by Dahlia Rose
Seal Of Honor
By Dahlia Rose
Copyright © November 2012, Keshia Robertson
Cover art by Mina Carter © November 2012
ISBN: 978-1-939151-05-6
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Sugar and Spice Press North Carolina, USA
www.sugarnspicepress.com
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Chapter One
“Good Morning, Commander. Your usual?”
The girl behind the counter smiled and, as always, Zack Hennessey’s heart skipped a beat. The coffee shop was a fifteen-minute drive from his house and he stopped there every morning before he went on base. Just to see her. Her name was Jordyn Royale; it said so on her name tag and she was as beautiful as the island they were on. Hawaii had lush, colorful flowers, amazing fruit and the smell of the sea in the air. It was personified in her face. She had chocolate-brown skin the color of mocha coffee and warm brown eyes that sparkled. She never talked much about herself, but he sometimes caught her looking around as if she was wary, as if expecting to see someone she didn’t like come in the shop or afraid someone would jump out and grab her at any moment.
The first time she made his coffee she told him she would try hard to remember his name and his order for the next time he came in. If she only knew that from then on he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Zack was curious about her and wondered what her story was, wondered about her. Her slight baby bump was evident. So she’s pregnant, who gives a woof? he thought. He thought it only made her more enticing, having a life growing inside her. Zack had always wanted a family of his own and was resigned that it just wasn’t going to happen. And it was just his luck that the woman he was interested in was carrying another man’s child and so she was probably off the market. Every morning he came in to see her he charted the growth of her baby bump and, in his own way, watched the life grow along with her.
“Commander?” Her soft voice brought him from his reverie and she repeated the question. “Your usual?”
“Three espresso shots in it this time.” Zack grinned. “It’s been a long few days.”
“Coming right up.” She passed the order slip to her work partner and rang up his order. “Five seventy-five.”
As usual, he paid with a ten and put the change in the tip cup. “How are you today, Jordyn?”
“I’m fine,” she replied. “The little girl is starting to move around now.”
“That’s good. Her dad must be excited,” Zack said.
Her smile faltered and then faded. “No dad. It’s just me and her.”
“Well, whoever he is, he’s a fool,” he said.
“Maybe I’m the one who messed it all up,” she countered.
“Were you?”
She gave him a look, one with sadness in the depths of her chocolate-brown eyes. “No, I wasn’t.”
“I didn’t thought so.” A mental cheer started in his head and he squelched the urge to do a fist pump. “You’re around what, five months now?”
“Six,” Jordyn said. “But good guess.”
“So, um, what are you doing later? I’d like to take you both out to dinner,” Zack said.
She laughed and it was a wonderfully husky sound. “I’m pregnant and you want to take me out?”
“Why is that so hard to believe?” He leaned forward on the counter. “Let’s go out to dinner.”
“Yeah, Jordyn, go out to dinner. Give it a whirl,” her co-worker said. She was a short Hawaiian woman with a great smile. “You better or I will.”
“She’s right. Give it whirl,” he said softly.
Her eyes met his for a moment and she swallowed before nodding and scribbling on his receipt. “This is my address. I’ll see you at eight.”
He took his coffee and receipt and winked. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Zack walked out into the sunshine and made his way to his truck. He was a Navy man, stationed as the historic NS Pearl Harbor Base in Hawaii. His small unit was a socialized team that specialized in reconnaissance and infiltration. In other words, he was a SEAL and damn proud of it. Their missions were long and sometimes so harsh that few could deal with it long term. But those who did, hunkered down for weeks at a time. There had been a lull recently and Zack was happy about that. In the last few years he’d seen less of his house by the beach than ever before. Oahu was a beautiful place to live; he was hoping to get to enjoy it more.
A date with Jordyn definitely would make a whole lot of difference. He would take her to a picnic on the beach or out on the boat. Is it okay for pregnant women to go out on open water? He made a mental note to Google it later in the day. If his mother could see him now she would call him crazy for dating a pregnant girl. Zack frowned at the wayward thought; the woman that sired him was never a mother. He would not let his past ruin anything in his future. He had let that happen one too many times.
But in the war room, three hours later, he was frowning at a mission briefing for his unit. Of all the times for them to be sent out, it had to be now. Just my luck. They were leaving that night and his date with Jordyn was going down the drain. Duty came first and he’d be gone for nearly ten weeks. With any luck, they’d be back for Christmas. Hell, he’d been interested in her from the time he walked into the coffee shop and saw her behind the counter.
That night, by the time they were done with packing their gear, it was well after eight. He called the coffee shop at six but she had already left and Zack was remiss in getting her number. The only other option was to drive to her home before they left. He had one and a half hours to drive to where she lived, explain things to her, and then hightail it back to base.
He pulled up at her apartment building and frowned. It definitely wasn’t in the nicest area of Oahu. In fact, it was downright crime-ridden. Zack was instantly worried about her and her unborn baby. He found her apartment easily and knocked on the door. He noticed the suspicious glances some of the neighborhood guys gave his uniform. Maybe that would make them think twice about hitting her place, looking for money or even looking in her direction. He rang the doorbell and waited for her to answer.
