The Ranger's Heart: A Clean Army Ranger Romance Book Three Read online

  “I’ve never had sushi in my life,” Justin said. “Never really considered even eating it. I mean…why eat raw fish when you can eat it fried?”

  Gunner grunted a quiet laugh. He wouldn’t have picked sushi for a place to eat either, but it wasn’t horrible. If he’d had his choice, he’d have picked a burger joint or somewhere with tacos. “I’d have preferred a burger, but this isn’t too bad.”

  They were seated at a round table in the middle of the restaurant so the cameras could completely surround them. Sophia was sandwiched between Justin and Landon with Gunner next to Justin. At first, Gunner thought Christopher and Riley would fight each other to keep from sitting next to him. Of the three guys on Gunner’s team, he’d been the albatross. With the glares he’d been getting, staying at the house with them was going to be awesome.

  Sophia peeked over her menu. “I’m getting the feeling a burger joint would have been a better choice.”

  Christopher shook his head. “No, I love sushi. Although the best is in Japan, and I’ve gotten a little snobby when it comes to eating it in the States. Once you’ve had sushi over there, it’s never the same.”

  Gunner put his elbow on the table and set his chin in his hand as he let his gaze move down the menu. He was already done with Christopher’s peacocking. Why couldn’t he have just said he loved sushi? Did he have to mention he went to Japan? Gunner had been there too. Of course, it had been as a bodyguard for the daughter of an ambassador, but still, he’d been there. What was the big deal?

  “How about you, Thomas? Do you like sushi?” Sophia asked.

  Without looking up or thinking about it, Gunner shrugged. “When you’ve been starved for three months, you’ll eat just about anything put in front of you. Sushi isn’t my favorite, but it’s food.”

  Silence fell over the table, and Gunner squeezed his eyes shut. He sighed, opened his eyes, and lifted his head, dreading the questions that were coming.

  Landon’s eyebrows were drawn together. “Starved for three months?”

  “Uh, I was in the Army. It’s classified.” Gunner deliberately avoided Sophia’s gaze.

  “Right. That’s convenient. That it’s classified. I think I saw that movie,” Riley said, nudging Christopher with his elbow. “Right?”

  Gunner knew what trapped felt like, and at the moment, he felt more trapped than he had in the cage he’d been kept in Africa. The worst part was trying to figure a way out. “It’s not a big deal. Yes, I like sushi. This place is great.”

  Actually, it was a huge deal. He’d struggled hard when he first returned to the States after being dishonorably discharged. Turning to alcohol, partying…all to try to forget. Getting hired by Pam had been his saving grace. He’d been given a choice. Stop drinking and make a difference or keep going and die. He’d fought too hard to live to just give up, so he’d chosen the better route.

  It had been hard, but he’d sought out a counselor, stopped drinking, and learned how to deal with most of the trauma. Still, the night terrors he experienced on an almost nightly basis were something he couldn’t seem to turn off.

  “It kind of sounds like a big deal,” Sophia said.

  Gunner couldn’t avoid her this time. Catching her gaze, he smiled. “It really isn’t.”

  She held his gaze for a moment, and he wondered if she’d press it. “Okay.”

  Relief flooded him that she’d let it go. He didn’t want to talk about those three months in front of four other guys, nor did he really want to discuss it on television. That part of his life, the scars on his soul, weren’t things he liked sharing anyway. They typically brought back bad memories and made his night terrors worse.

  He rubbed his left temple with his fingers and took in a deep breath. Eight weeks. That’s all he needed, and this assignment and his time with Sophia Parker would be over. There’d be no more weird electric touches or feelings surfacing that he thought were long dead. He could go back to his life with his harmless flirting, and he’d be fine.

  Except he hadn’t realized how much the loneliness was getting to him. Silence when he went home. No one to love or hold. Microwave meals for one. The Guardian Group guys teased him about his dating life, but he’d hidden just how little of a life he had. It was why he liked having assignments. They gave him something to do. Something that didn’t require an examination of his life and the gaping hole he tried to ignore.

