Drew stood and answered the door. Out of all his friends, male and female, Justin was the one who most liked cats and had the best rapport with Lola. In fact, Drew suspected the cat was a little bit smitten with the tan, good-looking blond surfer.
“Hey, man. Sorry I’m a little late,” Justin said as he entered the house. “Where’s Lola girl?” He let out a realistic sounding yowl, and the cat trotted gingerly into the room.
Justin knelt and extended a hand to pet her.
Drew decided to take advantage of the distraction to get the carrier. A few moments later, he was sneaking up behind the cat with it, and before she knew it, he’d swept her inside and was zipping up the black dufflelike bag that had been designed with little air holes and mesh windows to carry pets.
She let out an angry growl.
“I’m sorry it has to be like this,” Drew said, “but you brought it on yourself with that box springs stunt.”
When he’d secured the cat, he showed Justin what to feed her and when, then helped him carry the cat, the food and a litter box out to the car. Last, he went inside and grabbed his suitcase.
Once they were all in the car and on their way, Justin said, “So you’ve got your final training regimen all laid out?”
“Mostly,” Drew said vaguely, not wanting to get into the details, such as who his new coach/training partner was.
“And you got my e-mail about my diver friend’s contact information?”
“Yep, thanks for that.”
“I envy you, man. Wish I was jetting off to the tropics right about now. Any chance you invited some female company along, like I advised you to?”
Drew kept his gaze straight ahead, trying to appear casual. He made it a rule not to lie to his friends. But he’d also promised Kylie he would remain discreet. His promise to her had to come first. “I’m going solo this time,” he lied. “I just want to focus on training.”
“Hey, I can understand that. Just make sure you take a break from it sometimes, too. Otherwise you’ll burn yourself out before the test.”
“My last week there, I’ll probably ease up and relax. I’m scheduled to start the official S.E.A.L. test the week after I get back.”
“And that’s four weeks of hell you’ll need to be fully rested for.”
Drew nodded, part of him relishing the idea of having his body and mind put to the ultimate endurance test, and part of him terrified of failing. He’d wanted this for so long, and he’d trained so hard, and it was maddening to think that one little slipup or one off day could cost him this dream.
From the backseat, Lola let out a mournful yowl as they went around a corner, and her carrier slid across the seat.
“Do what you need to do to take care of yourself mentally, too,” Justin added. “You’re going to need to be in top form in every way possible—”
Drew tuned him out. He knew all this, and he could tell his friend was simply keyed up on his behalf. He’d watched a good buddy prepare to take the S.E.A.L. test—and fail at it—so he knew how hard it was to watch a friend endure such an ordeal.
But even knowing the pitfalls, knowing what he had on the line, nothing really seemed like that big an ordeal after the shooting. Nothing seemed nearly quite so important as it had a couple of weeks ago. Sure, he’d be horribly disappointed if he failed to make it on to the S.E.A.L. team. But he was alive, which was more than some of his colleagues could say. Somehow watching comrades die out of combat for no good reason put life in perspective—sort of the way Abby’s death had, only in a more brutal, grimmer way.
And that was why he would continue his campaign for Kylie. He understood a little of why her career meant so much to her that she’d avoid anything that might jeopardize it. But he didn’t agree with sacrificing potential happiness for a job. In a way, he had to protect her from the stronghold the Navy had on her.
All of a sudden keeping her from losing herself to the uniform, from becoming only Lieutenant Commander Thomas, seemed like the most important thing he could possibly do right now or ever.
Whether she wanted his protection or not, she was going to get it. He felt an overwhelming sense of affection for her already. And the thought of her never again being the sexy, warm woman who’d shared his bed was almost too much for him to bear. Maybe the strength of his feelings was misplaced—the result of having saved her life and now having a vested interest in ensuring she squeezed the most out of that life. And yet, in a way, his feelings seemed entirely appropriate for the heat they’d generated a few nights ago.
“So,” Justin said, his tone announcing that he was about to pry. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Lieutenant Commander Thomas the other night?”
Drew sighed, tearing his gaze away from the view out the passenger window to regard his nosy friend. “No, I’m not.”
“You can’t hold out on me forever, you know.”
“I’m pretty sure I can.”
“Must have been a damn good night if you’re being that tight-lipped,” Justin said, and Drew tried not to grin.
“Stop it.”
“I’m just saying…”
“It’s none of your damn business.”
“Wasn’t I the one who pointed out how hot she is for you?”
“I’m eternally grateful for your meddling, okay? Are you satisfied?”
He wasn’t sure why he resisted telling Justin what had happened. He knew Justin could keep his mouth shut. Drew supposed he wanted to protect Kylie’s privacy, but it wasn’t only that. It was, he realized with a twinge of shame, that he wasn’t sure how he felt about going public with the fact that he’d slept with his boss. He didn’t want anyone to think the upcoming promotion he was due was in any way a result of doing his superior officer.
And that quickly, he had an inkling of Kylie’s concerns. The insight wasn’t enough to convince him to change course on the seduction, but it was enough to help him understand where she was coming from.
“Not at all.”
“Then you can just use your imagination and make up whatever it is you hope happened.”