She frowned when she opened the door. “I thought you stood me up.”
“I didn’t. Work got in the way of my best laid plans,” he explained.
“Well, it may be too late to go out, but you can come in if you want. I’ll even share my dinner. Besides, standing out around here too long draws some unwanted attention.” Jordyn stepped back so he could come inside.
He looked around her small yet neat apartment. “I’d like to stay for dinner, but I can’t. I have to go back to work. I didn’t have your number to call and the manager at the coffee shop wouldn’t give out personal information. My job—”
“You don’t have to explain. What was I thinking anyway? I’m a pregnant woman and some soldier comes in the shop and impulsively asks me out? I must be crazy to have believed it.”
She turned away and Zack caught her by the shoulders. “Jordyn, it’s not like that. Honestly, I’ve wanted to ask you out the first time I saw you at the Java Hut. First, I was biding my time, gaining courage, but then I saw that you were pregnant and thought, oh, well, she’s off the market. Today, when I found out that wasn’t the case, I went for it. I’ve been put on mission status today. We’ll be gone for ten weeks. I’d like to see you when I come back.”
“I’ll be big as a house by then, bigger than I am now.” She shook her head. “You won’t want to see me then. Zack, I’ll be a mom with a newborn soon. Reality dictates I say this, but what guy wants a relationship like that? You’re a soldier, you’r
e hot and—”
“You think I’m hot?” His lips quirked.
“Well, yeah, have you seen yourself? Of course you have. You look in the mirror every day, I’m sure,” she said. “And look at me, pregnant and in a strange place.”
“Why are you in a strange place? No one leaves home pregnant with no family and friends to support them?” Zack said quietly.
“No family, few friends, and stuff just wasn’t working out,” she said. He could hear the avoidance in her words. There was a story there that she wasn’t telling. “But you’ve probably always had your pick of women and you don’t have to be nice to me. I understand—”
“Oh, shut up,” Zack said and pulled her into a kiss.
Her round belly bulged between them so Zack gave her extra care, wanting to pull her hard against him, yet restraining himself. He sunk into her taste and when she invited him into her mouth for a deeper taste, he took it. He lazily slipped his tongue into her mouth and moaned at her exotic flavor. When he pulled away, she pulled him back for another kiss, this time more passionately than the one before. He wanted to forget about the mission and take her right then and there. Sense filtered in and he pulled away from her reluctantly.
“Oh, Jordyn, the things you make me feel,” he whispered huskily. “Please say you’ll see me when I come back.”
“We’ll see what happens when you return,” she said softly. “I could say I would wait and I would, but then you’d change your mind and I’d end up hurt.”
“That won’t happen,” Zack said.
“Don’t say that.” Her voice sounded sad and he hated hearing that note in her voice. “Things always change.”
He fished into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Take these. Go to my house and stay there.” He then pulled out his military business card with his address printed on it and handed it to her. “I don’t want to think of you in this neighborhood alone.”
“I don’t drive and this is the closest to the bus route,” Jordyn said. “I’m fine. My neighbors are actually pretty nice.”
He wrapped her hands around his keys. “In case there is an emergency or anything, you’re welcome in my home. I hope to see you there when I return. I’ll share my comfy chair.”
She laughed. “We’ll see, Lieutenant.”
Zack kissed her again impulsively. “I’ve spent too much time thinking about you, Jordyn. Don’t think I’ll give up that easily. Now lock up and stay safe until I return home.”
“Here’s my number. Call me whenever,” she said and slipped a piece of paper into his pocket. “Zack, you do know I’m pregnant with another man’s child, right?”
“I’m not blind, nor do I care. Even if you tell me to run, I’ll keep coming back.” He grinned and stepped outside. “One day you’ll tell me what makes you so sad.”
“You never know. Goodnight, Zack.”
She closed the door and he waited until he heard the deadbolts lock before he turned and went to his car. With her number in his pocket, he made a beeline back to the base and onto the mission at hand. Ten weeks would fly by and he’d be back in time for Christmas and Jordyn.
* * * *
A shot rang out and Zack sat straight up, jolted from the dream he was having. The last eight weeks had been pure hell and they’d lost one of their own. It only made things worse that no matter how many times he called Jordyn her phone went to voicemail and then was disconnected. Was this her way of saying shove off? He fully intended to go by the coffee shop to see her or to her apartment tomorrow. They finally got back to base around eleven that night. The books that he had downloaded to his phone on expecting mothers said that she was most likely tired at that time of night and had probably turned in early.
But, damn, he wanted to see her. He sighed and listened to the rain outside. It would have been soothing if he could relax, but he was always too wired after a mission to sleep for weeks. It was after one a.m. when he considered going to the back bedroom that he’d converted to a gym and working himself to exhaustion. It was that or going out to the garage and dragging out the Christmas decorations that he never used. Abruptly, there was a knock on the door and he frowned. His closest neighbor was a fruitcake who talked to her pineapples. No one should be at his house so late and in this rainy weather. If this is some fucker looking or an easy mark, I am so not in the mood. He strode across the room and opened the door. Instead of a criminal, Jordyn stood in his doorway soaking wet and shivering.
