Operation Date With Destiny (22 page)

She instantly felt sad for the little boy, Johnny Tupperoni had been. She knew what it was like to want your father to just pay attention to you—to show some interest in your life…until Alan Dawson came into her life—she
’
d never had that positive, loving male influence.

At first it had been hard to adjust to
. H
aving someone actually take an interest in you also had its drawbacks—they
’
d
had more than a few run ins at first.
He brought in r
ules that were for her own good, but to a rebelling teenager only seemed to be there to make her life a misery
. L
ooking back now, she knew she had Alan to thank for the safe, secure and well-adjusted life she had. She grew up knowing she had parents who loved her and who had installed in her principles like hard work and dedication
,
self-esteem and self-worth which made her the person she was today. Things could have turned out far worse if Samuel Tre
’
ago had been the only male authority figure in her life
. S
omehow she didn
’
t think the morals he
’
d install in her—if he
’
d even really bothered to do so in the first place—would be ones worth having.

“
Well, if it
’
s any consolation—I think you
’
re a good man
,
too…even without a great role model.
”

His hand stilled for the briefest of moments before continuing to twirl her hair around his fingers.
“
I only have the Marine Corps to thank for that. If I hadn
’
t joined up—I
’
d probably be in prison by now. There wasn
’
t a great deal to look forward to in Crossroad
F
orks, West Texas.
”

Seems they
’
d
both narrowly escaped a worse life.

“
What
’
s the history between you and Rothman?
”
It was something so out of the blue and unexpected, that it completely caught her off guard.
“
You don
’
t have to tell me if you don
’
t want to…it
’
s just that I got the feeling there
’
s something there.
”

“
It
’
s not really something I was aware anyone else
noticed
.
”
She
’
d never bothered trying to tell anyone else. She couldn
’
t bring herself to tell her mother—she felt partially to blame back then—but as an adult she knew better. Rothman had been a grown man and he
’
d used intimidation to make a young, impressionable teenager believe she
’
d been leading him on.
“
He raped me when I was
fifteen
,
”
she said quietly.

She felt his hand stop moving through her hair again and his long string of expletives that rumbled through his chest. He tried to lift her to look at him, but she refused to lift her head. She couldn
’
t even believe she
’
d told him in the first place.
“
Don
’
t. It
’
s done. I got over it a long time ago.
”

This time he sat up and she had no choice but to look at him.

“
Tell me.
”

Destiny gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed her hands over face irritably.
“
I was fifteen and completely naïve, an older man was paying me compliments and treating me like a grown up. I was flattered and too stupid to realize he was setting me up for something I wasn
’
t ready for. I thought he really believed I was smart and pretty and was spending time with me because he liked me,
”
she said with a sad chuckle. There was a time she felt sick when she
’
d thought back to it…now days she bounced between feeling sad for the lonely teenager she
’
d once been, stuck in her father
’
s house for months on end, and angry that her own father had turned his back on her pain after the event.
“
He took things too far one night, and when I freaked out he slapped me and told me I
’
d led him on and he was damn well going to collect.
”

She saw Johnny
’
s jaw tighten and his fists clench until his knuckles turned white.

“
It was a long time ago.
”

“
But it changed you,
”
Johnny said, his gaze probing so deeply into her eyes that she felt as though he were trying to climb inside her.

“
I guess,
”
she shrugged.
“
I didn
’
t trust as easily after that. But who knows. Maybe it made me stronger somehow. Anyway, it
’
s over. I learned to deal with it. I
’
m a grown up now,
”
she smiled to soften the definite end of discussion tone she
’
d used, hoping he
’
d take the hint.

For a minute he eyed her with a worried frown, as though he should be taking it further somehow, but she pushed him back down and reclaimed her place laying her head back on his chest. This was the closest she
’
d felt to a man in a long time and she didn
’
t want thoughts of Bart Rothman ruining it. For a while they just listened to the sound of the waves on the beach and the gentle breeze blowing through the open window across the room.

