Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series)

by Hewitt, Theresa Marguerite

  "Me too," he says, wrapping his arms around me as I'm squeezed to his side.

  Our journey into town was quiet as I sat at his side, curled under his arm, the Silverado warm and toasty by the time we pulled into the diner parking lot. It was a little after one-thirty so the lunch crowd was gone and only the regulars remained. Old Man Kelley tipped his dirty Penzoil hat to me and shook Chad's hand as we walked in the door, taking our coats off and hanging them on the rack. Janice Ludwell was at her post, pouring coffee into Jack Spinley's cup and she waved us to sit anywhere. We chose the booth we had sat in the last time and Chad and I slid in, his hand on top of mine over the table.

  "Well you two looked like you were rollin' round in the dirt, what've ya been doin'?" Janice inquired, looking at our legs under the table and raising an eyebrow as she poured our coffee, taking rolled silverware from her apron. She was the definition of a small town diner waitress, her hair in a bun, her portly, plump figure wrapped up in a light green floral dress and covered with a stained white apron.

  I just smile sweetly at her, stirring my coffee, "We were at the cemetery." She seems like she's about to apologize but as she looks at Chad, I see him smile and nod to her. Janice grins and tells us she'll put our usual order in as she scuffles away. I let out a sigh and Chad's hand caresses mine lightly, his blue eyes smiling at me as I look up. "What," I say, shrugging my shoulder.

  "You're cute," he says looking me in the eyes with that oh-so-sexy grin on his face, the one that makes the dimple in his cheek stick out and I can't help but giggle a little. I move my fingers from under his hand and tap them lightly on his skin, zoning out on just the feel of him. Even the slightest, most innocent touch of his skin could send tingles down to my toes. "You gonna be okay," he asks and I can see his brow crease from the corner of my eye, but I just keep looking at his hand and brushing my fingers along the back of it lightly.

  "Yeah," I say, a smile reaching my lips, "I'm gonna be fine." I sat up so that I was leaning across the table between us and I took his face in my hands, pulling his lips to meet mine over our coffee cups. I could tell he was a bit shocked, but his hands came to my cheeks as our lips brushed slightly and then filled with passion as he pulled me closer.

  A shrill whistle broke our moment, our foreheads going together and I can see Old Man Kelley totally spun around watching us from the counter, a wide smile on the face of Jack Spinley as he shook his head and spun back around to face his food.

  We both laugh, sliding back down into our own sides of the booth, his hand settling once more over mine on the tabletop. Our food comes with a wink from Janice as she refills my coffee cup and as I blush she pats me on the shoulder, making Chad chuckle once she'd walked away. The waffle was delicious as always, this time with Bubba's home grown strawberries on top and Chad devoured his chicken fried steak with extra mashed potatoes, leaving nothing but his napkin on the plate.

  With his arm around my shoulders as we left the diner, Chad kissed the side of my head. "You wanna walk around a lil'," he asked, stopping our path to his truck. He turned us more towards the center of town where there was only a few stores and a library. I nodded in my agreement because any time spent with him will be great and we start down the sidewalk, headed first for the library.

  I love reading, so stepping inside the old library and hearing the familiar ring of the old bell above the door a wide smile crosses my face. The musty smell of the older books throughout the two-story building hits me. It brings back many memories of my childhood, spending my days sprawled out in the corner, engrossed in some novel meant for an older woman while waiting for Randy and Chad to come get me from their escapades around town that I wasn't welcome on. I had sat there through winter, spring and fall, reading about romance and fantasizing that just one time Chad would come in on a white horse and rescue me, declaring his love for me. I squeezed his hand as left him at the desk, talking to Henry Green, a kid who graduated with Randy and him, and I headed to the second floor bound for the romance section.

  I ran my fingers along the book spines as I passed the historical romance section, eyeing some titles about Highland warriors rescuing women in distress. Ah, now my favorite section, Paranormal Romance. I was a huge paranormal fan, especially vampires, werewolves all that good stuff. I was an avid Sookie Stackhouse fan and I have read all the books, a new one is due out in May and I watch True Blood on HBO religiously in the summer when the new seasons are on. There was something absolutely amazing about losing yourself in a world where creatures of the night and sons of Luna roamed the pages, sweeping the unsuspecting innocent girl off her feet.

