The General's Desire: San Diego Social Scene Book 2

by Tess Summers

  Now, he needed to turn his attention to the gorgeous blonde at his side. He was with her as the doctor explained Danielle’s condition, and that she was going to need surgery. Remembering Kyle’s concern for her privacy the last time she was at the hospital, Ron made sure they waited in a secluded area.

  The wait was agonizing. But it was wonderful to spend time alone with Brenna. He felt useful, and she let him know just how much she appreciated him.

  And yes, he couldn’t help but notice how fucking hot she was–even after everything she’d been through tonight. He was a guy after all, and he’d had those toned legs of hers wrapped around him more than once. Nobody could fault him.

  He ran his fingers through her hair while she slept with her head in his lap. The relaxing motion caused him to drift off as well.

  Chaos and excited voices woke him.

  Cassie and Kyle had arrived.

  Brenna lifted her head, and it seemed to take her a minute to register where she was. Slowly rising to her feet, she got up and hugged her sister before turning her attention to Kyle. To the man’s credit, he looked pretty distraught.

  “How is she?” he cautiously asked.

  “She finally got into surgery. She lost a lot of blood, but they’re optimistic she’s going to be okay once she’s stabilized. Right now, we’re just waiting for the next bit of news.”

  Kyle was visibly relieved, melting into a chair as he let out a breath. He grabbed Brenna’s hands and scanned her face.

  “How are you holding up? Cassie said you saw the whole thing.”

  The memory seemed to stir up some feelings for Brenna, because her bottom lip started to quiver, and she appeared to be unable to speak.

  Kyle leapt to his feet and pulled her in close to him, kissing her hair while murmuring soothing words.

  That was Ron’s cue.

  He touched Brenna on the shoulder.

  “Hey, I’m going to get going. Keep me posted on how she’s doing, okay?”

  “What? You’re leaving? Now?”

  He nodded his head just as the doctor made his appearance.

  She looked at the doctor, then back at Ron and asked, “Can you wait a few minutes?”

  “Sure.”

  Brenna and Cassie went over to speak to the doctor while Ron and Kyle hung back. They were still able to hear what was being said; Danielle’s surgery went better than expected, she was in recovery, and they’d be able to see her soon.

  Brenna closed her eyes as if silently offering up a prayer of thanks.

  The doctor said a nurse would be out shortly to take them to the recovery room.

  Kyle hugged her and kept his arm around her shoulder while she talked to Ron.

  “Will you at least stay so you can see her? I know Dee’s going to want to thank you herself.”

  He looked at how she leaned against Kyle now. Ron was an idiot to think she needed him here with her. She only needed him until Kyle got there.

  “No, I have to go to the Phoenix base and then head back to San Diego.”

  “You have to go tonight?” she complained. “Can’t you stay until tomorrow?”

  Just then, the admitting clerk came in the room and pulled Brenna aside to ask some insurance related questions. With her attention focused on the woman with the clipboard, Ron started making his way toward the door.

  Kyle looked at him and shook his head with a disgusted look on his face.

  “You’re a fucking idiot. You realize that, right?”

  Ron cocked his head but didn’t say anything.

  Why the fuck are you insulting me? I’m trying to be respectful of your relationship, asshole.

  “She needs you here, and you’re just going to leave?”

  Ron defended his actions. “I’m just going to be in the way. She’s got you and Cassie with her now.”

  Kyle looked at Ron like he’d grown two heads. “Yeah, but she wants you.”

  Shouldn’t the former shortstop be pissed off about that? Ron knew if the roles were reversed, he sure as hell would be.

  Brenna came to where the two men were standing and took Ron’s hands in hers. Searching his face, she whispered, “Please stay.”

  He hesitated.

  “Please.”

  He never had been able to tell her no. It didn’t look like tonight was going to be any different. He glanced at Kyle, who didn’t appear threatened at the prospect of him staying.

  “Okay,” he said with a small smile.

  Her face lit up, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close to her. He briefly closed his eyes and breathed in her scent.

  A nurse came into the room to let them know they could see Danielle. Brenna grabbed his hands again and gave them a quick squeeze before releasing them and following the nurse.

  Kyle patted Ron on the back as they followed suit.

  “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought,” he said as he gripped Ron’s shoulder with a grin.

  Ron felt like he was definitely missing something.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Ron

  Ron winced when he first looked at Danielle. He’d seen men who’d been injured during combat that looked better than the poor girl did. Her face was swollen and bruised, almost to the point that she was unrecognizable. She was connected to so many tubes and wires that he couldn’t count them all, and the breathing tube down her throat made it impossible for her to talk.

  They locked eyes and she gestured for him to come to her bedside. He touched her hand and she weakly grasped his fingers in her fist. With her other hand, it looked like she was trying to blow him a kiss.

  “She’s saying thank you,” Brenna said from the other side of the bed.

  Ron must have appeared confused because Brenna made the same motion as her daughter.

  “That is the sign for thank you. She’s saying thank you in sign language.”

  He smiled and took the hand she had said thank you with and kissed it.

