Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series) (24 page)

I giggled and said,
"She called you my husband." He just winked at me, tapping me on the
butt lightly.

His eyes bulged as he
looked inside the bag, pushing aside the containers to see more underneath.
"Well god damn," he whistled, stretching his arms up as he stood like
he always did when he was full. As we walked past the register counter, the
woman was occupied tending to the food on the buffet, not paying attention as
Chad laid a fifty dollar bill on the counter. He put his hand on the small of
my back as he pushed the door open.

The truck ride home was
pretty quiet, both of us too full to talk much so I just stared at Chad from
the corner of my eyes. He had his Mossy Oak camo baseball cap on, making him
look like a real redneck, and it was cute. His bottom lip bulged slightly with
a Skoal pouch that I didn't mind, as long as he spit it out before kissing me
on the lips.

He caught me, smiling
and reaching his arm over the console, his fingers brushing at my elbow. I gave
him my hand and his warm fingers laced into mine, bringing it up to his lips
and kissing the back of my hand. I sighed, leaning my head on the back of the
seat, just looking at him as he had his eyes on the road.

That letter I was
writing, it wouldn't hold half of the feelings I had for him. I can't put some
of my feelings down on paper and if I could find the words it would just sound
corny. Even just sitting here, or even just lying in bed, I feel whole. I feel
complete. For once in my life there isn't a gaping hole in my chest, waiting to
be filled with someone special. Chad was always meant to be that special
someone and I had finally had the chance to be with him, and he with me. From
the late night conversations we've had, I know that he's felt the same way
about me for a long time, the only thing holding him back being respect for my
brother Randy. He had told me this morning that Randy had given him his
blessing only a little while before his death and Chad had beaten himself up
about it since his funeral. I had told him that it didn't matter how long he
took to be mine, all that mattered was that he was mine now, and that I was
his.

The annoying sound of a
honking car horn breaks my slight day dream and I notice we are back in town,
sitting at the red light in front of Muncy's and Duke's Dodge Ram is behind us,
insistently honking his horn and flashing his lights.

"Ugh," I sigh,
shifting in my seat, "just ignore him." I look over at Chad and I can
tell he's tense. His jaw is clenched, his eyes locked on the rearview mirror.
"Baby," I whisper, running my fingers over his cheek, pulling his
attention to me, "just head home," I plead and he nods, shaking his
shoulders as if to try and ease some of the tension. The light turns green and
Chad acts cool until Duke's truck roars up on my side, forcing Chad to slam on
the brakes so Duke doesn't cause an accident.

"What the
fuck," I yell, slapping my hands down onto my thighs, making a loud
smacking sound fill the cab. Duke's truck weaves back and forth in front of us,
turning each way that we need to go and finally screeching to a halt blocking
the entrance to our street. Duke's door opens and he hops out, walking toward
the truck and I grab Chad's hand, squeezing it. "No, stay here," I
whisper, hoping that he'll see the plea in my eyes.

"Ray," he
says, looking away from me and out the windshield, probably wishing Duke would
burst into flames, "He's not gonna leave you alone. He's not gonna leave
us alone till I beat the shit outta him." He opened his door, his hand
going into my hair and pulling my forehead to his lips. "Stay here,"
he says and slams the door shut.

My heart is pounding so
loud in my chest that my arms are shaking, pulling my cell from my wristlet and
quickly trying to text. I send the same message to Harlan, Kendall and Chad's
mom, Dana, "
Chad fighting Duke end of our street, help plz"
,
hoping one of them can talk some sense into Chad before he kills Duke.

I can hear Duke issuing
insult after insult, pointing towards me and smirking, Chad getting in his face
and I couldn't just sit here and let this happen. I shove the door open,
jumping from the passenger seat and sprinting the short distance to wedge
myself between the two of them, my eyes trying to plead with Chad to calm down,
my hands going to his arms.

