Her Vigilant Seal (5 page)

“Can we leave now?” she asked hopefully. He looked at the little bit of food she’d eaten and the pallor of her face.

“How about if I come back in four hours so you have a little time to rest? It will also give me some time to talk to some of my friends who know their way around downtown.”

“But…” she started to protest.

“Look at your wrist.” She looked down and saw that her wrist was now resting in her plate of food. She blushed in embarrassment. “You’re so tired you don’t know if you’re coming or going,” he said gently.

“You’ll be back in four hours? You promise?” God she was stubborn.

“I promise. I’ll be back with your car and with my friend Drake.” He used a soothing tone, when he really just wanted to order her to go up to her room and sleep.

“Okay.”

“Do I have your word you’ll rest?” Shit, he was sounding like a lieutenant.

She tugged at her honey blonde hair and finally nodded. He hoped she was telling the truth.

****

“A nineteen nineties baby blue Cadillac? They sure don’t make them like this anymore,” Drake said as he took his second walk around the car and whistled. It was grating on Mason’s nerves.

“Drake, I said I would drive it,” Mason threw his keys at Drake’s chest. Drake’s eyebrows raised.

“What, I’m not allowed to make fun of one of the worst POS’s I’ve seen since high school?”

“No, you’re not.” Mason got in and saw the duct tape that had been used to hold up the ceiling liner, and repair some of the splits in the upholstery. But then he saw the angel that was affixed to the sun screen and smiled. The interior of the car was spotless. He would bet money this had been Sophia’s mother’s car.

Drake knocked on the driver’s side window. Mason rolled it down. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry man, I was only having a little fun.” Drake was sincere. Mason loved that he
got
it.

“Yeah, I know, but dial it down, okay?” It pissed him off that Drake seemed to be making fun of Sophia.

“Tell me what’s up before we get there.” Drake gave him the same penetrating look he would before an operation.

“I told you how I found her, and I explained the stint at the hospital, and going to the diner.”

“Yep, that’s my lieutenant, riding to the rescue. So tell me everything you didn’t tell me before,” Drake asked in his second-in-command voice.

“She’s balancing on the head of a pin but she’s got this huge well of pride. She’s been knocked down and somehow she’s gotten up and she leads with her chin. Fuck man, she’s amazing. This car is just another part of her. Here she is in the worst part of town and driving this piece of shit. Still she’s bound and determined to find her brother when the cops and social services can’t.” Mason shook his head. He couldn’t believe her gumption, and it sent a shiver of fear up his spine. What would have happened if he didn’t have insomnia and hadn’t been there to help her?

“Got it.” Drake gave him a solemn nod.

When they got to the diner it was the middle of lunch hour, but there was a table with a reserved sign on it. Apparently it was not the norm by the grumbling of the patrons in line waiting to be seated. Sophia was taking orders so she missed them when they came in, but when she turned around she smiled.

“She’s beautiful, Mase.” She was. She also shouldn’t be working. Even from there, Mason could see the lines of pain around her mouth. He looked around for Margie and caught her eye. Margie bustled over to him.

“I’m so glad you’re here. She came down about an hour ago and put the reserved sign on the table for y’all. I couldn’t stop her from working until you showed up. Even though Brenda and I have things mostly covered. Now that you’re here, please sit down for lunch.” Margie patted Mason’s arm.

“Hello,” Sophia stopped in front of him. She smiled at Drake.

“Sophia, this is my friend Drake Avery who I was telling you about. Drake, this is Sophia Anderson. Sophia, come sit down and eat with us.” Mason smiled at Sophia, taking in the bruising on her face.

“After you explain why you’re working. Are you out of your mind, girl?” Drake demanded. Oh, this was not going to go well. Of course it was exactly what he was thinking, but he would have said it with a little more tact.

“This way to your seat.” She turned and ushered them to the table with the reserved sign. Mason held out a chair for her but she ignored it and walked towards the back of the diner. Yep, tact would have worked better.

“What the hell?” Drake said loudly.

