SEALs Honor (4 page)

"Next
step? Like dating?"

"No.
I got to thinking. You and me, we're not getting any younger."

"So?"

"We
never really know when our next mission will be our last."

"Don’t
be so fatalistic," Tuck grumbled and stared at his beer.

"It’s
true. We could be dead tomorrow, and what would we have to show for it? Who
would give a rat’s ass?"

"Your
point?"

Reaper
turned and held out a ring box. "I'm marrying that girl."

Tuck
schooled his face to show no emotion, while inside he reeled. "Don't you
think a date should be the next step? Aren't you missing the important part
about getting to know her?" he asked, when he wanted to shout,
No!
She's mine!
Even though she'd just ended it with him.

"We're
already close. All those nights we spent together, drinking beer, talking,
watching football. We know what each other likes on our pizza."

"That's
no reason to get married."

"She
likes beer, she watches football, knows me, and finishes my sentences."

"Because
you talk too slow."

Reaper
stared across the dance floor at Delaney and went on as if Tuck hadn't spoken. "She's
everything I ever wanted in a wife. Tough, smart, beautiful, and she can fly a
helicopter like nobody's business. Man, she's got it all."

He
had a lot of good points. Delaney was all those things and more. She liked
pepperoni pizza and her favorite position was—ah hell. Tuck had to tell Reaper
he was crazy to even consider asking her. She wasn't interested in him or
getting married.

And
if she were to marry anyone, the man would be him.
Damn it! She's taken!
he
yelled inside. But the truth was, she was free to marry anyone she liked. Not
that she would. She'd told him just as emphatically as he'd told her that she
had no intention of ever getting married. "It's too soon. You barely know
her. You haven't even kissed her." Tuck frowned. "Have you?"

Reaper
grinned. "Not yet, but I can wait. And I want the first time to be
special. The main thing is that I want to grab her up before someone else does."

"She's
not the last cupcake at the party. And, Reaper, there's something you should
know." He took a deep breath before continuing. He wasn't a man who'd kiss
and tell, but staying silent while his buddy launched a campaign to woo the
woman Tuck had slept with just wasn't right.

Before
he could go on, Reaper responded. "I know she's not a cupcake, but I'm
betting she's as sweet. You and I both know she's special."

Tuck
stared at Delaney as she tripped over Big Bird's big feet and laughed to make
him feel better about his clumsiness. "She's special, all right. And she's
also t—"

Reaper
wasn't listening. "We could ship out tomorrow and she would never know how
I feel." He was in his own world, talking through his reasoning for
rushing into something with Delaney. "I'm telling her I love her tonight."

"I
wouldn't."

"Why?
Don't tell me the confirmed bachelor is in love with her too?" Reaper
laughed. "That'll be the day."

"No,
Reaper, really, there's something you need to know about O'Connell."
And
me.
What could he tell his friend? That he'd already staked a claim? He'd
been with Delaney and she'd nixed any claim by telling him the liaison was over
before it had barely started. No, Reaper fancied himself in love with Delaney,
and he was willing to risk everything to make her his.

The
song chose that moment to end, and Big Bird led Delaney back to the bar. She
smiled and laughed, her gaze going to Tuck and then sliding to the woman in the
leopard skirt sitting at the end of the bar. Delaney's brows rose, her mouth
tightening.

Tuck
clamped his mouth shut, refusing to show any emotion.

Delaney's
eyes narrowed.

Reaper
grabbed the box from Tuck and hopped down from his stool. "Tonight's the
night."

Tuck
snagged Reaper's arm and whispered, "Ask her on a date, tell her how you
feel, but don't ask her to marry you until you know where she stands."

"I've
made up my mind." Reaper stuffed the ring in his pocket and squared his
shoulders. "Wish me luck."

Tuck
ground his jaw. "Reaper, don't—"

Reaper
strode toward Delaney, stopped directly in her path, and dropped to one knee.

Tuck
started after Reaper, wondering how his friend had gotten this carried away in
such a short time.

Looking
from Reaper to Tuck, Delaney frowned, then her gaze swung back to the man on
bended knee.

Tuck
wanted to slap his palm to his forehead and would have, if it would do any
good. Reaper was on his own mission and nothing would stop him.

Reaper
held out the ring box and announced loud enough for all to hear, "Delaney
O'Connell, I love you. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry
me?"

Her
cheeks bloomed with color and she bit her bottom lip. "Cory...I..."
Wide-eyed, she glanced at Tuck for help. "I...good Lord, I barely know
you."

Reaper
smiled up at her with his gotta-love-this-surfer boy good looks and a pleading
expression on his face. "I've known you long enough to know you're the one
for me. Why waste time, when none of us know how long we have on this earth?"

"True."
Delaney bit her bottom lip. "But—" She glanced again at Tuck with a
help
me
look in her eyes.

Tuck
moved toward the two as others gathered around, shouting and patting Reaper's
back, waiting for Delaney's response. Not that she'd say yes, but even the
chance that she could made Tuck's gut knot.

"Cory,
I like you, and I think you'll make someone a great husband. But—"

He
raised his hand. "Sweetheart, even if you don't say yes right
now...please, don't say no until I have had the chance to prove to you I'm
serious."

Delaney's
cell phone rang, giving her the excuse she needed to avoid an immediate answer.
She glanced down. "It's my CO. I have to take this."

Reaper
nodded, waiting patiently, his smile in place, happy and ready to face a future
with Delaney.

Delaney
hit the talk button. "O'Connell." She listened, nodding though the
speaker couldn't see her. At last, she spoke. "Yes, sir. Zero-five-thirty
in the morning. I'll be there ready to punch out. You too, sir." She hit
the end button and stared across at Tuck and then down at Reaper. "I'm
moving out in the morning."

