by Tawny Weber
“Go on,” her dad said after giving her a quick squeeze. “You have things to do.”
“No.” She looked around the room, so glad she wasn’t ever going to have to plan one of these things again. “My part is done.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Genna looked toward the podium, her eyes immediately finding Brody. She’d done this for him. To honor what she thought he believed heroism to be. To give everyone, including herself, a chance to show their gratitude for what he and others like him did. And, maybe, to give him a little closure.
She hadn’t thought about after, though.
And now that it was here, she was nervous.
“Maybe later. This is his moment. I’ll talk to him after the crowd disperses.” Or at his gramma’s. Or maybe she’d write a letter.
“Excuse me.”
“Or you could try now.” With an inclination of his head and a twitch of his lips, her father gave Genna an arch look and said, “Good luck.” And left.
Just like that. Years of overprotective hovering and he chose this moment to let her sink or swim?
Her nerves jangling so hard in her system, she was surprised her entire body wasn’t vibrating, Genna pressed her lips together, took a breath and turned around.
Oh. He was so gorgeous.
She’d never been one of those women who swooned over a guy in uniform before. But Brody in uniform? Delicious.
“Can we talk?” he asked quietly.
She wasn’t sure she was ready to. She’d been so nasty to him before, then instead of trying to fix things, she’d arranged an event he’d specifically said he didn’t want.
“Seriously? You want to talk?” she asked, trying to sound as if she was teasing instead of nervous. She gestured to the group of still-surrounded men. “It looks like the admiral is leaving―shouldn’t you say goodbye? Why don’t you spend this time with your friends? I’ll be here if you want to talk later.”
Here, home, somewhere.
But Brody didn’t even look around. Instead, those golden eyes stared, intense and hypnotic. Genna wanted to squirm. Not from nerves this time, though. Nope, that was pure sexual heat in that gaze. The kind that made her want to strip him out of that delicious uniform and taste everything underneath.
“C’mon,” he said, taking her hand. Fingers wrapped around hers, he led her to the door. “I can talk to them later. We need to talk now.”
Later?
Unlike Brody, Genna looked back. She caught Blake’s eye. The other man, admittedly dashing in his uniform, gave her a slow nod. For the success of the event? Or because he thought Brody might be returning to his team? Blake’s expression didn’t give anything away. Damn, these men were hard to read.
Still, she didn’t ask. Not while Brody led her out of the building. Not when he looked around, then guided her over to the small gazebo across the street from the town hall. Not when he took off his hat, tossed it on the bench and took her hands.
She did melt a little then, though. It felt so good to touch him again. It wasn’t until this second that she realized how afraid she’d been that she’d never be able to again.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, before he could say a word.
“What for?”
“For yelling at you. For trying to push you into doing what I thought was best. For going ahead with this event, knowing your feelings about it.”
“For thinking I was a hero?”
“Hardly.” Genna gave him an are you kidding look. “If you don’t want to see yourself that way, that’s fine. I mean, who wants a guy who thinks he’s so awesome he should be declared a hero?”
“Say what?” Looking confused, Brody shook his head as if trying to clear his ears. “I thought you thought...”
“That I thought you were a hero?” she finished when his words trailed away. At his sheepish nod, she pulled both hands out of his to frame his face. Staring into his eyes, she smiled. “I don’t think you’re a hero. I know you are. You’re my hero. Whatever else you do, whether it’s saving the world or pouring whiskey, you’ll be my hero. Because you saved me. From myself, from my fears, from wasting my life.”
He started to shake his head, so she hurried on before he could interrupt.
“You helped me realize that I have to stand up for myself. And that even if it isn’t welcome, that sometimes we have to stand up for others.”
She waited to see if he understood that she didn’t blame him for trying to protect her. Again. When he tilted his chin, she knew he did.
