by Lara Swann
“Mugging. 7th Street.”
Her expression shifted instantly and she nodded, apparently used to such reports. I winced internally at more evidence of my bad judgment.
“Two coffees, one Irish.”
He didn’t offer anything more as she disappeared and he slid a menu under my hands. I stared as I saw them shaking, until Seth’s large grip closed over the top. Looking up at him, I took a deep breath and shook my head.
“Sorry. I’m being silly.”
“You’re fine. Just focus on eating and warming up.”
The coffee arrived a few minutes later, the waitress accurately putting the Irish in front of me. I looked at the light, creamy drink dubiously and glanced back at Seth’s simple black one.
“I’m not sure alcohol is a good idea, Seth.”
Right now, I felt like getting drunk would have me in a pathetic break down.
“It’ll warm you up and chase a few of the nerves away. One shot won’t be enough to affect anything else - or you’re not like any college party girl I’ve ever known.”
“I’m not like any college party girl you know.”
My pride muttered an answer instinctively, but I picked up the coffee and blew lightly on it. The scent helped, as did the warmth of it around my hands.
We ordered a couple of burgers a few minutes later - complete with wings, fries and potato skins.
“You’d better be planning on eating most of this, or my jeans are going to hate me tomorrow.”
“It’ll be worth forgoing jeans. Hell, forgoing jeans would be worth it anyway.”
The searing glance that accompanied his words made me laugh.
“Bastard.”
I sipped at the coffee and the food arrived quickly, in the portion size I’d worried about. Seth prodded me again when I looked at it uncertainly.
“Eat.”
“You could do with softening that abrupt-command vibe you have.”
His eyes glittered back at me as he took a large bite of his double bacon cheeseburger, and he replied with deceptive mildness.
“I recall someone agreeing to obey in future.”
“Well it wasn’t me. I said no such thing.”
“Definitely not taking you on another crazy road trip, babe.”
I scowled, but reached for the food, his light hearted attitude loosening me up. My heart still felt like it was about to seize at any moment, but I was starting to breathe more evenly. Maybe that coffee was helping more than I’d thought. Then something else occurred to me and I glanced up.
“Did you get our stuff back?”
I should have known already, of course, but the aftermath of the whole thing was too much of a blur. He grabbed something next to him on the booth and slid it over the table. My handbag.
My hand shook as I reached for it and I cursed myself for the sentimentality, but I had to know that it was in there. A warm hand stopped me and I glanced up at him as he reached into a pocket - coming out with the ring I’d been fixated on. He turned my hand over and closed my palm around it without another word, then went back to the remnants of his burger.
I hung there, frozen for a moment, my heart jumping as I tried to process it all. He’d known. I saw again the determination on his face as he’d pursued the guy, and couldn’t help but wonder. It was a stupid thought, a stupid feeling…but I couldn’t shake it. He didn’t question, didn’t say anything further - unlike my incessant questions, he let its significance remain mine to keep. Something inside me tightened as I longed to share it, to tell him what it meant to me - what his actions had meant to me.
But he hadn’t asked. Didn’t want to know. And I could tell it was dangerous territory from the way my heart was pounding in my chest.
I slipped it back on my finger, surprised by how much of a relief it was to have it back there, and followed his lead.
The food and drink - and probably time - were helping, and I felt myself steadying gradually, until I was pretty much feeling like myself again. All those crazy spikes of emotion had calmed, and apart from slight chagrin at the whole situation, I was alright. I relaxed against the chair, my food becoming a nice, heavy weight in my stomach and tiredness starting to take me. I’d left half the burger, but wasn’t sure I could manage anything more as I watched Seth methodically work his way through it all. My gaze caught on the powerful, dominating body again and I figured it needed the sustenance. With his jacket off, the line of tattoos on his right arm gleamed in the light, moving with his muscles until they seemed almost living things. I didn’t recognize most of them from the time we’d spent together before, and I found myself distracted as my eyes tried to make out the shapes, before the arm I’d been watching reached over to tap my hand. Seth was looking at me with a dangerously hooded gaze.
“So. Tell me what possessed you to look at living in a place like that.”
My face reddened and I looked away, not entirely sure I was prepared to discuss this with him, but his tone made it clear he wasn’t going to tolerate anything else.
“It’s what I figure I could afford on those internships.”
“I expect your father will cover the difference.”
I glared as my eyes shot back to him.
He was there that night, he knows what my father thinks.
“I want to know I can do it without his help.”
“Girls like you have advantages for a reason, Bella. Use them.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
I was getting angry, and I didn’t want to - not after everything he’d just done for me. But this was beyond provoking and pushing for a bit of fun - he was deadly serious with this line of attack. As was I.
He muttered something under his breath, and then his hand stole forward over mine. I wanted to jerk it away, but even with him being a prick I couldn’t help the way I associated it with comfort. Not after today. When he looked up at me, his eyes were serious but there was no mockery there.
