Guarding His Pretend Wife: SEAL Endgame Book Two Read online

  “Welcome to our LoveFix Retreat,” a tanned older man with white hair and even whiter teeth said. From the information Beth had sent him last night about this place, he recognized the guy as Robert Hart, owner of the company Beth was investigating. The fact she’d tensed slightly beside him was also a clue. Without thinking, he slid his arm around her waist and tugged her into his side while other couples crowded around them. She tensed slightly at his touch, then relaxed against him. Hey, they were supposed to be married, right?

  It was all part of their cover. That’s the excuse he was going with anyway.

  The breeze blew a strand of her hair into his face and he brushed it aside, catching a hint of her rose-scented shampoo before concentrating on Hart’s speech.

  “We’re so excited to have you all here. For the next week, we’ll be getting to know each other a whole lot better, and hopefully, we’ll be able to help you and your partner return to the loving partnership you all crave. First though, let’s get you all checked in. Follow me, please.”

  They walked down a path alongside the airport and around a large hanger, emerging to see a real-life Shangri-La. Four large thatched-roofed buildings stood clustered together on the ridge of a hill leading down to the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. Private cabanas lined the beach, one for each couple, connected to land by a long boardwalk. Lush tropical foliage and flowers glistened beneath the sun in all directions and the sweet scent of jasmine perfumed the air as they walked to the registration desk inside one of the larger buildings. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that Eric could see, unless you counted all the signs hyping their Wi-Fi service. Seriously, you’d think the Internet had been invented on the island the way they bragged about how fast their connection speed was and how easy it was to use. If he’d been in charge, Eric would’ve bragged about the gorgeous white sand beaches and the crystal-clear waters, but to each his own, he supposed.

  While he and Beth waited in line, Eric couldn’t help glancing around the lobby. From the soaring cathedral-like ceilings to the cool tile floors, the place screamed expensive. Rattan furniture covered with plump cushions was scattered around the space and several cages with brightly colored parrots stood against the walls. Off to one side, he noted a door standing slightly ajar.

  He nudged Beth with his arm and hiked his chin in that direction. “Honey, if you can handle our reservations, I’m going to explore a bit.”

  Beth nodded and he made his way over to the door, checking around him periodically to make sure no one was watching him, but the rest of the couples were too busy checking-in and getting to know one another to notice him. He slipped behind a strategically placed potted fern then peered through the opened door into the room beyond. He spotted a row of computers and thought it must be a business center…but the more he looked around, the more he questioned that conclusion. There a lot of computers, plus sizeable server banks, as if this place was set up to process massive amounts of information. But why would that be? This was a therapy retreat—not a business hub. Plus, the setup seemed very utilitarian—none of the lush elegance that he’d seen so far in all the public areas. It almost seemed as if this room wasn’t meant for the guests at all. But why would the resort need a computer center like this for the staff?

  “May I help you, sir?” one of the resort staff-members said from behind him and Eric turned to find a guy who looked maybe twenty or so dressed in the requisite uniform of white polo shirt and black Bermuda shorts standing behind him. The guy’s smile was polite enough, but it didn’t reach his dark eyes.

  “Oh, sorry,” Eric said, playing the part of contrite tourist. “Just checking out this place. It’s really fantastic.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the guy said, gesturing for Eric to follow him back to where the rest of the crowd stood near a table where other staff members were handing out gift bags and leis and more fruity drinks. Beth was there, waiting for him. “This room is for staff only, I’m afraid,” the man continued. “Please enjoy your stay here on the island.”

  The staffer closed the door and locked it, then walked away, leaving Eric to stare after him.

  Eric rejoined Beth and quietly told her what he’d seen, accepting a flowered lei from another staff and a fourth fruity drink. When in Rome, eh? He sipped the too-sweet concoction and gazed at the other people in the room.

  “That is weird,” Beth said. “Why on earth would they need that kind of setup?”

  “Hmm.” He shrugged again, careful not to disturb his aching arm this time. “Something else to check out while we’re here.”

  4

  The next morning, Beth was up early and raring to get started. The private cabana-style cabin she and Eric were staying in was comfy enough and the sound of the waves rippling beneath the elevated floor of their lodgings was oddly soothing. She’d slept like the dead, in other words.

  Eric was still snoozing away on the floor of the bedroom when she came out of the bathroom and tiptoed over to the closet to grab her clothes for the day. She wasn’t used to having a roommate these days and it hadn’t occurred to her to take them into the bathroom with her, until she’d emerged from her shower with nothing to put on except her towel.

  Thankfully, she managed to dress in her outfit for the day—a pink bikini and a black linen jumpsuit coverup over the top—without waking him. She finally got him up after ordering their room service breakfast and checked her email while he took his shower. It was weird that there were so many signs about the Wi-Fi, but the connection really was top notch. She was able to breeze through her emails in no time at all.

