Her Treasured SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 11)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  Drake thought about the moonlit depths of the jungle and how his soul reached for Karen’s. He understood. “I hate that you felt lonely, but I’m glad we’re in this together.”

  Her head jerked, and she stared at him. “Drake?”

  “I thought you knew,” he whispered. “In the darkest hours of the night, I long for your embrace.”

  HOW COULD SHE HAVE been so stupid? So naïve?

  Maybe it was now that she was a mother of a baby boy that she could finally see the vulnerability in Drake’s midnight eyes. He really did need her as much as she needed him. She’d never once doubted that he’d loved her. She’d known that, like she knew the sun rose in the East, but need?

  “Karen, maybe somehow I would survive without you, but it would be as half a man.”

  She plastered her front against him, hugging him as close as he would allow. “Hold me tighter.”

  He kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her hair. She always used the honeysuckle shampoo because she knew he liked the smell. She kissed his throat, and he groaned. Now she had him. He clasped the back of her neck and rubbed. That meant he was hungry for a kiss.

  His mouth slammed onto hers. A claiming. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and she sucked him in, needing his taste, needing everything he had to give. But even as she welcomed him, she felt his ferocious need, it was more than hunger or lust. It was as if she was as necessary to him as water or air.

  One hand moved along her back, pushing her closer to his chest, but even in the heat of passion he was careful of her abdomen. Her Drake, a caretaker to the end. She felt the ridge of his erection and shoved herself against him. She desperately needed to make love to this man who meant everything to her.

  He slowly broke off their kiss. “Slow down, Honey.”

  “Please don’t say that. Please.”

  “I didn’t lock the door. Anyone could walk in.” His tone was regretful. Karen took in great big gulps of air.

  “Go lock the door.”

  “Do you really mean that?” His expression said he knew the truth.

  “Dammit, I’m such a kindergarten teacher.” She beat her head against his chest.

  “Hey, don’t make fun of my hot teacher. She’s the woman I fell in love with. We’ll be really quiet tonight under the covers.”

  “Do you promise?” It sounded like such a long time away.

  “I promise. In the meantime, I want to hold you while we sleep. Is that okay?”

  “God, yes.” She tangled her hands in his hair that had grown longer while he’d been gone. “But can I have one more kiss. Just a soft one? To tide me over.”

  He gave her a wicked grin.

  HOURS LATER, KAREN set her laptop aside and grinned at Angie Donatelli. “How’d you get stuck playing nursemaid?”

  Angie grinned as she held Andrew. “I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  “What?” Karen was sure she had misheard.

  “Just kidding, I called first dibs. All the other girls were pissed, let me tell you.” Angie had the same drawl as Jack, despite her name she was born and raised in Texas. “But it is true, I do have a gun, which I have been known to use from time to time.”

  “You have?” Karen was fascinated.

  “Part of the job.”

  “Oh yeah, Drake told me, you were a private investigator back in Texas.”

  “Yep, took over my granddaddy’s operation.”

  “What are you going to do now that you’ve moved to San Diego?” Karen eyed Angie warily. She wasn’t as confident holding Andrew as the other women had been. Of course, everybody had to learn sometime, didn’t they? “Do you want to sit down in the chair?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Angie said as she walked another circuit around the bedroom. “I’m thinking about getting into cyber-security. Not for me, more for Finn.” She shifted Andrew, so he was cradled in her arms instead of on her shoulder. God love her boy, he was smiling contentedly. He was definitely Drake’s son, he could handle any situation. “Is there anything I can help with?” Angie asked, nodding toward the laptop in Karen’s lap.

  “No, I have it covered.”

  “What are you working on?”

  Karen considered what to share with Angie. She knew that Drake considered Finn one of his closest friends. “There are still some last-minute arrangements for the wedding that need to be straightened out.”

  “Like what?”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re persistent?”

  Angie laughed. “All the damn time.” She came and sat down on the bed beside Karen. “Do you know my story?”

