Tinsley: Delta Security, #0.5

By D.L. Lane

There are times in your life when you know everything has changed, and no matter what you do, you can never go back to who you were before that moment. For me, that moment happened when a former Navy SEAL nicknamed 'Cowboy' escorted me to the dance floor at my sister's wedding, then walked away once the song was over. See, I had a big problem. I was seventeen. He was thirty-two. And I loved him. But, I wouldn't always be seventeen, and one day, Jesse Compton would love me. I'd make sure of it.

--Tinsley Southerland

• Language: English
• Publisher: Up All-Night Publications
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886270563

Book preview

D.L. LANE

Copyright

Tinsley

The Prequel to Delta Security

Published by Up All-Night Publications

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Copyright © 2022 D.L. Lane. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 979-8-88627-056-3

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Without limiting the rights reserved under the copyright above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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AI Notice. The author reserves all rights, and no person, company, publisher, or entity may reproduce and/or otherwise use this work in any manner for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies to generate text, including without limitation, technologies that are capable of generating works in the same style or genre as the work, unless that person, company, publisher or entity obtains the author’s specific and express permission to do so. Nor do they have the right to sublicense others to reproduce and/or otherwise use the work in any manner for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies to generate text without the author’s specific and express permission.

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This book comes from the author’s imagination and creativity. No part was created by using generative AI or utilized from AI-generated text.

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Edited by Small Edits

Cover by Cover Me Designs

Table of Contents

Copyright

Table of Contents

About Delta Security

Dedication

The Vow

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Epilogue

Sneak Peek of Cowboy

One

D.L.’s Books

Extras

About the Author

Places to Connect

About Delta Security

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Welcome to the prequel to my new Delta Security Series, a spin-off of Cedar Point and book 5.5 of that series. We were first introduced to Tinsley and Cowboy in All I Ever Needed, the third novel of Cedar Point. And since she was the heroine’s younger sister and Jesse was the hero’s best friend and business partner, it only seemed natural their lives should connect. Because I’m a sucker for impossible love and making the impossible possible, I knew they needed their story told. So, I set out to accomplish that, finding I had to go back to the beginning to where it all started.

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I’m kicking things off with a question. What happens when a crush turns into something more, and you fall for someone all wrong for you, or so everyone—including the person you’ve fallen for—thinks?

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The completion of Tinsley’s and Jesse’s present-day story will be told in Cowboy, the first book of those men who make up the team of former elite soldiers. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL might be their unspoken motto, keeping their focus solely on their missions and their hearts walled-off tight when it comes to romance. However, a select few women have taken on a mission of their own—annihilate those steel-enforced walls. And when the last impenetrable bar bends, the battle-hardened men of Delta Security will lose the one fight they all refused to—love.

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D.L. Lane

Dedication

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To my friends and family who’ve surrounded me in prayer and belief that I still could.

I adopted your faith, and I did.

Whoso loves, believes in the impossible.

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Vow

Tinsley

3rd of June – Three years ago

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There are times in your life when you know everything has changed, and no matter what you do, you can never go back to who you were before that moment. For me, that moment happened when Jesse’s large palm rested on my back, the warmth of him seeping into my bare flesh as he quietly led me to the area designated for dancing.

A few hours earlier, I stood with him as my sister married his best friend, Cooper Kane, in an intimate ceremony overlooking the Aegean Sea on the island of Pyrgos Kallistis in Santorini, Greece. And now, there we were, the evening breeze mixing into the haunting strings of the guitar at their reception. I’d convinced Jesse it was tradition for the maid of honor and the best man to dance, having no idea if it was or wasn’t a wedding custom, shocked he had agreed.

Once we stepped up on the level of the smaller terrace, he took my hand, pulling me closer to his muscled frame. At some point that night, he’d removed his bespoke suit coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, showing his corded forearms, taken off the silver tie, and undone the top few buttons of his dress shirt—the temptation of his smooth throat drawing my gaze.

When I lifted my lashes to glance up, his extraordinary eyes, the color of new denim, ringed in midnight blue, met mine, knocking me off-kilter.