Justin smirked. “Dude, I don’t want to picture you naked.”
“Thank God,” Drew muttered, relieved that he wasn’t going to be pressed for any more details.
Whatever happened behind closed doors between himself and Kylie was to be the subject for his own fantasies and no one else’s.
10
KYLIE STEPPED OUT onto the balcony of her hotel room in Honolulu and breathed in the lush, tropical air. It was harder to fill her lungs here, the air was so thick with moisture, but the ocean breeze made up for the humidity. As did this view. Her room looked out toward Waikiki beach and the Pacific Ocean, where the sun was getting low in the sky now. Soon the sunset would be breathtaking.
Her first assignment out of the Naval Academy had been in Hawaii, and she’d always counted herself incredibly fortunate for those two years spent in paradise. Being stationed here had been exactly how she’d pictured her service. It was the polar opposite of the Iowa farm where she’d grown up, and some part of her had needed that extreme change of settings. The Naval Academy in Maryland had wrenched her out of childhood and turned her into an adult, in every sense of the word. Arriving in Hawaii and realizing that she was truly on her own, a world away from the life she’d always known, had introduced her to the potential that existed beyond her upbringing.
So being here now felt both nostalgic and disconcerting. Nostalgic because she loved this place, and loved that time in her life when assigned here, yet disconcerting because she equated Hawaii with momentous change. She wasn’t sure she could come here without being transformed by it.
She sat on the chaise longue and stretched out her legs, letting herself relax into the new setting. Maybe what she needed now was a transformation, after all. Maybe she needed to become someone new, someone different. Or maybe she needed to reexamine her priorities. Maybe she’d outgrown her previous life plan and needed a ne
w one that suited her better.
She closed her eyes. Foolish thinking. She had a good life, a solid career…
And it all felt a little hollow, in the face of the shooting.
Before she could contemplate the matter further, she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Kylie crossed her room to the door and opened it. There stood Drew, smiling and holding two open bottles of beer.
“You work fast,” she said, stepping aside for him to come in.
“Flying always makes me thirsty,” he said. “And it’s room service that works fast, not me.” He grinned, and her insides did a little flip-flop.
Damn it. She had to stop responding to him that way. He was eight years younger than her. There was no way anything serious could come of their attraction. And she didn’t want a fling.
Okay, that wasn’t completely true. She did want something, or she wouldn’t have come on this trip. And if a fling was all she could have…She’d be lying if she claimed she’d agreed to this trip expecting they could spend weeks together in paradise without something happening.
She just wasn’t ready to examine her motives too closely…especially with him in her room and the bed right there.
This was the first time they’d seen each other since he’d issued the invitation, and she felt impossibly awkward. She hadn’t been able to get a seat on the same flight as him, so they’d arrived separately, but only a half hour apart. She’d called him when she’d gotten into her hotel room, and he’d promised to bring drinks over.
He stopped at the sliding glass doors to admire her view, so she crossed the distance between them and said, “You’ve got the exact same view, don’t you?”
His room was right next door to hers, after all. That, at least, she’d been able to arrange at the last minute even if the proximity seemed to go against her we-can-only-be-friends position.
So what the hell was she doing? Walking into a field of emotional and physical land mines, most likely.
“Yep, but it’s a damn good one.”
“Definitely worth the elevator ride up sixteen stories,” she agreed, then turned and said, “Cheers.”
He clinked his beer bottle against hers. “To vacationing in paradise,” he said.
Kylie took a long drink of her beer, an ice-cold Dos Equis that went down deliciously smooth. As she swallowed, she realized Drew was staring at her.
“What?” she asked self-consciously.
“It’s amazing how different you can be. I mean, your demeanor at work doesn’t fit with how you act away from it.”
Kylie felt her cheeks warm at his observation, particularly because his expression made it clear which aspect of her he preferred. Then she cursed herself. She was no blushing schoolgirl, and she shouldn’t have let a guy’s attention affect her that way. It was absurd.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said to cover up her embarrassment. “I’m the same person as always.”
He shook his head, not buying it. “No, you’re different.”
“How so?”
“You just seem so much more…womanly, away from work.”
Kylie glared at him. “That’s sexist bullshit.”
“No, it’s not. You can’t convince me you don’t suppress some part of yourself at work.”
“Everyone does. It’s not a phenomenon relegated to women.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest it was. But you especially seem to turn off some essential female part of yourself.”
Kylie couldn’t deny that. She supposed a lot of women did it to survive in male-dominated subcultures.
“In case you haven’t noticed, the Navy isn’t exactly a bastion of femininity.”
“No, and you’re probably smart to keep yourself…restrained or whatever.”
“I don’t ever want to be accused of using my gender to get a promotion.”
Drew nodded, appearing thoughtful. “What made you decide to become a Naval officer, anyway?”
“Long story,” Kylie said, walking out onto the balcony.
She sat on the chaise again, and Drew followed her, taking a seat on the other chair.
“Great thing about vacation is, we’ve got nothing but time on our hands.”
