Breaking Through (Book 2 of the SEAL TEAM Heartbreakers) (22 page)

“I know.”

She glanced at her watch. “I’m going to the movies with a friend.” She got to her feet.

“Anybody I know?” he asked

“Yes. Dr. Connelly. We’re dating a little.”

The studied casualness of the way she said it set off battle station alarms. “Define a little.”

“We’ve been going out three or four times a week. Just eating together and doing casual things.”

Four times a week wasn’t dating just a little.  That was leading up to seeing each other every day. And how many times a day were they calling one another?

“I told you about his son, Evan.”

“Yeah.”

“He isn’t doing well.”

The catch in her voice had the volume of those alarms escalating.

“I know how tender-hearted you are, Mom. You’re not getting too involved, are you?”

She paused before speaking. “He’s such a sweet boy. We’ve become friends.”

Meaning yes.
Shit
.

“Russell’s concerned that something has happened between Evan and his mother. She hasn’t contacted him since he got here. I can’t imagine not speaking to you or at least getting an email from you every week. Even when you’re out of touch, you let us know you’re okay in some way. And since he’s so desperately ill—”

“Define desperately, Mom.”

“He’s dying, Brett. He has AIDs and he’s dying.”

Her bleak expression made it worse.
Jesus!
His mom really cared about this kid.

“I thought I’d told you.”

“No, you didn’t tell me.” He struggled to keep his tone even. “You’re being careful, aren’t you? I mean—”

“I’m not being exposed to anything that could make me ill.  Evan is very careful. And so is Russell.”

What the hell did she mean by that?
Every protective instinct was screaming. His heart thundered against his ribs, and his face burned with anger. “This guy isn’t taking advantage of you, is he? Like using you as a caregiver or whatever?”

“No, Russell has hired a nurse to come in three days a week while he’s at the hospital. He’s cut back on his hours so he and Evan can spend time together.”

“And he’s making time with—for you, too?”

She folded her arms against her waist. “Breathe, Brett. You’re getting worked up for nothing.”

Bullshit.
“I’m concerned you’re setting yourself up to get hurt, Mom.”

“Honey, just living can hurt. After your father died, I didn’t want to live. The only thing that kept me going was my love for you and your sisters. Retiring has given me a new perspective on things. I’m fifty-five years old and I’m alone.”

“No, you’re not. You still have us.”

“But I need more, Brett. Your sisters have more. I’m hoping you’ll have more than just your job one day, too. I can’t bury myself in work anymore, honey. I’ve done that for more than twenty years. It’s time for me to explore other options now.”

“So you’re exploring with Connelly.”  God, he sounded so jealous. Of course he wasn’t jealous, he was concerned for her.

“Maybe a little. We have a lot in common. And we’re both single. Why shouldn’t we?”

Every argument he came up with sounded selfish as hell. 

Are they sleeping together? Oh jeez. Can’t go there.

“I’ve even sold some of my photographs, Brett. Imagine that! I just uploaded them to a couple of sites and they’re selling.”

“That’s wonderful, Mom. You haven’t shown them to me.” Was that accusation he heard in his voice?

“They’re on your computer. I left them on there so you could see them.”

What kind of pictures could she have taken that people were purchasing them? “I haven’t been on the computer here, just at work.” He hated when he had to make excuses when he should have been on top of all this. “I’ll check them out.”

Where the hell had he been while she was starting a new career and having an affair?

Not an affair. His dad had been gone a long time. And as far as he knew she’d never allowed anyone else close. Why now? And why Connelly? 

He felt like hunting the guy down and beating the shit out of him.

“I need to go, honey. I don’t want to be late.”  She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

“Be careful, Mom.”

“Always.”

She was such an easy mark. Her heart was right there for the pickings. If this guy hurt her, he’d …
take him out.

As soon as the door closed behind her, he reached for his cell phone.  His hand shook as he scrolled down to Zoe’s number and punched it.

“What the fuck is going on with Mom?” he demanded when she answered.