“You were raised with a certain lifestyle - you wouldn’t last a day in a neighborhood like that. You simply don’t know how.”
I wanted to argue with him, to bite back at his words, but I remembered my shock at his casual mention of my jewelery. I remembered my dismissal of his warnings as a Navy SEAL’s overactive imagination. I pulled my hand out from under his and looked back at him carefully.
“Maybe. But if I have to, I’ll learn.”
Irritation flickered in his eyes again, but at least this time he took me seriously. Truth was, if I couldn’t rely on my father’s help I wasn’t entirely sure what I would do - but after my talk with Kaylee, I refused to think it was my only option. And there was no way I was going back to my father with a half-baked plan. The whole point of this trip had been to show I knew what I was doing, that I’d done the research, and built that case before I finally discussed my decision with him.
The thought of how spectacularly that had failed shot through me, and almost had me breaking down again.
Damn it all to hell.
“Fuuck…”
Seth’s brow puckered with concern.
“What?”
“Just…this was a disaster. The whole thing. So much for proving my independence.”
Ughhh…
And this was so not who I wanted to be having this conversation with. Seth might be making a good attempt at being considerate, but he probably already thought little enough of me. I wished to god Kaylee was here. Then we’d order waffles and ice cream and milkshakes, and cry and laugh at the complete stupidity of it all.
The thought of that had me glancing back to the menu.
“I’m getting ice cream.”
The announcement was made with a childlike defiance, but Seth’s eyes just crinkled with amusement.
“All right.”
He glanced out the window as we flagged down the waitress though, and I hesitated when she walked away with the order.
“Is it getting too late for you to drive us back?”
His gaze shifted into that supreme arrogance that took my breath away - whether with annoyance or desire, I had no clue. Maybe both. He raised an eyebrow in disdainful response to the question and something pleasant coiled in my stomach. Crazy how a look could do that to me, but at least it had me laughing.
“Right. Badass Navy SEAL. Driving in the dark, check.”
His grin did things to me I didn’t want to contemplate and luckily the ice cream arrived before I had to. Seth grabbed another spoon and joined me, and I mock fought his attempts to get at it with my own.
“Hey - I don’t recall inviting you to share it.”
“Badass Navy SEAL, remember? We conquer all.”
“I don’t think ice cream adds to your image, Seth.”
He flipped me off and I almost laughed at the sight of that over the bright shades of white, yellow and pink.
We made good work of it, and he called for the bill when I finally declared myself done, my stomach gurgling from the satisfying feeling. He eyed me as I sat back, sighing slightly as I considered the mess I’d made of the day. His mind seemed to follow my thoughts.
“You’re alright, Bella. Independence is about making mistakes.”
I blinked up at him, not expecting the serious note from a guy who I’d never known think too much about such things. It struck a chord though, and I tried to think of the things I’d learned today instead of everything that had gone wrong. I’d been so happy with it all up to that brief encounter…
I pulled my ponytail over my shoulder and twisted it in one hand while he paid, a gesture I’d almost grown out of but still resorted to for thinking occasionally.
When he was done, he stood and held out a hand for me. I paused for a moment, pretty sure he’d never done that when we’d been at school.
Three years…what else has changed?
I let my hand linger, reaching forward and wrapping it around his wrist as I took a moment to look in his eyes.
“Thank you, Seth.”
My voice was soft, and I hoped he could tell just how much I meant those words - for everything - because I wasn’t sure I could express it any other way.
Something sparked in his eyes briefly before they became unknown gray depths again and he simply nodded at me, taking my hand again as he led us back towards the car.
Now just to get home in one piece. That should be the easy part, right?
Chapter Nine
Seth
“…backed up along the 580, no movement there. Severe delays expected, avoid the area if you can. We’ll keep you updated…”
The radio switched back to music as I surveyed the harsh red lights glaring at me from the endless cars stacked bumper-to-bumper, fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel. I’d been fine for the first hour of deadlock, but now the waiting was starting to grate on me. A quick glance at the dashboard showed me the time was well past eleven and I looked around again at the empty fields to either side of the over-full road, fighting the urge to divert off-road and roar through the country.
The tough little truck could survive it without a problem. The carefully planted fields, not so much. And I didn’t quite think Bella wanted to risk topping this day off with a potential lawsuit. She was starting to shift around on the seat, though - impatient, wriggling curves that kept drawing my eye and giving momentary distraction from the tedium.
“Some day, huh?”
At least her voice had its familiar humor in it now - the way she’d withdrawn after that attack had worried me for a little. But she was made of stronger stuff than she realized, and seemed to be largely over the shock.
