Whiskey Tribute: A Trident Security Series Novella - Book 5.5 (3 page)

“What?” Behind her, Curt froze at the shock in that one word.
Her boys had never gotten in trouble for fighting before. “
Um
. Okay, I’m
on my way. Is Amanda there, too, or did she get on the bus.”

“She’s on the bus. By the time I was alerted and stopped the
fight, the buses had already started to pull away. Do you need to wait for
her?”

Dana sighed. “
Uh
. No. I don’t. A friend is visiting
and he can get her. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

After the man acknowledged her, she hung the headset back on
its perch. She slowly turned around and found Curt eyeing her with curiosity.
“That was the school. Apparently Justin and Taylor are in the principal’s
office for fighting.”

“Each other?”

“No. Two other boys.” She grabbed her cell phone from the
table and her purse from where she’d placed it on the counter earlier in the
day. “Can you get Amanda off the bus? It stops in front of Peggy Olsen’s house.
Ryan’s bus will be about fifteen minutes later, but he can walk home on his
own.”

“No problem. I’ve got it covered. Should I do anything about
dinner?”

Glancing around, she spotted her car keys on the small table
in the foyer. “I’m just making spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce and meatballs
are already made, so all I have to do is make the pasta later. Thanks.”

She was about to turn for the door, but he put his hand on
her elbow. His voice was gentle as his gaze met hers. “No thanks necessary,
Dana. You should now that by now. I’m just glad I can be here to help out.”

Biting her bottom lip, she wasn’t sure what to say to that.
There was something in his expression she couldn’t quite zero in on. Certain
her brain was misreading everything, she nodded. “I’m glad you are, too. I’ll
be back as soon as I can. Tell Ryan to start his homework, since we’re going to
the amusement park tomorrow.”

“Got it. Go. I promise I won’t burn down the house or let
Ryan turn into a junior high school dropout while you’re gone.”

The smile that spread across her face was genuine. Curt had always
been able to make her laugh…but now he was causing her to feel things she
wasn’t sure she should be feeling. Sighing to herself, she marched out the
door. She needed to concentrate on her kids at the moment. Everything else
would have to wait.

“Uncle Curtsy!”

The little imp jumped off the bus and right into his arms. He
hugged her, then lifted her onto his shoulders and strode back toward the
house, waving goodbye to Dana’s neighbor Peggy. Her husband, Phil, was a
sheriff’s deputy and Curt had hung out with him many times while visiting the
Prichard household.

Eric’s hometown in Iowa was pretty similar to Curt’s own
hometown in Montana. Both had less than twenty-five thousand residents and were
an hour away, give or take a few minutes, from the closest major city. They
were large enough where one didn’t know everyone in the town, but if one of
their own needed help, not only would the entire town come out in force, so
would half the surrounding county.

“Where’s mommy? She’s going to be mad Justin and Taylor
missed the bus again.”

“Again?” He hadn’t heard about this, so he doubted it was
anything of concern. He’d become Dana’s sounding board at times when she was
stressed. She had plenty of girlfriends, but they had their own kids and she
felt bad about complaining to them. So he’d told her anytime she just needed an
ear to bend, she should call him. Lately, though, it had gotten to the point he
was kind of hoping the kids would get into trouble, just so she would call him
and he could hear her sweet voice—pissed or not.

“
Uh-huh
. They missed it a few weeks ago ‘cause they
were playing catch. Mommy was mad.”

“I bet she was.” He lifted her down onto the porch and helped
her get her pink and purple backpack off. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t miss the
bus because I’d still be out there twiddling my thumbs.”

She giggled. “What’s widdling?”

“Twiddling. Watch.” He put his hands together and rotated his
thumbs around each other. When she mimicked him, he grinned. “There you go. You
officially know how to twiddle your thumbs.”

Bringing her into the kitchen, he made a little plate of
cheese and crackers for her since she didn’t care for the meats on the platter.
Then he retrieved the jug of sugar-free fruit punch from the fridge and poured
her a glass. “So how was school?”

