SEAL the Deal (9 page)

Any other woman, and he’d offer her a
drink at his place right now. Any other woman and he’d be using his best
lines—the ones that always got him laid. He’d be talking about the war,
the loss, his duty to his country, and all the other patriotic bullshit that
generally sent women to their knees…literally.

But something about Lacey made Mick want
to coldcock any man who used a line on her. Including himself.

Lacey was right. It was smarter to just
stay friends. A woman like her might convince him to kick his Navy career to
the curb, especially since he was already pissed off at his chain of command.

He had a career to focus on, just like she
did.

He just hoped she didn’t give him the
proverbial friend-hug at the end of the evening. Holding her that close without
ripping her clothes off might kill him.

“I had a wonderful time,” she said with an
uneasy sigh. “Look, I understand enough about men to know that they really
don’t want to be just friends. I had a great time tonight, though. I want you
to know that.”

“I had a great time, too,” he admitted. And
now that she had given him the perfect out—served it up to him on a
silver platter—he shocked himself adding, “And you’re wrong. Friends is
fine with me. If for no other reason, I just want to be around when you are
voted the most successful real estate agent in the Mid-Atlantic.”

She beamed.

Then the devil in him returned as he
leaned in closely to her. “But when that happens, I warn you that I will seduce
you to my fullest capacity.”

***

Hearing a car door slam, Maeve raced to
the window barely remembering to turn the light out so that they wouldn’t see
her watching. A man was approaching the passenger side door. Maeve’s jaw gaped
at the sight of his broad silhouette, and she nodded her tacit approval. He was
a heartbreaker.

A protective feeling rose in her. Lacey
was so trusting. Maeve better keep a close watch on this one.

When the man opened Lacey’s car door, the
car’s interior lights revealed Lacey’s image in her conservative capris and
blouse. Maeve strained to see her shoes.
Flats?
Maeve shook her head.

She raced down the stairs when she heard
Lacey come in through the door, and stopped, arms crossed and eyebrows raised,
on the bottom step. “How are you supposed to seduce a man in flats, Lacey? Have
I taught you nothing?”

“We’re just friends, Maeve.”

“Whatever. When Bess told me that you had
driven off with some hot guy, I thought there might be hope for you. But I can
see I was wrong. Your hair’s not even disheveled.” She sighed and flopped onto
the sofa opening her latest issue of
Wine Connoisseur
. “What a waste. He
looked delicious. Was that the guy from the funeral?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Bess said something about your meeting
with that widow, so I put two and two together. From the look of him, maybe I
should start hanging out at funerals.” She let out a low whistle from behind
the magazine.

“Where is she, anyway?”

“Bess? I think she’s asleep by now. Kid
sleeps like the dead. I’ve never known anyone to go to bed so early.”

“It’s the work, probably. Very tiring
pushing vacuums and scrubbing floors all day. I don’t know how she does it.”

“It pays,” Maeve said, dog-earing a page. She
set it down on her lap thoughtfully. “I think she’s just doing that to pay the
rent while she figures out her next move.”

“I can relate to that.” Lacey’s tone was
dismal. “That’s how I spent my entire twenties.”

They heard the creak of the staircase
behind them.

Maeve peeked over the arm of the sofa. “Hey,
Bess. I thought you were asleep.”

Bess’s startled eyes were puffy. “I was. I
heard someone at the door.”

“Oh, that was just me. Sorry I woke you.” Lacey
kicked off her shoes.

“How was your date?”

“Well, it wasn’t really a date,” Lacey
said, and explained to them both Edith’s unexpected set-up between her and
Mick.

Maeve laughed as the story unfolded. “I
like this old lady’s style.”

“She’s really sweet. But it was so
awkward. And honestly, I don’t think I could handle just being friends with
him. The whole night, I just wanted to—”

“Pounce him?” Maeve offered.

“Yes!”

Bess grinned at Lacey’s candor. “Could you
maybe just keep him around a little, just in case you change your mind?”

“Or could one of us have him by default?” Maeve
sent Bess a wink.

Lacey fired them both a glare and all but
growled, “No!”

Maeve and Bess exchanged knowing looks.

“Just friends, my ass,” Maeve said with a
smirk.

Handing a set of house keys over to Brian
and Marybeth Sandoval, there were few occasions when Lacey had felt this proud.
“Congratulations. There’s nothing more exciting than buying your first home
together.”

Marybeth was beaming. “Oh, Lacey, I just
can’t thank you enough for all your patience. I never thought we’d need to look
at so many homes before we found the perfect one.”

“I’m just glad you found the right one.”

Brian placed his arm easily around his
wife’s shoulders and gave a little squeeze. “You went above and beyond. And
haggled a good price for us. Remind me to never try to sell a car to you. I’d
come out in the red.”

“I promise to stay away from your car
dealership only if you send me a referral or two,” Lacey said, handing him a
few extra business cards.

“Will do.”

Lacey stepped from the settlement
attorney’s office and into the crisp air. It was cooler than usual for early
September, hinting of fall weather around the corner. The refreshing breeze
only added to Lacey’s good mood. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed
Maeve’s number as she walked down an alley toward Main Street. It went straight
to voice mail.

“Maeve? Where are you? I made it through
my first closing. Wish you were around. I need a drink to celebrate, and I can
finally afford one. Call me.”

Lacey snapped her phone shut. It wasn’t a
huge sale, but the small commission would at least keep her from worrying about
her rent for a few months. Besides that, it was her first.

Feeling the weight of the cell phone in
her pocket, she willed it to ring. She had to talk to someone. On a whim, she
pulled it out again and dialed her parents.