  Karen shook her head.

  “We’re both hooked up with two of the hardest heads in Midnight Delta. You know about Finn, right? His struggles?”

  This time Karen nodded.

  “He hated needing help, it hurt to watch him. It was at the point that if he didn’t bend he was going to break.”

  Karen got where she was going. “I’m not going to break.”

  “Sweetie, is there anything I can do to help you?” Angie asked gently. “If not help you, how about venting, wouldn’t it be nice to just tell someone what’s got you tied up in knots?”

  Was she that obvious?

  “It’s really not that big of a deal,” Karen protested one last time, but it wasn’t as heartfelt.

  “If the way your biting your lip is any indication, it is.”

  Karen blew her hair off her forehead. “The band we booked, broke up. So now I need to find a DJ on short notice. I’ve been sending out SOS e-mails and making calls.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry. Is that it?” Angie asked perceptively.

  “How’d you guess?”

  “I’m a private investigator. You end up with good instincts.”

  Karen pushed away her laptop, and held out her hands for her son. Angie gently handed him over.

  “Will you let me help?” Angie persisted.

  Karen caressed Andrew’s head and then looked up into Angie’s warm eyes.

  “I don’t think you can. I’ve tried every angle. I don’t think there’s going to be any food, except for Sophia’s desserts for the wedding. And we’ll just have to make do with a karaoke machine.” All hope of the wedding she had wanted was fading away. She had wanted Drake to have a memory he would cherish.

  Andrew started to cry. He always started to cry when she got upset, it was almost like he had Mommy radar. It was just one more way she was failing.

  “Karen, you’re just too close to this, you can’t see the forest for the trees.”

  “What forest? What trees?” Drake asked.

  Shit, she hadn’t heard him come in over Andrew’s cries.

  “Never mind,” she told Drake.

  “Angie, spill it,” Drake demanded.

  “It’s nothing. We’re just having a little girl talk.”

  Drake walked over and picked up Andrew. He rubbed circles on his tummy and that settled him. “Ladies, you need to come clean, or I’m just going to grab my soon-to-be-wife’s laptop when she’s sleeping.”

  “You don’t know my password.” Karen huffed.

  “You changed it to Andrew’s birthday, only backwards. Seriously, you need to come up with a better one.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “Baby, you told it to me two days ago when you wanted me to order more diapers, don’t you remember?”

  “Oh.” She had told him, but she’d forgotten. What was wrong with her?

  He kissed the top of her head. “Now tell me what’s up and I’ll take care of it. The apartment is cleaned out. Mr. Albertson has done his inspection. We get our full deposit back.”

  “What about that grape juice stain on the carpet?” she asked.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, he overlooked it and gave us the full refund.”

  “Just how many of you guys were standing there when he did his walk-thru?” Angie asked.

  “Just three of us,” Drake said innocently.
/>
  “So, three Navy SEALs against poor Mr. Albertson. Something tells me we could have gotten away with the carpet being torn out and we would have gotten our deposit back. That is so not cool.” Karen stared at him.

  “It wasn’t cool that he knew I was out of town, you had a newborn and he got you to agree to leave in less than a week. He’s lucky I didn’t have a man to man conversation with his ass.”

  Karen sighed.

  “He has a point,” Angie said.

  “Now tell me what’s got you upset, Honey.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me. You’re upset. Now that the apartment is cleaned out, I can focus on the next thing. Is it the wedding? Tell me what it is, and I’ll take care of it.” He pulled up Andrew’s shirt and blew a soft raspberry on his stomach. God, he was adorable with their son. Drake looked up at her from under his eyelashes. “Karen?”

  “Fine. The caterer went out of business, and the band broke up. We don’t have food, and we don’t have music.”

  “We still have a preacher?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have your dress?”

  “Yes.”

  “Everybody RSVP?”

  “Yes.”