“I’m strong enough to build my own life, Brody. To make it with you, while you’re by my side. Or while you’re away, serving our country. I’m even strong enough to survive without you.” She had to stop and swallow the tears that threatened to choke her words. “You’re my hero. And I’m strong enough to be yours.”
For a brief moment, Brody looked so vulnerable. His gaze was soft and his smile sweet. He leaned down, resting his forehead on hers, and closed his eyes. A heartbeat later, he brushed a gentle kiss over her lips.
“I love you,” he whispered. “Forever. I think I’ve loved you forever.”
Too happy even for tears, Genna offered an ecstatic smile. She brushed her fingers over his cheeks, then sighed.
“I love you, too. Just as much, and for just as long. You really are my hero, Brody. You always will be.”
“Lane.”
Brody held Genna’s gaze for a long, heart-melting second longer. Then, transforming before her eyes, he came to attention, did an about-face and saluted.
“Sir.”
“Report for duty Monday morning at oh-six-hundred.”
Genna pressed her fingers to her lips, trying not to cry. She’d never thought she’d be so happy to hear that the man she loved was committing to spend a huge amount of time away from her. But she’d never thought she’d love someone like Brody, either.
“Yes, sir.”
His face blank, Blake returned the salute. Then he flashed Genna a quick smile and a wink before rejoining his grinning wife.
Brody waited until they were out of earshot before turning back to take Genna’s hands.
“So. I have to go back to work,” he said quietly. He brought one hand, then the other, to his lips to brush each with a soft kiss. “For the next month, at least, I’ll be based in Coronado. I can put in a request for military housing instead of the barracks. Or I can come back here and visit on weekends for a while. Until you decide what you want to do.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Whatever makes you happy.”
“You,” she said simply. “You make me happy.”
And there it was.
Genna was smart enough to recognize happy ever after when she was staring right at it. And wise enough to know that while it wasn’t always going to be easy, her life with Brody was going to be amazing.
Her lips met his, their kiss as sweet as their declarations.
They were going to live happily ever after.
* * * * *
A SEAL’s Kiss
Tawny Weber
1
Two years ago
WEDDINGS GAVE HER the heebie-jeebies.
Patriarchal rules wearing the pretty mask of traditions and ancient promises that were rarely kept? Definitely not her thing.
A wedding night might be nice, all things considered. Champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex with a man who’d just promised to worship you forever? Not a completely horrible idea.
But to sign your life away to get it? To the same man, day in and day out, ’til death do you part?
Sage Taylor gave a delicate shudder.
She’d rather wear a three-piece suit and give lectures to businessmen on the merits of climbing the corporate ladder through backstabbing, undercutting and sexual favors. Or maybe be staked to an anthill naked while covered in hot fudge.
The only celebrating she wanted that included champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex would come—no pun
intended—when she found a guy who could keep it up long enough to worship her until she melted. And who needed forever for that? All she needed was one good night.
Or maybe a weekend.
“What’d you think of the wedding, dear?”
Even though she was pretty sure Mrs. O’Brian couldn’t see the naked all-night-sex images playing out in her imagination, Sage still winced.
“It’s lovely,” Sage said, leaning down so the elderly woman could brush a parchment-dry kiss over her cheek. Not a lie. She’d never lie, especially not to the woman who’d taught her to read. But lovely was one of those nice, safe statements that could cover so many things.
Like the weather, with its bright sunshine and cool breeze. Just right for a springtime wedding in a winery.
Or the bride, one of Sage’s oldest and dearest friends, who looked so happy she glowed almost as bright as the sunshine.
Or the wine, Sage noted, taking a sip from the glass a passing waiter handed her.
“You made a lovely bridesmaid,” Mrs. O’Brian noted, holding her own wineglass up to peer at it with a connoisseur’s eye. “I’m sure your father was thrilled to see you at the altar. Any chance you’ll be there again soon? Perhaps wearing white?”