“Hi, Mom. It’s Lacey. How are you?”

“Lacey. I was just going to call you.”

“Really?” Lacey asked, suddenly hopeful
her mother had remembered that the closing of the Sandoval house was today.

“Yes. Your sister is going to be on CNBC
this evening again. Between five and six your time. She asked me to tell you.”

“I’ll try to check it out,” Lacey said,
knowing full well she’d skip it.

“So what did you call about?”

“Nothing much.” In the shadow of her
sister’s TV appearance, Lacey felt the need to rein in her enthusiasm. “I just
finished the closing on the Sandoval home.”

“Is that the waterfront property you just
listed? That was quick.”

Lacey’s face drooped. “No. That’s still up
for sale. This is just a starter home for a newly married couple.”

“Oh, yes. Sandoval. Now I remember them. You
spent a lot of time with them. Didn’t they make an offer a few months ago?”

“It’s been about six weeks. There were a
few things that needed to be fixed after the inspection.”

“You must be thrilled to unload them. They
sounded very high-maintenance for people willing to spend so little on a home.”

Lacey felt the odd need to defend her
clients. “They’re actually a nice couple. Not everyone can spend seven figures
on a house.”

“Mm,” her mother responded, obviously
distracted by something.

She was probably turning on CNBC at this
very moment, Lacey concluded. “Well, I’m at my car now. I better go.”

“Of course. Have a good night.”

Lacey leaned against the side of her car
and suppressed the urge to throw the phone across the street. She certainly
couldn’t afford to replace it.

***

In retrospect, Mick had been pretty
pleased with himself for not calling Lacey in over a week. It proved that he
was still in control of his emotions. Control was important.

Of course, that was not counting when he
had called Lacey the day after their dinner to tell her she had lost an earring
in his car. Mick had thought it was a ploy to get him to call her, his healthy
ego getting the better of him. Women were trained to “accidentally” leave
things behind if they wanted a man to call them. He may be a guy, but he had
some passing knowledge of that whole Cinderella-glass-slipper thing.

The fact that the earring turned out not
to be Lacey’s—well, he hadn’t expected that. But the time they had spent
laughing about it on the phone was almost worth his being wrong. He hated being
wrong.

Fortunately it rarely happened.

He flicked his cell open and started
dialing.

“Hello?” Lacey’s voice sounded hollow on
the other end.

“Lacey? It’s Mick. Are you all right?”

“Oh.” Her voice brightened a bit. “Hi,
Mick. No, I’m fine. I just got off the phone with my mother.”

“Everything okay? You don’t sound too
happy.”

“Everything’s fine. Thanks, Mick. My mom’s
just so—I don’t know.” She sighed. “How are you?”

“Fine. I just called to see how your first
closing went. But I can tell from your tone that it must not have gone well.”

 “No, actually it went great. That
was nice of you to remember.”

 “I’m just that kind of guy,” he said
with a grin. “Congratulations, then. So why do you sound so down?”

“It’s just—it’s complex really. I
told my mom about the closing and she was her usual less-than-enthusiastic
self. She managed to tell me that my sister is going to be on CNBC in about an
hour, though.”

Mick was glad to hear the bite in her
tone. It made her sound less defeated. “And I’m sure you’re racing home right
now to see her.”

Lacey laughed. “No way. In fact, I think
I’ll stay out and avoid anyplace I might run into a TV for the next hour or
so.”

“Well, why don’t you come out sailing with
me? I was just headed down to the boat basin. I need to brush up on my skills. We
don’t do a ton of sailing in the SEALs and I don’t want to be shown up by one
of these mids.” Mick winced, suddenly realizing what he was offering. Offering
to take a woman out on a boat at sunset. A woman he promised to keep his hands
off.

Was he insane?

“You have a boat?” Lacey said with
surprise.

“God, no. I couldn’t afford one of these
beauties at my rank. But I’m an officer and have my C license. I can take them
out anytime if they’re not being used for training.”

“Really?” Her voice was hesitant. “You
really can take me sailing? You won’t get into some sort of trouble, will you?”

Mick laughed, touched by the enthusiasm in
her voice when she had only moments ago sounded so downhearted. “I really can
do that.”

 “It’s a date, then. I mean, a deal. It’s
a deal.”

“Great. I’ll meet you at Gate One to the
Academy in about ten minutes. It’s the one at the end of King George Street.”

 “I know right where it is. See you
there.”

***

It had been more than a week since Lacey
had seen Mick in uniform, and she still hadn’t fully recovered from the sight. Yet
this evening he had unknowingly topped himself when she discovered how
completely arousing it was to be with a man who warranted a salute.

“How do they know to salute you since
you’re not in uniform?” she whispered as a group of midshipmen passed, their
hands raised quickly in the precise greeting.

“A lot recognize me. And the others are
too damn scared to
not
salute and then see me standing at the front of
their lecture hall.”

Mick hopped onto the boat and glanced down
at Lacey’s feet. “I don’t want to seem like I’m already trying to get your
clothes off of you, but you can’t come on board in those heels. Much as I love
what they do for your legs.”

“Oh, of course,” she laughed as she leaned
over and unstrapped her sensible Mary Jane-style heels, thanking God she had
painted her toenails.

Reaching out his hand to help her aboard, Mick
smiled. “Welcome aboard, Ma’am.” He gave her a mock salute, then busied himself
with the lines.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked,
enjoying the sight of him managing the lines and controls as though it were
second nature.

“Not a thing. Just sit back and relax,” he
said, tossing her a look over his shoulder. “And try not to look so damn sexy,
will you?”