Brianna's Navy SEAL (8 page)

"Think there's any hot water left in that shower?” she asked after a moment.

"I hope so. Can you get down?"

She laughed weakly. “I don't know.” Grimacing, she uncurled one leg, then the other, swaying when her feet hit the wet tile. She looked around.

"Man, look what we've done to your bathroom. It's going to be mildew city.” Water dripped down the walls and beaded on every surface. A folded newspaper in a rack next to the toilet curled at the edges.

"I'll clear it out. Let's clean up, first.” He checked the water temperature. “Feels good. Go ahead.” He held the curtain so she could climb in, then followed.

Showering without letting go of each other was difficult, but Brie didn't want to stop holding him, and Cable seemed to feel the same way. They took turns soaping whatever body part they could reach, regardless of whose it was, and paused frequently for kisses. The water started to get cold, but even after they'd rinsed, Brie didn't want to leave. She laid her head on his chest, their arms around each other, and let the water relax her.

"Thank you,” she said after a few moments.

"For what?"

"For catering to my perversity.” She smiled up at him. “I always wanted to have sex standing up without having to be smacked against a wall."

Cable laughed. “I'll be happy to oblige you any time. You have impressive strength yourself.” He smoothed a hand over her abdomen and down her thigh. “Maybe next time you can hold me up.” He smacked her lightly on the butt. “But first I think we should get some sleep."

As they crawled into bed and settled into a classic spooning position that felt nothing but natural, Brianna realized that for the first time in years, everything felt like it was just as it should be.

It took four days for Brianna to catch up enough on her sleep that she didn't have the urge to institute afternoon naptime for her first-grade class. It didn't help that she'd been sleeping at Cable's house on the nights he wasn't sleeping at hers, or that Ken was piling on the work. She suspected he was trying to see her more. Instead of giving her three accounts on Thursday, he called her Thursday, Friday, and Saturday asking her to come pick up the files.

On Sunday, she decided to put an end to it. She and Cable had still been trying to be discreet in public, and completely professional at school. But Ken wasn't giving up, and Brianna was tired of trying to spare his feelings.

"I can't come over today, Ken, I'm busy. I'll get that one when I finish these and bring them over."

"You can bring them as you finish them,” he tried.

"No, that's wasted time. I'll have them done by the end of the week and will pick up the new one then. Unless you have another reason you need to see me."

Silence. Silence. She heard him swallow.

"Ken?"

"Well, I, you know, I wanted..."

He trailed off, and Brianna sighed. “I'm seeing someone, Ken. I told you that."

"I thought maybe it was over. I haven't seen you with anyone."

"It's Cable Addison. He lives across the street from me. I didn't lie, Ken. I wouldn't lie to you.” She cringed, not sure if that was a lie itself. “I'll see you later this week."

He sounded subdued when he said goodbye, and she felt bad, but she didn't know what else to do. The phone rang again, and she ground her teeth.

"Hello."

"Hey, sweetheart."

With effort, she set aside her frustration. “I was just talking about you."

"Oh, yeah? Which part of me?"

She chuckled. “The whole you, actually. But it's not important. What's up? I just left you half an hour ago."

"Darcy called. She wanted me to let you know there's another committee meeting Tuesday night."

"Great.” Brianna closed her eyes. She'd hoped not to see Ken all week, to give him a chance to chill. “Why'd she call you and not me?"

"I don't know, maybe your phone was busy."

"I have call waiting.” Which hadn't clicked, so she knew Darcy never had any intention of calling her. Why she hadn't tried to keep her off the committee, Brianna didn't know. The woman was clearly after Cable. Brie would almost think she had a vendetta against her family, if it weren't so logical otherwise. When Darcy first moved here a few years ago, Jake was the most attractive target. He had the power, or soon would, and was the most popular man in town. God knew why she'd come back after her humiliation, but now that she was, Cable had the town abuzz. He may not have Jake's affability and political clout, but he was gorgeous, strong, intriguing, and the center of attention.

And that was all Darcy really wanted, Brianna realized. To be the center of attention.

"Brie, you there?"

"Sorry, got lost in thought."

"About what?” His voice went seductive. “About me, I hope."

