A SEAL's Strength (Military Match Book 2)

by JM Stewart

  Char gave a sad little nod. “Yeah. She had a tumor. But Aunt Molly says she’s in heaven now, so she’s all better.”

  “You know, I lost my mom when I was about your age. She was sick, too. For a really long time. I’m sure your aunt Molly’s right, but I still miss my mom like crazy.”

  “Yeah.” Char let out a heavy sigh, then just as suddenly brightened a bit. Her brows rose, hope filling her eyes. “Aunt Molly and me went to the bakery. We got muffins and bagels. ’Cause Dad forgot the eggs.” She pursed her lips and gave a stern shake of her head, sending her curls bouncing. “He never ’members to go shopping.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m a terrible cook. I think we both know you’re better off eating with Aunt Molly.” Gabe darted a glance at Steph and shrugged. “Julia always did that stuff.”

  “No, you’re not. You make the best spaghetti.” Char looked to Steph again. “Do you want a bagel? They’re my favorite.”

  Steph bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling as she watched the exchange. Molly, she noted, seemed to be doing the same. Gabe would have his hands full with this one when she was a teenager. She already had her father on a string.

  Steph smiled and nodded. “A bagel would be lovely, thank you. Just so happens they’re my favorite, too.”

  Char flashed a thousand-watt smile, eyes lit up and all but glowing, and skipped around the counter to lift the lid on the bakery box. “With lots of cream cheese, right?”

  Steph swiveled her chair to face the counter and curled her hands around her coffee, grateful for the ease settling over the kitchen again. “Is there any other way?”

  Char ducked into a low cabinet and pulled out an odd-looking device that resembled a guillotine. She set a bagel inside the holder, then pushed down the handle, slicing the bagel neatly in half without risk to her fingers.

  Gabe set his elbows on the edge of the counter, his gaze on Molly, who seemed to busy herself with cleaning an already sparkling kitchen. “You know, Steph and I knew each other in college.”

  Molly’s head perked up, surprise in her gaze as it darted between Steph and Gabe. “Really?”

  Char pulled the bagel from the slicer and set it on a paper plate, gaze now intent on Steph. “What was he like?”

  The memories filled her mind, of the first six months she’d known Gabe, and Steph let out a quiet laugh. “Your dad always had a gaggle of girls swooning over him. When we met, he was on the track team, a sprinter. You should have seen him when he crossed the finish line. Ever watch football?”

  Char rolled her eyes. “On Sundays. I don’t like it.”

  Steph nodded. “You know those funny dances the players do when they make a touchdown? That was your dad when he won a race.”

  Char giggled.

  Gabe shook his head, frowning down into his coffee, but one corner of his mouth hitched upward. “Yeah, thanks for that.”

  She nudged him playfully with her elbow. “And funny. I could never stay mad at him ’cause he always made me laugh.”

  Molly leaned her hands on the counter and smiled. “I’m dying to hear how you two met.”

  Steph’s chest grew heavy. Of course he hadn’t ever mentioned her to his family. Because he’d clearly forgotten all about her. He’d moved on. And while some part of her understood, she couldn’t deny that the knowledge did, indeed, hurt.

  Char paused in the middle of spreading cream cheese on the bagel and looked up, brows raised. “Please?”

  Who was she to deny them?

  * * *

  Two hours later, she stood with Gabe on the front porch. He’d walked her to the door, pulled her outside, and closed the door behind them.

  As she stood alone with him now, even after the great breakfast with his daughter, an awkward awareness floated around them. She’d spent the last two days making love to this man. They’d eaten together, showered together. Now? Their weekend was officially over, and her stomach tightened at the thought of not seeing him again.

  He reached out as if to touch her, hesitated, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’d kiss you, but the blinds are open behind me. Chances are, they’re in there watching us.”

  Steph leaned sideways enough to peek around him. He was right. Molly and Char stood in the living room, heads bent together, gazes darting back and forth to the window.

  Steph laughed. “Yup. I’m betting you get the third degree as soon as I leave. You’ll just have to settle for a hug.”