Zoe was silent for a long moment. “Hello to you, too.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little—” he ground his teeth, “surprised.”
This is so messed up.
“She says she’s dating my doctor.”

“He’s not your doctor any more. And yes, they’re seeing quite a bit of one another.”

“Well?  What the hell is going on?”

After another long pause, Zoe said the last thing he wanted to hear. “I think she’s in love.”

After ending the call, Brett paced the floor, restless and strangely anxious. The urge to call Tess and talk to her was strong. He shoved it away. She didn’t know his mom. Hadn’t gotten to know her enough to care about her. Why would she want to hear about this shit? She wouldn’t. But having her here would be a distraction. If she’d come.

And why the fuck was he so driven to share things with her? He’d never been that way before.

Maybe that bump on the head in Iraq had done something to him. He rubbed his hand over his head, roughing up his hair.

She listened to him. Really listened. Her eyes would focus on his face as though he was the only person on the planet and it just … drew him in.

He picked up the cell phone again and punched the number.

“Hey,” he said as soon as she answered. “How about some ice cream?”

She laughed. Then fell silent for a moment. “I’d love some.”

He scooped up his keys from the breakfast bar. “I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

***

Tess rushed to change from sweats into white shorts and an off-the-shoulder gold tank top. She tossed a sweater on the bed next to her purse. If Brett put the top down it might be chilly. She went into the bathroom to freshen her make-up.

She stared at herself in the mirror. The heavy, excited thump of her heart, coupled with the shine of emotion in her eyes gave her pause.

“What am I doing?” 

Afraid of the answer, she focused on applying blush, then smoothed on a light touch of lipstick, brushed her hair and secured it with a black clip.

When Brett knocked on the door twenty-five minutes later, her heart leaped. “I’m in trouble. This is trouble,” she said to herself even as she rushed to let him in.

She opened the door. A slow smile curved his lips and his eyes seemed to eat her up.  Every nerve in her body clamored for him to wrap his muscular frame around her.

“Come in.”  Those two words had never sounded so suggestive to her.

“What did you do with the thong panties and phone number I gave you?” he asked.

A dropping sensation hit her stomach. Had he lied? Was he harboring an interest in the girl? “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious.”

Her chin jerked up. “I threw them away.” Was that a touch of defensiveness in her voice? She needed to do better than that.

Brett’s brows rose. “Is that all?”

If she told him she’d pretended to be his girlfriend on the phone, he’d read too much into it. Her cheeks heated. “I called Candy and explained to her that if she wanted a boy’s long term interest, she needed to play a little more hard to get next time—with a younger man. And that she should put a higher value on what she’d offered you.”

He drew her close and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I appreciate you handling it for me. Thank you.”

He brushed her lips with his own, stealing her breath and draining most of her wary suspicion away.

“What you did was much better than what I had in mind.”

“Which was?” she asked when she could get her lungs going again.

“I was going to mail the thong to her parents with a note.”

“Oooo.” She frowned. “Way harsh. She has a ferocious case of hero worship. Her parents would have grounded her for months. And she’d have hated you until her dying breath.”

Brett grimaced. “Uh, that doesn’t sound good.”

“And her father would have probably shown up on your doorstep just to make sure you never contacted his daughter again.”

“Definitely not good.” His eyes narrowed. “How do you know what her parents would have done?”

She directed her attention to the dark blue t-shirt stretched across his chest and bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I was a teenage girl once myself. And I did a couple of stupid things, too.”

His arms tightened.  “You haven’t sent panties to some other guy, have you?”

With his flat muscular stomach pressed against hers, and regions below resting intimately against her, her mouth went dry as dryer lint and she had to swallow before she could speak. “I’ve never been quite that aggressive.”

“You can—” His features tensed as he concentrated on the word he wanted. When his expression cleared, she sighed. “You can practice on me, if you’d like,” he said.

Meeting his gaze was more than she could handle, so she laughed and shook her head. “I thought we were going out for ice cream.”

