by Bella Juarez
The questions remained unanswered as she considered his offer. He was on leave, and he wouldn’t be here long. If she got involved with him, he would break her heart, leaving her lonelier than ever. But her fascination with these feelings Danny had awakened and her rampant curiosity convinced her to accept. Why did she feel this way, and why the hell did it turn her on so damn much?
“All right, Danny, but I need you gone by nine. I need to be at the station tomorrow morning before I go out to the hunting shack. Understood?”
Gone was the mischievous demon. As she dictated her terms, his gaze took on a smoldering, almost feral quality.
“Understood,” he whispered as he lowered his eyes.
Not wavering, she waited for him to look at her again. His response puzzled her. This man didn’t back down that easy, so why was he doing it now? What kind of game was he playing with her? She always knew what to do with him before, but these sudden changes in his moods left her at a loss and without a plan. As she drove off, she wondered how to ask him about what he really wanted from her.
* * * *
Dan took a deep breath as he leaned against the rail and stared at the store across from him. It’ll take ten steps to walk inside and do what needs to be done, so move, dumbass. After he’d seen Rio to her Jeep, he walked back inside the mall and stopped in his tracks just before he entered the store. While he stood there watching the store like a tango he’d been sent to recon, so many things ran through his head. Will she take me seriously? What if I fuck this up and get one she doesn’t like? Ah, shut the hell up! Go inside! He approached the door, and the chime indicating a customer had walked in startled him. They were lucky he hadn’t been armed and doing a recon mission. The place would’ve been leveled by now.
“May I help you, sir?” a young woman asked.
“Um—sure. I’m looking for a ring.”
“Is this a gift?”
“Y–Yeah, sort of.”
“Is this for an anniversary? Or something else?”
What am I doing? She’s not even my girlfriend yet!
“I’m proposing to the love of my life.”
It was a mostly true statement he reasoned. Once he’d seen Rio again, he knew he couldn’t walk away without her this time. He had one small problem. She had no idea how he felt, and he doubted that she’d take him seriously unless he gave her a firm no-fucking-around indication that he was serious, and that this would be permanent. What if she says no? Do I keep the receipt? Or maybe gift it again to someone else?
“Oh, congratulations! Well, we have these petite engagement rings that are cut from…”
Losing interest in her words, he spotted the perfect ring and honed in on it. He walked away from the saleslady and looked closer at the ring in the case.
“I like that one.” He pointed to a collection set apart with a few others.
“That’s a Lane Williams, sir. Ah…are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I like that one. Can I see it?”
“O–Of course.” The lady took the ring from under the glass and handed it to him. From the corner of his eye he could see the security guard in the store step closer to him. What the hell? I’m not asking to touch the crown jewels for chrissakes. The saleslady continued her pitch. “It’s a large round diamond set in a circle of smaller diamonds cut the same way. If you notice the additional diamonds weave an intricate pattern around the center stone. This lovely engagement ring contains a total diamond weight of one carat, and is set in fourteen-carat white gold…”
“You’ve sold me. I’ll take it,” Dan said, handing it back to her.
“Do you know your fiancée’s ring size?”
“No, can I bring it back and her with it if it doesn’t fit?”
“Of course, sir. We can size it whenever you’re ready.”
Walking to one of the registers, she scanned a bar code in a small book and placed the ring in a delicate box. “That’ll be three thousand twenty-four dollars and sixty-seven cents. Cash or credit?” she asked.
Dan’s heart skipped a beat while he dug into his pocket and handed her his credit card. I’m not doing this more than once, so go big or go home. He took the box and the receipt. As he walked out of the store, he knew his countdown had begun. He had nineteen days. He glanced at the receipt again and realized he’d just dropped a whole month’s pay on this ring.
Holy shit! She’d better not say no.
Chapter 7
1515 Santa Cruz
Bisbee, Arizona
June 20, 2010/0119 Zulu
When Rio got home, Schotzie walked out of the bedroom and did a long doggie bow and stretch with a sleepy yawn. Rio used her nervous energy to clean up a couple of dishes and feed the dog. The doorbell startled her as she contemplated what to do once Danny got inside her house. What was she supposed to do? She sure as hell wasn’t about to be a short-term hookup for him while he was on leave. She sincerely hoped he had enough respect for their friendship not to expect that from her. Releasing a long exhale, she made up her mind to play it cool and not get wrapped up in what his head games were doing to her. She opened the door and frowned.
“Jax? Why are you here?”
“We need to talk.”
“About?”
“I understand you’re two-timing me; is it true?”
Is this idiot having me followed now?
Jax and his bullshit were getting more annoying by the second. She didn’t need this right now.
“Good night,” Rio said, closing the door.
Jax stopped the door with his massive hand and braced his foot firmly in the doorway as he demanded a little more loudly, “Is it true?”
“Are you insane? Get the hell out of here, and leave me alone.”
