Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge)

by Natasza Waters

  “Just an accident,” he said, keeping his attention on the beads of sweat running down his glass.

  “Were you on the job?” she asked meekly.

  He turned his eyes on her and hers shied away. She fiddled with the hem of her dress. A wave of instant empathy flooded him. There was no reason to be a jerk to her. “No,” he said, giving her a smile. Her cheeks blushed. It had been a while since he’d talked with another woman, but every woman seemed bland in the shadow of Nina.

  “Mace, hey, baby.” Sheila appeared and kissed him on the cheek. The brunette shied even more. “Samantha, this is Sheila.”

  “Hey,” Sheila said. “Having a drink with a hero, I see.”

  Samantha looked confused.

  “Mace brought the Shark down,” Sheila explained.

  “No, I didn’t. I got shot in the leg, Captain Austen brought him down.”

  “You guys work as a team. I know you had something to do with it.” Sheila crouched and gave him a warm smile.

  Instantly, Nina’s suggestion popped into his head and his guts twisted with guilt. It wouldn’t work anyway. He knew that. He and Sheila had some good times, but the passion wasn’t there. The soul-biting need to possess her wasn’t either.

  Shy to begin with, Samantha excused herself and left, not able to read the situation and probably feeling like she couldn’t compete. He knew the feeling. Sheila plunked her butt in the empty chair. “How are you doing otherwise?”

  “Good,” he lied. “Listen, I’m going to head out.” He gave Tinman a sign and pushed himself up.

  “Where ya going?” Tinman wasn’t about to let him extract without a reason.

  “To the range.”

  “Now?”

  “I need to kill something, it might as well be paper.”

  “You want a ride?” he asked, leaning forward in his chair.

  “Nah, I’ll grab a cab.”

  Tony swept an uneasy glance at Sheila, “Whatever, man. Take it easy.”

  “Mace, I’ll give you a ride,” Sheila said, swinging a thick swath of hair over her shoulder. “I probably need a little practice myself.”

  “Thanks.”

  They reached the car and Sheila paused beside him before unlocking the door. Her hand brushed down his back, attracting his attention.

  “Now that there are no eyes surveying,” she hesitated. “Maybe the range isn’t where we should go.”

  Images of the past rolled around in his head. Of course they came with a red, flashing guilty sign attached. Sheila waited, but her expectations were clear. Out of all the other women he’d spent time with Sheila had probably come the closest to Nina. Sultry and sexy wavered around her, and they’d made each other breathless in the past. “Maybe it’s me.” Nina’s words rattled his decision to stay the course. He didn’t move when Sheila’s palm came to rest against the roping muscle on his hip and pressed gently as if he needed a reminder. Obviously his shaft did, because it responded to her touch.

  Chapter Ten

  He gazed into Sheila’s sharp, but pretty features. “Think I need to hear some empty casings hitting the cement.”

  Sheila removed her hand and unlocked the doors.

  When they’d met up for lunch after Sheila returned from her deployment, she’d spilled her guts. A common gut spilling for most enlisted when they debated whether it was time to get out or sign up for another term. She’d been in the Marine Corps since she was eighteen, specializing in the weapons field. She was twenty-eight and wondered if she should devote herself to an entire career in the Corps or try civilian life. She’d hinted at marriage and Mace steered clear, instead of engaging her in the topic. Basically, she needed a shoulder and a sounding board, and he had offered it. The only reason he’d shared his injury with her and what it affected was to deter her from thinking a roll in the hay was possible after their beer. “Guess you decided to stay in for a while.”

  Sheila shrugged as she slowed for a red light. “I don’t know what I want anymore. I’m still confused. At least I have some time before I get my next deployment.”

  Sheila didn’t ask about Nina. He sensed she wanted to, but she probably didn’t want to hear the answer. Right now, his and Nina’s future was swimming up a muddy river. Once he’d calmed down other thoughts began to merge with his doubts. Was it because he was a SEAL? Did Nina finally come face to face with what that would mean, like so many girls did and then turned their backs on the guys they liked?