  “Still have the venue on Catalina?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then this is workable.”

  Karen ground her teeth. He made everything sound like a damned SEAL operation. That was when she saw it. He was favoring his right arm. How had she missed that before?

  “Drake, were you injured?”

  He flushed and didn’t answer.

  “Drake Jefferson Avery, you answer me this instant.”

  “It’s just a scratch.”

  “Come here.” She pointed to a spot beside her on the bed that Angie quickly vacated.

  “Seriously, Karen, it’s nothing.”

  He was wearing a flannel shirt over a T-Shirt. “Give me Andrew, and show me your arm.” He handed her the baby, then took off the over shirt. She saw the butterfly bandages.

  “It’s a bullet wound, isn’t it?”

  “It barely grazed me.” She had to swallow back nausea. “Karen, Honey, just breathe. It was nothing, the guys had my back.” She nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Angie leave Evie and Aiden’s guest room.

  Sitting down on the bed, he cupped her cheeks. “It’s nothing. You hear me? It’s nothing.”

  She breathed through her mouth. Nothing. She had to get that through her head. This is what he did. This was the man she was going to marry. The man she loved with all of her heart. This is what she’d signed up for.

  It was then she saw it. Drake was seriously worried. Andrew in one arm, she cupped his cheek with her other hand. “I’m good,” she promised. He let out a breath, and kissed the tip of her nose.

  “Good, because we have a wedding to plan.”

  Oh shit. She didn’t like the sound of that.

  Chapter Nine

  “I LOOKED AT YOUR YELP reviews, I was really impressed by the lobster ravioli. One customer called it sublime.” Drake tapped his pen against the list he had printed out.

  “Oh, you no longer serve that? What about the spinach ravioli?” God, he had to find some damn thing to compliment her on. Something. Anything.

  “Which YELP review was I looking at?” Damn. He typed YELP into his browser. It wasn’t loading. “It was the one by Anonymous. I’m looking at it right now, they also said that your lasagna was the best they ever had,” he lied.

  Drake listened and frowned. “Look Lady, I don’t know how he could have eaten so many different dishes in one sitting either. Maybe he’s reporting for his whole party. You’re the owner, right? Aren’t you happy you got a good review?” He listened to her answer.

  “Good.” He smiled. At last, something positive.

  “The reason I was calling is to see if you could do something a little out of the ordinary.” Drake played up his Southern accent. He knew a lot of women loved that.

  “Well, you see, I wanted to order enough food for two hundred people. It’s really only one hundred people, but there are a lot of big men, so we need double portions.”

  He listened.

  “Yes ma’am, I know you don’t cater. But think of it as a large take-out order. I saw on your website that you do take-out orders.”

  Drake pulled the phone away from his ear.

  “Ma’am, I’m not trying to pull a fast one. It’s not like I’m asking you to deliver the food, but that would be awfully nice if you would.” He put a smile in his voice.

  He had to turn down the volume on his phone or his ear was going to start bleeding.

  “Ma’am, we haven’t even talked about prices, I would pay more than your normal rates.”

  He listened with the phone away from his head.

  “It’s on the second Saturday of December.” He listened to her some more. “No, I’m not trying to shut down your restaurant for a day.”

  He sighed as her voice rose another octave.

  “No, I didn’t know that was one of your biggest nights of the year. How in the hell could I have known that?” Drake asked irritably. He crossed Mama’s Catalina Ristorante off his list of potential caterers.

  “I really want to thank you for your time,” he said nicely.

  He hung up. “Shrew.” He sighed. It had taken time to be able to track down the owners of those six restaurants in Catalina. They hadn’t all ended up screaming. Why the hell had she taken his request as a personal offense? Drake hit his forehead against Aiden’s desk.

  “Careful with the furniture.”

  Fuck.

  “You just had to come in on stealth mode and see that. Not cool, O’Malley.” Drake glowered at his brother-in-law.

