He heard the clickity clack of her heels behind him as she worked her little buns off to keep up with his long strides. This wasn’t happening, he told himself. Now he was being chased by his ex and he had alcohol on his breath and a stain on his once perfect shirt.
“Wait! Wait, Damon. I just wanted to tell you something.”
He didn’t pay attention. The loudspeaker was saying something about an arriving flight and the noise behind him blocked most of it out. He glanced at the monitor next to him until he found the flight information for Tampa.
Arrived early!
Due to the brief stop to check, Charlene had caught up to him. She placed her arms around his neck and pulled him into her chest and wouldn’t let go.
“Charlene, please, don’t do that—” he’d started to say, but she interrupted him.
“Are you still a Navy SEAL Damon? Because I have some great news. Jenna—”
He was searching the crowd. Several men were secretly smiling as he disentangled himself from her embrace, nearly peeling her arm from his neck as she tried one last time to grab his collar and practically ripped it.
“Stop—stop it, please, Charlene,” he said, gripping her forearms and holding her firmly arm’s length in front of him.
“Jenna is marrying a Navy SEAL Damon, isn’t that great?”
He was having a hard time focusing. Did he see Martel’s face in the crowd as he whirled around looking for the gate? He hoped not. Absentmindedly, he asked, “Jenna? Who—”
“My little sister. His name is Brian and he’s from Oregon. Big tall guy. A real stud, just like you,” she giggled, trying to wrap her fingers around his forearms.
From behind him, he heard her voice.
“Damon?”
He quickly threw down Charlene’s hands and did a one-eighty, coming face to face with Martel. Her forehead and brow wrinkled, her mouth turned down into a frown as she leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of the blonde woman in the very tight black pants molesting him from behind.
Charlene didn’t miss a beat. With one arm around his waist, the other shot out towards Martel, her red hearts charm bracelet shaking as she said, “I’m Charlene, Damon’s ex. Nice to meet you, sweetie!” Just in case, Charlene was hiding behind his torso, her chin resting on Damon’s shoulder.
The look on Martel’s face wasn’t what he’d expected, nor was it anything he wanted to see this Valentine’s day. Her eyes focused on the stain on his shirt and followed down the length of his body and then back up again without lingering on anything in particular.
“You must be the welcoming committee. I’m Martel. I’m a friend of Damon’s.”
Chapter 4
Martel waited for Damon to clean up the mess he’d made of their meeting at the San Diego International Airport. She didn’t return Charlene’s happy banter and tried to ignore her altogether. She couldn’t wait for the explanation he was going to stumble over, so she kept her emotions hidden and let her lack of adding to the fray calm the waters. Charlene giggled, babbled along and let her hands fly through the air like they were tambourines, the red hearts on her bracelet making little clicking noises.
She wondered what Damon ever saw in Charlene, which was a relief, because her former self might have gotten jealous. Today, she was just amused.
Oh, the choices we make!
She reminded herself not to be so hard on the early twenty-something Martel. She’d made some pretty poor choices too, after all. But the toughest choice of all was one of her best decisions.
Just from watching the three or four minutes between the two of them convinced her they were about as mismatched as two people could ever be. Damon was so nervous or perhaps self-conscious he didn’t make eye contact. The two former partners would lightly toss word salads at each other until they’d just run out of things to say.
Martel was going to let them do just that.
Normally able to sleep on the plane, today’s flight earlier was noisy, and her mind had been racing with the twenty or so to do lists floating around inside her head. Some were about the wedding. Some were things she hoped she remembered to pack. Some had to do with Cora and her interchange the day before with Cora’s parents. She wanted to be alone with Damon, not stuck in this airport with a thousand people crowding through it.
Charlene’s nervous laughter wasn’t all random. The woman snuck side glances at her to check her out.
As if she wouldn’t notice.
Now Damon’s ex was also talking about a mutual friend who was marrying a Navy SEAL. It was a warning beacon sent out to telegraph that Charlene was still loosely connected to the Brotherhood and probably wasn’t going to leave Damon alone. This was one factor Martel hadn’t counted on, but when she examined her insides, it was a minor annoyance and didn’t really bother her.
Finally, Charlene’s last good-bye and wink was laced with something a little dark. The woman’s wounded pride was being a bully, trying to exaggerate that she was over Damon, when clearly the opposite was true. She felt sorry for her, but knew the gesture was really a veiled warning.
As Charlene’s ass bounced down toward her gate, her destiny in Las Vegas, Damon put his arms around Martel’s waist and turned her to face him. His sexy eyes were entirely hers to command.
“Now. Sweetheart. Love of my life. Martel.” He turned her head with his thumb and forefinger at her chin. “Come here and let me show you how happy I am to have you here.” His warm smile did start the process of making her panties wet. It didn’t take much to just throw herself at him and plant a wet kiss on his soft lips.
“Thought you’d never ask.”
“I need to get you home.”