"What?"
Reaper rose to his feet. "You can't leave. Not yet. You haven't answered
my question. What about us?"

"It'll
have to wait," she said. "Duty calls."

Reaper
gathered Delaney's hands in his. "You can't leave me like this. I need to
know."

With
relief making his muscles a bit jittery, Tuck stepped up beside his friend. "Save
the heartache, Reaper. She's not interested in a relationship."

Delaney's
brows puckered, her gaze narrowing. She squeezed Cory's hands and smiled. "I'll
tell you what, Cory, let me think about it. When I get back from deployment, if
you still feel the same, I'll give you an answer. Right now, I need to go."

"Fair
enough. " He jumped to his feet. "I can drop you at your townhouse."

"That's
okay. I drove myself. You guys don't have to leave. Stay, have a drink for me.
I'll let you know my answer when I see you again."

"Wait."
He snagged her hand, stopping her from making a quick escape. With a gentle
smile, he brushed the hair from her cheek. "Won't you at least give me a
kiss goodbye?"

Irritation
shot through Tuck. "Reaper, she's not—"

Delaney
shot a stony glance at Tuck, leaned up on her toes, and brushed a kiss across
Reaper's lips.

A
cheer went up from the men standing around them.

Tuck
balled his fists, his back teeth grinding together as Delaney dodged past him
without saying a word and ran from the club into the night. He stood for a
moment wondering what had just happened. When it hit him, he groaned. His best
friend had just asked the girl he'd slept with the night before to marry him.
And she hadn't said no. Not only had she not declined the proposal, she'd
kissed Reaper in front of their team.

What
the fuck? Why didn't she tell him no? She'd told Tuck she wasn't interested in
a long-term relationship. For most, his parents excluded, marriage meant a
lifetime commitment. Until death and all that. "I gotta go," Tuck
said.

"Now
where are you going? The woman I love just ran out on me. I could use a
designated driver to get me home safely."

Tuck
grabbed Big Bird. "Make sure Reaper gets back to base all right, will ya?"

Big
Bird draped a ham hock of an arm over Reaper's shoulders. "Yes, sir."

"Sober."
Tuck jabbed a finger in Big Bird's solid wall of a muscular chest. "You're
to drive sober."

"No
shit, LT. I got this."

"I
might as well leave," Reaper said. "Now that O'Connell's gone, I
don't feel much like partying."

"Then
stay to humor Big Bird. He's got to practice the two-step O'Connell taught him."

Reaper
glared at Tuck. "I'm not dancin' with him."

"No,
but you can find a girl that will. Use that surfer boy charm of yours."

"I
don't surf."

"You
know that, and I know that, but they don't." He nodded toward the women
seated in groups around the club. "When you tell these girls you're from
San Diego, they'll be impressed and might take pity on Big Bird for you. Help
out the poor guy. I'm out of here."

"Traitor."
Reaper turned away. "Go on. You need your beauty sleep and Big Bird needs
a girl. I'll get him one, then I'm right behind you."

Tuck
walked to the exit and, once outside, sprinted to his truck. Too late to stop
Delaney, because the taillights of her Jeep disappeared around the corner at
the end of the block.

Traitor.
The word resonated in Tuck's
conscience. His
guilty
conscience. If he hadn't sat like a damned fool
while Reaper talked about Delaney, the man might not have proposed, and Delaney
wouldn't have kissed him.

The
night was not supposed to end this way. By now, he and Delaney should have been
burning up the sheets. Instead, Delaney would be packing to ship out, with an
outstanding proposal on her mind from another man.

Damn.
Delaney is shipping out.

He'd
gotten used to having her around. More nights than not, they were together.
Either at his apartment or hers. With her leaving in the morning, she'd be up
packing into the early hours. He had to see her one more time. Apologize for
not stopping Reaper and for letting him propose in front of their entire team.
There was no good way to back out of what had happened. Reaper would lose face
and take a boatload of razzing from the team. Tuck would look like a heel to
his friends and the camaraderie would suffer if any of them found out he'd been
sleeping with Delaney when his best buddy wanted to marry her.

First
things first. He had to see Delaney before she shoved off.

He
drove like a madman to beat her back to her place, parked in an alley, and
jogged up to her building before she pulled into the parking lot.

Hooking
her purse over her arm, she climbed out of her Jeep and turned to the staircase
leading up to her apartment.

Tuck
stepped out of the shadows.

Delaney
jumped and stifled a scream that turned into a string of curses. "Goddamn
SEALs. You're like snakes, lurking in the grass waiting to pounce." She stepped
around him.

Tuck
grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. "Snakes don't pounce."

"Okay,
slither." She slapped his chest. "How could you let Cory go that far?"

"He
didn't give me a chance to talk him out of the proposal."

"What
am I supposed to do now?" She pulled free and stalked up the stairs,
stopped, and glared back at him. "He asked me to marry him in front of
your entire team."

"It
wasn't all of them." Tuck followed at a safe pace. In her mood, she might
push him down the flight of steps. And damned if he didn't deserve it. "You
could have said no."

"What
I hate is that I love Reaper," she said before turning toward her door.

"You
what?" He took the steps between them two at a time and caught up with her
as she shoved her key into the lock. "You love Reaper?" She'd never
told him she loved
him,
much less
Reaper
.

"Of
course I do." She rolled her eyes. "Like a brother."

"And
me?" Tuck thumped his chest, anger burning a hole in it.

The
starch melted out of her stance and she sighed. "You know how I feel about
you."

No,
he didn't. He smoothed a hair behind her ear, his hand drifting down the side
of her neck, over her collarbone to trail across one breast. "Like a
brother?"