  “Not my fault you were talking so loud you couldn’t hear my coming down the hall.”

  “I didn’t wake Karen, did I?”

  “The door was open, I peeked in, she and Andrew are still asleep.”

  Drake settled back in the chair, relieved that she hadn’t heard his failed efforts.

  “What the hell is going on, anyway?”

  “I’m arranging for caterers for the wedding. Then I need to rustle up a DJ, actually I’d prefer a band.”

  “Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?” Aiden asked as he sat down across from him in the leather chair and put his foot over his knee.

  Drake got up, crossed the room and shut the door. Aiden chuckled. “Pussy whipped much?”

  “Give it a rest,” Drake growled. “My sister has you on the shortest leash imaginable.”

  Aiden gave a satisfied smile.

  “Wipe that grin off your face. That’s my sister you’re smiling about.” Drake reminded him as he sat down behind the desk. “Mr. Rich Guy, do you know any caterers on Catalina Island?”

  “Nope, but if you throw money at a situation, you can get what you need.”

  “Goddammit, don’t you think I’ve tried that?” Drake burst out. “The last broad I just called yelled at me, said I was trying to ruin her business.”

  “You’re not thinking out of the box.”

  Drake just stared at Aiden. “Are you suggesting I start calling private citizens of Catalina and see if they want to cook for my wedding?”

  “Again, my friend, you are not thinking big enough. Sophia is getting you her desserts from San Clemente, right? She’s bringing them over on the boat.”

  Oh for the love of God, Aiden was absolutely right. He’d been going about this all wrong. “Get out of here,” he commanded.

  “This is my house. My office,” Aiden said without heat.

  “Yeah, but you knew what you were getting into when you invited us to stay. Get the hell out.”

  Aiden chuckled and eased out of the chair and headed for the door. “Let me know if you need any help.”

  “I’ve got this.”

  “Never doubted it.”

  DRAKE SO BADLY WANTED to carry Karen up the stairs to their new home. Instead he follow
ed a half step behind her so that if she had any problems he would be there to catch her.

  “Stop it,” she hissed. “I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Of course, you are.”

  “It’s been a week since I left the hospital.”

  “This time.”

  She stuck out her tongue.

  He laughed.

  “Seriously, Drake I had my check-up three days ago. Go take Andrew from Piper and leave me alone.” She stepped onto the porch and seemed fine. He turned and double-timed it down the stairs to help Piper extract Andrew from the car seat.

  “You better stop it,” his sister advised.

  “What?” he asked innocently. “I’m just caring for my wife.”

  “Fiancée. And you better remember that. At the rate you’re going, she might not agree to be your wife.”

  “Tinkerbell, bite your tongue,” he growled as he lifted Andrew out of the back of the car.

  “I’m serious big brother, you need to back off.”

  “You can’t be serious, you had to call an ambulance, she was in the hospital when I got home. I almost lost her in the delivery room. She needs as much TLC as she can possibly get. No stress for Karen, got it?”

  Piper wilted under his harsh words.

  Damn.

  He put Andrew up on his shoulder, and then wrapped his other arm around his small, youngest sister. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off so strong. I’m just a little freaked out about Karen’s health.”

  “S’okay.” She shrugged out of his hold.

  “Piper, won’t you listen to me?”

  She headed towards the stairs. “I’ve listened enough,” she called over her shoulder and ran up the stairs. By the time Drake made it inside he couldn’t find either Karen or Piper in the living room or kitchen. He called out and only Karen answered.

  “I’m in the nursery,” she said. He grinned, thinking how pleased she’d be. He walked down the hall and found her standing in the middle of the room with her fists clenched.

  “What did you do?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “What did you do?” she asked again.

  “I surprised you?” he asked cautiously.

  “There’s a mural with an ocean with orca whales, then there are evergreens and a bear in the woods. Are those salmon?” It covered one whole wall, the other three walls were blue with fish decals artfully placed on them.