  I thumb through a few different titles but am unimpressed by any of them, nothing really striking my interest until I hear Chad's boots clomping on the staircase, headed my way. I didn't need these romance novels to help fulfill my fantasy of having the man of my dreams, because, well frankly he was walking steadily towards me and I peek my head around the bookshelf out so he can see me.

  A smile breaks out on his face from ear to ear and I can't help but return it, my cheeks flushing, "How did I know I'd find ya up here," he asks, shrugging his shoulders and winking at me.

  I laugh because it's only the hundredth time he's found me up here since I was about nine. He takes the book I had in my hand [one of the Highland warrior romances], thumbs through it with a raised eyebrow and throws his arm over my shoulder. "You remember that time when you were maybe ten and I came up to get you and caught you for the first time readin' one of these," he shakes the book in the air and I giggle because I do remember.

  "You were so embarrassed," he pinches my cheek and gives me the book back as I punch him in the shoulder.

  "Yeah and you sat down on the bean bag chair with me and had me read it out loud to you," I lean back against the shelf behind me, my face flushing at the memory of how I whispered the words to him. "It was the major love scene too," at that Chad bursts out laughing, "and you did just that, making me throw the book down and run out crying. You embarrassed me so much that day." He's laughing hard and trying to say he's sorry, but I just shake my head at him, giggling the entire way down the stairs to go check out my Highland Warrior romance.

  Chad finally composes himself and joins me at the desk just as Henry hands me the little paper bag he had put the book in and I can see he notes that Chad is still laughing slightly. "Boys," I mutter and walk out, leaving Chad to catch up with me as I head towards the small grocery store about two blocks down. I can hear his boots lightly falling on the concrete as he jogs up to me, his hand wrapping in mine and our fingers entwining. He jerks my arm, pulling me into him and he kisses my forehead.

  "You know that day when you read to me," he started to say, pausing me and turning me so that I faced him, "I was what, fifteen, and I only yelled out, "That's so lame", because at that time it seemed like it. It was all lovey and gushy and just didn't seem to me, being a fifteen year old male, as if it could be real." He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, tipping my head up so that I was looking right in his eyes. "But I know now that love is like that, because that's how I feel with you." My hands go to his chest and I'm up on my tiptoes in a split second, kissing him as my hands grip at his jacket, squishing the paper bag that holds my library book.

  "You still embarrassed me," I say with a smile, swatting at his chest as he pulls me into his side, continuing our stroll to the grocery.

  Channing's Chuck Wagon was our local grocery store and deli. They carried a variety of foods, including a large vegetarian and vegan section and they had a small deli counter where you could order a generous sub sandwich with a cup of their house roasted coffee. Their coffee was great and the smell of it hit me as Chad grabbed a cart. The store was all but empty except for the little old lady here and there, and I spotted Ms. Jenkins who lives up the street from Chad, and me, I guess now. She spots me and I wave while she gives me a sweet smile, nodding to Chad as he comes up behind me. No doubt the news of my moving in with him had spread like wildfire
throughout the salon where Ms. Jenkins spends her weekdays, along with some unsavory rumors I can imagine.

  We roamed the aisles, picking up random items here and there. We spent what felt like ten minutes in the cereal aisle arguing over what kind was the best, finally settling on peanut butter Captain Crunch. As I led the way around the end to the next aisle, I was rammed by a cart, my eyes finding non-other than Holly Unger behind it. Her bleached-blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she had a fresh bruise across her cheek and a cut above her nose, right between her eyes, which were locked on mine, trying to bore a hole in my soul. Trying to ignore her, I push the front of her cart from my thighs, my hand going next to Chad's on the handle of ours as we pushed by her.

