Catch (Coronado Series Book 4)

by Lea Hart

  “Welcome to the Beach House Restaurant. We hope you enjoy your evening with us.” She set down a fancy tropical drink in front of Rachel and a beer in front of Chris. “Your appetizers will be up shortly.”

  Rachel picked up her drink and held it up to toast Chris. “It seems, Mr. Ellis, that you’ve put a bit of planning into this evening. What a lovely surprise.” They clinked glasses and smiled at one another.

  “I thought I would get us started off. You get to choose the rest of your meal.”

  Rachel tried her drink and smiled. “I’m going to have to sip this one. Otherwise, you’re going to have to carry me home.”

  “That good?”

  She held out the drink to him. “Taste it.”

  He took a sip and winced. “That is way too sweet. It’s like having dessert.”

  She took the glass back, sipped again, and smiled at him. “This might be my favorite memory of our trip so far. Before we came here, it was the look on your face as you watched me step out of the gate naked. It took everything I had not to start laughing. I was hoping that the myth surrounding SEALs being fast was true. I had no desire to walk all the way to the water.”

  He let out a big laugh and smiled into her eyes. “You had me fooled. I thought you were enjoying it.”

  “I figured the only people up that early in the morning were going to be the older couple next door. Worst case, I was going to give an eighty-year-old man a free show. I want you to know that I was surprised how fast you got to me.”

  “I’m not far off the required seven-minute mile mark that I maintained when I was active. I will always catch you, Rachel Miller. It doesn’t matter if you’re naked or not.”

  “Good to know, Mr. Ellis.” The waitress brought their appetizers, and they dug in and enjoyed the view. “Chris…I’ve always wanted to go in the ocean naked. Do you think that’s possible? I don’t want to become an exhibitionist, but I would love to experience it.”

  “I’ll take you out tonight. We’ll go after ten, and I’m sure that no one will be out there. Just wear your robe and drop it at the last second. I’ll wrap you up in my arms until we get in. I’m wide enough to block someone’s view.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Rach, I’d do anything for you.”

  Leaning over, she kissed him. “And I you. Whatever you want.”

  He thought that was good news in light of his plan for the evening. They made their way through the meal, and as they were about to finish, a loud couple was seated next to them. They started bickering and didn’t stop. He didn’t want to ask her with the two idiots next to them. Time to improvise. Maybe on the beach. “Are you ready to go, honey?”

  She smiled sweetly at him and rolled her eyes at the couple sitting next to them. “I’m ready for my swim. Let’s go home.”

  ***

  They walked down to the beach wrapped up in the robes that they found in the closet. Chris had stashed the ring box in his pocket and decided to propose down at the beach. “Are you ready for this, honey?”

  “I’m ready to get in the ocean. You have to promise to stay close behind me.”

  “Trust me, honey. No one is getting a view of you naked. I’m the only one who is going to enjoy that view for the rest of our lives.”

  “Okay. Tell me when to drop my robe, and I’ll run into the water.”

  They walked close to the water, and Chris took a final look around before he gave her the signal. “Clear.” He heard her squeal as she dropped her robe and ran into the ocean. There had never been a better sight than Rachel running naked under the moonlight, laughing. When they were old and most everything had faded, this memory would burn strong and clear in his mind.

  He dropped his robe, making sure that the ring was still secure in the pocket, and followed her in. As he got closer to her, he lifted her, carried her into the water, and fell backward into it. Out of the thousands of hours that he’d spent in the ocean, this was by far the finest. He held his naked girlfriend against his body as the warm Hawaiian water rushed around them and the trade winds brushed their skin. “Well, we made it.”

  She held on to him and pressed her mouth against his neck. “Oh, Chris. This is better than I ever imagined. Probably because it’s with you. Everything is better with you.” They swam out into the break, and Chris kept her in his sights as they moved through the water. It was low tide, so the waves were lapping around them as they floated. Chris stood, and Rachel swam up to him. He pulled her against him.

  “If we have sex out here…would it count as public sex?” Rachel asked.

  He stared down at her to see if she was serious. She apparently was. “Yes, honey. I think in the ocean on a public beach would definitely fall within the guidelines of public sex. Is that what you’re interested in?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know how the whole saltwater thing would turn out. It could cause problems that I’m not even aware of. I guess I’ll pass for now. I may do some research and have a different answer later on. We could make out under the moonlight, though.”

  “Yes, we could. Let’s do that for a while.” He held on tight as she plastered herself against him and let his mouth fall to hers. This was another memory that was never going to leave him. Not for a minute or an hour for the rest of his life. She pulled back and studied him.

  “Chris, would you marry me?” She stared at him and felt his confusion. “I know it’s crazy to think about it, because we’ve known each other for only a short time. But I feel certain that you’re the one for me. I want to try to make you happy. I love you because I know no other way. I have no choice about it, and I’m actually quite pleased about that.”

  A smile spread across his face, and he kissed her hard. “Honey, I’ll marry you. I’ve been working on asking you all evening. I was going to do it at the restaurant, but that couple kept arguing, so I thought I could do it out here.” He started swimming them into shore as Rachel clung to him and laughed like crazy. Walking out of the water with her in his arms, he grabbed their robes, and quickly wrapped them up.

