Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (22 page)

She leaned up and kissed him, “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Oh yes it was.”

“Don’t send Chris to follow me either. He has plenty of other work to do.”

“Message received.”

“I will see you at home tonight - I will have dinner ready at seven.”

“All right, I will see you then. Call me if you need me.”

“I will.” She walked out of his office and walked past the computer control room, she stepped in and waited for Derick to finish up. “Max is going to come here in a second and ask you to track me with all the fancy gismos that have been planted on me, my car and my phone. I’m going for a day of beauty by myself. I wanted to give you a heads up and let you know my plans. If I get really crazy, I may stop at Whole Foods on the way home.”

She watched as Derick started laughing, “You have a really good sense of humor about this.”

“That’s what I keep telling myself about a hundred times a day. I know he does it because he cares, but he is making me nuts.”

He looked at her with a serious look on his face, “It’s just the way we are wired. Any one of the guys would do the same thing.”

“I know. I told him he could come with me if he would have manscaping done, but he decided not to join me.”

“I don’t know what that it, but it sounds painful.”

“I know that you all are elite warriors and not afraid of anything on this planet. Yet when I put ‘hot wax’ and your ‘man parts’ in the same sentence, it seems to make you all a little nervous.”

“Unless we are saving our country or a person, there is no way that we are going to willingly let that happen.”

She turned and walked out the door and muttered under her breath, “Wimps.”

“I heard that Rory, and that’s not very nice.”

“Yes, but it’s true.”

She walked out of the office and waved to Max as she passed his office and whistled all the way to the elevator. She felt like she had made a jail break, and she suddenly felt lighter.

Max watched her go out the front doors and tried to remain calm. It went against every instinct he had. He walked into Derick’s office, “Hey man, can you….”

“Rory was already in here and told me that you were going to come down here and ask me to track her. It’s all set.”

“Why did I fall in love with such a smart woman?”

“I don’t think you really had a choice, just consider yourself lucky.”

‘I do. I consider myself the luckiest man in the world.”

“Then don’t blow it. Back off a little. I don’t know how much more she is going to put up with.”

“I know, I can’t make myself stop.”

“Try harder.”

“I know.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Rory sat in the airport drinking her cup of tea, trying to get her heart rate to return to normal. Did she just break up with Max? She was pretty sure that she had. She couldn’t take it anymore.

Was she being unreasonable? Maybe. She had asked him in every different way that she could think of over the last two weeks to back off. He could not make himself do it. She saw that he was struggling to do what she asked, but he simply couldn’t manage it. This could be the deal breaker for her. Being independent for so long made his overprotectiveness a difficult pill to swallow.

An overwhelming sense of sadness enveloped her as she felt the first tear slip down her face.
Why am I so emotional?
Maybe the last several months had simply caught up with her. She quickly swiped the tear away and pulled herself together.

She decided to call Birdie to see what she thought. Maybe there was another way to look at this.
 

***

“Do you remember when I called you last week and told you that Max was making me crazy?”

“Yes. Did he manage to get himself under control?”

“No! I think this is it. I told him not to call me, contact me or track me over the next two weeks. I need a break from his crazy.”

Birdie settled into her couch and reached for her cup of tea. This was serious business and she needed to be focused. “What was the straw that broke the camel’s back?”

“I think the final straw was when he forbade me from going on this trip without him.”

“He actually ‘forbade’ you?”

“Yes, those were his exact words. Needless to say, I lost my mind and my temper. I think I broke up with him.”

“What words exactly did you use?”

“I don’t want to see your face again if this is how you are going to behave.”

“Yes, I think those are break up words. Except you used the word ‘if’. That suggests a small window of opportunity.”

“A very small window.” She heard Birdie call out to Mark and ask him a question.

“Honey, what’s that thing that blows things up? No the other thing that you are always talking about. Yeah, that’s it. Thanks. No, I’m talking to Rory and Max screwed up.”

“Why did you tell him that?”

“Because, maybe he can talk some sense into him.”

“That’s like asking the inmates to help the other inmates. It doesn’t help if they are all crazy. They just spread the crazy.”

“I know, but maybe he can help calm him down. Anyway, what I was trying to get at is…. Max may see a small opportunity as a big opportunity. I think that is how SEALs think. An opportunity is an opportunity, no matter the size. They might use some C4 and blow something up if they thought they needed to.”

“That is not making me feel better.” She heard Mark’s voice in the background saying something to Birdie.

“He told me that I was not using the C4 analogy correctly. I informed him that if he wanted any C4 action later on, then I was using it correctly. He surprisingly agreed. You know…. we never figured out how to use sex to get what we wanted. All those wasted years…. we could have had some real power with the men we dated.”

“I think your right. Anyhoo… what to do about crazy Max?”

“Tell me what trip you are on, and then I can give you my advice.”

“I’m going to all of the ASI offices across the country. I will be evaluating the business and making recommendations about the operations part of the business. I’m also assessing if making a corporation makes sense.”

“I think you should just treat this as any other business trip and give yourself a break. You don’t have to make a decision. See how you feel in a week and then reevaluate.”

“I think your right - I just need a break. I have been really emotional lately. Maybe I’m going to get my period.”