  “No need to thank me, honey. Just concentrate on getting better.”

  He looked over at Brenna, who had teared up watching the exchange between him and Danielle. She made the thank you sign again as she mouthed the words at him.

  Ron wanted to tell her he’d do anything for her. That he loved her and wanted to make her happy every damn day. That she shouldn’t have given up on them so easily; she belonged with him, not Kyle. But, considering Kyle was standing right next to him that might not be a good idea.

  Instead, he opted for a wink and a smile.

  Glancing at Cassie, he knew she had caught the exchange between Brenna and him by the look on her face, but she didn’t seem angry. It was like the younger sister was confused more than anything.

  “I booked rooms at the hotel just up the road. Ron, can you take Brenna and make sure she gets some rest?”

  Me? Shouldn’t Kyle be the one taking her?

  Brenna started to protest leaving her daughter, but Cassie shut her down. “Kyle and I will take shifts being with DeeDee tonight. You are exhausted, and you’re not going to be any good to anyone if you don’t take the time to rest.”

  Brenna glanced nervously at Ron.

  “Kyle, why don’t you take her, and I’ll stay here with Cassie,” he suggested. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or Kyle jealous.

  “No, she needs someone to make sure she gets some sleep. I think you’re the only one she’d actually listen to right now,” the other man replied.

  Ron and Brenna exchanged looks. He knew she was thinking the same thing he was–he was supposed to make sure she got some sleep when he brought her home from the hospital after she’d fallen down the stairs. There was no listening on her part that night, only seducing. Now that he thought about it, that was the last time they’d made love.

  “That didn’t work out very well the last time he was supposed to be making sure I got some rest,” Brenna teased with a smirk.

  Kyle shook his head. “I don’t want to know.”
r />   What the fuck? That’s it–he doesn’t want to know? He should be throttling me right now.

  Maybe the helicopter rescue had bought Ron a little grace.

  But it shouldn’t have bought him that much grace. If she was still with him, there was a snowball’s chance in hell that he would encourage another man to take her to a hotel room alone. Especially one that had the history with her that Ron did.

  Frankly, Ron wasn’t so sure he trusted himself alone in a hotel with her, Kyle sure as fuck shouldn’t.

  She needed to rest, perhaps Kyle didn’t trust himself to let her do that and thought Ron would be able to. After all, Ron was a stand-up guy.

  Remember that when you’re alone in a hotel room with her.

  It seemed all but settled when Cassie handed him a hotel key card. “Room 336. I’m in 329, Kyle is in 333. I couldn’t get us all together, but we’re close. I didn’t think it really mattered, since we’ll probably be there at different times anyway.”

  Why weren’t Brenna and Kyle sharing a room? Have they broken up? They’re not acting like there’s any bad feelings between them.

  Of course, he and Brenna weren’t exactly acting like there were bad feelings between them either.

  The younger Sullivan sister made a shooing gesture with both hands.

  “Scoot. Come back in the morning to relieve us. Bren, I brought you clean clothes–they’re in your room. Sorry, Ron, I don’t have anything for you, you’re on your own.” She added with a smirk, “Wash your underwear in the sink.”

  He returned the smirk. It was almost as if Cassie was giving him her blessing. He was definitely warming up to the idea of being alone with Brenna at the hotel. He had never had the chance to explain what happened with Sarah.

  “I’ve got my duffle bag in the chopper. Let me go grab it and call my pilot to let him know what’s going on.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” He muttered aloud as he punched the elevator button for the roof. There were a lot of scenarios about how tonight was going to play out running through his head–everything from the G-rated version to the X-rated one.

  After getting his bag out of the helicopter, Ron called his pilot to let him know he could return to San Diego tonight without him, or he could wait and go in the morning, possibly still without him. Ron wasn’t surprised that the man opted to leave tonight.

  Brenna was getting off the elevator when he approached from the doors leading to the roof.

  “They moved her into her own room. I didn’t want you to think we’d bailed on you.”

  He chuckled. “I think I’d be able to figure out that at least Danielle wasn’t going anywhere tonight.”

  She pushed the down button. They sat in silence waiting for the car to return until she attempted to make small talk.

  “I’ve been assured by the doctors that she looks a lot worse than she really is.”

  Ron nodded his head. “Thank God for that, because she looks pretty damn awful.”

  “They’ve got her on a lot of pain medication, so hopefully she’s not in any pain.”

  The elevator doors opened.

  “Morphine can do wonders,” he grinned.

  They picked up other passengers as they made their descent to the lobby, so the silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable. When they reached the ground floor, he stopped by the receptionist desk. She didn’t ask him what he was doing; she seemed emotionally spent.

  He waved her car keys when he walked towards her.

  “That was incredible that you did that for me. One less thing I had to worry about. Thank you so much.”

  He nodded. “My pleasure.”

  “Do you mind driving? I think I might be a little skittish tonight on the road.”

  Reaching for her hand, he sympathized. “That’s understandable.”

  She didn’t pull away, so he entwined their fingers together while they walked through the parking lot, only letting go to open her car door. He put his bag in the backseat before coming round to the driver’s side door.

