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about everything, but they’d still been strangers.
    Jack strode into the room like he owned it. His hair was cropped closer than the last time she’d seen him, but it was still darkly golden. His blue eyes lasered into her. He wore a faded red T-shirt that stretched across his muscled chest. His tattooed arms were bare and he wore a pair of faded Levi’s with a hole in one knee. On his feet were flip-flops.
    Gina broke at that moment. Whatever she’d been holding in escaped in a rough sob—and then she rushed into his arms and buried her head against his chest. If he was surprised, and she had no doubt he must be, he didn’t let it show. He just wrapped those strong arms around her and held on tight while she tried to control her tears and failed miserably.
    “He’s just a baby, Jack. Just a baby.”
    Jack rubbed her back. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”
    The door quietly closed behind Barry and then they were alone. Jack continued to hold her, but she pushed away from him, determined to get herself together. She had to do it for Eli. She couldn’t fall apart like this.
    She turned away and swiped her eyes, her fingers trembling and her heart hammering. She hadn’t seen Jack since she’d left the boat to head to the airport. He’d saved her life, taken care of her, and she’d walked away because she had to. Because he wanted her to.
    She’d told herself in the weeks that followed, before she knew she was pregnant, that the feelings she’d had for him were simply the result of trauma. You couldn’t fall for a man in three days just because he talked to you like you were an ordinary person. Or because he touched you so sweetly that it made your body sing.
    She knew what she was, what people thought she was, but for a few days in Jack Hunter’s presence, she’d felt fresh and clean. Like an unwritten slate. It had been a novel experience. She’d wanted more, but he hadn’t.
    And really, wasn’t it best anyway? He was an Army sniper and she was a celebrity. How in the hell would that have worked out? He couldn’t afford the media attention that went with her, and she couldn’t ask him to leave his job just so they could date.
    God, she was ridiculous. Always falling for the wrong guy and then finding out just how wrong he was.
    Except, with Jack, she’d fallen harder than usual. It was just like her to want the unattainable.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, turning back to him and forcing a smile. “I know getting upset won’t help.”
    “No one can blame you.” His voice was full of sympathy and that quiet strength she’d gravitated to on the island. He made her feel safe. That’s all there was to it.
    She went over to the couch and sank down on it, willing the phone to ring as she did so. Of course it didn’t. She put a hand over her eyes and tried to press the tears away. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
    “Tell me what happened.”
    She told him about poor Cassie, about her trip for coffee, about the three men who’d cornered her and taken Eli from his stroller. “They told her if she screamed or called the police, they’d kill her. They gave her a note and told her to call me.” Gina felt so helpless, so angry, as she thought of sweet Cassie enduring that. “They said they’d kill Eli if I called the police. They said to wait for instructions.”
    “Do you have any idea who did this? Has anyone been stalking you?”
    She tugged a throw pillow onto her lap and absently played with the fringe. “I always have stalkers. There’ve been some notes over the last few months…” She sucked in a breath. “But I hired extra security just to be sure.”
    Jack’s face was dark with anger. “What kind of notes?”
    “Someone hates me, wants me to suffer, wants me dead. That kind of thing.”
    “I wish you would die, hateful bitch.” “I’m going to cut off your arms and legs and feed them to sharks.” “You should be raped repeatedly and thrown to a pack of hungry lions,