"Please Chad,"
I say, trying to talk over Duke's drunken slurring, "pleeaassee." I
try and push him back towards the truck and he starts to go, his eyes still
locked on Duke as I feel hands go around my waist. Duke's hands and they pulled
me back to him, his lips brushing my ear as I let out a screeching protest,
trying to pry his hands apart as they locked at my waist.

"You see Navy
boy," he hissed, the rancid smell of whiskey and beer floating over me as
Chad stalked towards us, "She likes it rough. Betcha she doesn't scream
for ya like she did for…"

Duke's rant was cut
short as Chad's fist connected with his mouth, the sound of bones cracking
becoming audible. Duke stumbled back only to land on his ass just as I heard
Harlan's truck roaring our way, coming up the street and stopping on the other
side of Duke's Ram. Kendall hopped from the passenger side.

Chad pulled me behind
him, but he didn't advance on Duke. He just waited, watching him intently and
his demeanor scared me. This was his solider side, his protector side.

Harlan's tall figure
came around the bed of the truck, sparing a glance at Duke as he jogged to
Chad's side, "You alright man," he asked, looking from me to Chad.
Kendall came up to my side, wrapping her arm around my waist as Chad let go,
walking slowly to Duke.

"NO," I screamed,
grabbing frantically at Chad's arm, but he just turned and the look on his face
had softened.

"I'm not gonna hit
him," he said, patting my hand, practically prying it from his arm. He
walked over to hover over Duke as he wiped at his mouth, the blood trickling
down his chin. Chad stood there for a second, his head cocking to the side as
he took his hat off, running his fingers through his hair.

"Listen," he
said tersely, his voice echoing in the silence of the graying late afternoon,
"you're gonna leave Rhea alone. You're gonna leave
us
alone. Rhea
is a woman, not an object and if you loved her like you say you do, you'd know
that she loves me. She's loved me for a long time, just like I've loved
her," he looked back at me, sincerity in his voice.

"You're gonna get
up off your ass and move your piece-of-shit truck," Chad pointed at the
Ram, "and if anyone tells me you're giving Rhea, or Kendall or hell even
Harlan, a hard time," his voice turned menacing, "the next time I see
you, I
will
kill you, and I'll make sure you suffer." Turning back
to me I can see the fierceness on his face, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed
as he puts his hat back on, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the truck.

"Come to the house
Harlan," he says over his shoulder and he opens the driver’s door and I
scoot in, "we'll have some beers." Slamming the door shut, he revs
the engine, showing Duke he means business as we watch him climb into the cab,
throw it in drive and speed off, leaving a patch of black on the road. Harlan
throws his truck in reverse as we get close to him, driving backwards down the
entire road as Kendall makes faces at me the entire time. He whips the truck to
a perfect parallel park at the side of our driveway as Chad pulled into the
garage, shutting the truck off and hopping out.

I was still stunned and
I just sat there, staring blankly out the windshield into the garage. Chad
comes to my door and opens it. The truthfulness of Chad's words to Duke rang in
my ears,
"I will kill you
", and they frightened me knowing
that Chad would do anything, even
that
to keep me safe.

"Hun," he said
with an annoyed tone as if he had said it more than once. If he had I hadn't
heard. "Come on," he said, holding his hand up to me and I took it,
sliding from the truck and shutting the door behind me as he guided me to the
side door of the house.

Stopping on the small
set of steps, I pulled him from the first one wrapping my arms around his waist
and pulling him tight to me. I buried my face in his shirt, taking in his Old
Spice scent and shutting my eyes tight. "Tell me you won't do that,"
I whisper, squeezing my arms tighter around his hips as his arms circled around
my shoulders, his hands rubbing into my back and hair.

"I was just scaring
him," he almost chuckled, "and besides, if I was gonna kill someone,
I sure as hell wouldn't let them know beforehand." I snorted, looking up
at his blue eyes as they smiled at me, his hands cupping my cheeks, "I
didn't have months and months of stealth training for nothing," he smiled.