  He and Sheila checked in with ID at the shooting center and small arms range, one of many, but it was open to the public as well as utilized by service personnel. They set up in the pistol lanes and fired off a few rounds. Mace took his earmuffs off and waited till the targets returned to view their groupings. His was a single hole through the balls. Freud would have had something to say about that.

  Sheila curbed a grin.

  “It’s not funny.”

  She chuckled. “Yes it is.” Her face lit up when she laughed, making her look like a totally different woman. Most of the time her blue eyes were intense and too deep in thought. Being in the Marine Corps had taken the carefree from her, and replaced it with cold, hard knocks like the rest of them who served.

  He made sure his weapon was safe and moved to her stall. “Your squeeze is too fast. It’s causing a drag on the barrel.”

  Sheila peaked her brows. “I don’t remember you telling me that before,” she teased.

  He laughed. “Yeah, well, we’re talking handguns, not heavy duty machinery. Besides,” he sighed, “the machinery is unserviceable right now.”

  “So what?” She shrugged. “It’s not forever from what you told me. Just needs time and the right motivation.”

  Mace crossed his arms and leaned against the cubby wall. “That’s what Nina keeps saying.”

  Sheila’s smile dimmed. “You and she are pretty tight, huh?”

  Her eyes searched his for a flicker of doubt. “Maybe you need a change of scenery. I know we’ve only been sheet buddies, but I do care about you, Mace. I think I always have, but I didn’t want to seem too intense. I know that scares the crap outta guys.”

  He shouldn’t have done it, but he wasn’t thinking straight tonight and his fingers sought out a curl of hair resting on her shoulder. Instantly her hand came to rest on his chest. “Sex is a part of life. If I can’t hold up my end, there are very few women who could spend the rest of their lives with that.”

  “I told you I’m undecided about signing up for another few years. My priorities are changing. I want a family one day. I understand the military life, and the months of separation. You can still have a full life, Mace, and children are not out of the question, it’s just the delivery system that has to change. Besides, if you remember I like to cuddle, and so do you.”

  He felt his phone buzz with a text, and he didn’t have to look to know who it was. “Listen, we had good times together. And you are a wonderful woman.”

  Sheila raised her hand from his chest. “I get it. Please don’t give me the letting-me-down-gently speech. I was just offering an option, maybe one that might work.”

  He smiled at her. “Thanks, but…” He caught movement from the north wall and his heart clattered to a stop. Nina leaned against a whiteboard, watching them. Her face was a plane of indecision. Sheila turned and saw her there. “Uh, well, I suppose I better head out. Looks like you have a ride home.”

  He doubted that. Although Nina’s expression remained bland, her eyes had gone from green to “Hulk” mad.

  Sheila quickly gathered up her empty casings, the weapon and left. The problem with loving an analyst was they could roust just about any information they set out to find. Nina had been trained by the best, and he wasn’t surprised she found him. He was also going to land one upside Tony’s head when he saw him next.

  Nina didn’t move. Guilt skewered his guts. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He would never take Sheila up on her offer with Nina in his life. He was a one-woman guy—well, he was
now, and the woman he currently loved was seriously pissed at him.

  Nina stood on her long, lanky pipes wearing a pair of skimpy shorts and a running bra. Every cell in the woman called to him. Her red locks rained across her chest, a tempting reminder of what it felt like coiled around his fingers and swaying against his chest when she rode him. All that was Nina had been absorbed by his heart. If she left him, he’d probably become a man like Ghost, with a long string of go-to women to satiate his needs, if those needs ever found their feet, but the opposite of what his heart needed, so it would never feel this kind of pain again.

  Nina pushed herself from the wall once Sheila had passed, and took an offensive position in front of him. Whatever Nina had in store for him, he would shoulder it. His leg was starting to scream now that the anesthesia had worn off, and the best place for him was under the covers with a pillow pulled over his head.

  Nina held her hand out to him. Calmly she said, “I have an idea.”