“You have been under an enormous amount of stress for over three months.”

“I have been really tired lately. I feel like I need a nap everyday around three.”

“So think of this as a break. The business side of it you can do in your sleep. The evenings are yours - to do what you want.”

“Thank you for listening to me. I think you’re right. If I’m still mad after this trip then I can go to Sienna for a week and then be back in time to help you with your wedding. I can always send my report and never see Max or the ASI offices again.”

“Except at the wedding.”

“Yes, I suppose there is that. I will just relax and not worry about making a decision.”

“Give yourself a break and don’t worry about it for now. I know he loves you, but it may be a love that you don’t want.”

“I don’t know what I want. All I want is a nap and some chocolate ice cream.”

“Well go get the ice cream, and then you can nap on the plane.”

“You’re right. I’m going to go buy several gossip magazines, and then I’m going to get an ice cream and relax. Max Bishop will not be part of my thought for the next two weeks.”

“I think that is a perfect plan. Love you, call me if you need me.”

“I will, love you too. I will keep you updated.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Max walked up to Birdie and Mark’s house and felt like this may be his last hope. If anyone was going to have influence over Rory it was going to be Birdie. He knocked on the door and waited, he looked down the street and saw the house that he and Rory now owned. He had to fix this, it wasn’t a choice for him. It had been a week since he heard her voice and he was slowly losing his mind. He saw Mark walk slowly towards the door, “Do you feel as bad as you look?”

“Probably worse.”

“So… this has been a bad week for you?”

“The worst of my life.”

“Come on in, Birdie will be back from the shop in a little while.”

“Has she spoken with Rory?”

“Of course, they speak every day. They also speak in Italian, so I have no idea what they are saying.”

“They do that so we won’t know what they’re saying. I hate that.”

“Evidently, they have been doing it since they were in Junior High. They figured it out then and haven’t stopped. I get a little worried that they are talking about me. But, then I remember that you are the one in the dog house and I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Enjoy it while you can.”

“I plan on it. I’m sure it will be my turn soon enough. Birdie is so damn happy that I’m alive that I have another couple of weeks before my sins start catching up with me.”

“What if she never gives me another chance?”

“You can’t think like that. Pull your head out and start thinking like a Commander. Come at it from another angle, there is nothing that can’t be solved and this includes Rory.”

“I wish I felt as confident as you. I fucking made it through fifteen years of impossible and I’ve never felt this way. This woman has to give me another chance.”

“She will, but you have to back off and give her room to come back to you. Did you buy the house?”

Yes, it closed last week. I put it in both of our names. I was planning on giving it to her for Christmas.”

“You will. Wait until she comes home and give her a chance to relax. Then ask her out on a date and start all over again. She has to believe that you are capable of normal.”

“The problem is, that I’m not sure if I am with her. I’m crazy in love which makes me crazy overprotective. I want to wrap her up in a bubble and tell her what to do.”

“You realize that you need to make sure that she never knows what you just said?”

“Yes, I know that.” They heard the door open and Birdie walked in with a grocery bag. Max got up to take the bag from her. “Thanks for having me over for dinner.”

Birdie looked at him for a moment and studied him closely, “Is it as bad as you look?”

He returned her gaze, “It might be worse.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

He took the grocery bag into the kitchen while Birdie kissed Mark. He wanted what they had. Actually he had it, until he screwed it up.

Birdie walked into the kitchen and started unpacking the groceries, “Give me thirty minutes and I will have dinner ready. Then I will give you some clear instructions on how to fix your life. You are going to have a small window of opportunity and I don’t want you to screw it up.”

“Thank you, Birdie.”

“Do you love her?”

“With everything I am.”

“That’s what I thought. It’s why I’m willing to help you.”

“I understand and I appreciate it.”

She nodded her head and started getting things together for dinner. She handed him two beers, “Take this to Mark and talk to him please.” She gave him a meaningful look before going back to getting dinner ready.

He understood that she wanted him to talk to Mark about the transition when he wasn’t cleared for active duty again and was forced to retire. She must have felt like he needed someone to talk to. He would do his best to try to help his friend understand that there was life after the teams. It was different for every man, and he had no idea how Mark was going to handle it.

CHAPTER TWENTY
 

Max sat in his office and tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him. The last two weeks had been absolute hell. He didn’t think he was going to make it after the first week and here he was still alive at the end of the second week. If only he could have been more relaxed before the trip - she wouldn’t have felt the need to get away from him. He knew at the time that he was supposed to back off but he couldn’t help himself. His stupid, testosterone - driven compulsion to keep her safe had driven her away. He wanted to protect her from everything bad in the world, and he couldn’t get control of his possessiveness in time.
 

So here he sat in San Diego while she traveled all across the country alone. The only thing that saved his sanity was that all of his partners were taking care of her. He made sure that they picked her up from the airport and kept a very close eye on her during her visit. He knew she was safe, but he hadn’t heard her voice in two weeks and he felt like something was about to break inside. For a hardened warrior that was a very difficult concept. He thought only his bones could break, not his heart. At least she would be home in two days and he would have a chance to try to repair the damage he did before she left. His phone rang and he picked it up. It was his partner in the Florida office, “Hey Joel. How is Rory?”