“Uh… no. Not from me. A gift from Trip.”
“You got it.” Barney took the money from her, and Colt found himself wondering who Trip was. A boyfriend, maybe? “Can I get you anything else?” Barney asked. “On the house.”
She—Kate—thought about it, and Colt stopped short of closing his eyes and praying she would stay and have a drink beside him. He had no idea where it had come from, but the desire to learn something about the woman sitting beside him was great.
“You know, I would love a Tito’s and cranberry with a lime.”
“How about you?” Barney pointed to Colt. “You want another?”
Colt lifted his bottle, checking the contents. “Sure. Thanks.” He shifted his body slightly in Kate’s direction. “Is that short for something?” Colt asked, then clarified. “Kate.”
She eyed him slowly, letting several beats pass before she answered. “No.”
Colt leaned back slightly at the cool response. “Well, Kate’s a lovely name.”
She lifted a single brow. When Barney placed the drink in front of her, she gently squeezed the lime into the vodka and cranberry juice.
“It’s not a lovely name?” Colt asked when Kate didn’t respond favorably.
“It’s an okay name, I suppose,” she said as if it wasn’t hers or she was indifferent to her own name.
“Are you from here?” Colt asked.
“Why?” She lifted her drink to her lips, not even turning to him this time.
Colt smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t usually care to make casual conversation with people I don’t plan on seeing ever again, but I noticed you across the room, and for some reason I find myself wanting to know something about you.”
Kate paused mid-drink, then slowly sat her drink back on the bar. She pulled another couple of dollars from her wallet and threw them on the bar, tipping the bartender even though he’d said the drink was on the house. My best guess? She was a bartender or waitress and knew the importance of good tips.
“Thanks, Barney,” she called before grabbing her drink and moving to slide off the barstool.
“Was it something I said?” Colt asked.
“Kate!” a woman in a sequined top and pencil-thin jeans screamed as she threw an arm around Kate’s neck. “Where’d you go?” The woman slid a droopy-eyed gaze toward Colt. “What do we have here?” She looked from Colt to Kate. “Were you…” She dipped her chin, and grinned at Kate. “Kate Ward… were you just picking up on this man? Very nice,” she slurred, while nodding with a huge smile. “He’s hot,” she said directly to Kate in a loud whisper that everyone in a ten-foot radius could have heard.
This woman was obviously hammered. And Kate Ward–he made mental note of her name—was having a drink of her own. Colt couldn’t stop himself from wondering how they were all getting home.
Nope, he decided quickly, not his problem.
“Alli, my friend, you’re drunk,” Kate said. “Let me get you an Uber.” After setting her drink back on the bar, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and began pressing buttons.
The rest of the ladies at the table were standing and gathering the gifts for the bride.
“I’ll call a couple of cabs,” Barney said from behind the bar.
“Thanks, Barney,” Kate said while helping her friend back toward the table.
Another of the ladies stumbled as she stood. Colt set his beer on the bar and ran to steady her before she fell.
“Oh, dear,” the woman said. “It’s been a while since I’ve stood up.” She laughed. “I think I had one too many.”
Colt laughed, then looked over at Kate. “How about I help these lovely ladies get outside to their cabs?”
“Oh.” She looked surprised, but then realized that her friends were more drunk than she’d realized. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
After about ten minutes of the women gathering their things and making trips to the ladies’ room, Colt helped lead the partygoers out of the bar and to the parking lot. Once everyone was in a cab or an Uber, Kate and Colt were the only two left standing.
Colt eyed Kate more closely. She was wearing tight leather-like pants and a cropped jacket that she was trying to pull closed. It had gotten colder during the time he’d been in the bar. She wore a pair of three-inch heels that put her just below his chin, which was about the perfect height for him, he noted.
“Thank you for helping. I didn’t realize how much everyone had had to drink.” She laughed, and even though she had spoken tersely before, she wasn’t now. “They ought to feel that tomorrow.”
“Yet you seem fine.”
She eyed him. “Yeah… well… I didn’t have nearly as much as they did. Thanks again.”
She turned toward the parking lot instead of back toward the bar, and Colt still found himself panicking slightly, which was highly unusual for him. She was beautiful, there was no question about that, and it was cute the way she had been keeping tabs on the game while pretending to be involved with the bachelorette party. But there was something else about her that drew him in. At first he had thought it was the sadness in her eyes, but there was more, hidden just under the surface. And he was determined to find out what it was.
“You wouldn’t want to go back in and finish that drink, would you?”
She turned, hesitated for a few beats. A breeze picked up her blonde hair and blew it across her face.
“One drink,” he said, hoping to persuade her.
She looked out toward the parking lot, then back at me. Colt could see the uncertainty on her face and the internal argument she was having with herself.
“Fine,” she finally said. “Under one condition.”
“Name it,” Colt said.
“We talk about nothing personal. And this goes no further than one drink.”