"Kinda.” She held back a laugh. “I was thinking I should remind you Mom wants you to bring the dessert tonight."

Cable swore and hurried off the phone. Brianna hung up her cordless and went to the front window just in time to see Cable zooming up the street, no doubt on his way to the grocery store. She shook her head. Her mother could smell store-bought a block down the street. He didn't have a chance.

"Cable, this peach cobbler is just fabulous.” Her mother forked another bite into her mouth. “Mmmmm. I can't believe you made this."

"I can't, either,” Brie muttered. Cable nudged her with his knee. She couldn't figure out if her mother was just being nice, or if she really didn't recognize the handiwork of Lilly's Pastries and Such.

"I need a second helping,” her father said, reaching for the cobbler dish. “Brie, you're closest, be a peach and grab the ice cream, would you?"

Everyone laughed at his pun except Brianna. Grumbling, she shoved her chair back and stood. “Anything else while I'm in there?"

Requests rang out for napkins, water, and a Coke, and she rolled her eyes. Her family were experts at ignoring sarcasm. She tried not to stomp into the kitchen, but indulged a yank on the freezer door.

"I really did make it,” Cable murmured in her ear, reaching around her for the ice cream. “I don't know why you don't believe me."

"You didn't have time. And I recognize Lilly's dish."

Cable shook his head while he took down a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the cooler. “I was in the bakery aisle, panicking, when she took mercy on me. I didn't have a recipe or any clue what I was doing, and I'm terrified of your mother."

Brie snorted. “She works for you."

"With me, not for me, and don't let her fool you about who really runs that classroom. Anyway, Lilly told me what I needed, wrote down how to make it, and waited for me to check out so she could loan me the pan thing. She said using a tin foil pan was tacky and there was no sense me buying a proper dish I'd never use again. She had all this stuff in the back of her car. Why don't you believe me?” he asked again.

"It's all too convenient, that's all."

He set the water and a stack of napkins on the island and reached around her to get a can of Coke from the fridge. He set that down next to the water and pulled her tightly folded arms apart.

"Come on. What's the real problem?"

She shrugged. “I don't know.” She really didn't. It wasn't like her family hated her own baking or anything. The only thing she could blame it on was Darcy, and the two didn't connect at all. But she felt out of sorts and wasn't sure what to do about it.

"How long does it take to get a few napkins?” Jake pushed into the kitchen and saw Brie's face and Cable's conciliatory rubbing of her arms, and nodded. “Got it. I'll just grab these.” He picked up the ice cream and napkins and went back to the dining room.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be like this,” Brie finally said, letting go of her grumpy mood and giving him a quick kiss. “Forget about it. The cobbler is good."

He flashed a quick grin. “Should I bring some to Darcy's on Tuesday?"

So much for letting it go, Brianna thought, feeling her grumps come back. “Might as well,” she said, heading back into the dining room.
Might as well give Darcy yet another reason to want you
.

After dessert Brianna left her sisters and their husbands to the cleanup while she took her nephew to the swing out back. It was chilly, but there was no snow and no wind. Joey kept pushing his hat up to the top of his head so that when he leaned back, it fell on the ground. Then Brie made a great show of trying to get it without getting kicked, and Joey squealed and laughed, banishing her grumpy mood for good.

"Heya, sport, your mom's looking for you. I think it's time to head home."

Brie looked up to see her father crossing the yard, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his old corduroy jacket, his breath puffing out in white clouds.

"Awwwww!” Joey set his jaw and kicked his legs furiously. “More swinging!"

"Now, Joe,” his father called from the back door, and the boy sullenly started toward the house.

"Love you, sweetie,” Brianna said, smiling. He gave a halfhearted wave and trudged on, his head down. She would have followed, but it was clear her father wanted to talk to her, so she sat on the flat swing and waited while he leaned on the board fence marking the edge of the property.

"Things are looking good with Cable,” he said. “You gonna have some news in that regard soon?"

"Want all your chicks safely tucked up, huh, Pop?” She nudged the ground so the swing swayed gently. “We haven't been going out that long."

"Naw, but it's not hard to see. Sometimes, it's just there, you know. Like it was for Kira and Jake."

She hooted. “Yeah, that was an easy match."

