The Navy Seal's Promise (4 page)

She slowly retrieved her arm, taking her hand from his thigh.

“Morning,” she mumbled.

“Do you know how cute you are when you snore?”

Oh Lord. “Sorry. Twice in two days.”

She traced her tongue around the inside of her mouth and swallowed. She
could really do with a toothbrush, but hers was safely tucked in the bag she’d
checked in and their luggage hadn’t been available after landing.

“I’ll apologize now for the early wake up call,” he said, easing himself
up with a big stretch. “Evil but necessary.”

She watched, unable to take her eyes off the guy she’d just spent the
night tucked up next to. The fine knit of his sweater stretched with him, showing
off a bare stretch of back that was tanned and taut, the muscles through his
shoulders and arms visible too. Saskia gulped. He was beyond attractive, Luke
was…

His phone rang and he picked it up. Smiled as he thanked someone, before
hanging up as fast as he’d answered.

“Let’s go.”

Her savior.
Her knight on a white horse somehow promising to get
her where she needed to be.

“Any sign of the luggage? Or flights taking off?” she asked, running a
hand through her hair and securing it up into a ponytail. She’d had a band
around her wrist from last night and forgotten to pull it up. Saskia rubbed her
fingers under her eyes, sure there’d be mascara smudged there from sleeping
without washing her face.

“I’m gonna go check everything out, but from the announcements I’ve been
listening to, I doubt you’ll be going up on a plane.” He grinned. “The luggage
is available now though, so I do have
some
good news.”

He touched her shoulder, fingers gripping firmly then opening, trailing
down her arm. Luke looked into her eyes, searching her face, his smile fixed in
place.

“I’m going to get you home.” His voice was soft now. “You believe me,
right?”

She smiled up at him. “Right,” she responded. He’d promised, and she
believed him.

Luke went to walk away, then turned back. “I meant to ask if you needed
anything? I’ve got a toothbrush in my bag, and there’s…”

She held up her hand. “Hold up. You’d actually share your toothbrush with
me?” He was even nicer than she’d realized.

He grinned. “Actually no.” Luke laughed. “The airline passed out
complimentary packs last night just after you fell asleep.”

Luke passed her a plastic wrapped bag.  

She smiled and took it, slowly, still watching his face. “Thanks.”

“Hop to it,” he ordered, moment over. “You have until 0600 hours to meet
me at the entrance to the terminal.” Luke pointed. “Over there.”

Saskia glanced at her watch. That gave her less than fifteen minutes. She
saluted him and grabbed her bag, walking briskly to the bathroom. There were
people crowded everywhere and after waiting in line she didn’t think she’d be
able to get more than ten seconds in front of the mirror, but she was going to
try. Because if whatever plan Luke had hatched actually worked, she could be
spending a fair bit of alone time with him. And that meant she wanted clean
teeth, some make-up on her face, and a ponytail that wasn’t a sloppy disaster.

Not to mention a spray of perfume to her neck… just in case.

Saskia gulped but she didn’t look over her shoulder. Because if Luke was
standing there watching her, she didn’t want to know.

Luke wasn’t having any luck, but then he hadn’t expected to. Flights were
scheduled to recommence within the hour and they were opening the airport to arrivals,
but there was no chance of getting Saskia on a plane anytime soon. If his
calculations were correct, he could drive her the 400 miles before the next
plane did leave for Buffalo, and that was if he even managed to get her on it
and there were no delays.

He nodded to the sleepy cashier behind the counter and took the take-out
coffees and breakfast sandwiches he’d ordered, then headed for the doors. He’d received
another phone call while he was standing in line, and their ride was ready and
waiting for them.

And there she was. Saskia was walking toward him, head down, bag slung
over her back.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” he called out.

Saskia looked up, her blue eyes meeting his, softening as she saw him. A
smile hit her lips. “Bad.” She sighed. “Hit me with the worst of it first.”

Luke chuckled. He’d thought she’d take the good news first. “Bad news is
that you’re not going to be flying home today because there’s a major backlog,
but I did get your bag.” He held it up. “You were right about your bright red
suitcase standing out.”

She groaned. “Great.”