  The little bit of interaction he’d had with Sophia had awakened something in him. A need to be wanted and loved. To have someone waiting when he came home. Delicious home-cooked meals where he danced around in the kitchen with the woman he loved while the meal cooked. He wanted more out of life. Getting to seventy and having no one around gutted him, but he’d never found a solution.

  Until now.

  Only, there was no solution. Not really. Sophia was off-limits, and he needed to get his bearings before one of them got hurt. It was such a crazy thought that he nearly laughed out loud. Like he’d get picked. It was all staged. The four guys at the table had a shot, but Gunner? His shot had come and gone. She’d died in a car accident. And he needed to remember that.

  During the meal Sophia shared with the five remaining bachelors, she struggled to stay in her seat. What she wanted to do was pull Gunner away and find out what had happened to him. First, he had nightmares so bad that he’d scream, and now she’d learned he’d been starved for three months. He’d been in the Army. Her imagination had gone wild, but the closest she could come to a rational explanation was that he’d been tortured.

  As she and the guys rode back to the Malibu home, they chatted non-stop. About bowling, the message, Blake, and how much they looked forward to their dates. The one person not participating was Gunner. Which wasn’t a surprise. He seemed to withdraw more and more as the seconds passed.

  What she wouldn’t give for a golden pass to whisk him away somewhere private and spend the day with him. But she had one-on-one dates with Landon and Justin. It suddenly hit her that there would be an extra day with nothing planned that should’ve been Blake’s date. What was Hillary going to do to fill it?

  One of the cameramen’s phones rang, and he answered it. He spoke a few brief words and then cut the camera. “We’ve got Daryl waiting for us at the Malibu home. We’re going to get on top of the whole ‘Blake left’ story before it gets leaked. When we get back, Sophia, you’re to go into the bachelors’ home with them, and from there, Daryl will tell you what you need to do.”

  That was unexpected. Sophia figured it would take Hillary a little time to come up with something. This was quick for her. Every decision she made was weighed against what her dad would think. She’d finally gotten his approval, and she wasn’t about to lose it. Then again, she’d been doing this show for four seasons. Hillary had probably learned to think quickly on her feet.

  What could she have planned, though? The winners of the bowling game were chosen, and the flag football for the next group date was scheduled. Justin and Landon both got to plan their one-on-one dates, so what could she squeeze in for the show?

  The cameras started rolling again, and the guys went back to their discussion. Again, with no input from Gunner. Whatever wall he’d built, it looked to her like he was fortifying it with steel girders. Something she really didn’t want him to do.

  Oh, what was she doing? She didn’t know him, and this was a show. He’d been in the military, and it was classified? That would be like running into a guy and him telling her he was a spy. It would be just as unbelievable. Come on, there was a movie about that with Jamie Lee Curtis. And Sophia wasn’t some gullible housewife.

  As though she’d whispered his name, Gunner looked at her, and every negative thought flitted away. Those eyes held regret, secrets, and a host of other things Sophia was aching to dive into. Something had happened to this man, and it was evident when she met his gaze. Whatever key she needed to make to unlock the man with the haunted blue eyes, she’d do it. She was so drawn to him that she didn’t feel
like she had a choice.

  Chapter 11

  Once they arrived back at the house in Malibu, Sophia and her remaining bachelors were escorted inside. Cameras were already set up around the living room. The furniture was arranged so that Sophia was sitting in a single chair with Daryl sitting in a similar chair next to her. The bachelors were seated on two couches that were situated like airplane wings so the camera could get the guys in one frame when they panned out.

  Daryl waited for his cue to start as one of the cameramen counted down, and then he smiled directly into the camera. “We’re here with Sophia Parker and her remaining bachelors. If you’ll notice, we’re one bachelor short after their bowling date. Can you give us a little idea of what happened?” He turned to her.