“Good.”

“Learn anything new?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Not really.”

It amazed him that after six or seven hours a day in school,
every kid he knew gave that same response. But then again, he’d probably been
the same way when he was young.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and he tilted his
chair on its back legs so he could see who it was. Another thing about small
towns, it wasn’t unheard of to leave your doors unlocked while you were home.
He knew Dana locked it when it was just her and the kids, which was good. “Hey,
Ryan. Mom will be back in a few. She had to go get your brothers at school.”

The junior high school student dropped his bulging backpack
with a thud and made a beeline for the fridge. Sticking his head in, he asked,
“What? They missed the bus again?”

“Something like that.” If Dana wanted Ryan to know what
happened, it was her right to tell him. “She said for you to start your
homework since we’re going to the indoor amusement park tomorrow.”

Ryan’s head spun around so fast, Curt was surprised he didn’t
get whiplash. “Seriously?”

“Yeah!” Amanda cheered through fruit punch stained lips.

Uh-oh.
Dana hadn’t told them yet. He hoped it wasn’t
supposed to be a surprise that he just ruined. “Yay, but don’t tell your mom I
told you. She may have wanted it to be a surprise.”

“No problem. I can fake being surprised, but I’m not too sure
about short-stuff over there.”

“I can fake surprise, too. See?”

Biting his lip to keep from laughing at the ‘surprise’ faces
she was making, Curt couldn’t help but see the little girl’s father in her
expressions. He’d never really noticed it before with her, but Ryan and Justin
were the spitting images of their dad, while Amanda usually looked like her
mom, just as Taylor did. A thought of what their child would look like if Dana
and he had one together flickered through his brain.
Whoa. Shit. Where the
hell did that come from?
Pushing it to the far reaches of his mind, he
cleared his throat. “Anyway. Start your homework, so you don’t have to cram it
all in on Sunday.”

Ryan shut the refrigerator door after retrieving a can of
root beer and nothing more, before sitting at the table and making a few towers
of meat, cheese, and crackers. Curt just shook his head. He’d had a perpetually
empty stomach when he was a teen, and Ryan would be turning thirteen in about
six weeks, so he hoped Dana was ready for the increase in food shopping.

“I’ll get my history stuff done, but I’m leaving math until
Sunday.”

“What’s the problem with math? I thought you liked it.” The
kid had always been a whiz at math, even at an early age.

“I like the math Mom teaches us. Not this core-math crap.”

Curt gave him a sharp look. “Hey, watch your mouth.
Especially around your sister.” Eric would want his sons to know how to respect
women, especially the ones they were related to.

The boy’s gaze dropped to the table. His voice cracked as he
apologized. “Sorry.”

Oh, shit
. He wondered if Dana knew her oldest son was
starting puberty. He’d have to offer to teach the kid how to shave, now that he
was noticing a little hair on his upper lip.

After stuffing his face, Ryan went to his bedroom to start
his homework. In the meantime, Curt pulled Amanda’s classroom folder from her
backpack and left it on the table for Dana to look at. He knew the teacher put
all announcements and assignments in it for the parents to keep track of since
first graders had a tendency to forget or lose things.

With nothing to do but help Amanda with her homework, he
opened the dishwasher, which had been running when he arrived, and put
everything where it belonged. He listened as the little girl read out loud a
list of three-letter words which all rhymed with ‘cat’.

He’d just glanced at the clock and noticed it was almost five
o’clock when he heard Dana’s car pull into the drive. Moments later, she
stormed into the house with two solemn looking boys in tow. Both were
disheveled and Justin’s shirt was torn. Slamming her purse on the counter, Dana
ordered them through gritted teeth, “Go wash up and throw those clothes in the
laundry, then start your homework. Dinner will be ready in an hour.” As the two
boys headed down the hall to their rooms, she turned to her daughter. “Amanda,
sweetie, can you go play in your room for a little bit. I need to have an adult
talk with Uncle Curt.”