He laughed, wishing she wouldn’t frown.

“Want the good news now?” he asked.

Luke passed her a coffee and one of the paper bags, watching as she held
the cup up so she could inhale the aroma of caffeine. He nudged her and walked
toward the door, bracing himself for the blast of ice cold air as it engulfed
them.

“What are we doing out here?” she yelled, struggling to be heard.

“What time does your family have Christmas dinner?” he asked.

Saskia stopped and stared at him. “Later on, about five I guess.”

Luke pointed. “Let’s go. We’ll easily make it there before then.”

He couldn’t help it, he had to stop. Had to watch the look on her face,
the way her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the Humvee parked on the curb.
There was a black SUV parked right behind it, two soldiers waiting to give him
the keys then head back to base.

“
No way
.”

Luke put his coffee in the other hand so he could sling his arm around
her shoulders, had an excuse to draw her in close. “Yes way,” he said, not so
loudly this time since they were side by side. “I told you I’d get you home to
your family, and I meant it.”

Saskia squealed so loudly he had to jump sideways.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“I can’t believe you did this. For me.” She shook her head as she buckled
her seatbelt and he jumped in the driver’s seat. “Are you sure you’re not going
to get in a heap of trouble?”

Luke sat back and sipped his coffee, looking completely unfazed. “Let’s
just say I had a favor owed to me and now I don’t.” He shrugged. “And if I
don’t have this back in one piece within 48 hours, I’ll probably be shot at
close range by an elite squad of Navy SEALs. Or worse, SAS.”

She felt a pang of guilt run through her. “I don’t want you taking any
risks for me.” Saskia appreciated what he was doing, but borrowing a Humvee for
her and putting his neck on the line? In this weather?

“Why, Luke?’ she asked, twisting her body around, still holding her
coffee between both hands to try to stay warm. “Why are you taking this risk
for me? You don’t even know me.”

He stared at her for so long that she had the urge to look away, but she
fought it. Kept her eyes pinned on his.

“Because you’ve flown halfway around the world to get home for someone
you love, and I don’t have anything more important to do between now and
tomorrow than to make that happen.”

Saskia settled back in her seat, slowly starting to warm up as the heater
fired into life. The vehicle rumbled as Luke dropped his empty coffee cup into
the void between their seats and put his foot on the accelerator.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice low as her eyes filled with tears. This
was really going to happen. She was actually going to make it home. “Thank you
for everything.”

Luke kept his eyes trained straight ahead and cleared his throat. “Let’s
get this show on the road.”

The weather was terrible but it wasn’t a problem as far as Luke was
concerned. With visibility this bad and snow like he’d hardly ever seen before,
it meant he had to keep his eyes on the road and his mind focused on the task. They
had hours of driving ahead of them, but he was confident they’d make it. So
long as the storm didn’t hit them with the same sort of fury it had unleashed
last night.

“I’m told the drive time is usually up to 8 hours,” Luke said, gripping
the wheel with both hands as they passed an overturned vehicle. He might be in
a bomb proof, impenetrable Army truck, but he was well aware it could flip in
bad conditions.

“Ah, maybe a little less,” Saskia said. “But in this weather?” He could
see that she was staring straight ahead, squinting into the snowy dark. “I’d
say we’d be pretty lucky to make it in nine or ten.”

Luke sat back a little more, settling into his seat. “We’ll make it for
dinner, don’t you worry.” They weren’t going to break any speed records,
because he was planning on taking it slow, but he
was
sure that he’d get
her home.

“Luke, am I keeping you from your own family?”

Saskia’s question took him by surprise. He glanced at her, took his eyes
off the road for a split second and cleared his throat. “Well,” he started,
wondering how the hell he’d ended up talking about his family when he never
usually talked about them to anyone, “my dad lived to see me come home from my
first deployment with the Navy, and my mom was alive long enough to know that
I’d become a SEAL,” he said, saying words that he wasn’t used to sharing. “Dad
was a military man, so it meant a lot that he was able to see me graduate, wave
me off in my uniform, all that kind of thing.”

“No brothers or sisters, then?” Saskia’s voice was soft, low.