  Her arm shot out and her French manicured nails wrapped around my forearm, pulling my face within inches of hers. "Just wait, bitch," she hissed in my face, her breath smelling of cigarette smoke and whiskey. I yank my arm from her grasp, watching her teeter from the force of it as Chad pulls me into the next aisle. I shake with anger towards her and go on with the task of grabbing groceries, laughing and joking with Chad throughout the rest of the store, getting stares and whispers from the shoppers around us. Borrowing one of the fold-up carts from the store manager, Jerry Holiday, Chad promises to return it tomorrow as he waves back at him, leaving the store with our six bags of food and heading for the hardware store.

  Leaving the cart with our groceries behind the counter with the clerk, my high school 'boyfriend' [using the term loosely because we did nothing but make out a few times over the six months of being together] Gary Jinger, Chad and I stroll through the hardware store hand-in-hand. He leaves me at the paint counter and tells me to pick out some colors for the bedrooms and the living room as he looks at some doors in the back and I watch him walk away with the owner, Ken Remmings. I stand back and look at all the colors, trying to see if one catches my eye as I scan over them.

  Picking up a selection of light blue colors I strain my ears, trying to see if I can hear what Chad and Ken are talking about, but I can't hear anything but the country music playing softly in the background. Hmmmm, I think because the selection of doors isn't that far away, I should be able to hear something, but I shake it off and turn my attention back to the paint colors. I pick out a medium light blue color for our bedroom and a lightly darker blue for the spare bedrooms, having the clerk Gary mix them for me as I hym and haw over one for the living room. I strain my ears one more time to see if I can hear Chad's voice and this time I do, but it seems a little farther off than just the door section, but whatever. I go with a golden orange color for the living room to match the kitchen and go with Chad's dark brown couches. Gary is mixing it just as Chad appears with Ken, walking towards me from the front of the store.

  "Took ya long enough," I say with a smile as Gary sets the five gallons of paint up on the counter and I see his eyes go from me to Chad, a sly smile on his lips and I cock my head at him. Gary just ignores it and takes the paint to the front counter with Chad, Ken and I on his heels.

  "I ordered some new doors and locks," Chad says over his shoulder as I look over the small candy selection Ken kept well stocked at the register, "Ken and a couple of his guys are gonna deliver and install them later next week." I nod without looking at him, my fingers running over the bag of Sour Patch kids. "Is that okay?"

  "That's fine," I say quietly, but just the mention of next week casts a shadow over my mood. Next week I'll be without Chad. I'll be in that big house, in that big bed all by myself and he'll be somewhere in danger.

  Chad's hand comes to my cheek, snapping me out of my little reverie and he smiles at me, pulling our cart with groceries out from behind the counter with our cans of paint stuffed on the bottom. I'm silent as Chad says goodbye to Ken and Gary, thanking them for their help and saying he knows the doors will look great and we're out on the street again, the breeze still chilly.

  I'm still pretty quiet, still mulling over what next week will bring, when Chad and I snuggle into the couch with our delivered pizza and cups of Pepsi on the coffee table. He pulls me into his shoulder, his fingers on my chin forcing my eyes to meet his. "Talk to me," he says, his blue eyes searching my face while his fingers caress my cheek, the warmth causing me to lean into his touch, placing my hand over his and holding it to my cheek.

  "I'm just... just scared," I say quietly, leaning my forehead to his and running my fingers along his chin, igniting my nerves with the scratch of his beard. I sigh heavily, "Scared for you," I say, meeting his eyes, seeing the concern buried deep within the blue color. He pulls me onto his lap so that I'm straddling him, his hands caressing my cheeks, pushing stray hairs back from my face and rubbing into the back of my neck, getting my eyes to close in a second of ecstasy.

  "Listen to me," he whispers, pulling my face to his and his hot breath tickles my ear, "I will not, I will not, have you worrying about me. I will be just fine. I'm going to do my job and come home to you so that we can start our family." His hands move down my neck, over my shoulders, and down my back, pulling me into him so that my cheek rested on his. His lips found my ear sending a shock of excitement through my limbs, my legs trembling slightly as his lips traced my jaw, meeting mine in a sweet kiss. He pulled me in tighter, turning up the heat of our embrace with one hand on the back of my head while the other spread out on the small of my back.