When Danny’s truck pulled up in front of her house, she was relieved. The way Jax was acting could turn dangerous. When he got out of his truck, he slammed the door and stalked up her front walkway obviously furious. His dark features got darker and more malevolent with every step he took toward her house. His fists were clenched, and his lips thinned in anger as he approached. She almost shrank back and thanked God his fury wasn’t directed at her. When Jax turned around and got a look at Danny, she didn’t miss the brief flash of fear that crossed his face when he saw Danny storm toward them.
“How many times do you need to be told to fuck off?” Danny’s tone emphasized his anger.
“Fuck you, nerd! This is my woman, and you’d best back off,” Jax replied.
Danny looked at Rio a brief second and then looked back at Jax who took a step back as Danny stepped into his space. The look he gave her seemed to be a plea for her permission. He glanced at her again, and she raised her chin in a subtle nod. It floored her at how well they seemed to read each other after having been apart for so long.
“I told you yesterday, she’s not yours and never will be. She’s mine. So, quit fucking with my woman. Understood?”
“I’ll kick your ass!” Jax’s expression changed from arrogance to anger in a split second.
“Bring it,” Danny said, nudging his head.
Tired of the sudden flood of testosterone, Rio stepped between the two men. “That’s enough from both of you!”
She realized her mistake as soon as Jax smiled. The interruption had given him the mistaken idea that she defended him. Danny took her arm and guided her behind him. The protective action made her go liquid.
“Now, for the last time, get fucking lost.”
“Rio—” Jax started.
“Go, Jax. He’s right.”
For a moment, Jax actually looked hurt, but his expression changed to anger again as he turned and marched away.
“This ain’t over!”
They watched him leave, and Danny turned to her. She smiled and shook her head. She cupped his face and felt a warm flush when he closed his eyes and caressed her hand between his cheek and shoulder. For so long, she’d wanted to be his, and to hear him say it was confusing. While it made her
go soft, it also frightened her. He wanted something deeper, and she wasn’t sure if she understood it the way he meant it.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“You missed your chance,” she said, grinning.
“I did?”
“You didn’t give him a wet willie.”
Danny laughed and turned his head and kissed one of her palms. The shock of the gentle kiss sent a jolt of electricity through her making her release him. The visions this time were lazy and serene as she pictured lying in his arms and having those gentle kisses after some seriously wild sex.
“Let me go get the stuff and bring it inside.”
When he returned, he followed and set the bags on the table. Schotzie wagged her tail and greeted him with a warm, playful bark.
“Hey, Schotzie! I brought you something, too.” He knelt to rub behind her ears.
“I don’t feed her from the table,” Rio said as she passed him on her way into the kitchen.
“I brought her a rawhide bone. Is that okay? I also brought Nightmare on Elm Street,” he said, holding up a DVD.
“Are you trying to impress me?”
“Did I get it right?” he countered.
“You brought my favorite movie. You’re bribing my dog. Let’s see if you can do three for three. What did you bring for dinner?”
“Pad Thai.”
The answer made her pause. It was the last meal they’d shared before he and Davey left for college. There’d been a Thai restaurant in Sierra Vista, and he’d asked her to go instead of Sylvia. As pissed as she’d been about him and Sylvia being together, there was no way she’d turn him down. That impromptu date had also been her introduction to Thai food. He’d ordered for her, and it had been part of the tenderness and caring he’d shown her that day that made the experience so special. The romantic gesture had been one of the things that had endeared him to her.
They’d gone to the mall where she helped him pick out a few more things for his dorm room. When he dropped her off, he walked her to the door and gave her a hug. For two days afterward, she’d floated on a cloud until he told her how glad he was to move on and leave everything behind. Being a nineteen-year-old guy, he didn’t understand that “everything” included her. The off-handed comment plunged her from floating on the cloud to drowning in tears for the next week.
She also remembered him telling her when he got back in between semester breaks he’d take her back to the restaurant. He’d broken his promise. Instead, he’d taken Sylvia to the hunting shack for the three weeks he’d been home. Rio went to see the recruiter then and joined the military after that break. That broken promise had sealed her heart and made her hesitate whenever she dealt with men on a romantic level.
“Where did you find that? The restaurant in Sierra Vista closed since you’ve been gone,” she said.
“The cook at Chinaland made it for me. I remembered how much you liked it.”
“I still do.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said, unloading the containers of food from the bag.
“We can eat in the living room while we watch the movie, if you want.”
Rio picked up the DVD he’d brought and got the TV set up as he laid out the food on the coffee table. She turned her attention to something else because she didn’t want to remind him that he’d broken his date with her to fuck around with Sylvia and the other sluts who’d gone out to the hunting shack with him and Davey for three whole weeks. Instead, she had more pressing things that she needed to know.
