Protector: A Navy SEAL Romantic Suspense (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 15) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Protector

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Sneak Peek: Carpenter

  PROTECTOR

  A NAVY SEAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  _______________________

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 15

  FLORA FERRARI

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Protector

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Sneak Peek: Carpenter

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2017 by Flora Ferrari.

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS

  Book 1: Baby Lust

  Book 2: Veteran

  Book 3: Built

  Book 4: Bambino

  Book 5: Rescued

  Book 6: Leader

  Book 7: Professor

  Book 8: Burned

  Book 9: Worldly

  Book 10: Pistol

  Book 11: Policed

  Book 12: Driven

  Book 13: Lucky 13

  Book 14: Lumberjacked

  Book 15: Protector

  Book 16: Carpenter

  Book 17: Italian Stallion

  PROTECTOR

  Jax has trust issues. The mark on his eight-pack abs reminds him of it every day.

  Abandoned by his mother. Betrayed by his ex. Now seemingly forgotten by the country he fought so hard to honor and protect.

  Burned one too many times. There's no more point in trying.

  Until her.

  Can Jax put his troubled past behind him and learn to trust, and to love, again?

  In this small Midwest town everybody knows everything about everybody...or so they thought. What secrets are Kate hiding? Can Jax protect Kate from her stalker and win her heart? Can she win his trust?

  What neither one of them counted on was falling for the other. But that might be just what they need. Each other.

  *Protector is a standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

  Get your FREE extended epilogue of Protector by signing up to my mailing list. You’ll receive an email as soon as it’s available.

  *If you already signed up, THANK YOU! You will get this and all future freebies automatically.

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  http://tinyletter.com/floraferrari

  CHAPTER 1

  J erry’s been kidnapped!”

  Where are you?

  “Two blocks south of my house. The pay phone outside the liquor store.”

  “Kate, I know this is a mother’s worst nightmare, but we’re going to get Jerry back. Right now we have to stay calm.”

  “It’s my child, Jax! How can I stay calm?”

  “Listen to me. There’s a Target store directly across the street. Hang up the phone. Walk to the crosswalk and cross at a normal pace. Enter the Target and go to the women’s accessories at the front of the store and to your left just as you walk in. There’s a security guard there on duty. Stay within his field of view. Try on hats and sunglasses. Pretend like you’re shopping, but keep your face covered. Try, and I know this is a huge ask, but try and stay calm. I’ll be there in four minutes. I love you.”

  “Please hurry.”

  I ended the call, switched to the left lane, and U-turned so hard at the light I could feel both tires on the left side lose contact with road. I told her four minutes. I was going to be there in three and half.

  Pick up, Cole. Pick up. “Hey Jax, what’s —”

  “Cole, go time. How quickly can you get to Northwest Elementary?”

  “Twelve minutes tops.”

  “I need you to go immediately and pull Jasmine out of class. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

  “On it.”

  “Jerry’s been taken. They might target Jasmine next. It’s unlikely, but no way am I taking that chance.”

  “Don’t worry. I got her.”

  I heard tires squeal and the call dropped. I knew I could trust Cole, it was Kate I still had doubts about. Was she setting me up? What was she not telling me? Am I overreacting? Maybe that shrink the Navy had sent me to was right. Maybe I did have trust issues with women, or maybe I was about to get burned…again.

  CHAPTER 2

  Six days earlier

  W hat happened to your knee, sweetheart?”

  “It’s okay, dad. It’s just a little scratch.”

  “That doesn’t look like a little scratch. Fess up.”

  “I was playing baseball after school. I had to cover second on a double play. One boy made a hard slide to break up the play.”

  “And that hard slide was right into a twelve-year-old girl?”

  Jasmine smiled. “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Doesn’t seem very necessary to me.”

  “Me either, but it’s all okay now.”

  “What do you mean, now?”

  “Well, it did hurt a little, but it was more the shock that he did it. Anyways, after the play Jerry ran over from third base and asked that boy what he was doing. Why was he sliding into me like that?”

  “Exactly what I would have been thinking.” Jasmine didn’t continue. “And?”

  “Dad, everything’s okay now.”

  “Jasmine, what happened?”

  Jasmine paused. “The boy told Jerry to mind his own business. Jerry said we were teammates and it is his business. The boy asked him what he’s going do about it. Jerry looked him square in the eye and said, ‘this.’ Then he did a spinning kick
so hard into the boy’s stomach I bet he’s not going to eat for two days.”

  “Jerry did that?”

  “Yeah, Jerry.”

  “Jerry Harper. The little guy from Cole’s martial arts classes.”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow! That little guy’s got some guts. And he’s a gentleman too.”

  “Dad, you should have seen that other guy. He was at least eight inches taller than Jerry, and for sure fifty pounds heavier. No one knew who he was. I think he was just there to cause trouble.”

  “But it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be doing any more of that.”

  “Nope. It seems more like trouble found him.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You sure are right. I’m going to have to give Jerry’s mom a call.”

  “Please, dad. Don’t. Let’s just let it go.”

  “A boy stands up for my daughter when I’m not around. I’m not going to just let that go. I want to shake that young man’s hand. I bet Cole has his home number. It’s on his parental consent form for the martial arts class.”

  “Okay, dad, but please let’s not make a big deal out of it. I can take care of myself.”

  “I know, sweetheart.”

  Jasmine headed to her room. Probably to check her social media profiles. She was growing up so fast. And the boys were growing up too. She was a tough cookie, but it’s still nice to know there are good young men out there. I was going to let this one young man in particular know that I thought so. I grabbed my phone.

  “Jax, what’s up?”

  “Cole. Good, man. Hey, favor to ask.”

  “Shoot.”

  “The kid that goes to your gym. Jerry Harper. Do you have his home number?”