  When she opened her arms, he stepped into them, wrapping his tightly around her. He held her there a moment before turning his head to kiss her cheek. His voice came warm and husky in her ear. “Thank you. I owe you for that.”

  “Nope. You’d have done the same for me.” She held on to him for a moment longer than necessary. “It was good seeing you, Gabe.”

  He pulled back first and released her, once again stuffing his hands in his pockets. Deep grooves formed between his brows, regret taking shape in his gaze. “Take care of yourself, Steph.”

  “You too.” Heart sinking into her heels, she rested a hand against his chest and leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his stubbled cheek. Then she squared her shoulders and forced herself to turn away. They’d agreed on a weekend, and it was over. Exactly as it should be.

  * * *

  “Soo…” Mandy plopped unceremoniously down onto the couch beside Steph, her face lit up like a child’s on Halloween night. “How was it? Come on. Spill.”

  Seated on the love seat kitty-corner to the couch, Lauren grinned. Her eyes twinkled with merriment and mischief. “Elise told me you brought a hunk into my shop. Too bad I missed him.”

  Steph sighed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t contain a grin of her own. A few hours after she’d gotten home from Gabe’s, Mandy and Lauren had arrived on her doorstep. Lauren had been holding a white bakery box, which meant she’d brought goodies. Mandy’s face had held a telltale grin, which meant they’d come for “the deets.” The moment they’d entered her apartment, they’d berated her for having ignored their mountain of calls and texts over the weekend. Then they began with the twenty questions.

  Steph shrugged. “Not much to tell. He was nice.”

  At some point she’d have to tell them the truth, but she didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it. She knew two things for positive. One, that Gabe had gotten to her. For a few blissful days, she’d gotten to see him, talk to him, indulge her senses. And it had reminded her of all the minute reasons she’d fallen in love with him years ago. In fact, she was pretty sure she liked him better now.

  She also knew her best friends. These two would try to talk her into seeing him again, and she couldn’t let that happen or she’d end up where she’d already been—in love with a man who couldn’t love her back. She’d gotten what she wanted from this weekend, but she was having to leave him behind for the second time. And just like eleven years ago, it was an ache in her chest she didn’t know what to do with.

  When she wasn’t forthcoming, Mandy blinked at her. “That’s it? That’s all we get? You were gone all weekend and all I get is a ‘he was nice?’ I’m assuming you spent the weekend with him, because you didn’t answer my calls.”

  Steph grinned, reached for her cup, seated on the coffee table, and attempted to distract her best friend. “All ten thousand of them.”

  Mandy pursed her lips and leaned forward, snatching a chocolate chip cookie from the box on the table. “Oh, it wasn’t ten thousand.”

  Steph laughed and sipped at her now lukewarm coffee. “No, only a dozen.”

  Lauren flashed a sugar-sweet smile. “Come on. Spending an entire weekend with someone isn’t like you, and I’m dying to know. How was he? Was he what you hoped? Was he different from the rest?”

  Steph held up a free hand and laughed. “All right, all right. I’ll dish.” She bit her bottom lip, then squeezed her eyes closed. She’d have to let them in on the truth sooner or later. Might as well be now. “Gabe.�
��

  It was awful to tease, but she had no idea what their reaction would be when she told them who, exactly, her date had been. Her jangling nerves told her she didn’t want to know.

  “Gabe who?” As expected, Lauren’s question filled with recognition and suspicion.

  Steph sighed and opened her eyes, forcing herself to face the two of them. “Donovan.”

  Lauren’s mouth dropped open, brows shooting up into her hairline. She leaned forward, depositing her cup onto the coffee table. “Oh my God. Trent’s Gabe?”

  Steph nodded and leaned back, resting her head against the couch. “He and I knew each other in college. I haven’t seen him in eleven years. All this damn time and it turns out he’s been living right around the corner.”

  “I’ve only met him a handful of times, but Gabe is seriously hot.” Mandy nudged her foot. “I’m dying to know…How was he?”

  Steph couldn’t resist a giggle. Mandy’s eyes gleamed with playful impishness and girlish camaraderie. God, she loved these women.