Uh-oh.

“Okay, Mommy.” The girl closed her book and stood, but before
she left the room, she ran over to hug her mother’s hips. “Don’t be mad. It’ll
be okay.”

Dana sighed and squatted down to embrace her. “I know it
will. Thanks, sweetie.”

“You’re welcome.”

As soon as Amanda skipped out of earshot, Dana lost it.
Pacing back and forth, she spoke low enough that the kids wouldn’t hear her,
but with plenty of venom. “I don’t freaking believe that school.
Un-freaking-believable. The two of them are suspended for three days, starting
Monday, because they stood up to a pair of bullies who were harassing Justin’s
friend. Justin stepped in to tell them to back off and they both started in on
him. Taylor saw what happened and ran over to help his brother. Once it was a
fair fight, my boys kicked ass.” She paused with her hands on her hips, then
grinned. “Does that make me a bad mother that I’m glad they were the victors in
the fight?”

Curt chuckled as he leaned against the table, out of her way.
“Not in my book. Although, I assume no one was seriously hurt.”

Pulling open the fridge door, she reached in for the pot of
sauce and meatballs and placed it on the stove, then grabbed a clean pot from
under the counter and began to fill it with water as she spoke. “No. Just a few
scrapes and bruises on both sides. And Justin’s ripped shirt. At least the
principal suspended the bullies, too. I don’t know the one kid, but the other
one I’m not surprised about, since his mother is a bitchy bully, too. Of
course, she’s screaming she wants my ten-year-old and nine-year-old arrested
for assault. Like that’s going to happen. She’s lucky I didn’t need to be
arrested for assaulting her. You have no idea how much I wanted to bash her
face in.” She put the water on the stove and then turned the dials for both
front burners to heat the pots. “I feel bad for Connor though—the kid who was
being bullied in the first place. He’s Justin’s best friend and he’s got a physical
disability. His hip was deformed at birth, so he walks with a pronounced limp—that
leg is turned in a bit. The doctors want to wait until he stops growing before
doing a hip replacement so he can walk better and be more active. It won’t be a
one hundred percent fix, but his limp will be dramatically less noticeable.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah. And the thing that really sucks is he adored Eric and
has been saying since he was five he wants to be a Navy SEAL, but you and I
know that will never happen.” She wasn’t putting the kid down, but the BUD/s
training for SEALs was so intense, very few men passed. With a limp, it was
doubtful the kid would even be accepted into the military at all, no matter how
slight the disability might be at that point. “I hope as he gets a little
older, he’ll find something else he dreams of doing which won’t be hindered by
his disability.”

“I’m sure he will.”

“Well, for now, I think that was part of why he was being
bullied earlier. Telling everyone he wants to be a SEAL.” She stirred the
sauce, and then pulled a box of spaghetti from one of the cabinets. “And he’s
just got his mom. Dad was a deadbeat who left town before Connor was even born,
so she’s had it rough. I’m helping her plan his birthday party. She wants to
make it military themed.”

“She does,
huh
?” The wheels in his mind started spinning.
His former teammates and he all had soft spots for kids, especially those who
idolized the SEALs. “When’s his birthday?”

“Two weeks from tomorrow. Why?”

He shrugged. “Let me make a few calls and see what I can do
about surprising him with a few real SEALs.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? I honestly didn’t think of that.
But I don’t want the guys to fly in just for the day.”

“Let me worry about that.” He glanced at the clock, then
pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll be right back.”

Stepping onto the back porch, Curt hit the speed dial for Ian
Sawyer. While waiting for the call to be picked up, he surveyed the huge back
yard. The only animals left on the farm were the chickens, but the old barn,
which had once housed a few horses, pigs, and goats, was still there along with
two storage sheds. Eric had wanted to begin getting farm animals again, like
he’d grown up with, and had been getting the buildings usable once more when
he’d been killed. Since then, they hadn’t been touched except for the shed with
the lawnmower and tool bench. The setup would be perfect for what he was
planning, though, if he could get a few of the guys in.

