“How nominal?” Coop asked, ever the frugal one.
“Only fifty thousand dollars. They’ll give a two year, with an automatic two year extension for an additional fee.”
Alex heard several whistles. Coop swore, “That’s nominal?”
Zak began to lighten up. “Shoot, I think my wife’s father and his buddies on the force would be interested in helping out with that one. They could raise that kind of dough, no problem.”
“Zak, why don’t you have her come up, and you can stay with us?”
Coop interrupted. “Going to make that call,” he said as he exited to the outside.
Alex mulled over his possibilities in case Kyle nixed his request. He could just leave the truck for Zak to use and fly back to San Diego or ride back with Cooper. There were a lot of things about the mission he had questions about since he hadn’t been involved in the original rescue of Ali a year ago.
Or he could attempt to see Sydney one more time. Only question was, would it be smart to call her or let her call him? She’d been obvious she wanted her space. And maybe she was already planning to return or had started the trip back. He knew he had to find out.
Coop walked back through the kitchen doorway. “Okay, Alex, you’re set to fly home tomorrow at oh-six-hundred. Don’t be late. The rest of you, we get back to the winery, load up, and leave.”
Devon locked the door behind them. “We never got to see the guest cottage. There are outbuildings too. I’ll show Zak tomorrow, and we’ll send pictures to all of you. Maybe do a podcast?” She smiled and patted Zak on the back.
“Yeah, we’ll make a YouTube video,” answered Zak, who appeared to be warming up to the idea of staying behind.
Alex gave Coop some gear he wouldn’t be able to bring on the plane. He never went on the road without packing. He doubted the small airline and airport would be forgiving of him bringing any firearm on the plane.
He walked into the bunk room, sat on a creaky chair, and called Sydney.
She picked up, with music and the sound of a crowd in the background. “Hold on a minute, Alex. I can’t hear well.”
He waited. His heart was pounding in his chest.
“Okay. Sorry. I’m having dinner with my friend.”
“Oh, good. That work out for you, then?”
“Yes. We’re excited about working together.”
“That’s great, Syd. Say, I just wanted to say good-bye. We’re leaving for an overseas gig tomorrow, and I’ll be gone for a while. I know I wasn’t supposed to call you—”
“No, it’s all right, Alex. I’m glad you did.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to. I was going to give you lots of space, which it sounds like you need, especially now that you’re focused on your training.”
“Thank you.”
The silence hung between them. It was almost as heavy as the lump in his chest.
“I appreciate your restraint, Alex. I really do. I’ve made some plans. Maybe after dinner we could talk? If you’re not busy.”
“You want me to give you a call then?”
She paused. “I—I know if you’re leaving tomorrow you’ll want to get some rest, and I wouldn’t want to keep you up—”
“Come on, Sydney. Nothing I’d rather do than talk to you again, and I think you know that about me by now.”
“Are you free in person?” He heard her heavy breathing, belying her nervousness. It sparked his need all too quickly.
“I can be free in person. Is that what you’d like?” She didn’t answer him, so he persisted. “Sydney, you gotta tell me what you like.”
“Well, if you’re going to be gone, maybe a proper good-bye? So yes, I’d like to see you.”
“Me too.” He worried that he sounded too urgent.
She paused. Her words were calculated, careful, well crafted.
“Well then, I’ll try to keep the talking down to a minimum.”
“Promise?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s good enough for me, sweetheart. I have to be at the airport at 5:00 a.m.”
“That should give us just about enough time. Barely.”
“I can hardly wait. How much longer will you be with your friend?”
“Stop by and I’ll introduce you two. You should meet Carly. We’re at the Mexican place on the square.”
“Near the motel?”
“That very one.”
“I’ll see you soon, then.”
Hanging up, he wondered what doorway he was entering tonight. And was it a good idea before stepping through the gates of Hell?
But that’s what life gave him, and he’d always been one to make the most out of what he was given.
The future was always uncertain, but tonight was a pure gift.
Chapter 16
‡
Sydney knew Alex had entered the restaurant and was approaching her back from the reaction on Carly’s face. Her eyes got huge, her chest got blotchy, and her normally composed friend fiddled with an errant strand of hair at her temple.
“Um, there’s some really big guy coming toward us, Sydney. Tall, dark, and dangerous.”
Sydney smiled. “I think you’re about to have an Alex encounter.”
“Holy shit,” Carly said as she retreated to her margarita and kept her gaze down.
He sat down next to Sydney, putting his arm around her shoulder, drawing her sideways into him, and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He left his large hand at the base of her skull to massage the upper vertebrae there, which warmed her all over.
She worked up the nerve to turn and face him. His soft eyes said all the right things. “Hey you,” she whispered, with a smile chaser that was returned.
Alex abruptly drew his attention to Carly, extending his hand over the table. “Name’s Alex Kowicki. So you must be Carly, is it?”
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said as she took his hand and then withdrew. Her scrutiny going back and forth between Sydney and Alex telegraphed she was piecing together clues of a very strong sexual pull.
