Terms of Surrender (20 page)

Finally spying her, Danny let out a low whistle of appreciation. “Wow.”

Shoving away all the doubts—at least for now—she gave another little twirl. “You like it? Adam picked it out.”

“I wasn’t whistling at the dress,” he admitted, his voice a little throaty. He didn’t take his eyes off her, devouring her with an appreciative stare. As if he hadn’t spent every night of the past week—until last night—in her bed. She had to wonder what it might be like being looked at like that every day for the rest of her life.

Was such a thing even possible? Probably not. Every relationship waxed and waned, the electric highs gradually mellowing to a more quiet, genuine appreciation. But something told her Danny would offer a woman he truly loved that same wolfish, appreciative, sexy look when he was eighty years old.

She wanted to be the one he offered it to.

The thought flashed through her mind, shocking her a little…but not a lot. Because, deep down, she’d already figured out she was falling in love with the man. She’d been infatuated with him at first. Now, having slept in his arms, laughed with him, shared his French fries, beaten him at poker, watched him shave, whispered about the past, she knew it was more than want. More than like. A lot more.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” Danny said, frowning. “I don’t know if I can trust Quag, or anybody else, around you.”

Having met his buddy, she understood the sentiment. The guy was a big-time flirt. “You can, however, trust me,” she said pertly.

Adam jumped in. “You can definitely trust Mari. She’s a keeper.”

She rolled her eyes, then made a face at her brother, who was so obviously pushing. He must have formed a great impression of Danny to be working this hard at playing matchmaker.

“Okay, kiddies, you’d better get on your way. Danny, great meeting you.” Adam reached up and straightened a curl hanging by Mari’s cheek. “You look gorgeous, Cinderella. Have fun at the ball.”

She did feel a little like that fairy-tale princess. She was not used to dressing up to socialize. Her most recent social engagements, while she was in school, had usually involved somber black suits, stale coffee and boring speeches.

Tonight, though, felt romantic. As if, with Danny by her side, looking at her with that tender, admiring expression, anything was possible.

Absolutely anything.

NEITHER OF THEM SAID much during the drive down to Annapolis, comfortable in the silence that had fallen between them. It wasn’t that Danny didn’t have something to talk about—oh, God, did he ever! In fact, he’d intended to share his incredible news with her back at her apartment, but her brother’s presence had made him wait.

He didn’t dare bring the subject up in the car. He was still so keyed up about it himself, he worried if he started talking about it, he’d be too distracted to drive.

Because today, the letter he’d been waiting for had arrived.

The plain white envelope with the NASA logo had almost taunted him with its thinness. As he’d reached in to retrieve it, he’d felt a little like a high schooler certain the small envelope meant he hadn’t gotten into the college of his choice.

In Danny’s case, though, small had worked out just fine.

He was in. He’d been accepted as an astronaut candidate. Out of the tens of thousands who’d applied for the next training rotation, he had become one of the hundred to be chosen.

He was going to be an astronaut. And if fate was kind and if he worked his ass off, then hopefully before the end of this very decade, Danny would get a first-class ticket into space.

All the years of work, the dreaming, the planning, the busting his ass to get the best grades, the best performance scores, the best ratings, the best missions—had paid off. The dream that had seized him as a little boy was finally coming true.

He didn’t know who had cried harder when he called home to tell his family—his mom, out of excitement and worry. Or his dad, out of sheer, unadulterated pride.

Finally landing his dream job was the cake and the icing. But the cherry on top, making the day even better, was that sitting right beside him was the kind of woman he’d always dreamed of having, too.

A beautiful, funny, smart-as-hell, sexy, lovable woman who he was crazy about.

He knew he wasn’t totally in the clear yet. Mari would almost certainly be glad to hear he’d be leaving the navy much sooner than she’d expected. Plus, Houston would probably sound a lot more appealing to her than some tiny base in a foreign country. Until he got her to admit that they did have a future together, however, he wasn’t counting his unhatched chickens.

When they reached Annapolis, Danny parked at the yacht club where tonight’s gala was being held. But rather than leading Mari into the brightly lit building, from which the sounds of music and laughter could easily be heard, he took her arm and steered her toward the docks.

“Can we walk for a minute? I need to talk to you.”

She stiffened for just a second, as if expecting bad news.

“Something wonderful has happened,” he told her. “Something I’ve wanted for a long time.”

Appearing curious, she relaxed, nodded and said, “I can’t wait to hear more.”

When they reached the shoreline, they turned to walk along the pier, the path easily lit by the bright moon-and-starlit sky above. The water lapped gently against the sides of the beautiful boats moored here, and sea birds continue to swoop in the darkness, calling out their melodic cries. The air was thick with brine—clean and cool, sharp to the mouth. He licked his lips and tasted salt there, knowing if he kissed Mari now, her mouth would taste just as spicy.

“So what’s going on?” she asked, breaking the silence.

He stopped, and looked up at the sky. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Unable to take his eyes off the moon, its mysterious glow somehow brighter tonight than it had ever been before, he continued. “I think I’ve told you that ever since I was a kid, and my dad took me out to watch the planes landing at O’Hare, all I ever wanted to do was fly.”