“Shut it,” Mason hissed. He followed Sophia towards the kitchen. He thought she might be going back there to work, and then saw a small door to the right that had to be to the upstairs apartment. She fumbled with the doorknob with her left hand and he took the opportunity to put a gentle hand on her uninjured shoulder.

“Honey, can we talk?” He tried to catch her eye, but she kept looking at the doorknob.

“I’m going to wait upstairs until you’re done with lunch.” Dammit, she probably hadn’t even eaten lunch. He was going to kill Drake.

“I missed you, and I sure would like it if you’d have lunch with me.” She paused and turned to him, her green eyes unsure.

“You did? Me?”

“Yes, you. I would really like to spend more time with you. If you don’t eat with me, I’m stuck eating with just Drake. Would you really force me to endure that?” Her eyes twinkled at his teasing.

“He can be a little overbearing, can’t he?” Seeing her smile hit him in the gut. He’d love it if she’d do it more often.

“He’s a SEAL—it’s in the job description.”

“Holy crap. Are you one too?” Her eyes widened.

“If I answer this wrong, will you still have lunch with me?” She hesitated. Damn, most women were all over him when he said SEAL. “Sophia?”

“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. You must be busy and I can look for Billy by myself.” Yep, being a SEAL was counting against him.

“Let’s go have lunch and put Drake in his place. Then we can talk about my schedule and how best to find Billy, okay?” He waited and she finally nodded. Okay, he’d managed to get past another hurdle and he breathed a sigh of relief.

****

She was having lunch with two Navy SEALs. The last twenty-four hours couldn’t be more surreal. Maybe it was a waking dream. She’d hardly slept since they’d told her Billy ran away. She’d slept for a few hours in the hospital thanks to the miracle of painkillers, but the bad dreams soon had her sitting straight up. She had hoped being back in her own bed would make a difference, but all she kept picturing were the two men cornering her, stripping her, and touching her.

She shook her head slowly, but nothing changed, she was still at the Omega Grill with two of the most mesmerizing men she’d ever seen.

“What are you shaking your head about, honey? Don’t you like your food?” Mason leaned forward to catch her gaze.

Sophia looked at the shredded chicken smothered in gravy with the soft dumplings. Margie had damn near put her meal through the blender. Still, it tasted divine, but there was too much. She looked at the other two meals on the table and realized that Margie had been just as thoughtful. The guys had gotten meals on steroids. They’d only been seated for five minutes and they were both halfway done with their huge plates.

“Sophia?” Mason prompted.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” She needed to get her head in the game. Mason Gault was too sexy for his own good, and Drake Avery wasn’t far behind. Both of them were making it hard to concentrate.

“I asked if you liked your food.” He looked like he was trying to figure her out. She didn’t need him trying to piece her together like a puzzle.

“Oh, it’s fine. There’s just too much.” She gave the best smile she could muster.

“Whatever you don’t eat pass my way.” Drake grinned. “This place is killer. Why haven’t we ever heard about this place, Mase?”

“Beats me. Honey, you need to eat more than that.” Sophia looked down and realized she had probably only eaten five or six bites. He was right, if they were going to be checking out the streets of downtown San Diego all night, she’d need to eat more. She took another bite, letting the flavor melt on her tongue.

“So are you from around here?” Drake asked.

“I was born in Manhattan Beach. We kept moving more and more south over the years,” Sophia answered. “How about you?”

“I was born in Tennessee. I’m the oldest of seven kids. The only way to get a college education was the military and I wanted a degree in engineering.” If she hadn’t been so tired, she would have noticed his southern accent before now. She turned to Mason.

“I’m from Portland, Oregon. My dad was in the Navy and I always planned to be a SEAL.” He was clearly proud of his father.

“You put him anywhere close to water and you’d think he was Aquaman.” Drake laughed. “He loves the water.”

“Isn’t that a job requirement?” Sophia asked.

“SEAL stands for Sea, Air, Land. You’ve got to love it all. I’m a better flyer than Mase, but that doesn’t mean I love it. I’d say I love the land part of it the best. But Mason, he loves the sea.”