“Yes. You. Do.” They walked arm in arm, heading to the luggage carousel. She let out a big sigh, glad to finally be in San Diego and clear of the talking parrot his ex reminded her of.
“Tough week?” he asked.
“Yes, you could say that.” She stopped. “Damon, what was that all about?”
“What?”
“That woman. How did you—?”
“Don’t ask. I’m still trying to figure out why. Sometimes you just do dumb stuff. You forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive.” She shook her head, began to laugh and then rolled her shoulders. “You think you know someone, and they surprise you—”
“Come on, give me a break. I got those papers overseas, and you know what? I felt liberated. The guys were coming up and giving me the old heart-to-heart thing, and I was happy as sh—” He checked his feet. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Unbelievable. Do you know how many hours I worried about your ex coming back into your life when we had to live separately for these months? I didn’t expect this. I guess I feel liberated too.” She gave him a quick smile and continued down the rampway.
“So, you were saying there was a problem with your job at school?”
“Yes and no. I’ve got a problem with one of my students. I don’t want to talk about it here, but we just had to refer one of my girls to Child Support Services and the police. It’s just the beginning of what could be a very long and involved process.”
“Oh wow. Sexual assault?” he whispered.
“Yup. Just a hunch, of course, but the first meeting I had with the parents revealed a lot. But I’ve just received minimal training. I’ll leave it up to the experts. I sure hope we can resolve it quickly, but something tells me this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“That’s too bad, especially for your last months of school there. Sounds like you don’t suspect the father, or am I reading too much into this?”
“No, you’re spot on, but again, it’s just a hunch. They have all girls—six girls in the family. My guess is that it’s someone, maybe more than one, from the wife’s family.” She looked up at him, his face in a deep, pensive frown. His concern made her love him even more. “But I’m not supposed to talk about it, so don’t let me, okay?”
He adjusted his arm to grab her around the wai
st and squeezed her beside him as they continued walking toward the luggage area. “God, I missed you. It felt like half a year, and it was only what, just shy of a month?”
“Twenty-five days. I crossed all of them off my calendar.”
“How are the wedding plans coming? Or have you not had time?”
“I hired the caterer, but I’m getting the wedding cake from somewhere else. How many of your guy friends will be coming, do you know?”
“I haven’t passed out any invites yet. A couple of the wives took pity on me when I talked about it. They made some “save the date” post cards.”
Martel giggled. “You’re kidding, right?”
Damon shrugged. “Look, I don’t do this DIY stuff. The married ladies love messing with us single guys, even the engaged single guys. I was going to do it today at the team meeting, but it ran over, and I had to get here.”
“And you forgot to bring them. Fess up.”
“Okay, yes, I forgot.” His face had turned bright pink, having been caught in a white lie.
“So, you know where your next mission is going to be?”
“Mexico. Baja, actually. We’re looking for one particular bandido and his crew who have blended in and out of the migrant caravans, making tons of money along the way, convincing parents to give their daughters up for a better life in the U.S. Or telling them getting their daughters across the border will enhance their own chances for a successful crossing. It’s so depressing to see this.”
She stiffened.
Damon abruptly stopped, placed his palms under her jaw on each side. He kissed her tenderly, and whispered, “That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. We have some people actually selling their kids, too. Using them as an admission ticket. The coyotes actually work in packs, in tandem with other couples pretending to be parents who have let their daughters go with the handler, trying to convince the naïve parents they’ll be safe. The whole thing is a very sorry situation. Breaks my heart, really.”
She put the side of her face against his chest, listened to his beating heart, enjoying the warmth of his arms wrapped around her. Her familiar arousal was a welcome distraction to the harsh realities of the world in which they lived. “Thank you for doing what you can,” she said into his chest.
He answered by kissing the top of her head.
Damon rolled her suitcase behind him as they strolled to the parking garage together.
“So, did you know Charlene would be there? How did all that happen?”
“Just my unluck charm, I guess. She’s in between boyfriends again.”
“Again? So, you keep in touch?”
“Not really. I bump into her from time to time, that’s all. She tries to hang around the Team 5 guys now.”
“Oh yes, those rules again.” Martel still didn’t understand why an ex would be considered “off limits,” but never in the case of a widow.
“It’s a tight community. Even being very careful, there’s gossip and there are some things that a man and woman share when their marriage doesn’t work out that has to stay private. Dirty laundry and all that. Those weren’t my finest days. I don’t need to be reminded of all that.”
She had nothing to add and didn’t want to pry.
“I see on my phone the Gulf has been warm,” he said as they entered the garage.
“I used to think San Diego was just as warm, but no way.”
“We have a nice, clear weekend coming up. They’re having another bonfire tonight, if you’re interested. You can continue to get acquainted with some of the other wives.”
“You steer me clear of anyone like Charlene, okay?”
“It’s a deal.” He unclipped the seatbelt from the side and placed it across her lap but lingered for a soft kiss. “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart. Just want you to know if you just want to stay in bed all afternoon and evening, I’m cool with that, too.”
