KissedByASEAL (18 page)

“It fell out of my ear when he hit me. I don’t know where it went.” She looked again at the carpet nearby so she could find it for him.

“It doesn’t matter where it went. It’s fine.” He gripped her shoulders, pulling her back to the moment. “Darci. Good God almighty, next time a man carrying an AK-47 yells at you, please don’t yell back.”

“Okay.” She frowned. “You think there’s going to be another time?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” He wrapped his arms around her while saying, “I’m gonna have to deal with some stuff. The Coast Guard should be here any minute. I’ve got the two waiters tied up on deck. There are two bodies to explain, and our host is mad at me.”

“Mad at you? For what?”

“Uh, let me get the wording right. For not coming up with a better way to save them than murdering a man in front of his guests.”

“Is he crazy? That guy could have killed us all.”

“I know. It’s okay. This kind of shit happens all the time.”

“But—”

“Darci, don’t worry about it. He aimed a loaded weapon at me in front of a room full of witnesses. And if that’s not enough to keep me out of trouble, Zane and his senator buddy will bail me out.”

Bail him out?
Her mouth dropped open.

“Relax. He’ll calm down. The groom is on my side. So is the best man. They wanted me to give them the AKs so they could help keep guard until the authorities gets here.” Chris shook his head and sighed. “You’ll be okay while I deal with this?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” He squeezed her shoulder, shot her a smile, and then was gone, when what she really needed was to be wrapped in his arms so he could make her forget all of this.

CHAPTER 17

It was Saturday night and they were back in Virginia at Darci’s house with Rick and Jon. Chris had just finished delivering the mission wrap-up, with frequent and animated interjections from Darci, when Jon shook his head. “Wow. I’m so sorry things went down like that.”

Chris nodded. “So am I.”

The client hadn’t even wanted them to stay for the wedding. Not that they needed to. After the embarrassment of having their own yacht boarded by armed men, the resort was more than happy to bring in a whole crew of uniformed security for the duration of the Collins’s stay.

Chris was just as happy to be home. He’d had enough of putting Darci in danger. The scare must have taken ten years off his life.

Jon continued, “But I’m real glad you were there when the shit hit the fan. You handled it well.”

Chris accepted the compliment from Jon with a nod. “As well as I could, considering. Sorry the client wasn’t too happy with me.”

 
“Well, maybe next time forgo the double tap when you’re in front of a bunch of liberal rich folk.” Jon laughed.

Rick frowned. “Fuck them. Hell, Chris, you did great. If I couldn’t be there myself, I’m damn grateful you were there with Darci.”

“I agree.” Darci sent him a grateful look and Chris tried to fight the urge to reach out and hold her hand.

Instead, he shrugged. “I’m just glad it all worked out and no one was hurt. Except for the two pirates, that is.”

Jon laughed. “Yeah. And hopefully the two waiters will be going away for a long while and won’t get off on some loophole.”

That was always a possibility, but that part wasn’t Chris’s problem.

“Okay, well I have to get over to Ali’s.” Jon stood and moved to the front door. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“And I need to change clothes and get to work. Night shift.” Scowling, Rick got up from his chair.

Chris stood too, laughing. “Have fun with that.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Rick disappeared into his bedroom.

“I guess I’ll be going.” Chris turned toward the door when Darci stepped forward.

She laid one hand on his forearm. “Chris, wait. I thought maybe you could stay.”

The way she glanced at Rick’s door before she spoke, and how she kept her voice at a low whisper, had Chris asking, “Why?”

“So we could . . . you know.”

“Have sex.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. Rick is working all night so he’ll never know.”

Chris laughed but it sounded as bitter as he felt. “Darci, I’m not doing this.”

Not after almost losing her. Life was too short and death too random to waste time. He wanted all of her or nothing at all. If that’s not what she wanted too, then it was time for him to move on.

He’d tried to prove what he could offer her on a full time basis, as a boyfriend. Her hiding what they had from her brother and friends was proof she didn’t want any of that.

Fuck that.

He wanted dinners, and dates, and Sundays spent doing everything or nothing at all as long as they were together.
 

She looked confused as she frowned. “What do you mean?”
 

“I don’t want to be your booty call.”

“But I thought you’d be happy that I wasn’t looking for a commitment.”

He let out a breath. “No, I’m not happy.”

“I don’t understand. Why not?”

“Because if I let myself I’d already be head over heels for you. Hell, if we were together for real, I’d probably be down on one knee inside of six months.”

She looked flustered. Shocked. “Oh. I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

Not quite what he’d hoped for in reaction to what had amounted to the closest he’d ever come to a declaration of love.

“That’s because you never looked. Darci, you need to figure out what you want. If and when you decide you want the same things I do, you know where to find me.”
 

He was going to get angry if he didn’t leave. At her for being so blind to how he felt. At himself for feeling that way in the first place for a woman who didn’t give a shit about him.
 

Chris made it out the door and all the way to the truck still holding on to the vain hope she’d follow and cry out for him to wait, like some scene right out of
Gone with the Wind
.