  Cole laughed. “Get in line, champ. Everybody is after his mom. You are a smooth operator, but I think she’s not looking for a guy right now.”

  “Man, I’m not calling about his mom. Jerry helped out Jasmine today after school. Handled a kid that was being a bully. Want to take him out for an ice cream or something. Thank him face-to-face.”

  “Really, he took down a bully? Do you know what move he used?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at Cole’s excitement. “Jasmine mentioned something about a spinning kick.”

  “Boom! I just taught him that. He’s a little guy so he needs to generate all the power he can and the hips and kicks are where it’s at. So it worked? He executed it?”

  “Did he ever. Jasmine said he got him in the stomach. She thought he wasn’t going to feel like eating for the next couple days.”

  “See that?”

  “See what?”

  “That’s the patented Cole Callahan kick paying dividends immediately. Worth the price of admission.”

  “Paying dividends for Jasmine and I.”

  “Dividends are dividends.”

  “Okay, Cole. You did good, buddy. How about that phone number?”

  “Let me ring her first just to make sure. Even though we’re SEAL brothers I want to respect her privacy.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Call you right back.” The call dropped.

  Cole was my best friend from the Teams. Like me, he had been injured on an op and found himself on the wrong side of thirty being thrown back into the “real world” with few civilian skills. The transition is rarely easy for us military types, but Cole was handling it well.

  He came to stay with me for a few weeks, crashing in one of my guestrooms. He realized almost immediately that this was the perfect time to turn the bad news of being forced out of the Navy into a good thing. Turn lemons into lemonade. He put his final paycheck to work, using it to pursue his dream of owning and operating his own gym. He was teaching martial arts and already making a big difference in a lot of people’s lives, especially little Jerry Harper.

  Cole’s new modest custom home he was building with the money the gym was already brining in would be completed soon, and he’d be moving out. I was glad he’d be staying in town, knowing he was already a valuable member of the community here. But I knew the real reason why he decided to settle down here…he had found the one and only woman who could keep up with him and he was smart enough not to let her get away.

  Two minutes later Cole’s name lit up on my display.

  “All good. I just texted you her number.”

  “Just came through now. Thanks.”

  “My pleasure. She’s expecting your call. Good luck.”

  “Good luck? With what?”

  “I told you. She’s the talk of the town now that I took Carissa off the market. She’s a single mom. You’re a single dad. It’s the perfect setup.”

  “So since we’re both single parents we’re meant for each other? Is that what you no-kid-having people think?”

  “Kind of.”

  “We’re people too, man. Just because you’re a single parent doesn’t mean you belong in some box in somebody’s mind. Doesn’t mean you’re not unique. Come on, dude. Get with it.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never really thought about it. Man, what was I thinking?”

  “It’s okay. Your intentions are good. I knew what you meant.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No worries.”

  “Now go get her!”

  “Bye, Chuck Woolery.”

  I hung up the phone and started to laugh. Now that Cole had the love of his life he wanted nothing more than for me to find the same. Guys are funny. One minute they’re acting like tough guys swearing they’re going to be single forever. The next minute they’re head-over-heels in love little puppy dogs trying to encourage their friends to find a woman. Guys make no sense sometimes.

  I pulled up Cole’s SMS and tapped on Kate’s number. We had some of the most advanced technology in the world on our SEAL Teams, but for some reason I was always impressed by what you could do with smart phones these days. I had resisted for years. Swearing by my Nokia brick. This new smartphone showed me I had been living in the dark ages.

  “Kate Koval.”

  “Hi, Kate. Jax Creed.”

  “Hi, Jax. Cole told me you might be calling.”

  “Yes. I wanted to call and thank you and Jerry, for what he did today.”

  “Um, okay? Thank you, but just what did Jerry do?” I could hear Kate’s light laughter through the other line. The kind of laughter a parent understands when they’re about to hear something their child conveniently forgot to tell them.

  “Without going into too many details, he was a real gentleman. He stood up for my daughter, Jasmine, this afternoon against a bigger boy. I appreciate his chivalry and thoughtfulness.”

  “Wow. Thank you, Jax. It’s nice to hear this. Jerry didn’t mention it at all. I’m proud of his actions.”

  “As are we.” I realized then I had nothing else to really say. It had been less than thirty seconds, but Kate was really nice to speak with on the phone. She exuded a calm friendliness. I felt like we could just as easily have been sitting on the porch of a beach house with our shoes off, feet up, and sand in between our toes enjoying sunset margaritas. I wasn’t expecting that.

  “Jasmine and I go out for ice cream a couple times a week when the weather is hot like this. If you’re free later this week, maybe you and Jerry would like to join us?” What was I doing? I told myself no dating. No more women in my life. Just Jasmine, my heart and soul.

  “Sure, sounds great. If you can just give me a call before, we can probably meet you there. Let me guess…Frosty’s Freezer?”

  “You know Frosty’s Freezer?”

  “Who doesn’t? When it’s hot it’s the place to be.”

  “That’s for sure, and this summer sure is a hot one.”

  “Yeah, this Frosty sure doesn’t seem to be bothered by the heat. He’s making a nice living off it.”

  We both laughed.

  “Okay, deal. I’ll give you a call.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Go
od night, Kate. And thanks again. To Jerry.”

  “I’m sure it’s his pleasure. Good night.”

  CHAPTER 3

  I t hit ninety-seven degrees on Thursday. As crazy as it sounds, it wasn’t that hot to me anymore. After so many ops in the sandbox, as we referred to the deserts of the Middle East, ninety-seven degrees felt like the new normal. One hundred thirty on the tarmac…that’s when things start to get interesting. It may not have been that hot, but any excuse I can get for a triple scoop ice cream in a waffle cone is good enough for me. I grabbed my phone.