Special Forces: Operation Alpha: December Chill (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Series Book 4)

by Margaret Madigan

  She hurried to the long glass display case full of donuts and cupcakes. Dante had never seen so many different donuts, and the cupcakes were bright, fluffy, sugary works of art. Loaves of bread filled baskets and shelves behind the counter, and machines at a small coffee bar in the corner gurgled and hissed as people waited for their orders.

  “Can I help you?” A young blonde woman asked from behind the counter.

  “Yeah, I’m looking for December?” Dante said. “I’d like to have her design a cake for us.”

  “Sure. I’ll go find her.”

  The girl disappeared through a swinging door to the back of the bakery, and a minute later, December followed her out, her hair bunched on her head, wiping her hands on an apron smeared like a painter’s smock with the evidence of her design work.

  Seeing her again jolted him. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but he’d been thinking about her for a week to the point where she seemed more dream than real. But seeing her again placed her firmly in reality, and she totally lived up to his memories of her, and then some.

  When she glanced up and saw him, she froze, her eye wide and her mouth a pretty little “o” of surprise.

  “Hi December,” he said.

  She recovered, and circled the counter to meet him on the customer side. She didn’t even hesitate before leaning into him and wrapping him in a hug.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” she said, pulling back. Then she noticed Tamera, who stood gaping at her. If Dante wasn’t mistaken, disappointment crossed December’s face before her expression brightened into a smile. “Who’s this little beauty?” she asked.

  “I’m Tamera.”

  December held out her hand and when Tamera took it, December shook it. “It’s nice to meet you Tamera. What can I do for you and your dad today?”

  “Uncle Chill’s my uncle, not my dad.”

  December shifted her full attention to him, her brown eyes sparkling, and the energy of attraction crackling between them again. He hadn’t been wrong about that.

  “Chill?” She asked.

  “It’s my SEAL nickname.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You’re a SEAL, too? Wow. Hero much?”

  He couldn’t help laughing. She was brash and funny and pretty and he really wanted to kiss her.

  “A little. Here and there,” he said, playing along. He lifted his chin to indicate the small bandaid at her temple. “Your head looks like it’s healing.”

  She fingered the bandaid in a self-conscious gesture. “Yeah. Stitches came out a couple of days ago. I’m just wearing the bandaid at work so customers don’t get grossed out. What can I do for you guys?”

  “My grandma has a birthday this week, and Tamera wants to order a cake for her,” Dante said.

  “So you came to see me? I’m flattered.”

  Her teasing smile hinted that she really was flattered he’d shown up. He wondered if she’d been thinking about him, too.

  “To be fair, you’re the only cake designer I know,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

  “Wow. Way to boost a girl’s ego there, Chill.”

  Stepping just a little closer into her personal space, he said, “You want me to boost your ego now?”

  She looked up into his eyes, a sexy little smile on her face. “Maybe. What have you got in mind?”

  Had the whole room just heated up about ten degrees? Ho-ly shit. She didn’t mess around, she went straight for the jugular. If he weren’t in the middle of a bakery in broad daylight with his niece in tow, he’d have dragged this sexy little thing up against him and kissed her properly.

  “Are we going to order a cake?” Tamera said.

  He glanced down at her, then back at December. Holding her gaze he said, “Of course we are. How about it, December?”

  He hoped she got the double entendre, because he meant it. How about it? How about we check this thing out? How about a conversation? A date? A kiss?

  “I think that’s a fabulous idea,” she said, winking at him then turning her attention to Tamera. “What kind of cake do you want for your grandma?”

  Tamera beamed at the attention. “I don’t know. Something pretty.”

  “Let’s go in back where all the magic happens and we’ll come up with something,” December said, heading for another door.

  Tamera slid her hand into December’s, and Dante followed them, allowing himself the pleasure of observing December from behind. Mhm, she was hot. Her t-shirt outlined the curve of her waist, and her jeans hugged the roundness of her ass, and suddenly his pants felt too tight. She didn’t have a skinny white girl ass. Even for a petite woman, she has a lush, round bottom he itched to sink his teeth into.