  “So you said yes…right?” she asked.

  He sat on the beach, pulled her into his lap, and checked the pocket of his robe. “I will marry you, Rachel, but first, I want to know if you will marry me. I promise to protect you and love you with my whole heart for the rest of our lives.” He pulled the box out of his pocket, opened it, and showed it to her. “Marry me, Rachel Miller, and make me the happiest man in the world.”

  She looked down at the ring and then up at him, let out a squeal, and pulled his face against hers. “I would love to become your wife. I hope you’re ready to have me around all the time.”

  “That’s all I want, honey.” He slipped the ring on her finger and watched the tears slip down her face as she smiled. He’d finally given her a reason to have tears of happiness. “I can’t wait to call you Mrs. Ellis.”

  “I like the sound of that…Mrs. Ellis. Thank you for catching me, Chris.”

  “That’s all I ever wanted to do, Rach. I will always catch you.”

  The End

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  Laird

  &

  Lexi

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lexi walked off the elevator and rolled the stroller into the offices of Security Alliance International and let out a silent groan. Maybe delivering the cookies in person wasn’t such a good idea after all. Suddenly nervous, she glanced through the glass wall that separated the lobby from the beehive of activity behind it and wondered about her sanity. Laird was probably terribly busy doing important security type things, and he wouldn’t want to be bothered.

  Maybe she could just leave them with the receptionist and then take Bella down to the park. Excellent
idea…drop them and run. As she approached the desk, she wondered if the man that had assisted her was as handsome as she remembered. Somehow, a picture of Laird as a super hero had lodged in her brain. And no matter what she did, she couldn’t change it. He probably didn’t even remember her or the day he helped her out.

  “What do you think, Bella?” Gazing at her beautiful daughter, she let out a small sigh. “Right, let’s make this quick and then head down to the park. There’s no need to see his face when he can’t remember us.” Pulling the tin of cookies out of the basket at the back of the stroller, she straightened and stood in front of the desk. “Hello, I was wondering if I could leave these for Laird Benson.”

  The receptionist gave her a friendly smile and then hit a couple of buttons on her phone. “I’ll give him a buzz and let him know you’re here.”

  “No, that’s not necessary. I’ll just leave them with you.” She was about to turn the stroller around when she realized that the receptionist was asking her something.

  “I’ve got him on the line. What is your name?”

  “My name is Lexi, but I doubt he would remember me. He helped me out with my car last month, and those are thank you cookies. He doesn’t have to interrupt his work day. I can just leave them here.”

  A tall man entered the lobby and stopped to listen in on the conversation. “Did you say those were thank you cookies? Like cookies you made in your kitchen?”

  Staring up at the imposing man with a military style haircut and tattoos covering his arms and hands, she took a step in front of her daughter’s stroller. “Yes…to both of your questions.”

  Slapping his hand on his leg, he let out a low moan. “First Chris gets cookies in his lunch, and now…who did you say those were for?”

  “I didn’t. I made them for Laird as a thank you for helping me out last month.”

  “Laird gets cookies. The man has no charm, and yet he gets a beautiful woman to make him cookies. I tell you, the world has gone crazy.”

  Muttering under her breath that the world wasn’t crazy, but he probably was, she slowly backed away from him and his strange obsession with cookies and started to roll her daughter’s stroller toward the door. “All right, then…I’ll be leaving.” As she released the brake on Bella’s stroller, she glanced up and watched Laird run down the hall. He was moving at full speed and shoved the door open and skidded to a stop in front of her. “I didn’t think such a big man could move that fast. Did you run track in high school?”

  Heart pounding one beat below heart-attack range, he tried to take a big gulp of breath. Get it together, man. Act cool. Okay, that probably wasn’t going to happen, since he ran at her like a twelve-year old. But he could try not to scare her. “Hi, Lexi. I’m so happy to see you.” Staring down, he realized she was more beautiful than he remembered. And taller…glancing down at her feet, he noticed she was wearing sandals that added three inches to her height. Damn, she had a great set of legs. “Is everything all right? Do you need me to help you with anything?” Placing his hand gently on her arm, he stared at her hopefully. Please, let me help you.

  “Hi, Laird. I just made some cookies to thank you for helping me out. I’m sorry it took me so long, but Bella and I have been busy, and time got away from us. One of her doctors is on the next block, so I thought I would come by today and drop them off. I baked two other batches, but I never made it over, so I ended up eating them.” Looking down at her daughter, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway…thanks.”

  David piped up from behind Laird. “I like cookies, so if you ever have extras, then you can give them to me.”

  Laird shoved his elbow back and missed David only by a millimeter. “David, quit scaring my friend. Go back to work and leave us alone.”

  Leaning slightly forward, Lexi lowered her voice and asked, “Does he always behave this way when there are baked goods around?”

  When she shifted closer, he became aware of her scent as it enveloped him. The smooth curve of her neck was revealed as she pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. And he locked down his muscles to keep himself from inhaling her and then planting a kiss on her very smooth skin. That would be considered inappropriate before they had a date. Even he knew that. “Baked goods?”

