SEAL: A BWWM BAD BOY NAVY SEAL ROMANCE (11 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DEVLIN

Fucking Cali doggy-style out on the balcony, with her wearing
those red shoes was absolutely mind-blowing. I was so glad we had returned to
the room like we did. What an incredible morning! I had already worked up a
hardy appetite for lunch.

We showered quickly and put our new outfits back on. Now that
we were actually looking at ourselves, side by side in the mirror, we had to admit
we looked a little like tourists in our tropical “resort-wear” but it just
added to the craziness of the weekend. Out of the blue, I remembered that I was
without wheels. I really didn’t want Carl chauffeuring us around the beach so I
called up my good buddy Matt, over at VIP Car Rentals, and requested he send
over a convertible Ferrari Spider.

Cali had been trying to tame her braids during my phone call
to VIP, so she missed the conversation. She had no idea when we walked outside,
that the exotic car parked in front of the hotel was our set of wheels for the
day. But when Matt handed me the key fob, I thought she was going to piss her
panties with delight. She squealed uncontrollably as she climbed into the
Spider.

“You know, I hated having to leave that fabulous suite, Dev,
but this car is a pretty great consolation! Oh my god, it’s incredible! So, what
beach do you
wanna
hang out at today?”

“I thought the beach out in front of the Hotel Del would be
nice. The little patio café at the hotel is great for lunch, when we’re ready
to eat. I’m already hungry, how ‘bout you? I have a feeling, by the time we cross
the bridge and drive through all the traffic on Orange Avenue, I’ll be
starving.”

“I’m already quite hungry too. I have a pretty large
appetite,
in case you haven’t noticed.”

Cali grabbed my thigh and gave me an exaggerated wink, to
make sure I caught the double meaning behind her words. But she didn’t need to.
I got it; she meant food and sex. And indeed, I
had
noticed.

I was still one lucky bastard!

I was cruising across the Coronado Bay Bridge in a fucking
Ferrari on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with a gorgeous, horny woman who was
hot for me! Could it even
get
any
better? I was determined not to fuck it up? I vowed to keep all paranoid
thoughts out of my mind as I shifted gears and headed over to the Hotel Del
Coronado.

After handing my Ferrari key fob over to the valet, Cali and
I cut through the dark paneled interior of the historic hotel and made our way
out to the café patio overlooking the ocean. Sunday brunch was still in
progress, so we gorged ourselves on a shameful amount of seafood, fancy
desserts and unlimited mimosas. We nabbed a table with a perfect view of a
wedding that was taking place outside on the lush grounds of the resort. Cali
got all teary-eyed as the bride and her dad walked arm-in-arm out to the
gazebo.
 

We were wearing our newly purchased bathing suits under our
clothes, so after lunch we headed out to the powdery, white sand beach to soak
up some sun. Cali’s
smokin
’ hot body, which was barely
covered by her tiny turquoise bikini, turned the heads of every guy around us,
as she slid out of her flowered sundress. I felt just as many sets of eyes on
me as I removed my shirt. We stretched out on our new beach towels and lathered
each other up with sunscreen.

I started to playfully slide my fingers inside the tiny
triangles of her bikini top as I
lotioned
up her
chest but she immediately put a stop to it by grabbing my wrists. She scowled
at me, and silently shook her head in disapproval.
 
I tried doing the same thing to her ass while
I was rubbing the sunscreen into her lower back but she flipped around and took
me to task for that too:

“Devlin?! What are you doing? We’re at a public beach!
Cmon
!”

Why was she talking to me like that? I was just trying to
have a little fun with her. She really pissed me off!

“YOU c’mon, Cali! You’re
layin
’
here, virtually naked in that little suit. You’re practically begging for me to
fuck you right now. Nobody can see what we’re doing right now… Are you just pretending
you’re not interested? Are you just being coy, like last night? How am I
supposed to know what you really want?”

“What do you want, Devlin?” she asked quietly.

“I just want to have a little fun…” I replied.

“What about just enjoying the beach with your girlfriend?”

I gave her a crooked smile. “Girlfriend? Is that what you are
now?”

Cali’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry… I… What did I say wrong?”

“I need a minute, Devlin,” she said as she hopped up and ran
into the surf. I puzzled for a moment, watching as she swam out into the waves
a short distance. I stood up and walked to the edge of the incoming waves,
puzzled…

It was only once I reached the water that I realized the
danger she was in. She was the only person in the water. As I stepped out, the
ocean tugged at my feet harder than expected.

Riptide…

I shouted, but she didn’t seem to hear me over the crashing
waves. I followed her into the water and swam hard as she was swept further
out. My knee ached, but I couldn’t let the pain stop me.

She had turned back to shore, but I could see she was
struggling. Her little angry swim in the ocean had just become dangerous. She
was trying to swim straight back toward the beach against the riptide and I
could see that she recognized her mistake. The current was dragging her further
away! I dove under the surface and kicked hard, ignoring my knee and forcing
myself forward as fast as I could. A moment later I had grabbed her with an
arm.