“You sort of told me,” she murmured. Then, with a soft laugh, she added, “I misunderstood the first time—I thought you meant you wanted to be a mechanic.”

Remembering their first day, he joined in her laughter. Though it had only been a month’s time, they’d come a long way from the guy who’d been fascinated by the girl who’d hidden her panties in the glove box.

“Well, what I haven’t told you is that it isn’t just air flight I want.” He raised his arm, pointing toward the moon, closing one eye so that his own finger seemed to block out the enormous globe. “I want
that.
”

“The moon?” she asked, sounding amused.

“Eventually.”

Oh, how he hoped man would return there in his lifetime.

“I think there’s a star registry, so I might be able to swing one of those, but the moon’s a little tougher to get.”

He turned to face her. “I want to
go
there, Mari.”

Her amusement faded, and her eyes widened with wonder. She was a smart woman and immediately grasped what he meant.

“You want to be an astronaut?”

He corrected her. “I’m
going
to be an astronaut.” She gaped.

“I found out today. I’ve been accepted into the Astronaut Candidate Training Program. I leave for Houston in four weeks.”

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, sounding stunned.

He wasn’t sure how she’d react—if she’d be afraid, be upset that he hadn’t told her, complain that he was leaving.

None of those. Instead, she graced him with a warm, genuine smile, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. She looked as pleased for him as he felt for himself. “Congratulations, Danny, that’s
incredible
news.”

Relieved, excited, jubilant, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, loving the taste of genuine happiness on her lips. She never ceased to surpass every one of his expectations. He had expected she’d be glad for him. But she seemed beyond thrilled.

When the kiss ended, he kept his arms around her waist. Hers were looped around his neck, and she stared up at him intently, as if memorizing his face, trying to get to know him all over again.

“You’re really going into space?” she whispered.

“If fate continues to be kind. I’ve got a lot of training—years—to get through. But someday…God willing, someday.”

She moved a hand to his face, tenderly cupping his cheek, rubbing her thumb across his bottom lip. “You will be wonderful,” she said, sounding completely sure about it.

“You know what this means,” he said, wondering if it was too soon to ask her how she’d like living in Houston. Not right away—the first year of training would be harrowing. Not that he could wait a year—no way could he be without her for that long. But maybe he could go ahead and she could take a couple of months to pack up, look for a job and move.

It sounded like a good idea to him, anyway. He only hoped she’d feel the same way.

But before he could even broach the subject, a voice interrupted them. “There you are—there’s my main man. Come on, dude, the whole party’s waiting to congratulate you!”

Shocked by Quag’s intrusion, he released Mari and the two of them turned to watch his friend jog over.

“Midas, seriously, way to go. The news just broke.” He threw his arms around Danny’s shoulders, giving him a rib-crushing hug. “Congratulations, I knew you could do it! You are on your way to the stars.”

Stunned, since he had told nobody other than his parents, and now Mari, about his letter, he could only mumble, “What…how…”

“The Commandant got a call from somebody in Houston. This is big news, buddy-boy.” He turned to Mari and winked. “You ready to be a space-superstar’s number one fangirl?”

Beside him Mari stiffened the tiniest bit. Danny hid a groan, appreciative that his friend was so happy for him, but not liking the timing. He really would have liked a few more minutes with Mari, to gauge how she felt about this.

Oh, he knew she was happy for him. What he wanted to know was how she saw it affecting their relationship. And that fangirl crack wasn’t helping.

Danny tightened his arm across her shoulders. “She’s a whole hell of a lot more than that,” he told his friend.

In fact, he hoped she would one day be a space-super…er, an
astronaut’s
wife.

Because he loved her. Real, lifelong, can’t-live-without-you love. Fate or serendipity be damned. They might have brought her to him, but every day and night he’d spent in her company had reinforced his feelings for this woman.

She was his fate. She was his serendipity.

She was everything he wanted.

Mari…and space.

“Let’s go, let’s go, the Commandant ordered champagne for the entire party!”

Offering Mari an apologetic look, he let Quag push him toward the club. He kept his fingers laced with Mari’s. He wanted her by his side throughout the evening, knowing her fast mind was working double-time. Those negative ideas she always managed to come up with had to be whispering in her ear.

But once they got inside, he was surrounded by well-wishers—superiors, navy brass, colleagues at the school, other pilots—and he and Mari were separated. He kept his gaze moving over the crowd, trying to keep tabs on her location despite the constant conversations and handshakes. He’d always find her—she was the most beautiful woman in the room. Sometimes she’d be chatting with Quag, or with a few other faculty members she’d gotten to know. Each time, she’d catch his eye, offer him a thumbs-up that said she didn’t mind being on her own, and Danny would be dragged away for another congratulatory conversation.

It was at least an hour before he was finally able to stop talking and get a minute alone. He spent that minute scouring the reception hall, then the rest of the club, looking for Mari. He wanted to apologize, wanted to pull her into the nearest closet and kiss any doubts out of her mind. Hell, even a simple dance would be nice.

“I think she went to the ladies’ room,” a voice said.

Seeing a fellow teacher, a woman who the boys called the Admiral because she was so tough on her students, he said, “Excuse me?”