The Navy SEAL's Bride (7 page)

Caitlin laughed, Lucy’s attitude was contagious. “I’m not having any problems getting my mind off him, Lucy, I just wanted to tell you what a jerk he ended up being.” She was lying. The way Tom had behaved had upset her, cut her up inside, but she didn’t want anyone knowing that. Not even one of her closest friends. Men never rattled her, not anymore, and that was the way she wanted it to stay.

“Yeah, yeah.” Her friend swatted her hand in the air as if what Caitlin was saying was completely irrelevant. “I don’t need more details right now, what I need is for you to say yes to coming out tomorrow night. Okay?”

Caitlin grabbed her bag back and bumped shoulders with Lucy. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

She laughed at Lucy’s surprised expression. “Pick me up on your way,” she said as she walked toward her car.

“Don’t go all miss prissy ballerina on me, either, okay? I want sexy Caitlin!” Lucy called.

Caitlin cringed, hoping no one else had heard their conversation. But the truth was, she
did
need a night out, and Lucy was the perfect playmate. She was confident, engaging and loads of fun. Exactly what Caitlin needed to make her feel better. It was one of the reasons she’d been drawn to Lucy in the first place.

She started the car and made her way to ballet. Her only hope now was that Tom would drop Gabby off outside. The last thing she needed was to bump into him and get herself all tangled in knots again.

* * *

Tom went through Gabby’s schoolbag, fishing out some uneaten lunch and her school books. “Is there any homework in here?”

Gabby called back at him from her room. “Nope.”

He seriously doubted that. “Gabby, come on out here.”

She didn’t call back. Tom dumped her lunchbox on the counter and put her books beside it. He was sure there’d be something in there they were meant to be addressing. He checked to make sure there wasn’t an uneaten banana or anything else lurking, but found a note instead.

Hmmm. Tom unfolded the tatty piece of paper, recognizing Gabby’s handwriting and an unfamiliar child’s writing. He wondered how long it had taken the little girls to write the note when they were meant to be listening in class.

Miss Rose asked us for dinner last night.

Why?

Don’t know. But my uncle kept looking at her all funny.

Like what?

She made nice food. Like my mom does.

Tom put the note down, unable to stop smiling. It didn’t seem to matter how hard he tried to ignore the woman, she kept popping back up in his thoughts. Or right now on paper in front of him. He hadn’t even known six-year-olds could write that well.

“Whatcha doing?”

Tom dropped the note and cleared his throat. Caught out. “Oh, nothing, just emptying out your bag.”

“Were you looking at my things?” Gabby had her hands on her hips.

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head as he pushed her books forward. “But I’ve been trying to find your homework.”

“But Tommy, it’s my last night,” she whined. “I don’t have to hand it in till Monday. Can’t we have fun?”

She sure knew how to work him. Her parents were back in the morning and it did seem stupid not to have fun on their last evening together. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal.”

Gabby looked up eagerly, eyes alight.

“You read some of that story to me we started the other day, then we can watch a movie together. Eat some popcorn or something.”

“Yay!” She ran around to him and flung her arms around his hips, holding on tight. “Thanks, Tommy.”

He gave her a pat on the head as she stopped squeezing, watched her skip back off to the spare room she liked to call her own.

But as soon as she was out of eyesight he rustled up a piece of paper and started to write a note of his own.

Maybe Caitlin couldn’t ever truly understand what he’d been through, but he liked her and he’d been rude.

If he wasn’t man enough to apologize to a woman for his behavior, then he wasn’t worthy of the position he’d held as a SEAL. He needed to suck it up, be a man and say sorry.

* * *

“Gabby?” Caitlin stood behind her desk, leaning toward her young pupil. “You know how I feel about notes being passed in my class.”

She watched confusion cross Gabby’s face as she put the neatly folded piece of paper on her desk. “But it’s for you.”

Caitlin’s eyebrows rose. “For me?”