“Follow my lead,” I shouted, angling us away from the beach
and toward a rocky outcropping further down the shore. I kicked hard, paddling
with one arm sideways to the current. She kicked with me, propelling us along.
We were making headway. A few minutes later we had reached a point where we
could both touch the ocean floor. I stood her up, wrapping her in my arms like
a ragdoll. Shit!

“Cali, talk to me. What the hell are you doing? You almost
got yourself killed.”

“I just wanted to be left alone for a few minutes… I’m sorry…”

“You could have drowned out there! This beach has one hell of
a riptide. You have any idea how many people end up swept out to sea?”

“I said I’m sorry… Stop yelling at me…” she said, her eyes
full of tears once again.

“Look, I don’t know what I did wrong… Last night… Today… It
has been amazing…” I began.

“You just want to have a little fun,” Cali replied, staring
at me. “I thought maybe I meant something to you… That I was more than just a
little fun… I thought maybe we could turn this into a relationship…”

“Jesus Christ… I didn’t mean it like that…” I said
exasperatedly.

“I’m the one who keeps sending you mixed messages. You’re
right. How are you supposed to know what I want? So, you know what? I want you
to fuck me right now. That’s what I want. Right here in the water. I don’t
care. Lets just have a little fun… Just do it. I don’t know what the hell made
me think I could ever really fit into your world, anyway. I should have
realized I would never be anything more to you than just another gouge in your
tattoo. So let’s just have one more fucking carefree fling before you throw me
back into the sea.”

Cali’s chest was heaving up and down as she breathlessly spewed
her words of anger at me. Just a fling? She thinks she is just a fling to me?
Her words cut me to the core of my being. I held her in my hands and kissed her
long and hard...

And when I pulled back, I saw it. The doubt still filling her
eyes… That was as far as I went. I grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her out
of the ocean behind me.

“Let’s go, Cali.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CALI

Devlin drove the Ferrari like a crazed maniac all the way
back to my house. He wove in and out and across all lanes of every street and
highway, ignoring the traffic laws like none of them applied to him. Driving
back across the Coronado Bridge was the worst, since I couldn’t stop picturing
us careening over the edge and plunging into the bay. I would have been
terrified for my life if it wasn’t for the fact that he seemed extremely
skilled at high-speed, high performance driving.
Was there anything he didn’t do well?

We barely spoke the entire ride home. I got out of the car at
the curb, he said, “Good-bye, Cali.”, without looking at me, and then he drove
off. And that was it.
Who the hell does
that?
Devlin Danes does that, that’s who. Both my heart and spirit were
completely crushed as I headed back up the garden walkway, feeling like a used
piece of garbage. Less than 24 hours earlier, those lovely flagstones beneath
my feet had felt like the beginning of a promising path to a real relationship
with Devlin Danes.
Relationship!? HA! What
a joke!

Huey, Louie and Dewy greeted me at the front door, with their
usual yapping and wet sloppy kisses. I could see the glow of my mom’s bedroom
lamp leaking out from under her door. I poured myself a large glass of Cabernet
and headed down the hallway toward my own room. Momma heard me and called out:

“Cali, honey? Come on in here and tell me all about your
date, sweetie.”

There was no way that was happening. I just wasn’t up to it.
Not even close. I yelled back to my mom:

“I’m exhausted mom. We’ll talk in the morning, okay?
Good-night.”

“You’re going to bed already, sweetie? It’s only
seven-thirty! That must’ve been quite the weekend! Good-night, Cali. Sleep
well.”

I downed my Cab without even really tasting it and cried
myself to sleep. My body was still salty, sandy, and sticky from what should
have been a fun day at the beach. Showering would just have to wait till
morning.

During the night, I woke up frequently and had some really weird
dreams. In one of them, there was a shark with a metal ring through its nose that
was trying to bite my legs off while I was swimming out at sea.
Kesha
showed up, just in time, paddling a kayak, and eating
crème puffs. She hit the shark on its head with a shovel and threw
it’s
carcass onto her boat, which had suddenly turned into a
Navy battleship. She yelled out to me in a pirate voice, “
Aaaargh
you okay
matey
?” and sped off.

Fortunately, I awoke in the morning to find both of my legs
still perfectly intact. My mom’s coffee smelled good, and I could hear her
singing happily out in the kitchen. Heading for the shower, it suddenly
occurred to me: It was Monday! And I was supposed to see Devlin today at four,
for his physical therapy!
Holy Fuck! No
Way!

I immediately called
Kesha
and told
her to cancel all of my appointments for the day.
 
I told her I was sick, which wasn’t
really a lie. I really was sick; sick in the head; sick to have ever gotten
involved with that asshole.