  She smiled sweetly into the camera. “Well, it came out that Blake wasn’t really here for me but a career boost. Guess his bad boy days weren’t as far behind him as he’d led people to believe.” The jerk. She was glad he was gone.

  “Wow. Just wow,” Daryl said, turning his attention back to the camera. “Can you believe that?”

  Shaking her head, she lowered her gaze to the floor. “No, at first I couldn’t, but I think it’s better it worked out this way. Now I’m not wasting precious time on someone who really didn’t want to be here.”

  The host nodded, turning his gaze on the guys to the left of him. “Did any of you see this coming?”

  Sophia’s gaze immediately went to Gunner. What would he have to say about Blake?

  “I had no idea at all. I don’t follow surfing, and from hanging out with him the last two weeks, he seemed like an okay fella,” Justin said.

  Riley shrugged. He was seated between Justin and Landon. “I knew the guy by reputation and word of mouth from some friends on the surfing scene. I would have said something, but I felt like it would have come across as petty.”

  With a nod, Landon agreed with Justin. “I didn’t have a clue.”

  “Me neither. Nothing seemed off about him,” Christopher said.

  Daryl turned his attention to Gunner, who was next to Christopher. “How about you, Gunner? Do you have anything to add?”

  Gunner crossed his arms over his chest. “Uh, I didn’t really notice anything.”

  Turning back to the camera, Daryl smiled. “Well, there you have it. We now have a day free that should’ve been a one-on-one date for our bachelorette. With the exit of Blake Johnson, we’ve added another twist.”

  Gwendolyn stepped forward with the hat Sophia used at the bowling alley.

  Daryl looked at Sophia, his smile widening. “You’ll be picking one name from the bachelors on the losing team and having a one-on-one date with them. At the end of the date, you get to decide if they stay or go.”

  Sophia didn’t know how she felt. She had a one-in-three shot of getting to spend time with Gunner. She also had the same odds of spending the day with Christopher or Riley. If she drew Riley, he was gone. She couldn’t send Christopher home because he was good for drama, and if Gunner was anything like she expected, she wanted him to stay.

  “So, who will be spending a day with Sophia?” Daryl pointed to the hat.

  Sophia said a silent prayer and stuck her hand in the hat. Before looking at the paper, she said another quick prayer. “Gunner.” Her heart pounded, and it took work not to fist-pump the air.

  Christopher and Riley both grumbled, but she didn’t care.

  “That’s great.” Daryl beamed.

  She cast a glance at Gunner, and he almost looked pained. Then again, he was dealing with two guys who seemed to be jealous of him, and it probably didn’t help him in dealing with them at the house.

  Daryl looked at Gunner. “That was a lucky draw for you, wasn’t it?”

  Gunner nodded. “Yeah, it was. I look forward to spending time getting to know Sophia better.”

  Inside, Sophia was squealing like a high school nerd getting picked by the football quarterback. She couldn’t wait for a date with Gunner. Whatever little flame was between them could be a huge fire by the end of a one-on-one date.

  She quickly tamped down her excitement. It was too soon to be so excited. This was always her problem, why she was perpetually single—other than working so much. She’d like a guy and get completely into him, and he’d want space because she was smothering him by moving too fast. She couldn’t let that happen again.

  “Okay, that’s all for now. Sophia, if you’ll go with Gwendolyn, we’ll be interviewing each bachelor privately and getting their real thoughts on everything that’s happened,” Daryl said and faced the camera. “Stay tuned.”

  Sophia stood, and almost before she could say bye, she was being escorted to her cottage. Her curiosity was killing her, though. Would the guys say something different now that she wasn’t listening in? If so, what? Boy, she hated not getting to stick around and listen in.

  Interviews. Gunner hated them. They’d had an interview during the ceremony before the six bachelors were chosen. Weird, cheesy questions about the show and Sophia. How he liked being filmed and stupid things like that. And in the last two weeks, the interviews hadn’t gotten any better.

