.
    Home? This isn’t home!
    As soon as the roads were open, Hawk would go back to his life, and she would be left to fend for herself.
    Maybe by then she’d have her memory back.
    Or maybe I don’t even want it.
    Her shoulders shook, whether from cold or her thoughts, she wasn’t sure. It was certainly cold in the cabin, and bound to get a lot colder. She thought of Trevor keeping her warm,