Nothing was ever going to be serious with him. He was after a
bit of fun, just like Deshawn… Just like every guy I’d been with. I got what I
wanted about six years late: a one-night-stand with Devlin Danes… And it ended
pretty much exactly how I imagined it would.

Part of me felt bad for letting Devlin compromise my work
ethic but another part of me said, “Fuck it! You never call in
sick !
You’re due for a day off!”

The swollen face in the bathroom mirror, staring back at me,
had horribly red, puffy eyes. I couldn’t possibly go to work, even if I wanted
to. The hot shower and soap felt great on my dirty skin, but it failed to make
me feel clean.

I wrapped myself up in my fluffiest robe and prepared myself
for the dreaded “motherly interrogation”.
 
Momma was sitting in the breakfast nook with two cups of tea steaming in
front of her on the table; one of them was obviously poured for me. Mom knew. No
doubt about it. She had probably heard me crying last night. She didn’t waste
any time either, or mince any words. My appearance in the kitchen instantly set
off her tirade:

“What did that fucking little asshole do to you?! I’ll rip
his balls off!”

“He didn’t do anything to me, mom. I did it to myself. You
had him pegged right from the start. Everyone warned me about him. But I didn’t
listen. I didn’t follow my own instincts. And I have nobody to blame but
myself. I played with fire and I got burned. Simple as that. End of story.”

Momma stretched her arms out to me as I headed over to her. I
sat down on her warm lap, buried my head into her shoulder and cried my eyes
out. Mom comforted me just like when I was a little girl. Before we knew it,
our three furry friends were surrounding our feet and licking our ankles. They
could obviously sense something was wrong and came over to soothe us. And it
worked. Their rough tickly tongues made us both start giggling through our
tears.

“Do you need me to stay with you a bit this morning, Cali? If
you need to talk some more, I can go in a little later, since Joyce and Stacy
are both there.”

I had the best mom in the world. She would do literally
anything
for me. Including actually
ripping Devlin’s balls off.
 
But, I
really didn’t feel ready to talk about the gory details of our weekend, yet.

“No, mom. That’s not necessary. Thanks for the offer though.
I love you so much mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Maybe I could
come by the shop later and we could go out for lunch?”

Mumsy
suddenly got the weirdest look on
her face, like she had just realized she left the water running in the tub all
night long.
 

“Oh shit!! I can’t believe I forgot
about that!”

“What is it, mom? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t have lunch with you today. I already have a lunch
date, honey. You’ll never guess who he is, either.”

“He? You have a lunch date with a “he”? That’s great mom. Do
I know him?”

“It’s Richard Danes. I’m having lunch with Devlin’s father.
Can you believe that?”

Richard Danes?! I couldn’t believe my ears. She could have
knocked me over with a feather, with that declaration.
 
I really didn’t know what to think about
it, at first. But, upon further introspection, I decided I was completely
disgusted by the idea.

“Mom, Richard Danes? You’re having lunch with Congressman
Richard Danes? How in the world did that happen?”

“I know. It’s weird
…..
Isn’t it?
 
He called me on the phone yesterday
morning. Not someone from his office either. He actually called me personally.
I figured he got my number from you, somehow. Anyway, he was extremely cordial
and asked if I wanted to meet with him to discuss the “right-to-die”
legislation that I’ve been hounding him about. He said since our kids were
dating, we shouldn’t be adversaries. So, I agreed to meet him for lunch at a
restaurant near his office.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say, really. That’s great, as far
as your cause is concerned, but you
gotta
admit, Mr.
Dane’s sudden friendly interest in you does seem pretty suspect. I wonder what
his
real
angle is. He must have one.
After all, the bad apple can’t fall far from the bad tree
. ”

“Well, you know what they say, sweetie. Politics makes strange
bedfellows. I can’t pass up the opportunity to make inroads on a cause that I
feel so strongly about.”

Picturing my mom and Mr. Danes as “bedfellows” wasn’t how I
wanted to spend my morning...

“He’s got to be up to something momma. Besides, since Devlin
and I are
definitely
not dating,
there’s absolutely no good reason for you to be nice to him.”

“Oh yeah? How ‘bout lunch at the Landmark Grille for
starters? I’ve always wanted to eat there. Plus, I will have his ear the whole
time. I know I can get him to back the legislation, if I have a chance to
present our compelling argument and appeal to whatever compassion he has. I
know we’ve fought on a few issues, but he seems like a reasonable man. I
actually enjoyed talking to him on the phone.”

“Reasonable man? Enjoyed talking to him? Where did this come
from all of a sudden? What happened to the ‘bane of your existence?’ What kind
of right-winged Kool-Aid did you swallow during his phone call?”

“Lighten up, Cali. I’m not an impressionable teenager. I
refuse to believe he has a hidden agenda, in asking me to lunch. This isn’t my
first lunch with a politician. I think I know what I’m doing.”

_{_____}