RYDER: A Standalone Military Romance (Blake Security Book 1) by Celina McKane Page B

I really don’t need someone following me around, watching me.”
    “This started out as a responsibility, Alicia, a job. But it’s become more than that. I like you, and even though I’m pretty sure you’re keeping a lot of things from me, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
    “You don’t understand, Ryder. If they see you with me, then you’ll be in more danger than me. They have reason to keep me alive. You would be put in the same position Charles was in if you helped me.”
    “Who are ‘they’—Alicia?” She didn’t answer me. I waited a few beats and said, “Can you at least tell me what it is they want?”
    She shook her head. “No, I can’t tell you.”
    I sighed. “Fine, keep your secrets and I’ll keep you safe.”
    She opened the car door and over her shoulder she said, “Please just let me get my things from the trunk and then go home.” I popped the trunk and got out of the car. She was already pulling her suitcase out of the trunk. “I’ve got it,” she snapped when I tried to help her. “Go home.”
    I stood next to the car and watched as she rolled her bag inside the small glass-enclosed lobby. I could see her at the counter talking to the clerk as I got back into the car.
    There were a couple of guys at the end of the first row of rooms, sitting outside drinking beer. Just above them was a man and a woman who looked like they were arguing. There was no way I was going home and leaving her here—even if no one was looking for her. I looked back at the lobby in time to see her come out with what looked like a key card in one hand the handle of the suitcase in the other. I glanced at the men who were still standing at the end of the row, drinking their beer. They stopped talking and were watching her, too. That bothered me on a level that had nothing to do with her safety and everything to do with the feelings I had for her. I started to get out of the car and make my presence known just as another car squealed into the parking lot. It screeched to a stop a few feet from Alicia. She froze for a second, and then she started to run along the sidewalk away from where I was. A man jumped out of the car and ran after her. I started my car and shifted into drive with one hand as I pulled out my Glock with the other.
    Saying a prayer that people would stay in their rooms, I pressed on the accelerator and headed for the sidewalk. The car jumped the small curb, and I was driving along in front of the motel doors. I saw the man grab Alicia around the waist just as I was bearing down on them. They both whipped their heads around to look at me. I hit the brakes and slammed the car into park just before I hit the wall of the next row of rooms. When I jumped out of the car, I had my own gun drawn, but I didn’t go after him. Instead, I ran toward Alicia just as the driver of the car was approaching her on foot as well. When I was about five feet from them, I took a shooting stance and yelled,  “Stop or I’ll drop you where you stand.”
    I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He looked down at the gun in his hand, and within a second, the look on his face told me that he’d decided not to risk it. He pushed Alicia in my direction and took off running toward his car. Again, instead of going after him, my main goal was to get Alicia to safety. I grabbed her by the arm and half-dragged her back to my car. She was pulling her luggage the whole way. The first shot rang out as I closed her door. The second as I ran around to my side, and the one that caused a sharp, burning pain in my shoulder came just as I was climbing in behind the wheel. I didn’t bother to buckle up before I turned the wheel all the way to the right and pressed the accelerator to the floor. The car fishtailed as it jumped down off the sidewalk and the back end of it scraped into the side of the building. Bullets were still raining down on us as I took off across the parking lot. I reached over and pushed