“Jesus, Jordyn, are you crazy being out in this storm?” Zack ushered her inside.
“The bus only brought me to the bus stop up on the highway. I walked the rest of the way.” Her teeth were chattering. “I needed someplace to go, somewhere safe.”
“Jordyn, that’s over a mile. Who’s after you? Wait one second.” Zack pulled the blanket he kept over the couch and put it around her, rubbing her shoulders. “Are those bastards in your neighborhood threatening you?”
“No, no, it’s…” He watched her face crumple and the tears start. “I…I’m cold and wet and tired, my feet hurt and I haven’t had dinner…”
“Oh, baby, how about you tell me later after we get you comfortable?” he crooned.
She nodded and spoke through her tears. “Okay.”
“There’s a good girl. First, you’re getting a hot shower and then you’re going to sit in my bed and eat some hot soup and bread,” Zack said.
“Do you have hot chocolate?”
Her voice sounded so small and hopeful that if she had asked for molten lava, he would have climbed a volcano just to get it for her.
“You can have anything you want.” Despite her being wet, he pulled her into a hug and felt the baby kick. Zack chuckled. “You too, Little Bit. I’ll add marshmallows just for you.”
“Why are you so nice to me? Most guys would have seen this belly and ran in the opposite direction.” She sniffed.
“Because you did something to me the first time you handed me my coffee,” he answered honestly. “Because I don’t care who the father of your child is, only that you’re her mother and that makes her special. And because when I couldn’t reach you while I was away, I felt like the world stopped spinning. Does that answer your question?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good. Now let’s get you into that shower and into some warm, dry clothes,” he said.
He led her to the master bathroom and showed her where the towels were. Luckily, last summer he’d revamped the house and made the master bath bigger. Being six-three meant he needed more room and, yes, a pulsating showerhead for his tired and overly strained muscles. Zack grabbed her some of his sweats and an army T-shirt she could change into and laid them on the bed before heading down the hall to the kitchen. He pulled out two cans of Progresso potato soup and grabbed a bag of yeast rolls from the freezer. He put a few on a cookie tray and popped them in the oven and then started on her hot chocolate.
All the while he was preparing the food, he was thinking about the woman in his shower. What could scare her so much that she braved bad weather and walking in the pouring rain and cold? Whatever or whoever it was would have to go through him to get to her. He was quite an obstacle; it would take God to move him.
Chapter Two
Jordyn slid under the covers in Zack’s big bed and sighed. She should feel uncomfortable, but when the shit hit the fan and they found her, her first instinct was to grab the keys he had given her and run. She was still surprised that he trusted her enough to put his home in her hands while he was gone. Jordyn knew that she would find safety at his place. She didn’t expect him to be home, but when she saw his car in the driveway, relief made her knees weak. When he answered the door he didn’t even blink an eye, but brought her inside and comforted her. Zack was a good man. She felt horrible to bring this kind of drama to his doorstep.
“I hope you and Little Bit are hungry,” Zack said as he came through the door carrying a tray.
The baby moved in her tummy as if responding to his wo
rds. Jordyn laughed. “It seems we are, Zack.”
“I have potato soup, rolls and hot chocolate. Sorry it’s not homemade,” he said apologetically.
“Everything looks wonderful.” Jordyn smiled up at him. “Only you would apologize for trying to take care of me.”
“In my opinion, you should be taken care of every single day of your life,” Zack said.
Her heart jumped in her chest, but she kept her face as featureless as possible. “You know nothing about me and may change your mind when you hear my story.”
“Eat first, then tell me. The little one is hungry, remember?” Zack teased.
Jordyn focused on the food and tried not to look at the man sitting on the other side of the bed. He grabbed the TV remote off the chest at the foot of the bed and flicked through the channels while she ate. She studied him as she bit into the soft roll. Zack was a fine specimen of a man. Merciful heaven, he was tall and his back was so broad that she could just imagine crawling up to him on the bed and wrapping her arms around him.
Admittedly, the first thing she noticed about him was his eyes. They were glacier ice blue and seemed to pierce you with one look. His lips curved into a smile so easily, but when she was at his door and she told him she was in trouble, those same lips firmed into hard lines of anger. He was a SEAL and that meant he was dangerous to those who crossed him. She wondered how his big hands would feel on her skin. Stop that, she mentally chided herself. You’re pregnant with another man’s kid. No man wants to make love to a woman carrying such a load. She wasn’t pretty; her body had changed with the pregnancy. But, Lord, she missed the feeling of being held and being loved. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed that Zack had turned back to her.
“All done?” he asked. The deep, gentle timber in his voice was like a caress and she gave a little shiver.
“Yes, thank you.” She took the last sip of the hot chocolate and set the mug on the tray.
