The Navy Seal's Promise (8 page)

The room was silent again.

“I’d best be off. Get this vehicle back before it’s marked as missing.”

She didn’t miss his joke, but she didn’t laugh. “Luke, please,” she said,
her voice low, not taking her eyes off him for a moment.

“I won’t have it,” her mom announced, marching to the table and setting
another place. “Unless you have a family waiting on you, you’ll sit that
backside down right there,” she pointed to a seat, “and let us thank you
properly for getting our girl home in time for Christmas.”

Saskia sat still, watching Luke.
Because she didn’t want him to leave
.
After the hours they’d just spent together, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

“Please, Luke,” she asked, eyes trained on his, “stay.”

Luke looked unsure, watched her long and hard before smiling over at her
mom. “If you’re sure I’m not putting you out?”

Saskia crossed the room and sat down at the table. “Are you kidding? Mom
will probably make you an honorary member of the family for getting me here.”

And she was only half joking.

“So Luke, where’s your family this Christmas?” Saskia’s mom asked.

He looked up and swallowed his mouthful, slowly. The food was delicious,
and Saskia’s family couldn’t have been nicer, but talking about his past? His
family? Not a topic he wanted to talk about.

“Unfortunately it’s just me,” he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin
and hoping they weren’t all going to give him the pity looks he loathed so
much.

Saskia was watching him like she was ready to jump in and save him if she
had to.

“I see. Well, I’m glad we could have you here.”

Luke put the napkin down, knowing Saskia’s mom was just trying to be
polite and not ask any more, but he’d already told Saskia so he might as well
tell the rest of them. “My parents both passed away, and I lost my wife to
cancer a few of years ago.” He cleared his throat, refusing to look at Saskia
even though he could feel her eyes on him. “I’ve avoided Christmas these past
few years, ever since she passed, so it’s about time I enjoyed it. She, ah,
died on Christmas eve three years ago.”

Saskia reached for his hand across the table, fingers grabbing hold of
his as she squeezed. He was sure her parents noticed, but she didn’t seem to
care so he tried to just relax.
Because she cared, and for once he was okay about
someone giving a damn about him.

“Can you stay the night?” Saskia asked. “It’s a long drive back and I’m
sure I’m speaking for everyone when I say we’d like you here.”

“The boy brought you home to us, I’d say that’s reason enough for us to
keep him for a night.”

They all laughed at Saskia’s dad, Luke included. He looked around the table,
watching the strangers he was seated with. It had been a long time since he’d
been part of a family, and it wasn’t half bad being here. But staying the
night?

“So tell us what you do for a living, son.”

“It’s classified information,” Saskia quipped before he had a chance to
reply.

“Are you a trained assassin?” Jack asked, leaning forward and staring at
him.

“What do you know about assassins?” Saskia asked, ruffling his hair and
play-punching him in the am.

“I’m a Navy SEAL, sir. Just back here for a little downtime before I’m
sent back out again.”

Her dad laughed and left the table, coming back with a couple of beers.

“We’re gonna get on just fine then,” he said, passing him one and
slapping him on the shoulder as he passed. “I had a feeling when you walked in the
door that you were military.”

“Wait until you see the Humvee he hijacked to get me here. Called in some
big-time favors,” Saskia told them.

Jack was wriggling now, like he was desperate to jump up and race out to
see it. “A real Hummer?”

Luke gave him a wink. “I’m sure there’ll be time to take you for a spin
before I go,” he told him.

“Awesome.” Jack couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

Saskia met his gaze across the table and mouthed
thank you.
He
just smiled in response. But the truth? He was starting to think that there
wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Saskia, and it scared the hell out of him.

Saskia dropped a kiss to her son’s silky blond hair and pulled the covers
up to his chin. She stood there, unable to move past the door, watching him
sleep.

A touch to her shoulder made her turn. Only it wasn’t who she expected.

“Hey,” she whispered, still not taking her eyes from Jack.