The call connected. “Elmer. What’s up?”

From the mild echo, he knew he’d been placed on speaker,
which meant the man was probably still in his office. “Hey, Ian. Got a favor to
ask, and since the six of you are the easiest way to get a group, I’m starting
with you.” He proceeded to fill his old teammate in on the kid’s dream and how
he wanted to surprise him.

“A SEAL birthday party, complete with SEALs,
huh
?”

“Yeah, I figure I could make a training setup in Dana’s
backyard, and we could use the laser tag weapons and show the kids how we do
things. Then make them part of the so-called ‘rescue’ or whatever. I’ll call
Little Creek and have someone send me a bunch of Team Four hats and shirts, and
I have some of our challenge coins we can give the kids. The only problem is
his birthday party is two weeks from tomorrow. I can call around and see if
anyone else can get in, but I figured I’d check with you first. I’ll reimburse
you for the jet fuel to fly up here.”

“Fuck you, Elmer. Like I’m worried about that. But you’re
actually…sort of…in luck.”

He could hear the other man typing on a computer keyboard.
“Yeah? How’s that?”

“Well, Parker and Shelby have decided to fly to Vegas to get
married that weekend and we’re all invited. Her sister’s family just relocated
there and Parker’s disowned his, so instead of having a big to-do here, they
want to do the Vegas thing. The team is flying up there with the women on
Saturday, but the wedding is actually Sunday. We were planning on flying out of
here around eleven or so in the morning, but let me see if everyone can leave
the night before. We can stay at that nice hotel not too far from Dana’s, then
do the party around noon, if that’s okay. That will still give us plenty of
time to hoof it to Vegas afterward. It’ll be easy to fly in and out of that local
airport just outside of Stormville. All we’ll need is a couple of SUVs or vans.
Can you arrange that?”

“Yeah, of course. Are you sure about this, Ian? I know it’s
last minute and all.”

“No worries. You know we love doing shit like this for the
kids. Let me check with everyone to make sure we can leave the night before and
I’ll call or text you back. Jake and Nick are meeting us in Vegas Saturday
evening, though, because Nick has a training exercise scheduled for most of the
day, so they’re out.”

“That’s all right. Archer swapped with me, so he’ll be here
that weekend and so will Urkel.” Steve ‘Urkel’ Romanelli was another former
team member who lived just outside of Daytona. The man was a god on the
basketball court and Curt had always made sure they were on the same team
during three-on-three pick-up games because the guy was almost impossible to
defend.

“Sounds good. I’ll call you back later after I talk to
everyone. I know the girls will be excited. They’re all friends with Dana in
that private SEAL wives and fiancées Facebook group and, according to my angel,
they would love to finally meet her.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it, too. Talk to you later, and
thanks.”

Before they’d finished dinner, Ian texted him to let him know
everything was a go from their end. Dana would call Connor’s mom in the morning
and tell her what they had planned. They would move the party to Dana’s house,
which wasn’t a big deal since she had been helping with the arrangements
anyway. Curt would then fly up two days early to get the backyard prepped for
the SEALs vs. tangos showdown.

The cleanup from dinner went fast with everyone pitching in,
then they pulled out a few board games and made an evening filled with laughter
and fun. The domesticity and sense of belonging tugged at Curt’s heartstrings.
He’d wanted this thing—a family—for himself for a while know…even before Eric’s
death, but he hadn’t found a woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his
life with. And it never occurred to him the reason he hadn’t was because he had
to bide his time until the right woman was available. Was that woman Dana? He
wasn’t sure, but everything he felt during the evening seemed right…seemed perfect—except
the ghost of a man who was in the room watching over them.