  Nina usually let her emotions fly with the crack of her tongue. The ultra-cool, almost icy tone made him wary. “I’m listening,” he said just as calmly, although he didn’t feel calm.

  “Dad’s partner said you needed stimulation, whether by touch or visually.”

  He nodded.

  “I think he’s wrong. I think you need a challenge.”

  He swallowed and raised a brow, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  “You don’t need another woman to excite you. We need a man.” She gazed at him. “To touch me.”

  The pain in his leg was forgotten with the firestorm of possessiveness shooting through him. He waited to speak, so he wouldn’t stutter with anger. “You want me to watch while some guy makes love to you?”

  She remained calm as a scientist looking at a lab rat. “Yes and no. I know you, Mace. You’re a man who faces a challenge and takes control. You always have to come out on top.”

  He bit down on the jealousy piping through his veins like someone had flipped the fog on a fire hose wide open. “And what if it doesn’t work?”

  Nina stepped closer. “Then you do what you have to do. There is no room in my heart for anyone else. You’ve taken up all the space. There’s a lot of men who come back from war and aren’t the same as when they left. Couples who love each other find ways to work around it and still have a wonderful life.” She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. “I will shoulder my fear, and cherish all the important moments with you. It won’t be perfect. There is no such thing as perfect,” she whispered. “Except for you.” Her green eyes glistened with tears. “Kayla isn’t perfect, but Ghost loves her and he’ll have to keep fighting to prove it to her. I love you, Mace. You’re my one and only.” She cleared her throat. “If you think being with Sheila will help, then do it.”

  There was nothing but truth in her eyes, and his heart squeezed tight. “I don’t want Sheila, but I don’t think I could watch you with another man. It would drive me insane instead of drive my libido through the rafters. Watching some random guy touch you.” He shook his head. “I know some guys get off on that, but you mean too much to me.”

  Nina’s eyes flashed with a mix of hurt and desperation. “And you mean everything to me. If you can’t live with this, then we have to fix it.”

  “God damn it, I—”

  “Hey guys, you two okay?” Tinman strolled up. “Thought I better make sure there was no bloodshed after divulging your whereabouts.” Mace and Nina shared a look and then stared at Tony. He stopped instantly and blinked. “Something wrong?” He actually took a step back. “Why are you looking at me like that, Nina? You’re not hanging Sheila on me. I didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said, flustered.

  “I’m taking Mace home. He needs rest, and we need a ride.”

  “My chariot awaits.”

  * * * *

  Nina pushed away from the satellite monitor and rolled across the raised linoleum floor in Base Command, grabbing hold of the opposite console and swiveling to glance at the SPECOP reports. She quickly processed one new incoming message with a position report and an update on a team in Japan. Her phone bleeped with a text.

  Lunch?

  Sure.

  Come to the in/pools. Class almost finished.

  Nina checked the time. Thirteen hundred hours. “Hey, Barry, I’m going to run to the galley for some sustenance. Want anything?”

  Barry looked up from his position at the communications comm. The bay had seen some training action in the morning, but it ended an hour ago, which left him time to look at girly pictures on his iPod. “Sure, Nina. Bring me back a Dr. Pepper.”

  She winked at him and threw her purse strap over her head as she pushed open the anteroom door. A whoosh of warm air struck her face. She stuck her head in Captain Redding and Ghost’s office. “Galley run, taking orders, sirs.”

  Captain Redding had resumed his fatherly personality with the Shark in Davy Jones’ locker. In fact, everyone seemed to be breathing easier these days. “Thank you, Nina, but I’m going to call it an early day.” She turned her attention on Ghost and jerked back. “Whoo, you definitely need coffee.” Ghost looked tired as hell. Nina chuckled.

  “Funny, Ms. Samson.” He gave her a droll look.

  She decided to take a stab in the dark at Ghost’s gray pallor. “Hey, being pregnant makes a woman crazy. Ya just have to put up with it for a little longer.”

