by Tawny Weber
“Of course not.”
That’d be silly.
She was afraid of having her heart broken.
* * *
“YOU READY?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Slanting a look at Savino, Aaron took off his cap, slapped it against his thigh, then put it back on his head. “This is my responsibility. Whatever happens, it’s on me. The team will pay enough with the notoriety. Nobody should have to pay with anything else.”
“Your official orders were to offer assistance,” Savino reminded him with a shrug.
“And the unofficial plan was to stop her,” Aaron pointed out. “To prevent this article from making a mockery of Poseidon, more to keep the brotherhood where it belongs. On the down low.”
“My unofficial plan was to get Cree to black out our involvement,” Savino reminded him. “No plan survives first contact.”
Aaron shifted his feet at the paraphrasing of the oft-quoted SEAL saying before routinely responding with “There are two ways to do something. The right way. And again.”
Still, Aaron hesitated. He’d worked plenty of missions that carried a heavy cost. He’d spent plenty of sleepless nights mourning collateral damage. But he’d never considered that the cost and damage might impact what he suspected could be the most important relationship in his life.
“The admiral is waiting,” Savino said quietly.
“Oh yeah. The admiral. That’d be Bryanna’s uncle.”
“Pretty sure he won’t keelhaul you for seducing his pretty niece.” With that and one of his rare, teasing grins, Savino clapped his hand on Aaron’s shoulder for a brief moment, then yanked the door open and waved his teammate inside. “But just in case, we’ll keep that on the QT.”
“Well, there’s reassurance for you,” Aaron muttered as he entered the admiral’s antechamber. He stood with Savino while the ensign at the desk announced their presence. Without fanfare, they were escorted into Admiral Granger’s office.
Shoulder to shoulder, Aaron and Savino stood at attention. They didn’t look left, they didn’t look right. They simply waited.
But Aaron knew she was there.
He breathed in the coconut-infused floral scent of her. He heard the gentle catch of her breath as he stepped through the door. Most of all, he felt her, the sensual energy that seemed to spike the very air with passion’s call.
A call he knew he’d hear for the rest of his life.
“Gentlemen,” Admiral Granger greeted in a voice that boomed like cannon fire. “At ease.”
As one, both men shifted to a wide stance, their hands clasped behind their backs and their eyes on the admiral.
“Bryanna Radisson, this is one of the Navy’s best officers, a highly decorated SEAL and the leader of Poseidon. Lieutenant Commander Nic Savino, our newest public affairs specialist, Ms. Bryanna Radisson.”
“Ma’am.”
“Chief Petty Officer Ward, I understand that the two of you have already met.”
Aaron thanked his training for keeping his face expressionless and tried not to think of keelhauling.
“As you both know, Ms. Radisson will be launching a powerful public-relations campaign built on the concept of celebrating the fifty-fifth birthday of the Navy SEALs. Part of that campaign will touch on the unique role Poseidon plays in the SEAL structure.” The admiral outlined the scope, goals and advantages of the campaign. With every word, the knot in Aaron’s gut tightened. She’d pulled plenty of information about Poseidon. Their history, their numbers, the extent of their training.
“The SEALs are the pride of the Navy,” Admiral Granger continued in that gruff tone. “This campaign will make them a beacon that will draw likely candidates to the team. The best, the strongest, the most able, they’ll all clamor to serve.”
Aaron wanted to point out that they already clamored plenty. He saw right there on the chart Bryanna had included in her presentation that she’d noted the BUD/S attrition rate of eighty percent, her notes stressing the fact that even the best weren’t always good enough.
“Now,” the admiral harrumphed. “I’m satisfied with the direction of this campaign. But Ms. Radisson is rather particular about how it’s to be presented. She wants Poseidon’s input and, ultimately, approval. With that said, Chief Ward, you’ll work directly with her to ensure this information cloaks the anonymity of the team and holds true to their vow to avoid recognition.”
“Because of the exclusivity and power of Poseidon,” Bryanna interjected, “I feel it must be addressed with delicacy to avoid problems with the other SEALs as well as ensure continued cooperation and support from the Navy’s echelon.”
She got it. She understood the threat of what she was doing. Aaron blinked. His heart raced. Even as he retraced the words, he wanted to give a loud huzzah of triumph. He wanted to grab hold of Bryanna and swing her into his arms, to strip her down to that silky skin and show her just how grateful he was.
But the man staring at him was not only his superior officer, he was the uncle of the woman Aaron was currently visualizing naked.
“I want this settled before eleven-hundred hours. With that in mind, the two of you can use my office to discuss the matter,” Admiral Granger said, giving them both a nod. “Savino, with me.”
Aaron saw his commander’s grin out of the corner of his eye. Knew it was Savino’s mark of approval. For some, it wouldn’t matter. But to Aaron, it was everything. Poseidon, the brotherhood, they were more than his brothers, more than his team. They were his friends, his backup, his family.
Something he’d failed to tell Bryanna before.
But maybe he’d just been given a shot at something almost as rare as the perfect woman.
A second chance.