“I’ve seen him surf,” Sophia blurted out. Then she wished the words would go right back into her mouth again. Drake lifted his eyebrow.

“You have? Tell me more,” Drake drawled.

“Cut it out. Let’s just have a nice lunch. Let’s not ruin it. Sophia, aren’t you going to eat anymore? How about just a little?” Mason coaxed.

“Come on Sophia, you haven’t eaten enough to keep a bird alive,” Drake said.

“What?” she exclaimed.

“Damn, that came out wrong. It’s just easy to worry about you.” Sophia cocked her head and looked at Drake.

“Why would you be worried?” Now she was confused.
The two men stared at one another, and then Mason covered her left hand where it was resting on the table.

“Sophia, can you look at me for a moment?” She turned to him. “You’re trying to do too much. You’ve just been badly beaten. You’re in pain and you probably can’t sleep.”

Sophia waited a moment, enjoying the heat of Mason’s hand, before she pulled hers out from underneath his. She turned away from him and looked into the intense gray eyes of Drake Avery.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry I came on so strong. Mase told me about you, and I could see he was right, you need a keeper.” He smiled warmly as he inadvertently ground her feelings into dust.

“Jesus, Drake. Shut the fuck up,” Mason ground out. “Sophia, I never, ever said you needed a keeper. What I said was I was worried about you and I wanted to help you. This is Drake trying to help. This is why he’ll always be single.” Sophia had been pushing out her chair to leave the table when Mason made the last statement. She stopped and stared at him.

“Guess I kind of overshot my landing with that one, huh?” The man was making zero sense, but she couldn’t feel her legs so she couldn’t very well leave. “I was really hoping to ask you on a date, and I think I better do it now before Drake ruins any chance I might have with you.”

She couldn’t have stood up if her life depended on it. Was the man insane? Even before her face was black and blue she was hardly ever asked out, and certainly not by men who looked like Mason Gault. There was obviously some kind of mistake or some kind of game going on. She looked between the two men. Were they having fun at her expense? Her eyes started to water and this time she was able to get up.

She heard him calling her name as he followed her, but she refused to look back. She needed to get up to her apartment while she still could manage it. Her one eye was puffy, and now that the tears had started she was really having trouble seeing. She grabbed at the doorknob, but it wouldn’t turn. Dammit, her palm was sweaty. She wiped it off on her jeans, and tried again. Still wouldn’t turn. Please God, don’t let her cry. The damn doorknob just wouldn’t turn.

“Let me.” She had no choice but to let Mason open the door. As soon as it was open she pushed passed him and shot up the stairs. Then she was confronted with another doorknob and he was there again. She waited and let him open the door and again pushed passed him into the small room that was her apartment. It was one big room, the only separation was for the tiny bathroom. Three steps and she was in the middle of the place. She turned around and saw him standing at the doorway with a concerned expression.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” Mason held his palms outwards as if to get her to stop moving.

“What’s your game? I don’t understand your game, Mason. It’s making me crazy.” She watched as concern turned to hurt.

“This isn’t a ploy.” He looked her dead in the eye and she shivered.

“Look at me, no one wants me, I’m nothing like the girls around here. I’m skinny and plain.” She lifted the arm in her sling so he could see everything. She was proud she kept the tremble out of her voice. “I really appreciate you bringing me my car, and the ride from the hospital, but you don’t have to do anything more for me.”

“I
want
to help you.” He walked into the room and lifted his hand and cupped her cheek.

“If you want to help why are you making fun of me?” She still was talking without coming apart, so it was good.

“How am I making fun of you? You need to explain what you’re talking about. I’m in the dark here.”

“You can’t really want to go out on a date with me. Look at you. Guys like you don’t date girls like me.” His eyes darkened, and his thumb stopped moving on her cheek. He took a deep breath, then another, and then a third.

“In the last four days, how many hours of sleep have you had?” He’d gone so still. Was he mad? He seemed mad.

“Answer the question,” he commanded.

She flinched at his tone. “Are you mad?” she voiced the question she had been thinking.