Gabby giggled and ran back to her seat.

“Ten more minutes to finish your writing,” Caitlin instructed, before sitting back down herself. “Then you can all share your stories with the class.”

She carefully unfolded the paper and looked to the end of the letter as soon as she had it unfolded.
Tom.
His name was printed neatly at the end, his handwriting bold and uniform, just as she imagined he was at work.

For the first time since he’d walked out on her, his name made her smile.

Caitlin looked up to make sure all her children were busy before letting her eyes rove back to the start. Her pulse started to race, body tingling with…anticipation. She’d never been sent a letter by a man before.

Dear Caitlin,

Gabby came home with a note in her bag last night and it made me think of you. I’m sorry for the way I behaved. Thank you for a lovely dinner and please don’t think I’m some rude idiot with bad manners. My mom would kill me if she found out.

Meet me Saturday afternoon? I’d like to make it up to you if you don’t mind giving me a second chance. Let’s go hiking. I’ll pick you up around
2:00 p.m.

Tom.

Caitlin could feel the heat in her cheeks, flushed from reading the words he’d penned. She scanned the letter again before tucking it into the top drawer of her desk.

A note, huh? Almost cute, and he was right, he had been a brute. But she was always telling her pupils that sometimes all a person needed was a second chance, so she’d be a hypocrite to say no. Right?

Caitlin pulled out a clean sheet of paper and picked up her pen, toying with it, playing with it between her fingers and chewing on the end while she figured out what to write.

* * *

She worried the edges of the paper of the paper until they were creased after she’d scribbled her reply before folding it into a square and standing. She walked to Gabby’s desk and crouched down, tucking the note into the front pocket of her bag.

“This is for your uncle. Would you mind giving it to him?”

Gabby giggled, looking at her little friend, before biting her lip. “Sure.”

Caitlin tried to give her a stern look back but their smiles were infectious. “Tell Tom that he’s not to write notes anymore, do you hear me?”

But the girls were already laughing again, schoolwork forgotten.

Caitlin could hardly tell them off. She was more than a little distracted herself.

CHAPTER SIX

“
T
HANKS
so much for looking after her.”

Tom leaned into his sister-in-law as she hugged him. Penny wrapped her arms tight around him and squeezed.

“I see where Gabby gets it from,” he said drily.

Penny swatted him before getting into the car. “She said she had a great time. I really appreciate it.”

Tom leaned into the open window, pulling a face at Gabby as she sat beside her mom and angling his head to make sure he could hear his sister-in-law properly. It was strange how quickly he was becoming used to it. “She’s a pretty good kid, Pen. You know I love having her, even if she is a rascal.”

Gabby poked her tongue out and Penny scolded her.

“Do you want to come around for dinner tonight?” Penny asked, putting the car in gear.

Tom shook his head. “No, I’m heading out for a few drinks.” He fingered the carefully folded piece of paper in his pocket, eager to open it. Gabby had given it to him with a big grin on her face, but he’d managed to bribe her with chocolate promises not to tell her mom.

“Hot date?” Penny waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“I wish.” He thrust his other hand into his pocket, too, and stepped back onto the pavement. “Just Friday-night drinks with the guys from work.”

Penny threw a smile his way before waving. “If things change, come on over. You’re always welcome.”

Tom waved to Gabby as she turned in her seat, watching until they disappeared around the corner. He sighed and walked back into the house.

He wasn’t even in the front door yet and he knew how it would feel.
Empty
. He’d get use to it, but there was something nice about sharing his home with someone else. Even if that someone else was a pint-sized kid.

But at least he had something to read.

Tom opened the paper, smiling as he paused to look at the big red love heart Gabby had drawn on one side. Damn it, that kid was making him way too soft.

Tom

You’re forgiven, but only just. I appreciate your apology and I’m not one to hold a grudge. Hiking sounds like fun, but you’ll have to be easy on me, okay? I’m dance-fit, not outdoors-fit!