  He told himself he was just offering her comfort, she’d been through a terrible ordeal. He knew deep down it was a lie, yet he didn’t care.

  Once they were on the road for the short drive to the hotel, he found her hand again, bringing her fingertips to his lips. He knew he was playing with fire but couldn’t help himself.

  She smiled and closed her eyes, but didn’t let go.

  Chapter Forty

  Brenna

  True to her word, Cassie had brought a bag with a few days’ worth of clean clothes. Brenna was grateful because in her haste to get home to have lunch with Ron, she had neglected to do laundry in Tucson and was going home with a bag of dirty clothes.

  She took a shower, letting the water symbolically wash away the horrible events of tonight. After drying off, she found the seafoam green chemise in the tweed weekend bag sitting on the counter. She had grabbed her toiletries bag from the trunk–she definitely needed her lotion after spending a few days in the desert.

  Opening the bathroom door, she was rubbing lotion onto her arms and smiled at Ron, who was sitting in a chair watching TV.

  “Bathroom’s all yours.”

  He was staring at her with a strange, but tender, look on his face, and she couldn’t help but blurt out, “What?”

  Ron continued looking at her as he stood and started stalking toward her. “I love that nightie on you.”

  She felt the color rising in her cheeks. The chemise was a little revealing, but she hadn’t even thought to be self-conscious in front of him. She realized now, maybe she should have.

  “It’s my favorite. Very comfortable to sleep in.” Brenna crossed her arms in front of her and eyed the king-size bed.

  It seemed her uneasiness stopped him in his tracks, but he didn’t take his eyes off her. It was like he was contemplating something.

  “Would you mind if I borrowed your car to go to the Target up the road? It appears there isn’t any deodorant in my bag.”

  Would I mind if he borrowed my car? Seriously? Mind?

  “Ron, I would give you my car. And even then, it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to thank you for what you did for Danielle.” Tears threatened to spill onto her cheeks. “I could try for the rest of my life, but there is no way I could ever repay you. Or, for that matter, anyone who helped tonight. Any way I can think of to say thank you seems so trivial compared to what everyone did.”

  “You in that teddy is all the thanks I need.”

  Despite the urge to look away, she didn’t. There was no mistaking the look he was giving her, it was making her belly clench. She bit her bottom lip then finally glanced down.

  Holy wet panties, batman.

  Is it hot in here?

  “Well, I’m glad you like it,” was all she could think to say as she smoothed away invisible wrinkles on the fabric.

  He stepped in closer and ran his fingertips up and down her arms. Looking down at her, his face inches from hers, he murmured, “I definitely do.”

  Her breath caught. She was sure he could see her chest heaving under the silky fabric.

  She took a step back, trying to break the spell he’d just put her under. “Um, would you mind bringing back some bottled water? I forgot my water bottle in San Diego.”

  He smirked and picked up the car keys off the desk. “Sure. Anything else?”

  “Maybe a Twix candy bar?” she asked hopefully.

  He shook his head, the smirk still planted on his face. “Haven’t lost your sweet tooth, I see.”

  Brenna smiled brightly. “Thank you.”

  The door closed behind him, and she scurried about. She needed to be in bed and asleep by the time he returned or she was going to do something she’d regret.

  Or worse, she was going to do something and not regret it.

  They couldn’t be together again. Too much had transpired between them. She didn’t trust him not to cheat, and to top it all off, she’d lied to him. She knew he would not be
okay with that. The best she could hope for was his friendship.

  But, damn, was he delicious.

  Maybe they could be friends with benefits?

  Yet, as soon as she thought it, she knew she’d never be content with that arrangement.

  Tonight was going to be interesting. There was only one bed. Fortunately, it was a king, so they could realistically both sleep in it without worrying about touching each other.

  Unless one of them made an effort to.

  No! Go to sleep!

  She needed to be well rested for tomorrow. She had a feeling she had several long days ahead. She wasn’t complaining. Her daughter was alive.

  Thanks to Ron.

  The super sexy Marine who had, once again, saved the day.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Ron

  The hotel room was dark, so Ron tried to be quiet when he came back in. He took a shower and slipped on his boxer briefs, then slid into bed next to Brenna. He could tell by her breathing that she wasn’t sleeping but her eyes were closed, and she was putting on a helluva performance to try to convince him that she was.

  “Sleeping people don’t usually smile,” he teased.

  That was all it took to get her to crack, and her mouth gave way to a grin.

  “Shhh,” she said, bringing her finger to her lips in the universal sign to be quiet, the smile still on her face, her eyes closed.

  He couldn’t help it, he kissed her.

  And that was after he’d given himself a pep talk on the drive that he was not going to make a move. He hadn’t really forgotten his deodorant, he just needed to get the hell out of that hotel room or he was going to take her against the wall. That goddamn teddy she was wearing was like catnip to a cat, and he was a lion ready to pounce.

  Except he couldn’t pounce until he knew what was going on with Kyle. Yet, the more he analyzed the man’s behavior tonight, the more he was able to convince himself that the former shortstop was no longer a factor in her love life.