  Waiting to be interviewed was nearly as bad. He thought since he was picked from the hat, he’d have gone first, but no. Did they want him stewing on the fact that he had a one-on-one date with Sophia on the horizon? Maybe they wanted him to get nervous thinking about it.

  It didn’t take any thought to be nervous about it. Spending a day with her while trying to keep his cover was going to be difficult enough. Adding a dozen cameras catching every facial movement was only going to make it worse. How on earth was he supposed to navigate this situation without Sophia getting hurt?

  “Thomas?” Gwendolyn waved her hand in front of his face.

  He’d sunk down into the couch, waiting his turn to be interviewed, letting his thoughts wander. “Sorry.”

  She laughed. “It’s okay. You’ve got about a minute.”

  “Okay.” He smiled.

  “You seemed lost in thought.”

  Standing, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m a fan of this show. It’s too easy to hurt someone.”

  Her expression darkened a moment. “Yeah, it can be.”

  “Sweet people like you get hurt.”

  With a one-shoulder shrug, Gwendolyn cast her gaze down and said, “It taught me to be careful.”

  Gunner looked at her a little closer. His gut was telling him something was off, but he couldn’t put a finger on why. Gwendolyn had a reason to be bitter about that season of Celebrity Proposal. She’d been played and thrown away by a real jerk. “Not all guys are jerks like that. There are good guys out there.”

  “Guys like Blake?”

  “No, real guys. Guys who know how to treat women.”

  She lifted her head, and her eyes narrowed. “Guys like you?”

  “I try. I mean, people hurt other people all the time with no intention of it happening. Sometimes…things happen beyond your control.”

  “Or, the control is there, and they chose not to use it.” There was no hiding the iciness in her tone.

  Oh yeah, there was something off about Gwendolyn. Then again, she’d been humiliated on national television. He wasn’t sure how he’d handle it.

  Daryl peeked his head out of the interview room. “Thomas, you’re up.”

  “Gwendolyn, I’m sorry you were hurt,” Gunner said.

  She nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

  He walked to the interview room and stepped inside, taking a seat in front of the camera. His stomach was tying itself in knots as he thought about Gwendolyn’s words. He did have more control of his situation than he was giving himself credit for. Sophia Parker needed to know who he was and why he was there, and fast. Her friend might have good intentions, but it wasn’t fair to Sophia to play with her emotions.

  “So, Thomas, you were picked for a one-on-one date with Sophia. How do you feel about that?” Daryl asked.


  Tongue-tied and twisted? The Pink Floyd lyrics scrolled across his mind. “Uh, a little nervous, to be honest, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

  “We noticed you and Sophia getting close earlier today. Want to tell us a little bit about that?”

  For once, his head and his heart were on the same page, and the answer was no. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “With as invasive as this show is, not really. I think in order for a relationship to have a chance, there need to be moments that aren’t captured on film or analyzed. Sophia Parker is a sweet woman, and I like her. That’s really all I’m willing to share.”

  Daryl looked directly into the camera, a wide smile on his face. “I don’t know about you, but I sense a real connection here, folks. What do you think? Go to our website and take the poll.”

  The cameraman cut the feed, and Daryl shook Gunner’s hand. “Thanks. That was really great how you acted all defensive.”

  “I wasn’t acting.”

  “I know. That’s what makes it so great,” Daryl said.

  Gunner strode out of the room and up the stairs. He stepped into the bathroom, pulled out his phone, and called Noah.

  Noah answered, “Hey, Gun, what’s up? We’ve got nothing yet.”

  “Sophia Parker needs in on this now. I’ve been picked for a one-on-one with her, and I’m not doing it unless she knows.”

  “We can’t.”

  “Then I’m done. I’m not spending the next eight weeks lying to his beautiful sweet woman. This isn’t like what happened with you and Mia. You were sent to tail Mia, to get close. This is a reality dating show. I’m purposefully leading her on. I won’t do it. She’s…”

  Noah chuckled. “Oh, you really like her.”

  “It’s not like that. I barely know her—”