Colt considered the fact that he was only in Virginia Beach for a few days and the fact that he was in no position to start a relationship with someone living clear across the country and who probably had no clue what it truly meant that he was a SEAL. “Fine. Nothing personal.” But he couldn’t promise that it wouldn’t go beyond one drink.
Chapter 4
Kate
Kate Ward sat at the bar and sipped her drink. She had no idea why she’d given in to the stranger’s request for her to have a drink with him. It was unlike her to take a risk, but there was something about the way Colt had helped her friends that made her feel like she could join him for one drink and a few minutes of casual conversation. But that was all.
It didn’t matter that Colt was a lean, muscular, six-foot tall man with brown hair that made her want to run her fingers through it. Or the fact that she hadn’t had sex in years. She’d given up the idea of a real relationship long ago. Not only did she have a four-year-old that needed her undivided attention, she couldn’t promise anyone a long-term commitment when the dangers of her past lurked in the shadows all around her. She knew that she might have to drop everything and leave Virginia Beach with her daughter at a moment’s notice. She couldn’t imagine meeting someone whom she’d trust with that information, so she simply kept the men she did meet at a safe distance away, emotionally speaking.
“So, Kate, have you lived in Virginia Beach long?” Colt asked. He was turned in his stool to face her completely, while she continued to face the bar.
She angled her head toward him and smiled. “No personal talk, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right.” He looked up toward the ceiling, then back at her. “Okay, then. How about we start with… do you like the ocean?”
“There are people who don’t?”
“That’s what I always say,” Colt said. “Do you get irritated by the cold weather when living on the beach?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I just throw on more clothes.” Truth was, she didn’t care if it was below freezing or ninety degrees Fahrenheit, she loved living near the ocean.
He smiled, obviously liking her answer. “Okay, your turn. Ask me
anything.”
“Anything, huh?” She swirled the skinny black straw around in her drink, then turned her body toward him. Her knees knocked against his. “You’re not from this area. Are you in town for business or pleasure?
He seemed to think about it.
“Was that too personal?” She drew back slightly, which caused him to lay a hand on her knee.
“No, that wasn’t too personal. I just had to think about it for a second. I guess I’m here mostly for pleasure, but there’s always the chance that business might creep into my plans a little.”
She stared at his hand for a second, thought about shifting away from his touch, but decided not to. She was almost done with her drink.
“My turn. Why weren’t you partying like your friends? You seemed to be the only one who didn’t need a ride home.”
There was something so kind in the way Colt was looking at her, but there was no way she was going to tell him that she stayed sober because she never knew when her daughter might need to come home. She was at a sleepover with her preschool friend, and though this wasn’t Sarah’s first sleepover, she wanted to be available. “It’s just not my thing—to drink like that. Don’t get me wrong,” she quickly added. “I’m fine with them having fun. I’m not self-righteous or anything”—not by a long shot—“but I like to keep a clear head and wake up in the mornings with an even clearer head. So, it’s just a couple for me tonight—one with my friends and one now.” She swirled the ice around in her nearly empty glass.
Colt looked down at his almost empty beer bottle and frowned. His sexy-as-hell appearance made her want to break all of her own rules, but it was the way he made her feel like she was the only person in the entire bar when he spoke to her that made her want to touch the hand resting on her knee. His eyes met Kate’s again. “Is it too cold for a walk on the beach?”
She started to answer with a quick and obvious ‘no,’ but he cut her off. “I flew here today from the west coast, so I’m not even close to ready to turn in all by myself. I’m only here for a few days, but I’m enjoying your company, and I would love it if you would walk with me. Please. If it’s too cold, I’ll walk you home or put you in an Uber or whatever you want.”
He was rambling. She suppressed a smile at his desperate—in a cute way—plea. Colt seemed extremely nice. If he wasn’t, she knew she could handle herself. And she loved the beach at night. “I guess I could use to walk off the drink before I head home.” She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket to verify her daughter, in fact, hadn’t tried to call her.
“Great.” Colt’s expression lit up with boyish excitement that Kate found charming and more than a little flattering.
After paying his tab, he gestured for Kate to lead the way. He placed a warm hand to her lower back in a friendly gesture as they exited the bar. Because her jacket was cropped, his hand slipped easily enough just under the jacket, leaving just a thin layer of fabric between it and her skin.
They exited the bar, and when they reached the entrance to the beach, she removed her heels so that she could walk barefoot in the sand. The sand was cold, and she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to endure the dropping temperatures.
He must have felt it, too, because he removed his light jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
“Oh, no,” Kate protested. “You’re not wearing enough clothes. You need your jacket.”
“I’m fine, but I don’t want you to tell me it’s too cold for this walk.”
She scanned the boardwalk and the beach. There weren’t a lot of people around, thanks to the cooler weather, most likely, and she long ago made it a habit to always be fully aware of her surroundings. She regularly envisioned Jake, her brother, or one of the other members of the motorcycle club she grew up around slipping out from the shadows, pinning her arms behind her back and whispering in her ear that she had nowhere to run. “This is a bad idea.”