  “You can’t tell anybody.” She darted a glance between them and then pointed at Lauren. “Especially Trent. The last thing I need is for us to end up the topic of gossip.”

  Lauren made a crisscross motion over her heart but gave a sympathetic frown and shook her head. “Of course, but for what it’s worth, Trent would never tell anybody. It’s not his style.”

  Mandy just shrugged. “Who do I have left to tell?”

  “Thank you.” Steph closed her eyes, memories from the night before moving through her mind like movie clips. Gabe’s mouth on her body. His hands on her ass, pulling her to him. A hot little shiver moved over the surface of her skin, and God help her, a sigh worthy of a high school girl with a crush escaped her. “He still melts my knees. Hell. Who am I kidding? He melts my everything.”

  Mandy giggled.

  “Are you going to see him again?” Lauren asked.

  There it was. The question she’d known one of the girls would ask sooner or later. She wasn’t any more ready for it now, though, than she had been the night of her date.

  Steph opened her eyes and jerked upright, taking a sip of her coffee before answering. “No.”

  Mandy pursed her lips. “Why the hell not? You haven’t gotten that look about any man since Alec.”

  “For one, he has a daughter, and second, he’s still mourning his wife’s death, which is how it should be, but it means he’s got ‘complicated’ written all over him.” She swirled her mug, watching the last of the caramel-colored liquid slosh in the cup. “I’ll admit it. I agreed to go with you guys to Military Match because I wanted something more. I’m tired of being alone. I’ll even admit Gabe was everything I needed this weekend. But I can’t allow myself to get wrapped up in him again.”

  Both girls went eerily quiet and exchanged suspicious glances. Lauren shot her a worried frown, but being the shy one of their trio, seemed to be holding her tongue. Steph had no desire to go back to one-night stands, and they both knew it.

  Mandy laid a hand on her leg. “Honey, the first man you’ve met in two years who you want to see again and you’re not going to because he’s exactly what you want?”

  Steph couldn’t hold back her grin. Damn it all to hell. Leave it to Mandy to make it all sound so simple. “Pretty much.”

  Mandy shook her head, sending her dark curls bouncing around her chin, and furrowed her brow. “How the hell does that make any sense?”

  Steph laughed at the blunt observation and turned a raised brow at Mandy. “This coming from the woman who has a crush on her brother’s boss and won’t tell him.”

  Mandy’s face turned as red as a fresh, ripe Red Delicious apple. She stuck her nose in the air and reached for another cookie from the box on the table. “Marcus Denali doesn’t even know I’m alive.”

  Mandy had had a crush on Marcus from the first day she’d met him. Steph couldn’t blame the poor girl. Like the rest of the guys who worked at the motorcycle shop, he was ex-military and all muscle. Unfortunately, though, despite Mandy’s shameless flirting, he hadn’t given her the time of day so far.

  Lauren took sudden interest in her coffee cup. Ever the polite one, she took an extended moment to sip carefully at her coffee before speaking again. “Food. Entice their appetites and you’ll get their other appetite going, if you catch my drift.”

  Mandy grinned from ear to ear. “And this coming from the virgin.”

  “Ex-virgin, thank you very much.” The corners of Lauren’s mouth twitched. “And I’m telling you, it works every time. Trent even admitted that his attraction to me started because I force-fed him chocolate. I brought him dinner and dessert one night, and as usual, he was grumpy. So I told him he clearly needed to eat and shoved one in his mouth. Heck, that month we spent together, we’d often meet for dinner and it would lead…elsewhere.”

  Mandy let out a quiet groan and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Forgive me. I’m ecstatic you and Trent are together and so disgustingly happy, but I do not want to know the details of my brother’s sex life.”

  Steph laughed and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “She’s right, though. Fill a man’s belly, and he’s yours. Find out his favorites and cook him up some.”

  Lauren winked at Mandy. “It just so happens Marcus is a sucker for a good homemade chocolate chip cookie. I can teach you to make them, but really, if you can follow a recipe, you can make cookies.”