She didn’t.

As he turned the key in the ignition, he glanced back at the house. At this point he’d settle for a flutter of the window curtain as proof she cared enough to at least watch him drive away. He didn’t even get that.

He threw the truck into reverse, and had to slam on the brakes when a car leaned on the horn and had to swerve to avoid hitting him. He blew out a breath and looked both ways this time before backing out of the driveway, vowing that if he didn’t feel more on an even keel soon, he’d pull over and calm down before attempting even the short drive home.

Thanks to Darci, he was too damned distracted to do even the most basic things, forget about navigate traffic.

He reached home without incident, though in no better mood. Especially when he found Brody’s truck in the driveway.

Crap.

Chris pushed through the front door. Brody glanced up from the sofa, took one look at him and asked, “What’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Chris slammed the door behind him and headed to the fridge for a beer.

“A’ight.” Brody nodded and went back to watching whatever was on the television.

Chris took the last beer and didn’t feel at all guilty about that as he carried it to the living room and fell back into his favorite chair. “She’ll have sex with me but doesn’t want a relationship. What the hell is that about? What woman wants that? What? Am I not good enough for her?”
 

Brody turned his attention from the TV to Chris. “I’m assuming this is about Darci?”

“Who the hell else would it be about?” Chris scowled.

“Whoa. I’ll listen to you, I’ll drink with you, I’ll call her every cuss in the book if you want, but don’t take your mood out on me, bro.”

Chris felt the guilt hit him. “I’m sorry.”

“And since when are you two having sex? You told me nothing happened in Florida.”

“I lied.”

“And there goes our brotherly bond of trust.”

Chris looked up in time to find Brody smirking. “Shut up. I don’t want to talk anymore.”

Brody lifted on shoulder. “You’re the one who started talking.”

“Well, now I’m done.” Chris tried to focus on the TV.

The sound of the doorbell cut into the stony silence between them. When Chris didn’t make a move to get up, Brody hoisted himself off the couch. “I guess I’ll get it.”

It was probably Thom or one of the guys on Brody’s team, so he should be the one to get up and get it. It sure as hell wasn’t going to be Darci looking for him, so why should Chris get up?

“Hey, Darci. Come on in.” Brody’s words set Chris’s heart pounding.

He half expected Brody to be fucking around, and only saying that to tease him. But Darci stepping into his home, for the first time in all the years he’d known her, proved otherwise.

She hesitated just inside the doorway as Brody closed the door behind her. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Chris put his beer down on the side table and stood.

Brody glanced from one to the other. “I, uh, got something I need to do.”

When he’d disappeared down the hall toward his bedroom, the only place he could go since their place was so small, Chris said, “You wanna sit down?”

“Uh, sure.”
 

“I’d offer you a beer but that’s the last one. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want a beer.” She sat on the edge of the sofa in the seat Brody had vacated. “I think we need to talk.”

Talk. That didn’t bode well. If she’d thrown herself into his arms or broken into tears, he’d have thought he had a chance. But her cold, hard statement of the fact they needed to talk didn’t instill all that much hope in Chris.

Sitting again, he reached for his beer and took a long swallow. “Fine. Talk.”

Whatever she said, he’d deal with it.

Hell, dating a bunch of women might be fun. He’d set up a profile on one of those sites. He was a good-looking guy. He’d likely have more dates than he had nights in the week.

“I need to ask you a question.”

Him? He was an open book. Chris shrugged. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“Why haven’t you ever had a serous girlfriend or been married?”

“I have had serious girlfriends. What makes you think I haven’t?”

“I never saw you with anyone.”

He snorted out a laugh. “That’s because by the time I met Rick and you I’d learned there was no way to make it work while being active duty. Do you know the divorce rate in the teams?”

She shook her head.

He could supply that answer for her. “Some estimate it’s as high as eighty-five percent. Hell, look at Thom and his ex-wife. That was a big ol’ mess.”

“And what about the years since you retired?”

He smiled, but it was with sadness. “That’s easy. That’s because I was waiting for you.”

Her eyes widened. “But you never asked me out.”

“Sure, I did. Just last week, I did. You laughed at me.”

“Because I thought you were kidding.” Her voice rose high.

“There’s truth behind every joke, darlin’. You just gotta look for it.”

“I’m sorry.” She bit her lower lip as her eyes filled with tears.

Cussing beneath his breath, Chris planted his bottle on the table and moved to sit next to her on the sofa. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

She raised a tearful gaze to his. “You hate me now.”

He laughed at that. “No, I don’t. I swear to you, I don’t.”

Chris raised his hand to her face and brushed away one tear.

She met and held his gaze through her tears. “So what now?”

The question surprised him. He wasn’t driving this bus. She was. “You tell me.”

“Well, I’m not dressed to go out, but maybe we could stay in. Watch a movie. Order food.” Darci lifted one shoulder.

Chris shook his head. “Don’t go out with me just because you feel bad. Or guilty. Or hell, grateful you didn’t die on that boat.”

“I’m not. Chris, honestly. It’s not any of those things.”