  Of course that thought sparked all kinds of images in his mind—mostly naked images involving sex. He was okay with that.

  The back of the bakery was an enormous room with long stainless steel work tables, shelves full of pans and baking equipment, ovens, mixers, tall cooling racks, and several people working at preparing or decorating different goodies.

  December led them to a counter just inside the door with a couple of stools on one side. She went around the other side and pulled out paper, pencil, and a photo album.

  “Okay, kiddo, let’s get to work.”

  Ten minutes later, they’d designed a cake that made Tamera happy.

  “Grammy’s going to love it,” Tamera said.

  “Can I get your number?” December said, and when he raised a brow at her that she’d ask in front of Tamera she said, “In case I have any questions about the cake, and so I can call you when it’s done.”

  “Sure.” He gave it to her, then said. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

  She waggled her brows at him. “Can’t wait.”

  Chapter Four

  Dante had been every bit as freaking gorgeous as she’d remembered, and then some. He’d stolen her breath away when she’d passed through the door and seen him in the lobby at work, and then she’d panicked when she saw Tamera, assuming she was his daughter and he had a wife, and here she was lusting after a married man.

  But learning Tamera was his niece opened all kinds of doors. Sexy, sexy doors.

  She’d hit it off with Tamera and they’d designed a pretty cake, and now December couldn’t wait to see him again when he came to pick it up. After that, though, she’d need another excuse to see him, because how many cakes could one man need?

  After work she’d rushed home to get ready for derby practice—her first since the accident—and now she walked into the locker room at the practice track, a bounce in her step and Dante on her mind.

  Several of the girls were already changing, and when Darcy saw her she came over for a hug.

  “How’re you doing? You okay to practice?” Darcy asked.

  “I am. I had a follow up with my doctor, and she cleared me.”

  “Good.”

  “Hey, Chica.” December’s teammate Esmeralda Vasquez, a petite little Latina said. “I hear you had a wreck."

  The rest of the girls gathered around in various states of preparing for practice.

  “What happened?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Should you be here?”

  They drowned her in a chorus of questions until she held up a hand. “I’m fine, just a bump on the head. I was delivering a cake and some asshole ran a red light, but it wasn’t a serious collision. I still delivered the cake, with a little help…”

  She drew out the vague hint at the end partly because she was hesitant to talk about Dante. They weren’t really a thing, so maybe she was jumping the gun by assuming there was something there. But there’d sure felt like something at the bakery.

  “From who?” her prim blond teammate Bridget Cole asked.

  “The paramedic who responded to the accident,” December said.

  “No way. He went on the delivery with you?” asked Ashlee Garrett.

  “He did. And I gave him my card when he took me to the hospital, and
today he showed up at the bakery to order a cake.”

  Excitement bubbled in her blood saying it out loud. He could have gone anywhere for a cake, but he came to her.

  All the girls had opinions, too, but mostly they whistled and catcalled until December blushed.

  “Do you like him?” Ashlee asked.

  “God, yes. He’s sinfully hot, and sweet, and a paramedic and a SEAL.”

  Tameka Hodges fanned herself. “Oh sweet Jesus.”

  “Wow, you hit the jackpot,” Ashlee said.

  “So when are you going to see him again, girl?” Tameka asked.

  “I don’t know. He has to pick up the cake he ordered when it’s done, so I guess I’ll see him then.”

  “Did you get his number, at least?” Darcy asked.

  “I did. I needed it for the order.”

  “Dios mio. Just call him,” Esmeralda said.

  “And say what? ‘Hey, crazy cake lady here. I don’t have a cake question for you, I’ve just been sitting here lusting after you and finally got up the nerve to call, so…how’s it going?’?”

  “Ask him out,” Darcy said.

  “You can’t do that,” Bridget said, sounding scandalized.