  “That’s a nice thought and all, sweetie, but I caught a conversation between Marcus and the guys from the shop a couple weeks ago. Trent had them order me a part I needed to fix my bike, and when I went to pick it up, the guys were teasing Marcus about his latest conquest. Some bottle blonde with big boobs from the sound of it.” Mandy rolled her eyes and waved a hand over herself. “And here I am, a five-foot-two-inch, curly-haired brunette who can go jogging without a bra.”

  Lauren shot Mandy a mischievous grin as she bit into a cookie. “I wasn’t Trent’s type either.”

  Mandy flushed to the roots of her dark hair but turned to Steph, brows raised. “Is that what you did with Gabe? Enticed him with food?”

  Steph gave a half-hearted shrug. “It wasn’t planned, but sort of. We had dinner and took dessert back to his place. It’s what we used to do, back in college. Dinner and a movie. Just without the movie this time.”

  Lauren set her cookie on a paper napkin on her leg, her expression sobering as she glanced at Steph. “Why don’t you want to see him again? I mean, if you’ve got history and the chemistry is still there, it seems to me he’d be the perfect person to find your feet with again.” She shrugged.

  Steph drew a deep breath and released it. “I had to watch him walk away from me once, when his parents died, and I can’t do it again. A weekend fling with a nice guy? That I can handle. A step in the right direction, you know? But I’d be nothing more than a rebound to him. Better to end it now while I’m still in control than later when I’m lost in him all over again.”

  “You know.” Coffee cup in hand, Lauren rose from her seat and maneuvered her way around the furniture, heading for the kitchen. “You could always do what I did. Give him a month and see how it goes. You were friends once, right?”

  “Yes, but I ended up falling for him.” Steph pushed off the couch, following Lauren. “Besides. I remember how miserable you were when that month ended.”

  Lauren paused in the middle of refilling her mug to glance over her shoulder. “Because I missed him. But I didn’t regret it. Not a single moment. Not even at the end.”

  Steph opened her mouth to voice a protest, but Lauren shook her head and held up a hand.

  “All I’m suggesting is that you enjoy him for a while.” She picked up her mug, winking as she passed Steph on her return to the living room.

  Steph refilled her cup, but Lauren’s suggestion wouldn’t leave her mind. Was she right? She and Trent had started out as friends. Military Match pairing them together had almost seemed like an omen. Laur
en had gone into that date intending to lose her virginity to a nice guy and had, in the end, asked Trent to be her first lover. It was how their month-long fling had started.

  But could Steph do the same thing with Gabe? Could she go back to what they’d had in college, hot sex with no strings attached? That was the problem. She didn’t know if she could. Not without falling for him all over again.

  Lauren reclaimed her spot on the love seat, tucked one leg beneath her, and looked between Steph and Mandy. “So you guys are coming to the engagement party, right?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Steph shot a smile over her shoulder as she poured a measure of creamer into her cup, then followed Lauren back into the living room.

  Mandy raised her brows. “It’s Saturday, right?”

  Lauren nodded as she sipped at her coffee. “At your parents’ place.”

  “Mom’s taking over, I assume?” Mandy rolled her eyes.

  Lauren let out a soft laugh. “Like she did with Will and Skylar, yeah. We’re letting her. It makes her happy, which makes Trent happy, and it takes the pressure off me. We want to keep it simple, though. Just close friends and family.” She peered over at Steph, eyes glittering with mischief. “Which means Trent invited the guys from the shop.”

  Dread sank, hard and cold, in her stomach. So Gabe would be there.

  She’d have to see him again, would have to shove down the overwhelming desire that would no doubt flare again at her first glance of him.

  Desperate to distract herself from that particular line of thinking, she waggled her brows. “Now, about the bachelorette party…”

  Chapter Eight

  Gabe slotted the plate into the dishwasher, tossing a smile at Molly as he reached into the sink for another. “Thanks for offering to take Char tonight. Trent said she was more than welcome to come, but I think she’d have a better time with you and the kids.”

  “No problem.” Molly, standing beside him in the kitchen, scrubbed at another plate, her gaze on her task. “So. Steph’s nice. I like her. Char did, too. Have you seen her this week?”