Sorry, I muttered, the heat of my blush overtaking my cheeks; mortified I fumbled.

One side of Jesse’s perfectly etched lips rose. No need for apologies.

I blinked at him.

Just put your arm around my waist, and trust me, yeah?

Nodding, I licked my lips, a movement he watched before meeting my gaze once more, making my pulse race. I put my left arm around him—fingers curling into the material of his shirt.

That’s it. His whiskey-smooth voice enticed me. I’ve got this. Just hold on, darlin’.

I melted against his body the instant he took over.

There you go. Feel the music.

Oh, I felt the notes shimmer over me alright, but instead of listening, I focused on the other things bombarding me, like the strength beneath my hand sending heated spikes through me. The even rhythm of Jesse’s breathing and how it fluttered against my skin making me sync my breaths with his. The awareness of his right palm curled around mine—his other slipping slowly between my shoulder blades, inching up under my hair to the base of my neck, sliding down, down, down, inducing goosebumps to overtake my arms.

Jesse had transformed me into someone I didn’t know as we swayed to the romantic song.

Closing my eyes, I rested my cheek against his steely upper chest, taking in the caramelized-spiced scent of his cologne, searing the texture of the fragrance into my memory, hoping later, I would still smell like him. If I did, I’d sleep in my strappy bridesmaid dress.

While the vocalists sang about holding her just one moment more, the sound of crashing waves drifted up, swirling around us, turning everything into a symphony of sensations. I nuzzled into him. The tips of Jesse’s blunt fingers pressed into my lower back, changing every part of me into a mixture of a blazing inferno and chills, a combination I’d never experienced before.

My breath hitched when I felt his warm exhalation caress my neck. He’d lowered his head by my ear. Even while considering the tickle on my skin and the crazy things it was doing to me, my mind caught and processed something I couldn’t believe. You’re beautiful, Tin.

Reeling, wondering if my feet were still on the ground, the man straightened.

I glanced up, our eyes meeting. Jesse didn’t look away. Neither did I. In those few seconds, my entire world became him. Something unspoken passed between us, something tangible I didn’t know how to describe fully. My tummy fluttered, tiny effervescent bubbles popped in my chest, and I craved to have his mouth sliding across mine. The need was so intense I trembled with it. Perhaps I should have said something, but I was unsure if I possessed a tongue any longer, let alone the ability to string together coherent words.

The music started to fade.

Just a few more shared heartbeats, that’s all I needed, lost there in the depths of beautiful possibility with Jesse. Please, please, please. Of course, my internal pleading was for naught—I couldn’t hold on to the magic. The song came to an end, and so did our time.

When he let me go saying, Thank you for the dance, before stepping back, I realized the huge crush I had for the former Navy SEAL nicknamed ‘Cowboy’ was something altogether more.

Smiling, I nodded, knowing I should be the one to thank him. But the exhilaration quickly changed to profound sadness because I also knew the impossibility of what I wanted. I was seventeen. Jesse was thirty-two.

That connection I felt with him just seconds before changed, morphed into polite coolness on his part while we walked back to my chair.

Ahem. His throat bobbed. I’m going to call it a night.

Uh...oh. Okay. I tucked some hair behind my ear, not expecting him to leave already, but he excused himself as a new song started.

I stood there a moment at the empty table like a flipping moron. Having no choice in the matter, I eventually took my seat, watching him walk away in long-legged strides until he rounded the corner of one of the villas, causing me to lose sight of him.

Feeling gut-punched, I wrapped my arm around my middle and briefly looked over to see Mom and Dad. They were dancing with my baby sister, Brook, giggling between them. Cooper had scooped my older sister up after they cut the cake and carried her off fifteen minutes ago. Francis was sitting with my brother-in-law’s mother, one table over, deep in conversation.

I scanned the outdoor space for Jesse and Cooper’s friends, all former SEALs. Kevin was chatting up the wedding planner. Where Nile and Gabe had gotten off to, I didn’t know.

Head dropping, I peered at the hand still tingling from being held. Gradually, I made a fist, wishing to hold on to the phenomenon. But all too soon, it left me as he had done—the loss profound.

No doubt, I was a mess because my