“Well, I imagine I’ll be seeing more of you, then,” Carly started. “Alex, you live up here in Sonoma County?”
“No, ma’am. San Diego. I’m in the Navy.”
“Of course you are!” Carly’s little laugh was suddenly sharp and a little too loud for the room, turning a couple of heads. “Well, I’ll let the two of you get on with your evening, then. Sydney and I are just about done, right?” She ended her statement with raised eyebrows and bowed head in Sydney’s direction.
“Yes, I’ll touch base with you tomorrow, before I leave.”
“Leave? You’re leaving?” he asked her.
“Yes, I’ve decided to move up here and train with Carly. She’s got me a job and everything. I’m going home to get my things, and then I’ll be looking for a place to rent.”
“Oh, and she can stay with me until she does. Not to worry,” Carly piped up.
“I see.” He was looking deep into Sydney’s eyes without a trace of a smile.
“That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to have a talk before you go back, Alex,” Sydney whispered.
“Oh! That’s why then.” He smiled, taking her hand in his. Unashamed to show affection for her, he kissed her knuckles. Peripherally, she could see Carly had closed her eyes briefly. His lips were warm, lingering slightly longer than a normal kiss. She felt the tip of his tongue press slightly between her index and middle finger. She focused on his wet lips and the tiny flare of his nostrils as his thumb rubbed persistently on the underside of her palm. She had totally surrendered to his touch. Again.
“Okay, that’s my cue.” Carly’s voice was laced with a nervous edge. She stood, and Sydney did the same, giving her a hug.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Carly. Thanks for everything.”
Alex was picking off Sydney’s plate.
“We can order you something,” she said, watching him inhale the food.
“Nope, I like yours here.” He sm
iled between bites. “You okay with this?” he asked pointing to her near-empty plate with his fork.
“I’m totally okay with this. I like watching you eat.”
He winked at her, grabbed for a tortilla chip and, after piling on more salsa than she thought possible, lobbed it in his mouth. He wiped his lips with a napkin and stared at hers. “You ready to talk?”
“Whenever you are.”
“Let’s see how far we get. You want another margarita?”
“Sure.” Her insides were melting like butter.
Alex stood and drew their waitress over, ordering a large strawberry margarita. “We’re sharing,” he said as he scooted closer to her. “So, Sydney, you’ve been a busy girl in the last few hours. Tell me about your plans.”
“Carly has some really good hands. Her setting skills are great, she digs as good as I can, and she picks things up quick. She’ll be a good partner for me.”
“That’s cool. What else?”
“There’s this first-class facility here. She coaches a couple of teams, and then works at the gym. We’d have practically unlimited court time, so staying up here, especially after she got me a job there, seemed like the logical choice. I’ve decided I’m moving. The choice was simple.”
“Sounds well thought out. You can tell that much from one workout with her?”
“No, we’ve known each other, played against each other in college. Otherwise, yes, you’d call it an impulsive decision. But being up here, out of the big scene down in Southern California, is healthier for me.”
He was watching her. She could feel his eyes on the top of her head as she examined her fingers.
“And what’s the downside?”
“Well, not being around the circuit live, maybe my intensity will wane?”
“You?”
She laughed with him. “Well, I guess I could stock up on Junior Mints, caffeine and popcorn.”
“But stay away from the movies, sweetheart. At least until I can come up for a visit.”
“Another downside too. I wouldn’t get to see you as often.”
“Well, as it turns out, we might be coming up a bunch more when we get back from the sandbox. Looks like we’ve located a property to purchase. A rundown winery property. I’ll be coming up now and then to lend a hand if they go through with it.”
“That would be fantastic.” Sydney traced over some of the banded tats on Alex’s forearm. She walked with two fingers the three-toed track marks inside his right arm. “What are these?”
“Just something we do on Kyle’s team. We all get frog prints. You know, we’re frogmen and all.”
“Right.” Her fingers touched his chest. He placed his hand over hers and drew it over his heart.
She could tell he wanted to say something but wasn’t quite comfortable with it.
“So you leave tomorrow. Can you tell me what you’ll be doing or how long you’ll be gone?”
“This isn’t our normal workup. Usually we train, then go, and afterwards have a few weeks of light duty stateside. This is something that came up, sort of an emergency mission, involving a friend.”
“Okay.” She could still feel his heart beating as he hadn’t removed her hand from his chest. “But it’s dangerous?”
“Dangerous everywhere, sweetheart. Getting worse by the day. One of the guys you met had his lady kidnapped by a terrorist group up north over a year ago.”
She shivered at the thought of the loss of life happening on the other side of the world.
“Nothing for you to worry about. We got this.”
“I’ve heard that line a few times in movies recently.”
“Yeah, those are the cocky bastards who go running in until the zombies get them.” Alex’s grin was infectious. She found herself laughing at the dark humor.
“I’m glad you’ll be here with your friend. Just keep your eyes and ears open at all times I wish I had time to drive back to San Diego with you and bring you back, but no can do.”