  Beth sat at the small table in the living room, doing her best to concentrate on her work and not on the sounds of Eric bumping around in the bathroom or his soft hums as he shaved. But each time she closed her eyes, all she could picture was him with a wet towel slung around his hips and water trickling down his smooth skin. What she wouldn’t give to lick those droplets off, taste the salt and heat of him, kiss every square inch of…

  “Breakfast here yet?” he said, coming out of the bed room wearing a clean pair of cargo shorts and a black T-shirt with a surf logo on the front. He padded over barefoot to the small kitchenette and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I’m starving.”

  “Should be here any minute.” She checked her watch to keep from staring at him. “We’ll have to hurry though. We’ve got our first group therapy session in half an hour in the main building.”

  “Group therapy?” Eric scrunched his nose. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” Beth closed her laptop and turned in her seat to face him. “We’re supposed to be here to fix our troubled marriage, remember?”

  “Yeah, but I doubt anything on offer here will really help. Someone claiming they can fix all your problems in just one week? I’m all for therapy, but that part sounds like a scam, regardless of whether you find anything else wrong.”

  “Cynical much?” she raised a brow at him as a knock sounded on the door. Beth got up and let the room service guy in to deliver their breakfast, then tipped him on his way out. They settled in for a quick meal of croissants and fresh tropical fruits. “Only a few therapists are legit? Why don’t you like therapists?”

  “No reason, really,” he said around a bite of mango. “I just grew up around a con-man and can smell bullshit a mile away.”

  “Wow.” She nibbled on a buttery croissant, the flaky dough melting on her tongue. “Sounds like whoever it was did a real number on you.”

  “Yep.” He finished off his fruit then took a long swig of coffee. “My dad was a piece of work all right.”

  “Your dad?” His dad had been a con man? That had to leave a person with some serious scars and trust issues. Maybe that’s why such a handsome guy was still single at his age. She wanted to ask him more, but if they didn’t get to that damned group session their cover could be blown before they’d even started investigating. She quickly downed the rest of her croissant then grabbed her tote and followed Eric up the boardwalk to the short path to the main building.

  By the time they arrived, the other couples were already assembled in a circle. Beth and Eric took their places and soon Robert Hart entered the room to preside over their session. They went around the room and each person introduced themselves and talked a bit about why they were there. In her head, Beth went over their story again. She’d been enlisted in the Army, sent overseas for three years and while she’d been gone, Eric had turned into a workaholic. Now, he all but ignored Beth and was neglectful in their marriage. They still loved each other and wanted to try to fix their marriage.

  “…and then I came home from work earlier one day and found him sleeping with my best friend,” another woman in their group said.

  Shit. She’d missed the first part of what the other woman had said, but it sounded way too close to the back story she and Eric had concocted. Beth glanced at him beside her and he gave her a small shake of his head, telling her not to worry, but she was worried already, dammit.

  “And you?” Robert Hart said, looking at Beth then checking his clipboard. “Mrs. Holman. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you’re here.”

  Beth swallowed hard and stared around at all the other guests watching her. They needed something to make their story more unique, so it wasn’t quite so similar to the other couple’s. Scrambling, she pulled out the first thing that came to her mind. “Hi, my name’s Beth Holman, and this is my husband Eric. We’re here because while I was away serving in the military overseas, he had an affair. He’s a writer and I know creative’s can be flighty, but I think there’s something more at play here. His father was a con man and he’s got serious trust issues he needs to work out because of that. We still love each other and want to fix our marriage, but there’s no way we can move forward until he deals with his past. Isn’t that right, honey?”

  She looked back at Eric over her shoulder, only to see him looking like he’d swallowed a cue ball. Dark eyes wide and full of shocked anger, his tanned cheeks were slightly mottled with crimson. Damn. She’d been trying to make their story unique so it would be more believable, but she’d overstepped his boundaries, obviously. Hoping to ease the sting, she placed her hand on his knee and gave him a conciliatory smile. “I’m sorry to have put it all out there like that, honey, but he needs to know what’s going on so he can help us.”

  Eric blinked at her a few times, his full lips compressed into a thin white line. Then he inhaled slow and exhaled even slower, a tiny muscle ticking near his tight jaw as he spoke. “Yes, that’s true, sweetheart.” The edge in his tone had the endearment cutting deeper than a razor blade. “But my past isn’t up for discussion.”

  “Ah. A sore spot,” Robert Hart said, his bright blue eyes zeroing in on Eric like laser beams. “We like to poke at those around here, Eric. But don’t worry. You’re in safe hands with me. Before you leave here, we’ll work out all your kinks.”

  Beth glanced back at the older man, unsettled by his strange choice of words, but then refocused on Eric again, doing her best to convey her sincere apology without words. Crap, crap, crap. The rest of the session passed in a blur as she counted the seconds until they could talk privately again.

  The moment the session let out, Beth raced after Eric down the path to their cabana, her stomach tied in knots. “I’m really sorry about what I said back there. I didn’t mean to share your secret with the world, but I panicked, and I tend to babble when I’m nervous and…”

  He stopped so abruptly in front of her on the boardwalk that she nearly barreled right into his back. Eric turned to face her, his hands resting on her shoulders to steady her and keep her from toppling over into the water. “Fine. But no more surprises, okay? Anything we say to each other in private is in strict confidence, got it?”

