“You have that thinkin’ line between your eyebrows.” She pursed her lips. “Which usually doesn’t bode well for me.”
He searched her face, looking for…he wasn’t sure what. But all he saw in her eyes was stony resolve. And maybe a little desperation. She was willing to risk it all, her life even, on a chance to save those girls. “Okay, then,” he said before turning to Mason. “Thoughts?”
Mason nodded. “Worth a try.”
Bran blew out a breath at the same time he ran a hand through his hair. It was stiff with salt and still damp in places. “Well, you know what the SEALs say, right?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Maddy offered.
It struck him just how much Maddy knew about him. How much she knew him. He’d let her in. He’d let her get close. Too close. And in doing so, he’d let himself fall. Just a little. Or maybe a lot? He wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was that he had to stop the downward trajectory now, before it was too late.
“That’s our Team motto,” he told her. “The SEAL motto is something different.”
“So then what do the SEALs say?”
“The only easy day was yesterday,” he told her.
“Hooyah,” Mason said, shouldering his weapon and quartering the area in front of them, preparing to make a move.
When Bran looked back at Maddy, she jerked her chin in a quick, businesslike fashion. She was ready to jump into the fray without a second thought.
God help me. She’s too brave by half.
“Hold up, Mason,” he said, setting his M4 aside and grabbing the hem of his tank top. Since the last time he’d seen Maddy, he’d entertained about two thousand fantasies surrounding the events that might lead to him taking his clothes off for her. But nothing he imagined had been anything like this.