“Me? White?” Sage wet her lips, nerves dancing in her stomach. The soft green satin of her bridesmaid dress was as close to wedding accoutrement as she wanted to get. And pretty much as close to wearing white as she warranted. But that wasn’t the kind of thing you told a seventy-year-old woman at her niece’s wedding. “Um, well...”
“Sage? AnaMaria wants more pictures,” Nina Wagner said, tucking her arm through Sage’s. The other bridesmaid looked the part much better than Sage ever could. Of course, with her sleek black hair and model looks, Nina was at home in the strapless satin sheath in a way that Sage, with her dreadlocks and multiple piercings, could never appear.
“Ahh, pictures,” Mrs. O’Brian said with a wave of her hand. “Go, go. Smile pretty, girls.”
Sage went, went, as fast as she could move in the foot-pinching stilettos.
“You looked scared,” Nina said, laughing as she pulled Sage across the room toward the buffet.
“She thinks I should be getting married,” Sage said, shivering at the thought.
“That is scary.” Her arm still tucked tight through her best friend’s, Nina laughed even as she scanned the crowd, scoping out the possibilities. Probably looking for a groom of her own.
At her friend’s low hum of appreciation, Sage followed her gaze across the room.
As usual, Nina had scoped out the best-looking guy in attendance.
Chief Petty Officer Aiden Masters. Otherwise known as the geeky guy Sage had grown up with.
A protégé of her father’s, Aiden was chronologically three years Sage’s senior, and mentally thirty years older. But growing up he’d been a social infant compared to her natural ease with people. So while her father had nurtured his mind, she’d figured it her job to keep him from becoming a stodgy old man before he was seventeen. Clearly, from his ease at moving through the crowd, she’d done her job well.
It wasn’t just that he was one of the tallest guys there. Or that the contrast of his short black hair and hazel eyes stood out against the vivid white of his military uniform. It was that Aiden Masters was hot.
Under that uniform was a body that sent women into fantasy mode. Fantasies that, for some bizarre reason, most of them seemed to want to share with Sage. Worse, though, was when one of them managed to make their Aiden fantasy into reality. They liked to share that, too.
Sage was all for reaping the kudos on a job well done, but hearing about Aiden and other women tended to make her teeth hurt.
And the idea of Aiden and Nina?
Um, no.
No way.
Their energies wouldn’t match, nor did their personalities. For all her matrimonial goals, Nina was the eat-’em-up-and-toss-them-aside type. And Aiden, well, he might be a navy SEAL, but he still needed protection from some things.
“Aren’t we supposed to be joining AnaMaria for pictures?” Sage asked, turning her head toward the bride and groom who were posing under a grapevine arbor across the lawn.
“I just said that to rescue you. Have you already forgotten the cheesy chorus of photos that were taken before the ceremony?”
“How could I?” Happy to have distracted her friend, Sage made a show of grimacing and patting her cheeks to see if they’d recovered from all that smiling yet. She glanced over her shoulder at Mrs. O’Brian. The elderly woman was now in deep conversation with a group of people, giving their wine the same assessing looks, definitely not checking to see if Sage was really getting pictures taken. Still, Sage hated lying. Even little lies, since they were like snowflakes. Put enough of them together and they snowballed. And usually hit you splat in the face when you were least prepared.
As if hearing her thoughts, Nina rolled her eyes, pulled her cell phone out of the tiny purple purse hanging from her shoulder and wrapped her arm around Sage’s waist. Heads together, they smiled pretty and Nina snapped the shot.
“There. You had your picture taken. Now can we get on to the good stuff?”
And this, Sage realized, was what she’d missed about being home. Three months hiking through Tibet was awesome. She’d worked with a charitable organization focused on bringing health care to the women there and had been so touched, she’d written daily blog posts on her website, Sage Advice, that she’d later sold as a series of articles to three magazines to pay for her trip home.
But as great as that’d been, nothing could beat good friends who knew you inside out and had a history that went back to kindergarten.