Hot anger stirred through me at the thought and I cursed myself again. I should never have let us wander around those areas after dark - they could be bad enough during the day, and I knew better. But we’d been having fun, and some stupid part of me kind of liked the way the trip had lit something up inside her. I hadn’t wanted to draw it to a close.
That’s what you get for ignoring your instincts, idiot.
“Yeah, guess future invitations are out, hmm?”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Or I just let you choose the location. What were you thinking, anyway?”
I gave a wry smile at that, thinking how differently this day had turned out.
“One of the famed beaches we’ve got around here, maybe. Chance to laze in the sand, enjoy the weather…the view…”
One view in particular.
My mind traveled back to its image of Bella in her bikini earlier today and heat shot to my groin again, making me regret letting my thoughts stray. Not that they’d been on much else the whole day. This trip had meant to be a light, relaxing thing - a chance to spend a bit of time with my fiery minx and maybe make a few overtures, start to reconcile a little. I certainly hadn’t had today’s adventure in my mind when I’d suggested it, but to my surprise I hadn’t really minded the change in plan, amusing myself with finding different ways to get under her skin. Of course, she’d ended up reciprocating, until that sweet-sharp tension between us had started slipping into territory forgotten for three long years, both of us steadfastly ignoring the effects of that. But after the whole day of her around me, tantalizing every scent with something I’d once had, my self-control was starting to slip. As the hardness my jeans barely disguised attested to.
There was no way I should be thinking that way, not after everything that had happened, but the danger had only ramped everything up even more. As if some primal part of me was terrified by that near-miss, leaving me desperate to take her, own her, possess her, before it was too late.
It didn’t make sense. But that didn’t change a damned thing.
“Mm, that would’ve worked…I pretty much live in the sea this time of year.”
Grateful for the distraction, I made an act of shuddering and shaking my head.
“No thanks - not unless the water is several degrees warmer than it’s likely to be.”
She raised an eyebrow at that.
“My SEAL doesn’t like the water?”
My SEAL.
And suddenly I was crazy hot again, though I didn’t want to think about what was behind that reaction. Shoving it away, I forced myself back to the light-hearted exchange.
“The cold. Spend enough time freezing as it is - not going anywhere near that by choice.”
I saw her digesting that a moment, then she returned to the original question.
“Well next time, you’re definitely picking.”
“I’ll hold you to that, babe.”
If there was a next time, I wasn’t going to miss that chance.
We crawled along a little further, and I barely managed to disguise my frustration as my eyes kept flicking to the clock ticking up on the dashboard. We were never going to get home at any reasonable hour. Bella huffed beside me, shifting yet again in her seat.
“You would’ve thought I’d be glad for boredom…”
Her muttered comment made me smile, and I couldn’t resist the slow look I gave her.
“Well if you want something to do…I could think of a few things.”
My tone left no doubt what I meant, and I waited for the same rebuttal I’d received all day. Instead, her whole body turned a lovely shade of pink and she glanced away from me, her breathing catching a little. My gaze sharpened instantly, blood roaring in anticipation even as I tried to force it down.
God damn.
Somehow, I wasn’t quite prepared to see the impact my simmering interest had on her. The air thickened between us with every moment of silence and I found my mind going all sorts of forbidden places, suddenly populating with ideas of all the fun things that could be done in a car…
OK, that’s it. No more time trapped in here together.
We were coming up on a small junction, leading off into the middle of nowhere, but I swung the car round and off it, hammering the acceleration a little more than necessary just because I could. The truck had missed
actual speed. Bella turned to me, confused.
“You have another route?”
“Nah, girl, we’re not getting back tonight. It’s almost midnight - by the time that mess is cleared and we’re on our way home, we won’t be there ‘til the early hours of the morning. No point trying.”
She was silent as she considered that, but I was already handling the car away from the highway, glad for the break from the tedious scenery and the opportunity to feel the road under me again.
It was only a couple of miles before my instincts proved accurate and I found the small cluster of service shops designed to satisfy bored travelers - the neon lights of a motel lighting up alongside. I slanted a glance at Bella.
“Well?”
She looked at me uncertainly, but I could tell she had no desire to get back in that headache. As I shifted the truck into the waiting space, she finally sighed and nodded. There wasn’t much space available, actually - the place was probably full with others who’d had the same idea. I frowned at that, but we headed to the entrance without comment.
It didn’t look too bad, actually, I’d been expecting a slightly sleazy establishment but it seemed clean and well-kept for what it was. The guy manning the desk was clean-shaven and almost professional looking, too. I gave him a smile as he looked up from his papers at us.
“Do you have a room available for the night? Twin?”
The last word had been hard to force past my lips, but I wasn’t going to push too far. Bella started beside me anyway, glaring in my direction.
“A room. Don’t you mean two?”
I laid a hand around her waist, pulling her closer to me as that familiar arrogant smile slipped over my face. She didn’t try to stop me, and I could feel the way her body hitched under my grasp.