* * *

“Well, everyone’s tucked in and excited about tomorrow,” Curt
announced as he strode back out to the living room where Dana had opened the
pull-out couch and inflated the mattress. She was now in the process of putting
the sheets on. Her back was to him as she bent over to pull the fitted sheet
around one of the corners. His cock twitched, and he refused to let the groan
in his throat come to the surface as he stared at her shapely ass.

“Great. I’m looking forward to it, too. I feel like I’ve been
cooped up here forever.” She grabbed the top sheet from where she’d left it on
the recliner, unfolded it, and tossed it across the bed. He tore his eyes from
her delectable body and picked up one of the two pillows she was giving him,
stuffing it into one of the newly laundered pillow cases. “I figure we’ll leave
here at nine in the morning and, barring any heavy traffic, we’ll be there by
ten-thirty.”

Dana finished tucking in the sheet and stepped past him to
get the comforter from the back of the recliner. Her foot hit one of the boys’
discarded sneakers and she lost her balance. Dropping the pillow he’d been
stuffing, Curt’s hands shot out to keep her from falling, and the next thing
either of them knew, their bodies collided with each other. Chest to chest.
Pelvis to pelvis. She gasped. Her soft body was flush against his hard one, including
his erect cock, but he couldn’t let her go. Her eyes grew wide as his shaft
lengthened against her abdomen. The pulse in her neck picked up speed, and when
her breath hitched he lost all reason and self-control. Lowering his head to
hers, he waited for the moment she would push him away and say no…but it didn’t
happen.

His lips met hers—closed mouth and soft. Just a brush of
flesh against flesh. Electricity shot through him as the room around them sizzled.
When her arms went around his neck and her eyes fluttered shut, he deepened the
kiss. A little nibble. A little taste. He coaxed her lips to open with his
probing tongue. When she obliged him, his hand went into her hair and held her
head where he wanted it. As much as he wanted to devour her, he held himself
back.

She tasted like heaven. A small shiver passed through her and
he pulled her toward him, trying to do the impossible and imprint her body on
his so he would never forget the first time he kissed her. They should
stop…they really had to stop before one of the kids decided they needed to get
out of bed and come out here for some inane reason. Just one more taste…one
more lick…

Suddenly her body stiffened.
Shit.
She began to squirm
and push against his chest. With reluctance but no regrets, he pulled away from
her, yet still holding her in his arms. Her eyes were wide again, but this time
in horror.
Damn it and fuck.
Her hand went to her mouth where her lips
were moist, red, and swollen from their kiss. Her skin was slightly irritated
from his five o’clock shadow.

Pushing him harder, she forced him to break contact. “I-I’m
sorry…I just…I’m so sorry. I-I can’t.”

“Dana…” He reached for her, but she flinched, clearly not
wanting him to touch her. Her eyes filled with tears and he watched helplessly
as she fled to her bedroom, slamming the door shut. Curt’s head dropped forward
on his shoulders. He’d fucked up…big time.

* * *

Dana moaned and rolled over when her alarm went off. Eight
a.m.
Shit.
She was exhausted, feeling like she’d only had a few hours of
sleep. Well, then again, she had. She’d been up half the night after
that…that…disaster, or whatever you wanted to call it in the living room last
night. Kissing Curt…holy shit, what the hell had she been thinking? And what
had
he
been thinking?

Then like a bawling teenager experiencing her first break up
with a boy, Dana had run and hid in her bedroom. How was she going to face him
today? It wasn’t like she could avoid him since they’d be in the car together
for three full hours. At least at the amusement park, he’d be taking the boys
on the bigger rides, while she took Amanda and her friend, Nellie, on the
slower and calmer ones.