She watched him walk around the front of the Hummer and climb up into the driver’s seat next to her. He was the sexiest man she’d ever met. Long after they’d lost touch after high school, she still dreamed about him. And just as those dreams started to fade away, they met at their mutual friends’ wedding. What were the odds?
She felt silly spending so much time worrying about the chemistry between the two of them since they had to live apart. Their relationship was about as natural as it could be. This time it even felt more solid.
Damon was easy to love and every minute she spent with him heightened her resolve to make things perfect. The problems always seemed to happen when she was all alone. The big man upstairs was telling her something alright.
She was made for Damon.
The afternoon sleepily wound down. She had no appetite for strolling Coronado or spending hours at a seafood bar or restaurant with a view of the ocean. Her mind and desires were here and now, in his arms, in his bed, re-exploring all the reasons she was going to uproot herself, and become a San Diego transplant.
Their prolonged lovemaking turned her bones to rubber. She could easily forget all her stress and worry, the apprehension of giving up a place she loved so strongly. It gave her focus. Each scorching hot kiss continued to obliterate her doubts. He was patient, relentless, taking her powerfully and not stopping until she’d reached the pinnacle of her passion first. She loved his control, the way his body and soul consumed hers. Left panting and without an ounce of resistance, the only thing she could do was surrender to him completely and try to match his ardor with the strength of her own.
It would be impossible to forget him again, and she hoped she never would have to try.
They arrived at the Team bonfire on the beach when the sky had turned deep navy blue, and the stars were out. Jameson Daniels, one of Damon’s brothers, who used to be a fairly famous country star in Nashville, brought out his guitar, and his seven-year-old daughter, Charlotte, brought out hers, which was the size of a ukulele. The two of them sang for the group. Charlotte had a very strong and sweet voice.
After a handful of ballads, Charlotte was pulled away by some of the other SEAL children, so Jameson played a few more songs he’d been working on.
“He’s really good. I think I remember him,” Martel said.
“You’ve met him before.”
“Yes, but I mean, before—well, years ago. Something familiar about him.”
Damon stared into her eyes with no expression.
“What?” she asked him.
“So maybe you were one of his groupies. He said he had a girl in every city. I’ll bet you were Santa Rosa.”
“I don’t think so. Not sure we were big enough for the likes of him. You remember what it was like. Everyone was more into classic VW’s, fast sports cars. Pickup trucks weren’t considered cool. I don’t ever remember listening to country growing up. You were into classic rock.”
“Got that from my folks.”
She watched Daniels tip his hat and quietly put away his guitar. His wife, Lizzy, now extremely big with another girl, they’d been told, gave him a big hug and kiss. Martel was touched nearly to the point of tears, watching their family unit. It was her vow that this time, the second time around, she would have what they had.
Damon introduced her again to several others on the team. She was disappointed Christy Lansdowne wasn’t there. Kyle was trying to babysit his three and zoomed past them several times, frantically running back and forth in search of one or another of them.
Martel easily made the connection she’d hoped she would. This was now going to be her life. These were going to be the people she would depend on, learn about, and support.
She had expected to turn in early, but they took a moonlit stroll down the beach and then made love in the dunes.
“I hoped you wouldn’t be disappointed I didn’t buy you anything, Martel. I just wanted to be with you.”
“It was the perfect Valentine’s Day—one I’ll remember forever. If this little trip was any longer, you probably wouldn’t be able to get me t
o leave.”
“And that,” he said as he kissed her, “Was exactly what I was going for.”
On the way back to his rental, he added, “Make sure you tell Ainsley that I love her, okay? We created a little miracle, you and I.”
“And we’re just getting started,” Martel whispered back. “I’ll make sure she knows she’s loved. That’s the whole purpose of the meeting. We gave her the best start we could have. But I want her to know we did it out of love.”
Chapter 5
It was harder than Damon had thought saying good-bye the next day. Martel’s plane ride was going to be a quick hour-long hop from San Diego to San Jose, where she would pick up a car and get checked into her hotel. And then she’d have that meeting with their daughter.
“You know I don’t really want to go alone, Damon,” Martel whispered as they drove to the airport.
“I do. But we’re playing by the rules. Playing nice, and careful. I get it. There’s more to it than what either of us wants. We have her family to consider. I hope she lets me come next time.”
“Same here. Maybe we rushed this too much. Seems like I’m making sausage here. Squeezing in a trip to see you, quick trip to see her, and then wham, back at school with all the other stuff going on there. I should have taken a week off.”
“But you got the invite, and they were specific on the date. So, we had to do it this way. Besides, you won’t be with your classroom next year, so you’ve got a lot of things to finish up. And you’re planning a wedding. Just face it, sweetheart, you’re going to be overmaxed for a few months. We’ll relax on the honeymoon. I have one deployment coming up, and who knows, maybe another one? These days, anything could happen. I could be back in Africa, or South America next time. Who knows?”
“True. I just don’t like to do anything this important so rushed,” she gently suggested.
Second Chance Reunion Page 4