  "I love you Chad," I say, breaking our kiss for a split second before kissing my way down his neck, his body pressing into mine, his hands on my hips bringing me to him. His hands slipped under my shirt, tugging it over my head in one swift movement, his hot touch setting my bared skin on fire as his fingers trailed along my sides and back.

  "I love you Rhea," he smiled, pulling me to him again in a feverish display. "I always have and always will." I can feel his smile against my neck as I run my fingers through his hair, tugging it loose from the small rubber-band that held it back.

  The pizza was cold by the time we got to eat it, but it was worth it. WELL worth it.

  CHAPTER TEN:

  January 27, 2012

  I have three more days.

  Three more days to be with my Chad. To be with the man of my dreams before he goes only God knows where to do his country's bidding. That thought has kept me awake since about five and it's now eight as I sit here at the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee underneath my chin as I support my head with my hands. I know he told me not to worry, but who wouldn't be worrying right about now?

  Thoughts of Rosa keep creeping in my mind as well, and thoughts about her unborn baby. I was worried that her weekend with us at the cabin where she drank, a lot, would harm her baby in the long run and if it did that would make me feel horrible. I had text her about an hour ago, asking her how she was doing but she hadn't replied, but it was still early. I had begun to think of Rosa and Reno as good friends and I would hate to think that the first time we met had a permanent mark on their child because of our drinking and Rosa being unaware that she was pregnant. I sigh loudly, rubbing my hands back and forth over my face and turn to see that the sun is still casting a rosy glow through the sky, the frost on the grass making the yard look like an icy wonderland.

  According to the weather man on the twenty-four hour news TV station it was going to be a bit warmer today, the high being around 52 degrees, so I didn't mind the chilly start. Last time I was up stairs, Chad was sprawled out on the bed snoring. I just didn't have the heart to wake him up, but I know the smell of the freshly made coffee will reach him and bring him down, eventually. A smile reaches my lips as I hear his footsteps on the stairs while I'm reaching in the fridge to take out the cinnamon buns I had made when I first woke up.

  Chad's hair is all over the place as he shuffles into the kitchen, his slippers making a scratching sound as he bellies up to the counter in front of the coffee pot. He yawns and scratches his beard as he stirs his coffee, giving me a wink as he disappears into the living room and I put the rolls in the oven. Only seconds later I can
hear his XBox start up and it makes me giggle thinking that he's going to play Halo this early in the morning. Searching through the fridge I find a half full container of cream cheese frosting and I throw it on top of the hot stove to warm up so that I can pour it over the cinnamon buns when the first few gunshots on the television ring out. Peeking around the corner I see Chad on the floor, leaning up against the couch with a headset on. I can hear him joking around with someone who I can only guess is Reno, since he's a video game addict like Chad.

  He is so cute sitting there, his hair almost down to his shoulders in the gentle waves of light brown and grey. He has on a black tank with his blue plaid pajama pants, his brown moccasin slippers shaking back and forth as his legs are outstretched under the coffee table. The oven timer dings bringing me from my day dream and Chad notices me staring at him, giving me a wink as I retreat into the kitchen, a blush reaching my cheeks. Flipping the buns out of the pie pan and onto a plate, I pour the perfectly liquefied cream cheese frosting over them, bringing the container with me as I take the plate and set it in front of Chad, seeing his eyes go wide and his tongue dart out to lick his lips.

  "See, something you like," I joke, turning my back to get my coffee, feeling his hands dart around my waist and I squeal as he pulls me down on top of his lap. "Stop," I giggle, pushing my hands on his chest as his arms tighten around me. "Play your game," I kiss him quickly but am pulled in for a long, passionate one and I can hear Reno through the ear piece on Chad's head. "Hi Reno," I say into the mic as I get to my feet, scuffling away as Chad swipes at my feet.

  "Get back here, “ he yells after me, following it with a hearty laugh, "I'm not done with you woman," he jokingly adds. Grabbing my coffee and refilling it, I bring my cup along with the pot into the living room, approaching quietly as Chad chats away, his eyes locked on the TV screen. Setting my cup down I stand off to the side, giving Chad a raised eyebrow with my hand on my hip, the hot coffee pot in my hand. Looking up to me, he gives me a weird look saying, "What?"