  She nodded and stared up at him. A lock of his blond hair had fallen over his forehead and her fingertips itched to reach up and brush it back into place for him. She clenched her hands at her sides instead, knowing that touching him now wouldn’t help anything. “Got it.”

  * * *

  Eric strode around the cabana, grumbling to himself about that stupid therapy session. Sure, he’d seen it mentioned on the brochure Beth had sent him about this idiotic retreat, but he’d figure he could bluff his way through it, keeping his secrets just that. Secret. Would have worked too, if she’d kept their cover simple.

  But no, she had to go and add on to it, blabbing to Robert Hart and anyone else within hearing distance about his dad. God, he’d regretted letting that slip earlier at breakfast and now he regretted it even more. He never talked about his old man. Never. What had possessed him to come out with it this morning was beyond him, but there was something about Beth. A familiarity, maybe, because of her brother? But no, he had never opened up to Heath like that. For some reason, he just felt at ease around Beth in a way that made him far too prone to letting his defenses drop. Which was beyond crazy since he’d known her all of twenty-four hours. And sure, she had the face of an angel and a body made for sin; but he was a trained soldier, a frigging Navy SEAL, for Christ’s sake. He’d faced down some of the cleverest, most vicious, most vile dictators on earth. He should be able to keep his shit together around one beautiful woman.

  He walked into the bathroom to change into his swim trunks, then came out and grabbed a beach towel from the shelf by the door. According to the itinerary, they had the afternoon free before attending some dinner-slash-reception thing tonight. Eric intended to spend his time alone, clearing his mind and getting his head around the fact they still had the rest of the week to get through before this was over.

  He'd just stepped out onto the veranda outside when a knock sounded at the front door. Beth, who’d been steering clear of him since their return to the room, answered it. On the other side stood one of the couples from their therapy session earlier. The same couple who’d had a story similar to theirs.

  Damn. Eric felt his beach time slipping away as Beth turned slightly to give him a get-your-butt-over-here look. The temptation to turn and run was strong, but Eric had never backed down from a challenge before in his life and he wouldn’t start now. Besides, this is what he’d signed on for yesterday. Playing the role of devoted partner. Fine. He tossed his towel aside and walked over to slip his arm around Beth’s waist, forcing a cheerful smile he didn’t quite feel. One doting husband coming up. “Hey, guys. I remember you from the group this morning. Eric Holman.”

  “John Murphy,” the guy said, shaking Eric’s hand. “And this is my wife, Cindy.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Eric said. “What can we help you with today?”

  “They invited us to play ping pong with them,” Beth said, glancing up at him, her smile tight and her fingers warm against his bare torso. “I think we should take them up on their offer. It’ll give us a chance to explore the rec room, since we’ve not seen it yet.”

  The reminder of her job here helped get him back on track.

  Eric nodded then squeezed Beth close for a second, biting back a grin as she tensed. Apparently, she was still stuck on their disagreement earlier, same as he’d been. But with his years of training as a SEAL he was able to rebound and compartmentalize those feeling quicker than she could. Good to know. He laid the affection on extra thick, partly for payback from her blabbing about his past earlier without clearing it with him first and partly because it was fun to see her flustered and discombobulated. She’d come off as so in control yesterday that it was fun getting a peek at the fallible woman beneath her stylish, slick exterior. “Okay. Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you want.” Before she could react, he bent and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. She tasted of sugar from the fruit earlier and mint from her toothpaste and this time when he smiled, it was genuine. “This trip is all about you, darling. I’m just here to beg forgiveness. Plus, it will give me a chance to show off my superior ping pong skills. Let me just put a shirt on.”

  While Beth blinked at him, her expression stunned, he hurried into the bedroom and grabbed a clean T-shirt from his duffle, tugging it on over his head before shoving his feet into a pair of flip flops and rejoining their group by the door.

  The walk to the rec room, located in one of the other large cabanas next door to the main building, helped Eric walk off some of his stress from earlier and brighten his outlook on things. Hey, it was a week in paradise. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut about his past and keep his hands to himself and he’d be all set. Easy enough.

  Beth took his arm and held him back slightly on the path as the other couple walked on ahead, then whispered, “What the hell was that back there?”

  “What?” Eric frowned down at her.

  “You know what.” She glanced over to make sure the Murphy’s weren’t watching them, then said, “The kiss.”

  “Liked it, huh?” He chuckled. “I’ve been told I’m pretty good at it.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” She scowled. “We should clear any physical stuff between us beforehand.”

  “Look. We’re supposed to be married. I think people would be suspicious if we didn’t touch or kiss once in a while, right?” He looked over at her, her dark ponytail dancing in the breeze. “I figured you’d want to keep all this on the down-low as much as possible. Sorry.”

  She huffed and shook her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry, too. I just want to start digging into what’s really going on here and this is my first shot.” They walked into the huge, open air rec room and stopped. “I should probably warn you that I played competitive ping pong in college. I’m good.”