“
You know,
”
Johnny said after a long while.
“
I was thinking…why don
’
t you move in here for the rest of the time we
’
re on the island?
”

“
Move in?
”
Her hands stilled.
“
W
ith
you?
”

“
You don
’
t have to sound like I
’
ve just asked you to clean the head or somethin
’
.
”

She knew he was
p
outing and felt a little bad for her reaction…but he
’
d caught her off guard.
“
I didn
’
t mean it to sound like that,
”
she said, easing back a little to finally look at him.
“
Won
’
t that be kinda weird?
”

“
Weird, how?
”
h
e asked confused.

“
Weird for everyone else knowing we
’
re…
”
she winced as she searched for a word to describe what they
’
d been doing.

“
You mean—
”

“
Don
’
t say it.
”
She could tell he was taking great pleasure in making her feel
uncomfortable;
she didn
’
t need to hear his vulgar Marine take on what they
’
d just been doing
.

“
I was going to say
,
enjoying each other
’
s company while we had the chance,
”
he said keeping a perfectly straight face.

“
Sure
you were,
”
she frowned.

“
Well, I think it would be weirder if I was stayin
’
with you up there
. Y
ou know
,
running into your brother and all that. Come on—we
’
re both grown-ups. I
’
m not asking you to move in forever—I
’
ll be heading back to base in a few weeks—it
’
s not permanent.
”

“
I know that at least
one of us
is a grown up,
”
she added dry, and ignored the tiny sensation of disappointment over his seemingly casual dismissal of anything permanent…which was completely ridiculous—considering commitment was the
furthest
thing from her mind as well.

“
And luckily, I won
’
t judge you for being the immature one,
”
he smiled in an annoyingly smug way that was somehow both frustrating and sexy.
“
Think about it—we could do this whenever we wanted…
”

Destiny sent him the haughtiest glare she could muster.
“
Who said I wanted to do this again?
”

“
I know good sex when I
’
ve had it—and darlin
’
that was mind-blowing. You can deny it all you want, but I know you felt somethin
’
too. Why not enjoy it while we can?
”

He had a point. At least this way their little affair was kept out of everyone else
’
s watchful eye, and by everyone else—she really meant Jackson.

“
So it would be just a casual fling—nothing else?
”

“
What else did you want it to be?
”
he asked slowly, watching her face carefully.

“
Nothing,
”
she said quickly—maybe too quickly.
“
But so we
’
re clear
, just because we might be sleeping together
doesn
’
t automatically give you the right to be able to tell me what to do.
I still make my own decisions.
”

“
Darlin
’
far be it from me to mess with your control freak thing. Mess with
other things
though—well that
’
s a whole different story,
”
he grinned, running his hand down her thigh slowly.

“
Is that all you think about?
”

“
Pretty much,
”
he agreed without any hesitation.
“
So it
’
s settled,
when you go up to se
e your brother later
,
we
’
ll get your things and bring them back here.
”

It was settled…one casual, no strings attached, wild sex on tap affair coming right up! So why all of a sudden did she feel as though she
’
d just signed some kind of deal with the devil?

****

She avoided Summer
’
s knowing grin when she followed Johnny from the bedroom she
’
d been sleeping in since her arrival on the island. She also ignored the high
-
five Del gave him as they walked past one another in the hallway earlier, but she couldn
’
t ignore the still strained politeness between her and Jackson.

She didn
’
t want to let on that Johnny had told her about their conversation, but she wasn
’
t entirely sure how to bring the subject up without doing so either. At least it wasn
’
t as volatile as it had been…now there was just a general air of wary acceptance.

She wanted desperately to get things back to normal or as close as it would ever get for her brother again, but until they located Tre
’
ago
’
s attorney and put a stop to his reign of terror, that was never going to happen.

When they got back to Johnny
’
s cabin, she
slipped into the bathroom and quickly made a phone call. She hated owing people but she needed a
favor
and it was time to just swallow her pride and ask for help.