"Doesn't have to be easy to be right."

Brianna guessed that was true, but since her father had once told her Ken was perfect for her, she didn't exactly trust his judgment.

"You and Cable are comfortable together, but not like you're settling. He's a good man. Point is, I think you'd be happy with him, and you know that's all I care about."

"Thanks, Dad.” She glanced toward the house. The sun was setting on the far side, so they were in shadow here in the yard. The overhead kitchen light made it easy to see inside, where Cable seemed to be doing dishes and cracking jokes. He glanced back over his shoulder to say something to someone, and her heart caught in her chest.

"What if it is easy, Dad? Can it still be right?"

He shrugged. “Nothin’ stays easy, hon. So I can't say that's a valid question."

Thinking of Darcy and Ken and the crook with a grudge that Cable hadn't mentioned since their first night together, she figured he had a point.

Tuesday night, Brianna and Cable ate early at the diner and stopped at his house to pick up his committee folder before they headed to Darcy's.

"Would you grab the mail for me? I'll just be a sec.” He glanced at the steady light on his answering machine, then picked up the folder from where he'd left it on the coffee table. He got back to the porch as Brianna was climbing the steps, staring down at the top envelope on the small stack she held.

"Cable.” She stopped on the steps. “Is this the first mail you've gotten from Sid Carothers?"

His blood went to ice, and he felt his face fall into his old SEAL expression, the one that earned him the nickname Granite by a few of his BUD/S. Brianna handed him the mail, looking worried.

"Are you going to read it?"

He glanced at the return address and postmark. “Not now. This came from Florida. It can wait."

"
It
came from Florida. Two days ago. That doesn't mean he's not here. He knows where you are.” Her voice went slightly shrill. “He could be watching you right now."

"He's not.” Cable tossed the mail into the foyer and slammed his door. “We're going to be late for the meeting."

"Screw the meeting. Cable.” She grabbed his arm, and he knew ignoring it wasn't going to make her stop thinking about it. “Cable, he's more serious than you thought. Can you please open that letter and see what it says?” She tried to laugh. “Or at least call the bomb squad?"

His watch beeped the quarter hour. “We're definitely going to be late. Brie, don't worry.” He pulled her into his arms and tried to keep his voice from sounding like he knew his face looked. “We'll read it when we get back, okay? He's not going to come up here. It will violate his parole, and after the number of years he's spent inside, he won't be eager to go back.” He rocked slightly until he felt her relax. When he looked down into her eyes, he was relieved to see anger rather than fear.

"Fine, but I'm reading that letter with you. You're not keeping it from me."

"Never."

"Okay. Let's go."

As he followed her to the car, he had a feeling they were going to have a very long night.

An hour later, he wished he hadn't thought that. It seemed like self-fulfilling prophecy. He sat on the couch, Darcy next to him acting like there was no one else in the room as she babbled on and on and
on
with all her ideas. Brianna hunched into her chair, shooting daggers at either him or Darcy, he couldn't tell which. Ken sat across from her, making moon eyes. Cable had never seen moon eyes before, but these were definitely them.

"So, Cable, would that work for you?"

"Huh?” He hadn't been listening to Darcy for a minute and hoped it wasn't too big a lapse.

"Dinner Friday, so we can pick up these things in Boston?"

Cable felt Brianna's eyes spearing him, but didn't know why. He just wanted to get this done and get out of here, and the quickest way to do that was usually to agree with someone, so he said, “Right, sure, Friday pickup."

"And dinner. There's a wonderful bistro right down the street from the warehouse, which will be convenient since it would be too early to eat when we leave here, and too late when we get home.” Cable nodded a few times, then pointedly looked at his watch. Ken gave a bit of a snort, and Cable wondered if he'd fallen asleep.

Brianna jerked forward, as if to get up, then fell back into her seat with her arms folded tightly and a glower on her face. After a second, her expression smoothed out and she looked calmer, but resigned. The whole scene made Cable uneasy, and he wondered what had made him think he wanted to do stuff like this. Teaching was great. He had an even bigger sense of satisfaction when one of his kids mastered a concept or read a whole page than he had when his team completed a mission. But this community stuff ... he'd been looking for a replacement for that team, and this committee wasn't it.