“You look like a woman in love,” Luke told her, arm going around her
waist.

Saskia dropped her head to his shoulder, so tired she could have shut her
eyes and gone to sleep against him. “Just seeing him gives me the strength to
go back, knowing that I’m coming home to him.”

They stood in silence, before Luke took her hand, softly intertwining his
fingers with hers. “I think it’s time you went to bed,” he whispered. “You’ll
both be up early in the morning.”

She let him lead her away and into her bedroom, but she hesitated,
looking back out into the hall. They were in her parents’ house, her son was
sleeping only two rooms away, and going to bed with Luke just didn’t seem
right.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, Luke, but….”

He shook his head and took her hand again, tugging her into the bedroom
and toward the bed. “Your son’s going to be bursting in here in the morning and
you feel weird about doing it under your parents roof?”

“Yeah, something like that,” she mumbled. She was a grown woman, it
wasn’t like she was embarrassed about having a relationship with a man and her
parents knowing about it, but he was right.

“I promise I won’t try to take your clothes off,” he told her, eyes
shining with laughter. “But there’s no rule against holding you, is there?”

Saskia couldn’t help but grin. “No, Luke, there’s no rule.”

He walked backwards and led her to the edge of the bed, lying back down
against the pillows and holding out his arms. “I think we both need the sleep.”

She crawled onto the bed, flopping down on the pillows. “You must be
beat. At least I slept on the way.”

Luke lay on his side, propped on his elbow, looking down at her.

“Am I ever going to see you again?”

His question took her by surprise. She looked up at him, searching his
eyes as his hand searched out hers. They linked fingers, holding on tight, not
saying a word.

She wasn’t going to pretend that she hadn’t thought the exact same thing,
but…

“Luke, I’m leaving tomorrow and you don’t even know where you’re going
next,” she said.

He shrugged. “I know where I’m going, I just can’t say. And right now I
think I might know the one thing that’d bring me home.”

She stared at him. They’d only known each other… how long? A day? Almost
two?
But it felt like they’d known each other for so much longer.

“Luke, it’s not that I don’t want to see you again, because I do.” She
took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t have done what we did if I didn’t feel
something for you.”

Luke smiled down at her and dipped his head, brushing his lips across
hers so tenderly that her heart started to skip to a faster beat.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that you’re going
tomorrow,” he whispered, his breath stroking across her skin.

“So what are you proposing?” she whispered back, feeling nervous about
what might come.  

Luke lay back, his head on the pillow beside hers, fingers still looped
through hers. “Is it crazy to think we could meet up when we’re both back? To
actually give this,” he paused, propping himself back up again, “
us
, a
real go?”

Saskia grinned and pushed herself up on her elbow. “I don’t think it’s
crazy at all,” she said. “I’d really like that.”

Luke laughed. “Only next time around I’ll at least take you on a proper
date first instead of just seducing you in the back of a truck.”

Saskia swatted at him, punching his arm. “Luke! You make me sound like…”

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Like she was going to say.
“This might just be the best Christmas
ever, you know that?” she asked.

“Why?”

Saskia lay back again. “Because I made it home, and because I met you,”
she confessed.

Luke shuffled closer and wrapped both his arms around her, kissing the
top of her head as she nestled into him, face pressed to his T-shirt.

“It’s the best damn Christmas I’ve had in a long time, too,” he whispered
into her hair.

“So where are we going to meet?” she asked.

“Airport,” he answered without hesitation. “When you arrive back, I’ll be
waiting at the airport for you.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” he said. “And I know for sure
I’ll be back then, because my next assignment isn’t going to take that long.”

Saskia couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, even as she shut her eyes,
knowing that if she didn’t get some sleep now she’d never be able to stay awake
to enjoy her son in the morning.

“Luke?” she murmured, trying not to drift off just yet.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For bringing me home, for everything.”

Luke started to stroke her back – long, gentle touches that made her body
turn to mush.