She sighed. “My dad always talked about his time in the Navy with such pride and wistfulness—completely atypical for him. My parents are God-fearing Iowa farmers. Anyway, he made his service years sound so romantic that I grew up fantasizing about joining the Navy myself. I just pictured it being this idyllic life at sea, traveling to exotic places and all that.”
“You must have been a good student, to make it into the academy.”
Kylie nodded. “Straight A’s. I was a good girl…at least on the surface.”
“Do you ever regret it?”
She took another sip of her beer, wanting to avoid such a probing question. A month ago, she’d had few regrets, certainly few she’d acknowledged. But lately they seemed to be crawling out of the woodwork. “Yes, sometimes I do. I think maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a leader, since it’s partly my fault what happened—”
“No,” Drew said sharply. “Don’t put that on yourself.”
Kylie shook her head, refusing to listen to him. “I could have done things differently. When I think about how I handled Caldwell…”
“You did the best you could at the time, and there’s no way his behavior is your fault.”
“I think I did treat him unfairly,” she blurted. It was her first time admitting it to herself, let alone saying it to anyone else.
“How so?”
She took a long drink to rid herself of the sudden dryness in her throat. “I overreacted. He was accused of rape by a female seaman, and I was in charge of the investigation. In the end, there wasn’t enough evidence to be sure what really happened. And…I took her word over his.”
“But there was some evidence that he’d raped her,” Drew argued.
“It wasn’t definitive.”
“What made you decide against him?”
“My gut,” she said quietly.
“Even if he feels he was treated unfairly, that doesn’t justify shooting up an office building full of innocent people.”
“I know,” Kylie said. “It doesn’t. But I’m haunted by the thought that I could have prevented the whole thing.”
“So am I. I mean, for different reasons. It’s a natural reaction to this kind of thing,” he said in an attempt to make her feel better.
It wasn’t going to work. Kylie knew her role in the tragedy. And it was maddening that she couldn’t turn back the clock, make a different decision in the rape case….
“Stop doing that to yourself,” Drew said. “I can see the wheels turning in your head.”
She sighed heavily, then drained her bottle.
“I’ll try to stop,” she said. “Maybe if I drink enough, I’ll forget.”
“That’s a slippery slope we’ve both already gone down,” Drew warned.
“Yeah, and it’s only a temporary fix.”
“But it sure feels good while it lasts,” he said with a wry smile.
Kylie couldn’t help but laugh. It had the pleasant effect of easing some of the awkwardness she felt.
“What about you?” she asked to change the subject. “Why’d you join the Navy?”
“Pretty much the same reason you did.”
“Didn’t I hear somewhere that your dad was a S.E.A.L.?”
“He was, yeah.”
“Is that why you want to become one?”
“Hell, no,” he said, a sudden harshness in his voice that shocked Kylie.
“Okay then. Never mind that question.”
He glanced up at her, looking chagrined. “Sorry. I don’t have any good feelings about the man.”
“Then your reasons for joining the Navy aren’t anything like mine. How about giving me the real story?”
The beer, on an empty stomach, had given her a light buzz, and she felt herself loosening up, relaxing as her thoughts a
nd words became less clouded by inhibition.
“What I meant was, I grew up with those same notions in my head of a life in the Navy, traveling across the ocean and all that. Visiting exotic ports, sleeping with exotic women.” He grinned.
“Yeah, yeah. That wasn’t part of my fantasy,” she said, and he laughed.
“By the time I was a teenager, I hated my dad for leaving us the way he did. I guess I wanted to prove to myself and to him that I was twice the man he was, that I could walk the same path as him, but do it a hell of a lot more honorably.”
“Was he an officer?”
Drew nodded. “Yeah, but he got a dishonorable discharge for conduct unbecoming. Bastard deserved it, I’m sure.”
“What did he do?” Kylie dared to ask.
“Had an affair with another officer’s wife, but that was long after he left my mother. He was married to his second wife then, and my sister and I hardly ever saw him.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ve already proven yourself. You’ve got the makings to be a great officer, you know.”
Drew looked a little uncomfortable at the compliment. “I guess the real question is whether I can make it past the S.E.A.L. test.”
“I’m sure you can,” Kylie said, though she knew there was no way to be sure. The test was incredibly strenuous, and one slipup could spell doom for an otherwise perfect candidate.
“Want another beer?” Drew asked, indicating her empty bottle.
“Actually, yeah, I do.”
He nodded, then stood and left the balcony, then she heard him opening the door to her room. A few minutes later, he returned carrying a bucket of ice filled with beer. He smiled when he noticed her eyebrows raise. “I ordered a six-pack, but didn’t want to seem too presumptuous by showing up with all this beer at once.”
He opened a bottle for her and she downed another long drink. The cold beer tasted heavenly in the warm, tropical air. She should probably eat something before drinking any more, but she never felt hungry these days. Her stomach was tied up in knots half the time.
She looked at Drew, at the way the late afternoon light shone golden on him from the side. It was the kind of light photographers loved, and seeing him now, she wished she had her camera. He was too gorgeous for words, and she could hardly believe she was here with him now. Why did he have to be her subordinate? And why did he have to be so damn tempting? And eight years younger? And not even remotely appropriate for her?
Seducing A S.E.A.L. Page 8