Now to make damn sure he made the most of it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I’M SORRY,” AARON SAID as soon as the door closed behind his superior officers. “Perhaps I should have talked this out instead of walking out.”
“Perhaps?” Bryanna asked. Obviously at home in her uncle’s office in a way that Aaron wasn’t, she hitched her hip onto the polished cherrywood desk and crossed one leg over the other. The move hiked the soft blue fabric of her skirt to show a mouthwatering expanse of golden thigh.
Knowing how tempting she was, and how fast that temptation could lure him off track, Aaron forced his eyes to stay on her face. Which was tempting enough.
“The promise of Poseidon having approval over anything that bears our name has a lot of merit. So, yes, perhaps.” He tried to read her expression but couldn’t tell what she was thinking behind those big, dark eyes. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“Because I hadn’t thought of it before,” she admitted, lifting her hands in the air. “When I started this, I saw a job, an opportunity to do something important for a cause I strongly believed in. What I didn’t see was the need for someone looking over my shoulder or seeking feedback on my words or style choices.”
“And you see the need now?”
“No,” Bryanna replied with a laugh. “But something my uncle said sparked a thought. That thought didn’t change my plans for the SEAL birthday celebration, or for the various publications and developmental outlines I’ve drafted.”
Aaron wanted to ask her how she was doing. He wanted to know how she’d slept after he left. If her uncle had given her a rough time and what sort of relationship they had. What he really wanted to ask was if she’d thought about him and what those thoughts were. He wanted to know if she wanted him and what it’d take to be with her again. He was desperate to find out if they had a shot at a future and how that possibility would work out.
But his focus had to be his duty. His attention had to be on the mission at hand. He couldn’t let his team, or himself, down again by getting distracted.
“What did he say and what did it change?” he made himself ask instead of any of the other questions poised on the tip of his tongue.
For the first time since he’d looked at her, Bryanna glanced away. Her gaze cut to her hands twisting around each other in her lap. Then, with a small frown creased between her brows, she met his eyes again.
“He mentioned the perception of exclusivity and prestige that Poseidon holds and how nervous it makes people.” Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she worried it for a moment as she studied him. “Poseidon is powerful. Strong and focused and nearly invisible. That has to engender not only nerves, but also envy and perhaps fear in others.”
Aaron shrugged. “We don’t brag, we don’t apologize. We are what we are. If what we are causes the enemy to fear, all the better. If what we are causes our competitors to strive harder, good for them.” He relaxed enough to rub one hand over his forehead and tried to find the words to make her understand. “But our focus is on our duty, on our mission. Bragging about our training, advertising who we are, negates what we do. Bragging comes from ego, and there’s no room for ego on our missions.”
“I think I understand that.”
She couldn’t. Aaron shook his head, but before he could say more, before he could figure out what more to say, she lifted one hand.
“Perhaps,” she said, stressing the word in a way that did more to shut him up than the expression on her face, “perhaps you could read what I’ve written.”
Bryanna reached behind her for a paper from the admiral’s desk. Aaron noticed her hand was trembling a little as she held it out.
Aaron took it, his frown deepening as he read her outline. Then, a thorough man, he read it again to search for traps or loopholes before glancing at her again.
Looked like he hadn’t needed to try so hard to find the right words.
Once again, he should have trusted her.
“You ran this by the admiral?”
“I ran it by Captain Taylor of Public Affairs, who is in charge of the campaign.” Bryanna pursed her lips as she nodded at the pages. “Apparently his approval was all that was necessary to convince the admiral that this was the best route.”
“You’re leaving Poseidon out of the campaign except for this brief mention here?” He pointed to the sidenote where she’d outlined the entirety of how Poseidon was to be included.
“That’d be it. That’s why the admiral wanted Team Poseidon’s approval. I don’t think he believes you’ll be satisfied to be referred to as briefly and simply as ‘among the SEALs, those who strive to be elite.’”
Aaron’s heart pounded loud enough to ring in his ears as he shook his head in wonder.
Damned if he hadn’t found a woman as important to him as his career. One who, if her insights so far were any indication, would understand his devotion to his country, to his team. Understand and accept.
Now that he’d found her, he’d have to get to work at keeping her.
With that in mind, Aaron offered a smile—a charming one, dammit—and tilted his head toward the door.
“Why don’t you tell me what led you to make this choice. Then we’ll meet with the admiral. After that, I’m off duty. We can go somewhere. Get a drink. Talk about what comes next.”
* * *
BRYANNA FELT AS if she was teetering on the edge of a precarious cliff and one move to either side would send her plummeting. Which way led to happiness was the question, though.
“Why?” she asked, buying time. A hundred responses flew through Bryanna’s mind, but none could keep up with the nerves fluttering in her belly.
Ever since that night, she’d tried to convince herself that her reaction to Aaron was pure romance. That she’d been so caught up in the idea of love at first sight that she’d built him up in her mind. That she’d made him more handsome, more heroic, more intriguing than he really was. Turned out she’d underplayed those traits in her attempt to get over him.
Turned out he was even sexier than she remembered, too.
“Bryanna?” he prompted.