“And a movie?” he asked. “I have several downloaded.”

He mentioned a romantic comedy just released to DVD she’d wanted to see. She glanced at her watch. She had to be up early and it was already eight. But she wanted to spend time with him.

It was just research for the article on PTSD she’d just begun to write. Wasn’t it? 
God, I’m such a fool to let him get to me like this.
It can’t go anywhere.
“All right.”

“My favorite ice cream place is close by,” Brett said as she collected her purse and sweater.

They went to Ben and Jerry’s. Brett ordered chocolate ice cream with white and dark fudge chunks and pecans, walnuts, and almonds. She ordered chocolate with gooey marshmallow and caramel swirls and fish-shaped fudge pieces.

“I think we may both go into a sugar coma,” she complained as they left the scoop shop.

He rested a hand against her waist. “You can handle it, Slim.”

She smiled. “That was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever had.”

“My mom’s homemade is pretty spectacular. She used to fix it every Fourth of July for us. If she’s still here, I’ll sweet talk her into fixing us some for my birthday at the end of the month.”

“You don’t think you’ll be shipped off somewhere for some kind of training by then?”

“I don’t know.” His expression lost some of its animation.

“It’s going to work out, Brett.”

“Yeah.” He opened the car door for her.

He no longer sounded positive.

What would he do if he could no longer be a SEAL? His engineering degree would be there to fall back on, but would he ever be the same man? His whole psyche seemed tied up with being a SEAL. Because it wasn’t just a job. It was a calling.

Though Brett seemed to pull out of that dark moment, he had to fight for words three times as they talked on the way to his apartment. He parked the car in the lot next to the building and came around to open her door.

When he reached for her hand she asked, “What’s happened that’s got you so worked up?”  She slide free of the car.

He closed the door and hit the locking mechanism on his key. “Nothing.”

“Did I say something?”

“No.”

He was shutting her down. Something he’d never done before. She studied his face as the hurt built. Maybe he’d open up when he was more relaxed.

“I heard the movie was really good.”

“I did too. I thought it would be the perfect blend of action for me and chick stuff for you.”

She laughed. “I happen to like a good action movie. I especially love Bruce Willis’ movies. He always plays a smartass like you.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “I think I have all the Die Hard series. You could spend the night and we could do a Die-Hard-a-thon.”

Was that a deliberate sexual innuendo?

“I have all my hair, I’m younger, and I bet I have more stamina than he does.”

Yes, it was.
Her face burnt and the heat spread down her body like a conflagration. Her heartbeat tapped a staccato rhythm against her rib cage and she was having trouble getting a full breath.

They entered the building and his hand rested against the small of her back as he urged her into the elevator.

“You look flushed,” he said as he brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek.

“Don’t toy with me, Brett.” She caught his hand and held it.

His brows rose and his gaze homed in on her face. “I don’t see you as a plaything, Tess. You’re too smart for that and too wary. I’d like to know what caused that.”

The dropping sensation centered in her midriff had more to do with his comment than the elevator ride. “We all have experiences that make the whole dating thing difficult.”

“Share them with me, so I’ll know what not to do.” They stepped out of the elevator and wandered down the hall to his apartment.

She should have never said the word dating. They shouldn’t be dating. He was a source. Her mouth was dry and she swallowed. “If my father can’t come through for you, or doesn’t, is that going to be an issue?”

Brett straightened from unlocking the door, and once again, she was captured in his intent pale blue gaze.  “Are you suggesting the only reason I’m interested in you is because I want to meet your father?”

“No, I’m not saying that.” But it was hard not to believe it. Hadn’t it happened in the past?

He stepped back for her to precede him into the apartment. “Sounds like that’s what you’re saying. If you’re worried about that, we can move on to the next journalist on the list and put that issue behind us. I’d prefer we do that, anyway. Mixing business with pleasure never works out.”

It was too late now. “No. My father’s already on his way and he’s sold on the story. To give it to someone else now—” She shook her head.
God forbid.
Ian would never speak to her again.