  “You’re telling me,” he grumped. “She’s sweet one second and throwing things the next. I have to fix a hole in the drywall, since she tried to take my head off with a frying pan yesterday.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Ghost’s brow furrowed. “She’s about to have your baby, Captain.” She paused for effect. She knew darn well Kayla was worried Ghost would never ask her to marry him again, and it made Kayla into an über-harpy since the Shark had been put down. “Whose last name is Adam going to have?”

  Ghost eased his muscled physique back in his chair, blinking. “She told me to go to hell. A couple times.”

  “And you’re going to abide by that?” She stuck her tongue in her cheek. Kayla would kill her if she knew what she was doing, but it was for her own good.

  “Sit down, Nina.”

  “Sir, I’ve got to…”

  “Sit.”

  Captain Redding chuckled. “You called down the thunder,” he said, shaking his head.

  She flopped down in the chair and glared at him. “Mace is waiting for me.”

  “Petty Officer Callahan can wait.” Ghost played with a pencil, sliding it methodically between his fingers. He sat forward. “What the hell am I doing wrong?”

  “It’s not what you’re asking, it’s how you’re asking.”

  Ghost’s sharp jaw clenched and he breathed out heavily. “I admit my timing may have been off a bit the last time.”

  Nina’s brows popped. “Ya think?” She added. “Sir.”

  Ghost’s tough exterior cracked. “I’ve never done this before.” He reached into his desk drawer and plunked a velvet box on the desk.

  Nina leaned forward and opened it. “Holy shit,” she said, seeing the mound of gemstones.

  “I want this on her finger, but she’s as slippery as an eel. If she even sniffs a proposal in the air, she starts a fight.”

  “Corner her then.”

  “How the hell do I do that?” The warrior who normally seemed to be carved from steel looked more like soggy Jell-o.

  “Make it big and make it public,” she said, grinning at Ghost. “She’s got to give you an answer. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

  “Easy for you to say, Nina, you don’t love her like I do. If I screw up this time she’s gonna throw me to the fishes.”

  Nina eased out of the chair, hoping Ghost would let her go. He tracked her movement, but didn’t order her to stay. “Captain, Kayla is like you in many ways. You probably will never understand the depth of her love for you. She wants this. She wants you.” She shrugged. “When you propose, she
has to believe it’s because you want her, not because she’s your baby mamma.”

  Ghost’s expression broke into surprise. “She thinks that? After everything we’ve gone through?”

  Nina backed toward the door, and she could see Captain Redding chuckling to himself with her less than stealthy departure. “You’re a noble dude.”

  “Dude?” he echoed, arching a contorted brow.

  She reached the doorway. “Yes, sir. You always do the right thing, even if it’s the hard choice, or a choice maybe you don’t want, you do it anyway.” She slipped around the corner and said loudly. “So stop being a gutless turd and ask her to marry you. Sir.” She ran for the elevator and changed her mind. She hit the door to the stairs running, Captain Redding’s barks of laughter following her.

  She chuckled to herself. Well, he deserved it. Nina crossed the base and reveled in the freedom. No more SEAL security teams shadowing her. The sunshine heated her skin while the sea breeze offered up a little distraction to the warm day. She nodded at the service members who nodded at her and cut through a building to the indoor pools.

  Before she hit the glass doors, she heard yelling and splashing. Mace had been assigned to work with a Phase Two class, concentrating on diving and underwater skills. The emotional filter was still off for this class that had started out with eighty-three men and was down to forty. More than likely only fifteen guys would ever get through their full training.

  During this phase the BUD/s recruits showed their abilities to be future frogmen. If they didn’t take to the water like they were born from it, their helmets were placed next to the infamous bell and they walked away. SEAL recruits could range in age from seventeen to twenty-nine. Mace told her the majority in this class were in their early twenties.

  Nina cracked the door and slid along the wall. Her nostrils filled with the scent of chlorine. Forty guys were on the other side of the pool and they all noticed her walk in. Wet and some looking very tired, they glanced her way and then back at the figure who was all hard, handsome SEAL standing in front of them. Mace didn’t turn.