See you Saturday, and stop encouraging Gabby to write notes.

Caitlin xxoo

Tom dropped the note, stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower on hot. He would have a quick rinse off, get dressed and head to the bar. If there was one thing he needed, it was a drink. Or maybe a cold shower before he started worrying over whether he’d done the right thing asking Caitlin to join him tomorrow. He usually trained hard on the weekends. Ran fast and long, went to the gym, ran some more. But instead he was volunteering to spend his time with a woman.

Hiking wasn’t new to him, but it sure wasn’t something he usually did with company. It was another way he liked to push himself to make sure he spent more time forgetting than remembering.

Tom stepped under the water and let it blast him.

He couldn’t help but smile, no matter how he fought it.
She said yes. Yes.

If he’d had a buddy beside him he’d definitely have had his hand up for a high-five. Because that was the effect Caitlin was having on him and he didn’t know how to stop it.

Or maybe he didn’t want to stop it.

Tom turned the water to cold and steeled himself for the sudden change in temperature. The icy blast chilled every inch of his skin, but he stood, not moving a muscle. This was nothing compared to his Navy SEAL training, but right now it felt like
torture
.

He had no idea what he was going to say to her, why he’d felt so compelled to ask her out even, but what he did know was that he wanted to see her. That something was pounding away at him, telling him to let her in, to be in her company, and he wasn’t strong enough to say no.

No, he
was
strong enough. He just didn’t
want
to say no, not yet. As much as he didn’t want to get close to anyone, didn’t want to hurt anyone, especially not a woman, he wasn’t quite ready to back off.

* * *

The music was starting to pound a little too loud for Tom’s liking. His right ear was taking the brunt of it, and for once he was pleased not to hear through his left properly, if at all. He took another swig of beer and leaned back deeper into the seat. It wasn’t that he hadn’t had a good time—he had, but nothing seemed the same anymore. He was used to enjoying his down time because he never knew when he’d be off overseas again, loved being home before the adrenaline of a new mission.

Now he didn’t have that edge any longer. Wasn’t waiting for the hit of excitement the way he used to. Right now, all he wanted to do was kick back and relax; he wasn’t in the mood for a big night out.

“Check her out,” Sam said, whooping and slapping him on the back. “Now
that’s
what I’m talking ’bout!”

Tom grinned at him and downed the rest of his beer, turning so he could hear his friend. Even if he hadn’t been able to hear, it wasn’t exactly difficult to figure it out. He was usually the first to spot beautiful girls, would have been the first to go over and say hi to a single woman in a bar, weaving together a story about what he did to avoid admitting he was a SEAL.

“Where’re we looking, boys?” he asked.

His buddy pointed, not bothering to be discreet. “The one dancing. I reckon she’ll be up on the bar next. Wow!”

Tom laughed…but it died in his throat like a final, choking gurgle. He slammed his beer down on the table.
No way.

Caitlin?

She was gyrating as though she didn’t have a care in the world, as though she had no problem with every hot-blooded male in the room watching as she sashayed back and forth, around and around.

Tom saw red, blurs of color flashing fast before his eyes. He squeezed his beer bottle, in danger of smashing it between his palm and fingers.

“Hot or what?” Sam asked, laughing with the other guys.

“Off-limits,” Tom forced out through gritted teeth. “Way off-limits.”

“But hot!” he faintly heard someone else call out.

He didn’t care who it was checking her out, he only cared about stopping anyone else from leering at her. Tom pushed past the guys and tried to calm down, focus on his breathing. He knew better than to let his emotions show, but staying sane over the way she was moving right now was a real struggle. What the hell would have happened to her if he hadn’t been here to protect her?

He fought not to glare at Caitlin as he approached. She was meant to be a ballet teacher, not a stripper!

A guy with a cheesy grin stepped out, eyes on Caitlin.

“Back off,” Tom ordered, ready to thump the guy if he so much as looked at her like that again.