She had no idea how she’d met him, how she’d ended up with a sexy Navy
SEAL in her bed, but she sure as hell wasn’t complaining.

“So this is goodbye, huh?” Saskia refused to cry. She had no idea how or
why she felt the way she did about Luke, when they’d met as strangers on a plane
less than two days ago, but she did.

If she didn’t know better, she’d say she was already falling in love
with him.

“There’s someone who’ll have my head if I don’t get this truck back
today, and you don’t have long left to be with Jack.” Luke closed the distance
between them, hands on her elbows, tugging her to his chest.

“This sounds crazy, but I think I’m going to miss you.”

Saskia tilted her face up to look at Luke, loving that he was so tall,
that he made her feel small, like he could protect her from anything. Because
it felt like she’d been having to protect herself for a long, long time now.

“It’s not crazy, Saskia,” he said, arms looping around her waist, voice
husky. “Not any crazier than me wanting to scoop you up and drag you home with
me to San Diego so we don’t have to say goodbye.”

Her laugh was muted by his mouth covering hers. Luke’s lips touched hers,
his tongue teasing as he deepened their kiss.  

When he finally pulled back, Luke grabbed hold of her and pulled her into
a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her so that she was crushed to his chest.

“I can’t give you my location, but I’ll write to you and give you a
return address when I can.”

Saskia nodded against him, pulling a folded piece of paper from her back
pocket and pushing it into his jeans pocket. “If you change your mind, just
tell me. Promise me that.”

Luke shook his head and bent to drop another long, slow kiss to her lips.
“The only thing I know for sure right now is that I won’t be changing my mind.”

He brushed his fingers across her shoulder before starting to walk
backwards, eyes never leaving hers even as he reached the door.

“I’ll see you at the airport,” he said.

Saskia grinned back. “Yeah, I’ll see you at the airport.”

Luke jumped behind the wheel and gunned the Humvee into life, reversing
slowly away from her house as she stood and watched him.

“Luke’s gone?”

Her son’s voice pulled her from her thoughts, made her turn away from the
truck driving away from her.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” she told him, walking to the door and slinging her arm
around his shoulders.

“He was cool,” Jack said.

“He was
definitely
cool,” Saskia agreed.

“Mom, can we see him again? When you’re back for good?”

“I sure hope so,” she said, trying to stop thinking about Luke and
failing. Because all she could imagine was his mouth on hers again, the kind of
homecoming she’d have if Luke
was
actually waiting for her at the
airport when she came home again.

“Can we get ice cream before you go?” Jack asked.

“Honey, we can do whatever you want.”

Right now, she would do anything her son wanted until she had to leave
for the airport. The only thing she couldn’t promise was that she wouldn’t be
thinking about Luke.
A lot.

Saskia gripped the handle of her bag so tight her knuckles went white. She’d
never been this nervous in her life. Not when she’d first enlisted in the army,
not on her first deployment, not when she’d been pregnant and about to pop.

This was like nothing else she’d ever experienced, and her stomach was
flipping like she’d eaten a bad curry the night before.

And there he was
. Luke Gray – tall, strong and hot as hell, was
walking in her direction, and the smile on his face made all her anxiety she’d
been storing up for this moment slip away.

“Hey beautiful.”

Saskia dropped her bag to the ground and held up her arms as Luke ran the
last few yards to her, scooping her up low and holding her tight, feet off the
ground, mouth pressed to hers like he was never, ever going to stop kissing
her. She kissed him back, one hand fisting in his hair, the other holding him
tight around the shoulders, legs wrapped around him.

Luke pulled back first, broke their kiss and stared straight into her
eyes. “Do you have any idea how good it is to finally see you again?”

She laughed, slowly relinquishing the grip she had on him with her thighs
and sinking back to the ground, arms slung around his waist now.

“I had this really bad feeling you weren’t going to show,” she murmured
against the hollow of his shoulder.