  “Yes, he just told me about someone else who got cookies, and he seems slightly on edge about the whole thing.”

  Turning, he gave his friend a cursory glance. “Nah, I think he’s going through some sort of existential crisis. Don’t worry about him.” Hearing the baby fuss, he watched her bend over the stroller to check on her daughter and noticed the curve of her hip. Was it pervy to be turned on by a woman who was taking care of her child? No, probably not. He was fairly certain that she had no man in her life, so it wasn’t like he was trying to poach. That was a hard and fast rule for him, and one he would never break. All the research he’d done on her suggested that she and her daughter were alone. So, admiring her was probably okay.

  “Well, that’s my cue. Bella’s done, so we’re going to head out.”

  She held her hand out and smiled. “Thanks for your help last month. I want you to know that I renewed my Triple A, so Bella and I will be safe on the road.”

  Holding her hand gently in his, he grinned down at her. “Consider putting my number in your phone, and you can call me whenever you need something. I’m much better than Triple A.” Her smile froze on her face and he realized that might have been too much. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Don’t scare her off. “So…can I take you ladies to lunch?” Peering into the stroller, he smiled at Bella and noticed her eyes grow big. Maybe seeing a large man’s face loom over your stroller wasn’t comforting? He straightened up. “There are lots of good places nearby.”

  Placing her hand on his forearm, she shook her head. “No, thanks. We’re heading down to the park for some fresh air. We’ve spent the morning at her cardiologist, and I don’t think she has any more good manners left in her. I want to give her lunch and some fresh air, and then we’ll head home for therapy.”

  “Okay, I’ll grab some sandwiches for us, and we can enjoy the sunshine. There is a great deli next door.” Smiling confidently, he placed his hand on the small of her back as though to lead her out of the office. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight without spending some time with her first and seeing if his dreams lived up to reality. So far they had. “Are you ready?” She nodded faintly and he silently congratulated himself. Assume success as the only outcome. It had been his attitude on the Teams for sixteen years, and he didn’t see any reason to change it now. Turning, he grabbed the tin of cookies and gave David a glare. “Better take these with us.”

  Bella let out a sharp sound of protest as Rachel rolled the stroller out of the office. Stopping outside the doors, she got her daughter out. “What’s up, buttercup? Tired of being in your stroller?” Lexi lifted Bella out of her stroller and cradled her head as she checked her diaper. “She’s still fresh, so she must be hungry.” Holding Bella in one arm, she pushed the stroller with the other when Laird slipped his hand under hers and lifted it.

  “Let me push the stroller, since you’ve got your hands full.” He watched her debate with herself and then relinquished it reluctantly. “See, I’m handy to have around.” Placing a hand on the small of her back, he led them to the elevator. “So, how did the appointment with the cardiologist go this morning?”

  Glancing up, she tried to determine how interested he was in the answer. Did he just see her as someone who needed saving? Well, she didn’t need saving. She was just fine.

  Hugging Bella closer, she felt his gaze drag down her body. Perhaps it wasn’t about saving at all. Was it possible that he was interested in her as a woman? A warm rush of pleasure filled her chest at the thought of this very handsome man possibly being interested. A man hadn’t noticed her in over two years. As a single mother of a daughter with special needs, she wasn’t used to a man looking at her like he wanted to kiss her. Laird was staring as
though he was making a plan to consume her and, as soon as he figured one out, he was going to do it. “It went well. Thank you for asking.”

  “What constitutes well when Bella sees her cardiologist?” The doors slid open, and they stepped on.

  “That’s a loaded question. Well is determined by the fact that we don’t need to go back for six months. That, in and of itself, is a miracle. It means that Bella has time before the surgery that will repair the hole in her heart. That she didn’t need to have it in utero is another miracle. The fact that she didn’t need to have it immediately after she was born was one more miracle. That she’s made it until nine months and we have a six-month reprieve is another. The longer we can wait, the better, because the bigger she is, the easier and less risky it will be.”

  “So…this is typical for children with Down syndrome?”

  “Yes. Statistics say that it only happens for fifty percent of the population born with the extra chromosome, but I think it’s much higher. In my group of friends that have children with Down syndrome, it’s eighty percent. You know when you get the diagnosis that it’s almost a given that your child is going to have heart issues.” Kissing her daughter’s head, she beamed into her face. “But my Bella boo is lucky. We get to wait.”

  The doors of the elevator slid open, and Lexi walked out. Laird followed her into the lobby. “Let’s go left out of the building, and I’ll stop at the deli. What kind of sandwich would you like?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled like an idiot at the man who was offering to buy her lunch. She knew it wasn’t a date, but it was as close as she’d gotten in a long time. “I like turkey, so whatever they have with that would be great.” As they strolled through the lobby, she glanced up and admired his handsome face. He had light brown eyes, a strong jaw, and a mouth that made her think about kissing. Feeling herself blush, she silently admonished herself for letting her imagination run wild. Get yourself under control.