She made herself focus to avoid getting wrapped up in his games. Redirecting the conversation would help her regain a little control and satisfy her curiosity about the FBI agent who’d be visiting her boss. While she waited for her internal affairs interview, she’d also done some homework on Danny Gamez. His statement about calling Rock and the FBI knowing she’d picked up hostile foreign nationals before anyone had processed paperwork had been just a little too coincidental. She knew he was in the Navy and found out he’d made it to the rank of lieutenant. He was stationed at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio and had a master’s thesis under evaluation at Naval War College.
She found out that he was attached to NAVSPECWARCOM, Naval Special Warfare Command, which meant he was probably a SEAL or SWCC. That explained the overall change in his attitude and bearing. It also cleared up the mystery of his fearlessness when he’d faced Jax. Being a CBP officer working under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, she’d been able to obtain relatively detailed but mundane information regarding his military service. She wasn’t able to dig too deep into his personnel file—most of it had been sealed or classified—but she did find out that his job classification as a surface warfare officer had a special option associated with his title. SWCC officers weren’t typically classified as surface warfare officers, narrowing down what he actually did. She wasn’t able to access any more information regarding his current classification and decorations.
Now she wished she’d listened to her brother whenever he tried to talk about Danny instead of shutting him down. Apparently, the US Navy had turned a little geek into one hell of a man.
The question still remained. How did the FBI know that she had potential enemy combatants in custody before she put the information into the federal database they shared? Danny had known the instant he saw what she pulled out of those backpacks exactly what they were dealing with. When she researched the special warfare group Danny was assigned to, she found that it was also one of the few with a reserve component. Knowing how agencies had begun to work in tandem with the Department of Defense and how the CBP used the National Guard on a regular basis, she connected it to CBP aircraft being supported by Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. All of the pilots and agents that were assigned to CBP air support were all Air Force reservists or National Guard. She surmised this FBI agent was probably a damn SEAL reservist.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me anything.” His sultry tone didn’t escape her.
“How do you like San Antonio? I was stationed at Lackland almost the whole time I was in the Air Force.”
“I like it. It reminds me of home sometimes,” he said, digging into his food.
If careful, she could probably get most of the information she wanted from him. The key would be to start slow and keep the questions general. She asked him a few more questions about San Antonio and about different places in the area. Usually men like him were closemouthed about anything they did and the places they went. But he talked openly, and she could tell when he let down his guard; he trusted her and felt safe. As well as they knew each other, if she probed with questions about what had happened the other day, he’d catch on to her. She thought about strategy and decided not to waste time.
“How did an FBI agent from San Antonio know we had suspected enemy combatants in custody before they were processed?”
Watching as his body language changed, she saw him straighten up and raise a suspicious eyebrow as he put down his food. The scowl on his face telegraphed his regret for trusting her with a glimpse of his new life. He’d opened up to her, and it had come back and bitten him in the ass. His reaction to her question told her exactly what she wanted to know, and his silence spoke volumes. The longer the tense silence went on, she was almost sorry for making him feel as if she’d violated his trust. She wanted to remain distant, and cool like she would with a suspect, but her professional demeanor melted the longer she looked at him.
“Danny—”
“Stop, just stop,” he said, cutting her off and looking away.
“Can I please say something?”
Glaring at her, he made it clear he didn’t want to hear whatever she had to say right then, but she felt the need to justify what she’d done.
“We hadn’t processed those suspects, and you and Steve were the only outside people there.”
“You dug into my background and what I do, didn’t you?”
The tone of his question was accusatory and angry. He stood and it suddenly looked as if he was heading for the door. She’d crossed a line and needed to somehow repair the damage she’d done, because as she looked closer, it wasn’t anger; she’d hurt him by violating his trust.
“I knew what those devices were because I’d seen them before when I was with a K-9 unit in the military. The dogs I handled were specially trained. One particular search mission I went on while I was in Iraq was in a neighborhood full of insurgents. We were sent to a safe house to clear it before destroying it. I went in with a Marine Recon escort. The dog I handled found a case of those devices inside one of the rooms. They were Russian made. There’s no way an FBI agent could have known we had these suspects because no one had started any paperwork on them when he called the station. I’m just looking for answers. Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“No.” He turned and looked at her. His answer had been firm and short. “If you want to interrogate me, take me down to the station and read me my rights. Don’t pretend to be my friend.”
The statement stung then pissed her off. At first, she wanted to apologize. Now he made her regret trying to explain and ease the unintentional hurt she’d caused. She walked up to him and planted herself directly in front of him. This Special Ops prick had clearly forgotten who the fuck he was dealing with. Rio’s eyes narrowed, and her back straightened. The surprise that registered in his eyes had been brief and then guarded and determined. Being quicker, she stepped into his personal space.
“First of all, I didn’t invite you here. You invited yourself. And I haven’t pretended anything with you for one second. In fact, I’m starting to get the feeling it’s been the other way around. Why are you here, Danny? You’ve never been interested in me this way, so why the hell now? What is it you want?”