“What’s the good stuff?” Sage asked, still smiling as she inspected the buffet. As to be expected for a Northern California winery wedding, the tables were heavy with appetizers of local produce, cheeses and gourmet delicacies.
“Your love life, of course,” Cailley Heath, the third bridesmaid said as she joined them, choosing a juicy red strawberry off the fruit bouquet shaped like a heart. “I want to hear all about sex in Tibet.”
“Shhh,” Nina hushed. When both Sage and Cailley gave her confused looks, she tilted her head toward the nearby table where two men were sitting, their heads together in serious discussion. Ahh, Aiden had found his other half.
He and Sage’s father tended to become inseparable whenever Sailor Boy was on leave. Discussing the latest theory in quantum physics or evidence of an ancient tribe that’d been discovered in a far-off jungle, no doubt.
Sage snickered, then teasingly shook her head at Nina.
She could have danced naked with every man in the room right there on their table, and they wouldn’t have noticed.
“What?” she teased. “You think my father has no idea I have sex?”
Not that it was a topic of regular discussion. Typical of the Professor, when it was time for the birds-and-bees talk, her widowed father had a local nurse chat with Sage, filling her in on all of the pertinent details.
After which her friends had filled her in on the juicy ones.
“Your dad might know you have sex,” Cailley teased. “But does Aiden?”
“I’m sure he does,” Sage said with an exasperated roll of her eyes, pretending the words her, Aiden and sex in the same sentence didn’t send a naughty thrill to all the wrong places. “The real question is, why would he care?”
“I dunno. The way he looks at you sometimes is pretty intense,” Cailley said, her tone turning serious enough to make Sage twitchy. She shrugged it off, though. Aiden didn’t look at her as anything other than a friend. A flaky, weird friend whose father was his mentor.
“He always looks intense. That’s just Aiden,” Sage said dismissively, focusing on the buffet instead. With all the choices, she wanted to try a little of everything here. Which would be much more satisfying than talking about a guy who even found ways to straighten the straight and narrow.
“Just as
well,” Nina replied, filling her own plate with salad, no dressing. “A sexy SEAL might be fun for a fling, but he’d definitely be a bad idea for the long term. I want a guy who’ll be around all the time. Ready and willing to fulfill my every wish.”
Sage laughed, but Cailley gave a dissatisfied grunt.
“You’ve always known exactly what you want,” the blonde said with a heavy sigh.
True. While Sage had no idea what she wanted, and bounced from idea to idea, first in her one-year attempt at college, then later in her varied and sundry jobs throughout the country.
But Nina was totally focused on exactly what she wanted. After graduation, it’d been to get into UC Davis. After college, it’d been to get a job as a viticulture researcher at the local winery. And now, at twenty-five they all knew getting married was next up on Nina’s schedule.
“You know what you want,” Nina said in a soothing tone.
“I don’t think move out of my mom’s apartment and find a job that pays enough to cover my student loans is exactly knowing what I want,” Cailley said, her lower lip shifting into a pout.
Poor Cailley. Unlike Sage, who was happy to move on to the next job when one didn’t fit, Cailley was desperately trying to find that perfect match.
“Hey, I met this guy last week who used to work as a headhunter for a big corporation,” Nina said, snapping her fingers. “He’s got lots of training in career counseling. You should talk with him.”
Her pout forgotten, Cailley gave an excited yes.
“How about you, Sage? Did you want to talk to him while you’re home, too?” Nina offered tentatively.
“A career counselor? No, but thanks,” Sage refused with a laugh, taking her filled plate to a small table and settling in to enjoy the meal.
“You really should. If you don’t, you’ll just keep bouncing around, not getting ahead.”
“I’m fine with that. There is so much out there to see and do and explore.” The possibilities were endless. She wanted to find something that touched her soul. That made her spirit sing. All she had to do was keep looking until she found it. “Why dismiss any of the possibilities until I’ve tried them all?”
