Surrendered (Heart of a Warrior Series Book 3) by Kariss Lynch Read Free Book Online Page A

and see her and then head back to base to prepare for departure. Once again, he didn’t know how long he would be gone, but he hoped it would be brief. The wedding approached, and Kaylan would want him nearby for all the last-minute details and preparations.
    Megan stepped from her car, ripped jeans, thin black shirt, and wet hair telling Nick she had rushed her from her job at the aquatic center. While all outward appearances indicated that Megan preferred marine animals to people, Nick surmised that she really craved a deep friendship and didn’t quite know how to get there. Since being taken hostage months before, she’d stopped her serial dating and one-night stands and started asking more about God. She’d softened a bit, and Nick could see Kaylan’s influence in that.
    Nick smiled. Kaylan couldn’t help but nurture others. Her patience and sweet spirit made her a lighthouse that consistently called him to love others the way she did—with compassion and a firm hand. Man, he loved that girl.
    “You rang, soldier boy?” Megan stopped in front of him and he caught the faint scent of the sea. “Don’t you have other people you could call?”
    He crossed his arms and leaned back against his Jeep. “Question.  Do you always smell like fish?”
    She rolled her eyes and turned around. “I’m outta here.”
    Pushing off the car, he sidestepped and cut her off. “Kidding, Meg.” He chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. “Will you help me, please? It’s for Kaylan.”
    Her eyes softened just a bit, but she huffed. “Yeah, okay, fine. What are we doing at an apartment complex in Imperial Beach?”
    Nick turned her toward the front office and began to walk. “Like I said on the phone, I have to leave town for a little while. I don’t want Kaylan to feel alone when deciding things that have to do with our life together, so I decided to go ahead and rent an apartment for the two of us for after the wedding. I need you to keep it our secret until she needs to know.”
    “And how will I know when she needs to know?”
    Nick grimaced, figuring Kaylan would hit a point where she got frustrated with the ill-timed deployment and grow overwhelmed. “Trust me. You’ll know.”
    They entered the front office and Nick signed the paperwork, paid the deposit, and grabbed the keys offered to him. He motioned to Megan. “This way. We’re on the first floor.”
    Nick walked them to a unit in the second building. The blue-gray exterior appeared muted against the apartment’s attempts to create an oasis. Brightly colored flowers and palm trees adorned the grounds, and a pool sat in the middle of the complex. Nick thought it a poor substitute for the beach only miles away.
    Shoving the key in the lock, he turned the doorknob and stepped inside the home he would share with Kaylan. Megan stepped in by his side. She paced the small living and kitchen area and then headed back to the two bedrooms, one decidedly larger than the other. “What do you think? I know it’s not much.” But he could picture it becoming a cozy home. It was close to Titus and Liza. Close to Micah, Colt, and Jay. Close enough to the Carpenters, and countless other families in the SEAL community.
    Megan came to stand before him, her brown eyes calculating. “I think she’ll love it. My turn for the question. Why’d you bring me?”
    “She trusts you. She needs you, Megan. You’re strong, and she’ll need your grit to help her stay strong and positive.”
    “I’m sorry, she needs me?” Megan threw up her hands, exaggerated shock written all over her face. “Soldier boy, have you met Kaylan?”
    Nick nodded, the seriousness of his face telling her it was no joke. “When I’m away, it’s hard on Kaylan.”
    “Because of losing Sarah Beth. Because of the earthquake.”
    “Even without that it would be hard, Meg.” He walked to the window and stared at the palm tree growing just outside. Its rough, layered bark made it seem like a tall