Flipping the covers off, she trudged to her attached bath and
turned the shower on before using the toilet. She stripped off the T-shirt,
cotton shorts, and underwear she’d worn to bed, then stuck her hand under the
spray to see if the hot water had kicked in yet. Finding it warm enough, she
stepped into the tub and let the water drench her. After shampooing her hair,
she grabbed the loofah from its hook beneath the showerhead. Squirting a
quarter-sized dollop of her favorite bath gel, she washed from head to toe. But
every time she touched her breasts and crotch, that old familiar ache grew
stronger. She hadn’t had sex since the morning before Eric had been killed, and
up until recently it hadn’t bothered her. However, her libido was finally
making itself known again—like an awakening volcano, she might add—and she’d
spent quite a few nights, alone in the big bed, with just her vibrators and
memories. Lately, though, those long established memories had become dreams of
the unknown…dreams of the man who was currently sleeping on her couch. At first,
she’d been horrified, thinking of a man who wasn’t her husband. But in one of
her ‘talks’ with Eric, which she had whenever she needed his guidance, he’d
given her his blessing to get on with her life. The only problem was, he hadn’t
‘told’ her who to get it on with.

Was it wrong she was lusting after her husband’s best
friend…her
dead
husband’s best friend? Some would say she’d mourned her
loss long enough and it was time to get back to living once again. Others might
say it was too soon, and she was only trying to replace her husband with
someone familiar. So which group was correct? She didn’t want to be lonely the
rest of her life, but she also didn’t want to risk losing someone who’d become
more special to her than he’d ever been before.

She closed her eyes and dropped the loofah to the floor of
the tub. Her mind drifted, conjuring up a chapter she’d read last night from
Kristen Anders’ new book,
Velvet Vixen,
when she’d been trying to get
her mind off of Curt. While the BDSM lifestyle wasn’t something Dana was
interested in personally, Devon Sawyer’s wife wrote a great combination of
romance, sex, and suspense. Her books were fun and exciting reads, and the sex
scenes were off-the-chart hot and steamy. But, of course, that didn’t help Dana
forget the man lying on her couch, a mere fifty feet or so from her bedroom
door.

As she brushed one hand across her nipples, her other one
drifted south to the juncture between her legs. If she was going to get through
this day, being so close to Curt, then she needed to take the edge off her
desire and confusion. She exposed her clit and gasped when one of her fingers
slid across the top of it.
Oh, fuck this
.

Reaching up, she grabbed the wand of the shower head and
unhooked it from the tiled wall. The dial could be turned to one of five
different settings, and she knew exactly which one she needed right now—the
fast, hard pulse option. The flow of water and hum changed and she pointed the
makeshift sex toy at her throbbing pussy. Bending one knee, she propped her
foot on the tiny corner shelf of the tub and threw her head back as the spray
hit her in a way that made her hips thrust forward in need…and want.

While the water pelted her sex, she began to play with her
nipples again. Rolling and tugging one and then the other. The pair of sensual
assaults, combined with replaying in her mind the sex scene she’d read,
resulted in her quickly climbing to the edge of release. Biting her lip, she
aimed the pulse spray to the left just a tad and moaned when a jet hit a spot which
took her one step closer. She tried to imagine what the fictional Master Zach
looked like, but the only image her mind focused on was Curt’s face…his hard
body…his masculine hands on her feminine body…his low rumbling voice.
Cum
for me.

The orgasm that hit her took her breath away. Her legs almost
gave out as wave after wave of pleasure came over her. She threw her hand out
to the bar on the sliding glass door for support and it rattled…loudly. Letting
go, she slapped the tile in front of her and tucked her face into her bicep to
keep from screaming. Dizzy and sated, she slowly drifted back to reality, but
worry settled over her. What if her attraction to Curt was nothing more than a
fantasy? He’d obviously felt something for her last night. She’d felt the bulge
in his pants the second their bodies connected, so he was sporting it before
that moment. But what if there was nothing between them but sexual attraction?
Could their friendship survive if they gave in to each other, only to find out
the attraction was to be short-lived? She didn’t want to lose him…and she
didn’t want her children to lose their father’s best friend either—the man who
could tell them all the stories only a few men knew about their dad. Stories of
friendship, loyalty, laughter, brotherhood, and survival.

Shit. Eric, tell me what to do…please.