"Oh ha ha," I
joke, pushing him back a little as he laughs heartily, bounding up the stairs
and pulling me into the house with him. Through the small mud room, we meet
Kendall and Harlan in the kitchen, beers sitting on the island waiting for us.
I just smiled at my best friend as she wrapped her arm over my shoulders, her
blonde ponytail swinging to brush on my neck.

I laughed at her
expression as she waded through the bag of takeout from the Chinese buffet,
snatching a carton of chop suey and rice, holding it up in an un-spoken
question. "Yeah, you can have it." I tell her.

"Yesss," she
says, grabbing a fork from the drawer and scooting up to sit on the counter. I
took my beer off the island as Chad and Harlan vanished into the living room,
talking away about something, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of my best
friend.

She looked different.
Not physically, but some other way. Physically she was the same tanned, blonde,
five foot eight with her acrylic nails. She had on hip hugging jeggings with
knee high, high heeled gray boots and a loose fitting sweatshirt, probably one
of Harlan's. She looked up from her food, giving me a smirk she shrugs her
shoulders, "What," she says with a mouth full.

"I don't
know," I say, still looking at her. I squint my eyes and she does the
same, scrunching her nose and sticking her tongue out at me.
God damn,
I
scream in my head as I figure it out. "You're in love with Harlan," I
say in a harsh whisper and her eyes go wide, her jaw slack enough to let me see
the forkful of food she had just shoved in her mouth.

"How could
you," she started to say and I laughed out loud, hysterically, slapping my
thighs and taking a long swig from my beer bottle. I was still laughing so hard
after swallowing that I slid down to the floor, my back against the island as
the hardwood floor met my butt.

"I knew it," I
said, winking at her, "I fuckin knew it all this time that deep down you
had feelings for him." Her eyes told me that I was right and she just
giggled along with me, sliding off the counter to sit facing me on the floor.

We sat there till our
beers were gone and Kendall had finished the food I had given her, laughing and
talking in whispered tones. She helped me put the rest of the food in the
fridge and I noticed that they really did give us enough to last me a week and
a half as I handed her another beer, uncapping one for myself. We settled into
the kitchen table, both shedding our shoes and crossing our legs up underneath
us in our chairs, a few more unopened beers sitting at the ready in front of
us.

By the time the guys
rejoined us it was dark out and both Kendall and I had gone through six beers a
piece, the empty bottles littering the table before us. We were giggling about
a story she was telling as Harlan came up behind her, wrapping his strong arms
around her shoulders making her squeal with delight. I couldn't help but smile
at them as Chad's hands rub into my shoulders. Leaning my head back I look up
at him and he smirks down at me, winking.

Saying goodbye to the
two lovebirds, watching the tail lights of Harlan's truck turn into Kendall's
family driveway down the road, I leaned my head on Chad's shoulder and sighed,
my breath causing a slight fog on the glass door. "What's on your mind
babe," he asks with his lips on my hair as he kisses my head.

I turned into his chest
as he shut the door, burying my face into his warmth, liking that he had shed
his thermal shirt for a regular t-shirt because it showed off his perfect chest
making me want to run my hands over it again and again. Stretching up to my tip
toes I press my lips lightly to his, lacing my fingers behind his neck and
toying with his tiny ponytail, making a grin breakout on his face.

"Just thinkin' bout
how much I'm gonna miss you when you’re away," I whisper, my lips tracing
his stubble filled jaw line and I can feel his pulse speed up as I near his
ear, kissing it lightly. He hugged me tight, picking me up off the floor and
swinging me around lightly.

"I'm gonna miss you
too babe," he whispers in my ear as he starts to go up the stairs.
"Try not to think about it."

"I'm tryin, but it
creeps up on me." I kissed his temple, wrapping my legs around his waist
as he gets to the top, headed for the bedroom. Just as he pushes the door open
I can feel his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket against my thigh, followed by
the voice of Stewie Griffin. It was Dana, calling us at a most inconvenient
time. We both sighed in frustration and he set me down on my feet, next to the
bed, plucking his phone he swipes the screen and puts it to his ear.