HOSTILE: A Military Romance Novel (Military Men Book 1) by Leila Haven Page B

was frightening. Surely this couldn’t be his life. Running and fighting was not a life for anyone.
     
    Derrick hesitated before he answered, his grip firm on my shoulders so I had to listen to everything he had to tell me. “I’m a soldier, Ariana. This is what I do. I’ve been doing this for the past five years, and I’ll be doing it for as long as the Army will let me.”
     
    “How do you do it?” Tears were brimming again, as much as I hated them. I wanted to be as strong as he needed me to be, but I was too shaken in that moment.
     
    “I’m trained for it. This is what I signed up for. I took an oath to protect my country and people. I’m not leaving here until I know they are safe.”
     
    He relaxed his grip on my shoulders until his hands fell away. We just stood there staring at one another, as if the city had fallen away for a while and given us some breathing space.
     
    It was a false sense of safety, I knew that. But it was hard remembering all the evil outside the walls when looking into Derrick’s peaceful blue eyes.
     
    “I need you to stay here for a while,” he said, shattering the silence and my moment of calm. “I’m going to find us some transport so we can get the hell out of this place.”
     
    “I’ll come with you.”
     
    “It’s too dangerous.”
     
    “I don’t care, I want to stay with you.”
     
    Derrick clenched his jaw before he replied. “You’ll slow me down, Ariana. Stay here where you can keep out of my way.”
     
    He’d flicked the switch again and gone from the man I thought he was to the perpetual jerk he liked to believe he was. It left me feeling cold and alone, even in the heat of the desert country.
     
    I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything else and start a fight. Derrick obviously didn’t want me to slow him down, so I had no choice except to stay put like a pathetic damsel in distress.
     
    Sitting in a shadowy corner, I surrounded myself with the stray wooden crates and steeled myself for a long wait. There was no guarantee Derrick would return. I could imagine a thousand and one ways the Taliban could catch and kill him.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 10
Derrick
     
     
         ҉     ҉     ҉     ҉     ҉     ҉
     
     
     
    Where was a fucking car when I needed one?
     
    When that IED had exploded in front of us, I’d thought we were toast. I was so convinced our time was up that I could see my life flashing before my eyes.
     
    The highlight had been meeting Ariana.
     
    I hated that fact.
     
    Here we were, in one of the most dangerous places on fucking earth, and all I could think about was that woman. She had infiltrated my thoughts, and I hated her for it.
     
    Seeing her crying like that had broken my heart. I just wanted to kiss away each of her tears and put that gorgeous smile back on her face. She’d shown me her vulnerability, and it had ignited the fierce warrior inside of me. I wanted nothing more than to protect her from those motherfuckers.
     
    I had to focus on the plan. The moment my thoughts traveled back to Ariana, I wanted to go to her. Leaving her in that warehouse was one of the hardest things I’d had to do in a long time.
     
    A vehicle. I needed some kind of transport. This was a city run by the Taliban. We had no chance of staying alive if we didn’t leave as soon as possible. They had eyes everywhere. If someone hadn’t reported the two foreigners in their city by now, it would only be a matter of time.
     
    It was getting dark already. At least the night would give me some cover from the enemy. All I had to do was find a car I could hot-wire and we’d be out of this place in no time.
     
    Even a fucking bicycle would have done.
     
    I spotted an ugly brown car on a quiet street. It was parked outside an apartment building, which meant the owner could be close by. I watched it for a while, getting a feel for the neighborhood before I charged in.
     
    The streetlights should have been on by