“A sister, but she lives in Canada with her husband.”

“And I take it you don’t have a…” she hesitated and he gulped. He knew
what was coming. “Well, I mean I can see you don’t wear a wedding band, but then
I guess you wouldn’t while you were on a…”

“No,” he said. “I mean, I was married, but I’m not spoken for any
longer.”

Saskia let out a nervous laugh, like she wasn’t quite sure what to say. “So
we can trade bitter stories about our crappy ex-spouses then?” she said,
smiling across at him.

But her smile faded at the grim look on his face, and he couldn’t help
it. His wife had been gone awhile now, but talking about it wasn’t exactly his
favorite topic. Not when he still hated himself for the way it had happened,
for not being able to do anything to protect her, to take away her pain.

Luke concentrated on the road, tried to say what he needed to tell Saskia
without thinking, without letting himself get pulled back into the past, of
what had happened. And without making her feel like shit for even asking.

“My wife died a couple of years ago after a short battle with cancer,” he
told her, slowing as they approached what appeared to be deeper snow. He
squinted and gripped the wheel tighter. “I did everything I could to get home,
offered to volunteer for whatever I had to in the future so I could get back
and be here with her, but before I touched down, she was gone.”

The silence in the car was deafening.

“Luke, I’m so sorry,” Saskia murmured, her warm hand touching down over
his arm, connecting with the skin of his forearm bared by his shoved up sleeve.
“I am so, so sorry.”

Luke clamped his jaw tight, stared straight ahead, tried to ignore how
conflicted he felt over the beautiful woman beside him, sending a shiver of
desire through his body just from her touch, and the memory of the wife he was
talking to her about.

“When I tell you I know how important it is to get back to someone you
love, I really do understand,” he told her, glancing down only when her hand
slowly drew away and she unbuckled her seatbelt instead. He didn’t expect the
kiss she pressed to his cheek when she leaned across to his seat.

“You’re a special man, Luke Gray,” she whispered.

If only she knew what he wanted to do to her, she might have other
thoughts.
Because right now, he could think of nothing better than pulling
over and having his wicked way with Saskia in the back of the Humvee, to push
his memories back where they belonged and do something reckless for once.

Luke rolled his shoulders back and stayed focused.
Getting a mom home
to her son, that was all this mission was about.

“Would you mind passing me that sandwich?” he asked Saskia.

She reached into the space between them and pulled them both out. “Cold,”
she said, unwrapping one and positioning it so he could eat it half-inside the
paper without spilling it everywhere. “Sorry.”

Luke took the sandwich and ignored the touch of her hand against his, the
way her fingers skimmed his and waited, like she wanted to make sure he had hold
of it.

Who was he kidding
? Today wasn’t just about getting her home, it
was about him wanting to spend the day with a beautiful woman, on a day that
just happened to be Christmas.

Saskia cleared her throat, nervous. Thank God he didn’t appear to be a
mind reader – if he was there was no chance his eyes would still be on the
road. Because all she could think about was what she’d do if she was
that
kind of girl
. The kind that would think nothing of a steamy rendezvous with
a virtual stranger. Any fantasies she’d ever held about a real life Navy SEAL?
Hands down this guy was it. Broad shoulders, muscles visible through his knit
sweater, jaw like it was carved of steel, and eyes that could fell her like a
just chain-sawed tree.

“So what’s it like being a SEAL?” she asked, not sure what else to ask
him about. Being stuck in a vehicle with him wasn’t exactly difficult, but
thinking of things to talk about for hours on end? She’d never been great at
small talk.

“How about you tell me why
you’re
in the military first?”

“So you have time to figure out which parts of your answer to censor?”
she teased.

Luke looked like he was trying not to smile but he didn’t succeed. “Yeah,
something like that.”

Saskia didn’t mind. Why she joined the military was one part of her life
she didn’t mind sharing, was always proud of. “My dad was with the army for
almost 20 years, and ever since I was a little girl he’d talked about how much
he’d like a son to serve just like he did.” She paused, looked across at Luke.
“My granddad was a soldier too, and I guess it was just one of those family
traditions that was supposed to be continued by a son.”