My Sweet Valentine
Read My Sweet Valentine Online
Authors: Jill Sanders
My Sweet Valentine
Sara Lander was back in town. She had big plans for her inheritance along with her freshly printed business degree and years of experience in some of Seattle’s finest bakeries. She also had a rich idea for Pride. Sara's Nook was going to be the next biggest thing to hit town. All she needed now was to steer clear of the hunky ex-Navy SEAL who was hell-bent on taking all her focus away from starting her own business.
Allen Masters had been living in Pride for several years. Setting up a new branch of the Coastguard and training all the new recruits took years of skill and all his patience. But when he saw the black-haired beauty who had come back into town, he realized she was the one he'd been searching for. Taking one taste of her sweets, he knew he'd be in for a sinful time, but losing his focus while flying into the eye of a storm was the last thing he could afford.
Other titles by Jill Sanders
Finding Pride
– Pride Series #1
Discovering Pride
– Pride Series #2
Returning Pride
– Pride Series #350
Lasting Pride
– Pride Series #4
Serving Pride
– Prequel to Pride Series #5
Red Hot Christmas
– A Pride Christmas #6
Secret Seduction
– Secret Series #1
Secret Pleasure
– Secret Series #2
Secret Guardian
– Secret Series #3
Secret Passions
– Secret Series #4
Secret Identity
– Secret Series #5
Secret Obsession
– Secret Series #6
Secret Demands
– Secret Series #7
Secret Sauce
– Secret Series #8
My Sweet Valentine
by
Jill Sanders
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN:
Copyright © 2014 Jill Sanders
Edited by Erica Ellis – http://ericaellisfreelance.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorize
d
editions.
To my greatest
love and best frien
d
,
My Husband
Prologue
Allen struggled to hold the Blackhawk steady. He could hear the bullets flying by and, for just a second, he closed his eyes and prayed. Then he took a deep breath and pointed the nose of the chopper where he needed to be. Signaling his crew they were in position, he held his hands steady as his men extracted the marines from the site.
All his concentration was on keeping the bird steady. His crew was working on the last marine when he felt the sting in his chest. The bird jolted to the side as debris from the tempered glass flew around his face, hitting his helmet and knocking off his face shield. Warning sirens went off, signaling that the chopper was in trouble. His crew screamed in his ear as he gripped the stick with both hands, which was slick with his own blood. His vision threatened to fade, so he bit the inside of his cheek and held on. Looking behind him, he saw that the last marine was safe, so he pointed the bird into open skies.
“Allen!” his co-pilot Mayer yelled at him in the headset. “You got this?”
“Yeah. I got this.” The sound of gunfire faded away as they hit open sky. His chest was on fire and breathing was getting difficult. He felt the chopper tilt and heard a new group of alarms going off. This time he knew there was no way to pull the bird up from the nosedive.
Yelling to the back for everyone to hold on, he relayed his location information to base as they spiraled out of control towards the desert floor.
A second before impact, his mind flashed to a peaceful image of him sitting on a beach somewhere, a large, hairy black dog running in the surf after a stick, a woman's gentle hand touching his arm. The second he turned to look at her, the bird hit the desert floor. Pain exploded in his body until all he knew was darkness.
When he surfaced again, it was to his crew screaming his name. Private Steven's was standing over him, yelling for him to get out. Then the next minute, the man was dead, hunched over the console, half his face gone from a round. The shock tried to force Allen to freeze up, but he'd been trained for this. Since his body was sheltered from the incoming rounds, he stayed down. Looking behind him, he could see the other men in his team looking at him for instructions.
“Stay down. Stay put until we see where it's coming from,” he said into his headset.
“The ridge on the left. We've tried to get the shooter, but he's in there tight.” Lt. Miller, their sharpshooter, sounded pissed. “He picked off two of the marines before we could get behind cover.”
“Damn.” His team had risked their lives for those marines and to have two of them gone while he was out just pissed him off. “Is there only the one shooter?”
“Yeah, we landed in a pretty remote area. Base says Humvees are en route.”
“Miller, do whatever it takes to take him out. I'll cause a distraction. When he pops his head up, take him out.”
Allen reached around and unbuckled himself. Slowly he slid to the left and out of the seat. He could see the desert floor jutting up into his view. In the distance, he saw a flash a second before Miller's shot rang out. The hidden sniper’s bullet grazed his helmet as Miller's round took him down.
“Better stay down, just in case there’s more.” Allen looked around the desert hills and after a few minutes of silence, everyone relaxed and waited for the convoy to come pick them up.
Allen sat there quietly waiting for rescue, bleeding through a hole in his side, dreaming of a beach, a dog, and a woman.
Five years later
…
A
llen was caged in again. Every time he turned to get away, there was another opponent. They were faster, smaller, and younger than he was. Even though they were well matched in numbers, his crew was about to get their butts whipped. He went in for a kill, only to get stuffed and served.
“Get behind him, let's try that one again,” Aaron, his captain, said as they huddled together. “We've got these twerps. We aren't going to let a bunch of greasy-faced teenagers take us down, are we?”
“It’s now or never.” Allen knew they had to gain the higher ground again. He looked around, trying to avoid the watchful eyes, knowing the distraction could end up killing them.
“Break.” They parted ways as the buzzer sounded the timeout was over.
When the ball was in motion again, he realized there was no way they were going to win. Those greasy kids were going to whip their butts. They made three more points to the teenagers’ five before there was a squeal, causing the entire gym to look towards the bleachers.
“Aaron, your wife's water just broke. You better get over here and take her in. You're having a baby,” said Megan Jordan. She stood by the petite Lacey Stevens, who was past her due date and stood there holding her protruding belly. Aaron, along with Lacey's two brothers, Iian and Todd, rushed off the court and lifted her down gently from the bleachers. Luke and Allen stood there trying to catch their breath. They smiled and watched their friends all hover as Aaron carried his wife out the doors. Several of the women who'd been cheering them on left.
Two women remained. They talked as the other team and the referee left.
“Is that Amber, the new manager for the Golden Oar?” Allen slapped Luke's back as he looked at the pretty brunette. He kept trying not to look at the raven-haired beauty standing next to Luke's new girl.
“Yeah.” Luke smiled in her direction. Allen knew Luke and Amber had been seeing each other for about a month. Luke’s grandmother had died recently and he'd been going through a rough time. But seeing Luke's smile and watching his eyes light up when he looked at Amber, he knew he'd gotten through the hardest part.