“It seemed like the right thing to do,” she said with a shrug. When he gave her an arch look, complete with that little smile that made her want to confess her every secret, Bryanna couldn’t stop herself from continuing.
“My career is important. To me, because it’s a reflection of who I am, of what I believe in. That’s vital. But I also believe that if I do my job right, I’ll make a difference. For the Navy, for this base, for the personnel who serve.” She tried a deep breath, hoping it’d ease the intensity throbbing in her voice. “I’m not interested in flirting with fame or fortune. I have no intention of compromising my beliefs for sensationalism. I simply want to do my part to serve my country. To share the importance of what we do, to use the power of that to attract new recruits and to solicit funds so the team never has to do without.”
Bryanna’s face heated at the surprise on Aaron’s face. She was a woman gifted with words. On paper, that was. Paper she could revise, rewrite, perfect. Speaking, though, made her feel weird. Her stomach tightened, her flesh chilled, then warmed, then, as if the changing temperatures had shrunk it, stretched too tight over her bones.
“Stop staring at me,” she muttered, rubbing her damp palms over the delicate cotton of her skirt.
“I like staring at you. You’re hot. Appealing, gorgeous, built. You’re passionate, you’re smart, you’re dedicated. All of that makes for pretty damned sexy.”
“You can’t kiss me here,” she protested, leaning backward in shock. “It’s an admiral’s office. Isn’t that like church to you guys?”
Aaron’s laugh filled the room, filled her heart.
“We should go, then.”
“Go where?”
“Somewhere that I can kiss you.”
Oh yeah. Bryanna was already on her feet before she remembered that they had a few other things to discuss before they got to the kissing.
“Did you sleep with me to keep me from writing that article?” She knew the answer in her heart, but some questions had to be asked anyway.
“Did you sleep with me to get more information and insights into Poseidon so you could better write that article?” he countered.
“I guess the answer to both of those is no.”
“Good guess. Maybe we should discuss the real answers, though.”
Bryanna wasn’t sure she was ready for that. This volleying words back and forth, it was a sort of verbal foreplay. Sexy and fun, without any intimate truths to turn it into something more serious.
But the look on Aaron’s face, pure stubborn determination, told her that the time had come for truths, intimate and otherwise.
Still, she lifted her chin and said nothing.
“Since I’m the one with all that training facing the terrifying depths of the unknown, why don’t I start,” Aaron offered, his words hinting at the laughter dancing in his eyes. “I have very strong, probably inappropriate feelings for you.”
What was he feeling? But she couldn’t ask. Not yet.
“Why inappropriate?” she heard herself wondering instead.
“We only met a couple of days ago, so the timing is probably inappropriate. We haven’t even spent an entire day together, so thinking I know everything I need to is probably inappropriate.” His gaze didn’t leave hers as he shrugged. “And I believed, until just a few minutes ago, that we came from opposing sides of a line that has defined my career. That has formed the focus of my life.”
“Those are all important reasons and, yes, all inappropriate.” Pressing her lips together to keep them from trembling, Bryanna managed to smile. “Does it make a difference knowing we’re on the same side of that line?”
“I don’t think it’d matter,” he admitted. “What I feel for you is bigger than anything I’ve felt f
or another. What I want from you is more than I’ve ever thought I could have with a woman.”
Oh, God. Bryanna was so crazy about him that she could barely think. She wanted to dance in place, she wanted to run from the room and shout her joy up and down the halls. But she wanted to be sure, first.
“And now?” she asked. “What do you think now?”
“Now I want to see where this goes,” he admitted. “I feel something for you. I know one night together, a little research on each other and a confrontation in the sanctity of an admiral’s office isn’t a lot to base a relationship on. But I’m a man who lives on the edge. And that edge teaches you to appreciate the moments. To see life-changing potential and embrace any shot at happiness.”
Bryanna’s heart leaped in her chest as she struggled to hold back tears of delight. It was as if he’d peeked into her dreams, gathered them up and gift wrapped them all in bright, shiny paper and glittery ribbons.
“You think we have a shot at happiness?”
“I think we have a shot at whatever we want to make this. What do you think?”
Bryanna’s stomach clenched. Not with fear this time, but with anticipation. Nerves ran under her skin, tingling little shimmers of delight. She was so ready to see what they could shoot for.
“I have a confession,” she admitted quietly, shifting her gaze to her hands for a second to gather her thoughts.
“You’re married?”
She gave a breathless laugh.
“Nothing like that.”
Obviously willing to risk the higher powers’ wrath, Aaron moved forward, stopping inches away, and took her hands in his. His scent wrapped around her, the earthy warmth overplayed by ocean air. The heat from his body seemed to envelop her, to pull her in so she felt as if he’d embraced her with only the touch of his fingers.
“I believe in the power of thought and in making dreams come true. I believe in happy-ever-after. I believe in love at first sight.” She bit her lip to keep from saying more and waited. Simply waited.
When Aaron didn’t stare in horror or run for the door, the bands around her heart eased. When his face slowly widened into a grin of delight, her heart raced. When he reached out to take her hand and lift it high, brushing his lips in a soft caress over her knuckles, her heart melted.