Sydney lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “Well, I have other ideas how we can spend the time together. None of them included riding in my van or your Hummer for ten hours.”
“Well, we agree on that, for sure.”
Alex drove her to the Vintage only two blocks away. Sydney noticed her mood was calm, the result of a good day’s physical exertion. Her emotions were between the lines. Even her heightened arousal and sense of anticipation didn’t take her off kilter. It was the first time she’d felt this way around Alex.
She noticed little things, like the way he sat, removed his shoes, and took his shirt off and laid it over the easy chair carefully. His jeans were folded on the seat. His American flag boxers were also folded. His T-shirt was draped carefully over the arm of the chair, and then smoothed over by his palms.
He hadn’t looked at her while he did these things, or watched her while she undressed. When at last they were both naked, he on one side of the bed and Sydney on the other, they both paused without saying a word. His muscular body had a number of scars and tats she’d not noticed before in their urgent lovemaking of the last two days. His arms were longer than she’d remembered. The little finger on his left hand angled to the side, a little out of joint. He had a crescent-shaped purple scar over his upper thigh, dotted with evidence of old stitches now healed. A fresh bruise and scrape was on one knee. His body had worked hard in his nearly thirty years. His years as a Navy SEAL had taken their toll.
She had more delicate scars, like the surgery she’d had to her left elbow, a tiny scar from being smacked in the face with a glass wall when she tried to play handball and dove like she did on the beach. She had a crooked toe to match his little finger, but Alex wouldn’t be able to see it.
She pulled her ponytail band from her hair, which was the signal for him to slip under the sheets. His tanned torso lying back against the stark white cotton pillowcases nearly took her breath away.
Whatever she’d done to come to this place, this right now, she was grateful for. Life was uncertain. Love could be cruel. Expectations were the darkest and sometimes the ugliest emotions in her soul. But tonight, she had none of them. She was on equal footing with this man who was a trained killer, a man who knew how to win and adapt to his environment. And he was waiting on her, watching her now as she pulled back the sheets, sat, and slipped her feet under the covers.
In seconds her body came to his like a heat-seeking missile, merging with the length of his thighs, and she felt his coarse hands slipping over her body. The taste of his careful, slow kisses sent a shiver down her spine and nearly brought her to tears. He covered her body, resting on his arms at her sides, sliding her long bangs from her forehead, dipping now and then to nibble under her ear or extract a wet kiss with the promise of something deeper. Her fingers touched his cheekbones, and she curled her other fingers behind his ears and then laced through his hair at the back of his head. She brought him forward to speak to his lips.
“You asked me, Alex, who I am.”
He dipped his head lower to kiss her, but she placed her fingers between their lips.
“I’m that shooting star in the night sky. Going on a long, long journey, on my own trajectory. And then I ran into you. And it feels like I’ve planned it this way.”
He chuckled. “Game of chance. Dangerous and beautiful, an exciting combination.”
“Yes,” she said. “Even our first date was a gamble. Arranged by others.”
“Amazingly so.” He was moving against her, angling his hips as he kissed her from her collarbone to just under her ear. And then he whispered, “Sydney, you promised.”
She searched for the answer he was seeking. “Promised what?”
He continued nibbling down her neck, across and under her chin, holding her arms over her head with one of his hands, tucking his hip beneath her left thigh, raising it slightly over his waist so he could find her and slip home. But just before he did, he answered her question.
“You promised not
to talk too much.”
Chapter 17
‡
In the early morning hours, there is truth and honesty, Alex thought to himself. The distractions of daytime and the clashing of needs versus the time available, the sorting and choosing of tasks for specific purposes—all that was washed away in the early morning, honest hours of the new day.
Here, rising from the stupor of a love-lust indulgence, his heart still racing with the intensity of their lovemaking, becoming as close as he possibly could be to her, this magical angel who had stumbled into his life, he had no defense. Nor did he seek cover. He was as engaged as he could be without wearing her skin. But even that he would do if it would bring him more of the pleasure of her being.
It was strange that he’d never realized the hole that was there in his heart, even with the touching demonstrations of human kindness and cruelty he’d experienced being an elite warrior. He’d played his role, more as a means to test his own limits. And now he had something too that could be sacrificed, something larger and more important than his own life.
This time he was going off to battle with the taste of her still sweet on his tongue, something that could be taken away from him forever. Something he never wanted to lose. It was more than the loss of his favorite mutt growing up, or the girl he didn’t get, or the loss of his cousin in the Twin Towers, the early passing of his grandmother, the number of times he’d sworn at his sister Joanne even though she told him he was going to Hell, and the father he never knew. Those were also regrets, scars that certified he was a human being and could feel, could love, could lose.
But never before had he willingly lifted his soul out on a silver platter and handed it to someone else to take, to discard, to not nurture or pay attention to. It was that trust in the space between where she was and where he was. All he wanted to do was show her, tell her that it had never happened to him before.
Band of Bachelors: Alex, Book 2 Page 11