  “Why not?” Darcy asked.

  “Well, she’s supposed to wait for him,” Bridget said.

  Bridget was blond and proper and December was certain she’d grown up in a middle-class church family and was spoon-fed all those gender roles from a young age. Not that most women weren’t. Despite her independence, the thought of calling a guy and asking him out terrified December. She could suddenly relate to guys and their reluctance to ask girls out.

  “Naw,” Tameka said. “That’s not how it goes anymore. If she wants to go out with him, she can call him. No more waiting around.”

  Another chorus of fist pumps and support.

  December gulped.

  “It’s settled, then,” Darcy said. “You’re going to ask him out.”

  “We expect a report back at next practice,” Ashlee said.

  “Some of us will be living vicariously,” Hope McGowan said. Hope was a married mother of three who guarded her derby time jealously. December had heard her hinting that with little kids, and a house, and jobs, her marriage was more friendship than romance anymore.

  While she pulled on her skates, she said, “Okay, I’ll think about it. If I get up the nerve, I’ll call him.”

  “You better,” Darcy said. “I’m sure we’ll all be happy to text-nag you until you do.”

  More rowdy agreement.

  December had been thinking about how to finesse a date anyway, but she didn’t think she could just call him out of the blue and ask him. So she’d wait until the cake was ready and use that as the excuse to call him, then slip in the ask-out. It would be awkward, but not as awkward as just calling. Plus, it gave her a couple of days to figure out how to do it.

  “Fine. I’ll do it. Now, can we practice?”

  “Just got home from the Amazon jungle, and man I’m glad to be back in civilization.”

  Dante’s friend and former SEAL teammate Grady “Buck” McCormick had left their team in Virginia and joined a team in San Diego all in the name of love. Dante and Buck had been part of the hostage rescue where Buck had met his girlfriend, Melinda, and their relationship had grown from there.

  Now, even though Buck was half a country away, they talked as often as their jobs and missions allowed. The same thing was true of Dante’s current teammates.

  “I miss being in the field,” Dante said. It was Sunday late morning, Grammy and Tamera were at church, and Dante sat on the couch talking to his buddy and sipping beer. Grammy had done her best to shame him into going to church, but Dante figured he had enough debt on his soul that even church wouldn’t clear. His relationship with God required one-on-one work. Plus, the few hours while the ladies of the house were gone was the only real time Dante got to himself.

  “I don’t know, Chill. Some days I envy you.”

  “Bullshit.” Dante couldn’t imagine Buck in his place. Not long ago Dante couldn’t imagine himself in his situation, either. But now that Buck had a live-in girlfriend, maybe he was closer than he used to be.

  Buck chuckled. “Okay, you’re right. I love my job. I know you love it too. When are you going back to work?”

  “I don’t know. We’re trying to sort the custody issues. My brother’s ex is nuts, so I can’t imagine the court giving her custody,” Dante said.

  “Family courts have done worse things.”

  “No doubt. If they turn Tamera over to her, I’ll be here for appeals. If I do get custody, I don’t know how I’d be able to continue as a SEAL.”

  “That sucks. Looks like you’re going to be a family man, Chill. Could be worse.”

  “It could. I’d do anything for my brother, so I don’t have a problem raising his daughter. I just miss my life.”

  “Do you at least have a lady to compensate for the loss? Or are you working your way through the women of Chicago?” Buck asked.

  Dante snorted. His days of fucking around were over. “The only women in my life right now are my grandmother and my niece.”

  “Ouch, brother. You need to go get laid.”

  “I don’t know. I’m starting to feel like I envy you and Melinda, and Wolf and Caroline, and all the guys who’ve found girlfriends and wives. Hooking up is exhausting sometimes.”

  “You must be getting old,” Buck said.

  If Dante had ever given it any thought at all, marriage and family had always been something for the future. Only a couple of years ago he and his team were all testosterone and adrenaline, and now Buck had a long term girlfriend and Dante would likely be supporting a family.