He followed her line of vision down the boardwalk and back. “You’re trembling. What are you scared of? Me?” He sounded taken aback, and she could see the hurt on his handsome face.
“No. Yes.” Her eyes slammed shut. “I’m not afraid of you. But like I said earlier. This had to be just one drink and nothing more.” She glanced downward toward his lips and quickly back up.
“I don’t think so,” he said in a gentle tone and took a step closer to her. The smell of his shower gel made her lean even closer. “You wanted to walk with me. Maybe it’s too cold for that walk, but I think you’d like to spend a little more time with me. Something spooked you. What was it?”
She wanted to spend more time with him. He was the first man in a long time that showed interest in her without pushing multiple drinks on her. He seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her even if it was only short-term and even if it had been held to non-personal information. “It was nothing.” She pulled back. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.” He scooped up her hand and rubbed it between his. “I know that you love the beach. That you care enough about your friends to make sure they make it home safely after a night of fun. I know that you like basketball, but that you put your friends before tonight’s game.”
Her eyes widened. “What makes you say that?”
“I noticed you tonight. You were silently cheering on Gonzaga to beat North Carolina, but you tried not to let your friends see you watching the game.”
“The night wasn’t about me; it was about my friend getting married.”
“Exactly. You care about people and would do anything for your friends.”
“Yes, but—”
He dropped her hand and slid his to the small of her back. “I can tell when a woman is attracted to me. And I’m sure as hell attracted to you. All of the reasons I just mentioned just kind of knocked me over. Like a damn ocean wave in the surf. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you. If not a walk on the beach, how about another drink? Coffee?”
“Coffee won’t help you sleep tonight.”
“But if that’s what it will take to get you to stay with me a bit longer…”
She angled her head, studied him. She watched the way the scar just above his lip twitched. The way his hazel green eyes seemed to pierce hers and see much more than made her comfortable. He was damn attractive. And he was only here for a few days. She was so going to regret this, but before she could stop herself, she said, “I know a place.”
Chapter 5
Colt
Kate and Colt walked down the boardwalk, past his hotel. They crossed the road from the beach and found a brightly lit, fifties-style twenty-four hour diner—Danny’s Café.
He was positive that the woman beside him was attracted to him. He’d seen the way she’d looked at his lips and studied his eyes like she was memorizing every speck of color in them. When he had touched her earlier, she could have pulled away, but she didn’t. She’d thought about it, but something stopped her, and Colt took that as a good sign.
“Hi, Kate,” a woman in a pink dress with a white apron said when they entered. “Good to see you.” She didn’t seem surprised to see Kate this late at night.
“Hi, Nadine.”
Nadine showed them to a booth in the back. Colt moved to take the side of the table so that he had a clear line of sight of the front door—a SEAL thing—but Kate beat him to it. He didn’t want to make a big deal of it, so he reluctantly took the other side. Nadine handed them a pair of menus and brought them a couple of waters.
“You come here often?” Colt asked, when Nadine left them alone.
“Yeah,” she said. She scanned the restaurant. “I like Danny’s. I come here with—” Her eyes darted back to Colt’s. She lifted a finger and smiled. “Nope. Nothing personal.”
He understood the rules, but damn if he didn’t want to know who she was about to speak of. A friend? A parent? Sibling? Boyfriend?
No. Not a boyfriend. She didn’t seem the type to share a moment with a stranger if she had a boyfriend.
> They sat in the diner for two hours. They shared a grilled cheese sandwich and a plate of French fries. They talked about nothing but trips they’d like to take, whether they were cat people or dog people (she was a dog person, thankfully), mountain or beach, country or city, and by the time two a.m. rolled around, Colt felt like he’d known her for months.
Except he still didn’t know where she lived, where she came from, or if he would ever see her again. He wanted to take her back to his hotel room and decide in the morning when they would see each other again—after he spent the rest of the night making her feel the limits of every pleasure-centric nerve ending in her body.
While Kate was telling him that one of her dreams was to be wealthy enough one day to have fresh flowers on her kitchen table every single day, Colt reached across the table and entwined his fingers with hers. He found himself wanting to make sure her wish came true.
She glanced at their tangled fingers, then up to meet his gaze. “Colt,” she said softly.
He knew she was feeling their connection by the fact that she didn’t pull away. “Don’t stop talking,” he said. “Tell me what your favorite flower is.”
She let a couple of seconds pass before she spoke again. Not because she didn’t know the answer, Colt didn’t think, but because she was still trying to decide whether to let him touch her. But she finally said, “Peonies.”
“Peonies,” Colt repeated, memorizing the name. He had no idea what a peony was, but he would find out. “Why peonies?”
“Because they are proof that life is delicate and that good things don’t last forever, but that you should enjoy them while they do.” Her face turned sad, conflicted. Maybe she had lost someone close to her; maybe that was what put that look in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Colt said.
“For what?” she asked.
“For whatever happened that made you think that good things don’t last forever.”
She pulled her hand away and looked at her watch. “It’s late. I better go. I have to work tomorrow.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protected in Darkness (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 2