  “You have any prospects?” Buck asked.

  “For a girlfriend?” December popped into Dante’s mind, and the idea of seeing her again appealed to him. She wasn’t the kind of woman he usually went out with, which was probably good. “Maybe.”

  “Don’t let her get away, man. Speaking from experience, my life is a hell of a lot better now than it was before I met Mindy.”

  Buck was right. It was time for Dante to take a chance and call December. The worst she could do was say no, and he’d endured worse than being turned down by a pretty girl. Maybe he’d wait until he picked up the cake and ask her out in person. It was harder to turn someone down face to face.

  “Yeah, maybe I’ll ask her out. See what happens.” Dante’s phone beeped in his ear, indicating an incoming call. “You want to hold on? I’ve got another call.”

  “I’ve gotta go, anyway, but once you have the custody ironed out, bring your family out to San Diego for a visit. We’ll get Wolf to arrange one of his famous barbecues and we can hang out.”

  “You got it. Talk to you soon.” He clicked off the call with Buck and answered the other call. “Hello?”

  “Is this Dante Winters?”

  December’s voice in his ear warmed his blood. After having just talked to Buck about her and decided to ask her out, hearing from her solidified his plan.

  “It is. Is this December?”

  “You recognized my voice. Or did my name come up on caller ID?” She sounded flustered. He imagined her blushing, maybe twisting a bit of hair around her finger, and shifting from one foot to the other

  “Nope. Recognized your voice. What’s up?”

  “I wanted to let you know your cake is ready to pick up.”

  “You’re at work on Sunday?”

  “We’re open half a day on Sunday. We’re closed now, but Sunday afternoon’s a good time to catch up while nobody’s around. I wanted Tamera’s cake to be perfect.”

  “Are you going to be there for a while?” he asked.

  “I am.”

  “Can I come pick it up now?”

  He was taking a gamble by asking. If she wasn’t attracted to him, it would come across as forward to come see her outside of business hours. But if he’d read her signals right, she was into him
, too.

  “Yeah. That would be okay. I’ll wait for you. When you get here, knock on the back door.”

  He made the trip in about forty minutes, including a five-minute shower. When she opened the door for him, she met him with a grin.

  “Hi,” she said.

  She wore jeans, a blue and red plaid shirt, and a white apron covered in a rainbow of frosting smudges. Her wavy brunette hair hung around her shoulders, and flour dusted her cheek and forehead.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice dipping into a huskier range than he meant, but damn, she looked better every time he saw her. It took restraint not to wipe the flour from her face. He liked her and he thought she liked him, but he didn’t want to touch her without being certain she wanted to be touched.

  “C’mon in.”

  He followed her into the working end of the bakery to the table she’d been working at. The cake sat on a round, silver board, and made him laugh. It was so Tamera, but Grammy would love it.

  Round and about six inches tall, the cake was frosted in purple icing—as smooth as the stainless steel counter it sat on—a band of purple and blue sprinkles around the bottom, and the same sprinkles covering the entire top inside a ring of purple dollops.

  “They’ll both love it,” he said.

  December had been holding her breath, waiting for his reaction. Now she let it all out. “Tamera said she wanted lots of sprinkles, and that your grandmother liked purple.”

  “It’s gorgeous. How do you get the frosting so smooth?”

  She beamed at him. “Magic.”

  “No, really.”

  She took a step closer and looked up at him from under her long, dark lashes. “Trade secret.”

  He took her flirtiness as permission to test the waters, so he reached up and swiped the flour from her forehead. Just that brief touch sparked his nerve endings. It shocked him, but broke the dam, too.

  “I’m good at keeping secrets,” he said, stepping in closer. They stood a breath apart.

  She scrunched her brows and shook her head, but a little smirk hinted that mocked him. “Nope. It’s top secret. You’d have to torture it out of me.”

  A whole litany of sexy ways to torture it out of her popped into his head, all of which led to a tightening of his jeans.