Brianna's Navy SEAL (3 page)

"Welcome, Mrs. Macgregor."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Addison.” She sat at his gesture, then pointedly stared at Steve until he excused himself and left.

"Thank you for meeting with me,” she said. “I'm sure you have plenty to do at home. Are you settled in yet?"

"Nearly."

"I understand you live across from my Brianna.” The sparkle changed to a glimmer. Uh, oh, Cable thought. Matchmaker alert.

"Yes, coincidentally. As I'm across the hall from her here."

Elyse beamed. “Wonderful.” Then she suddenly turned all business. “I'm sure you're wondering what to expect from me."

Cable leaned forward and picked up a pencil from the desktop. “It might be better for you to tell me what you expect."

"Drudge work.” Her eyes were back to sparkling. “Pouring glue and picking it out of hair, taking kids to the bathroom, sorting papers, that sort of thing?"

He nodded. “The biggest assistance will be during Centers each day. Certain projects will require more supervision or help for the students than others. Art and science in particular, since they're more hands-on. The reading and math centers are much quieter and the kids are able to do for themselves more easily. Parent volunteers can help out there."

He sat back again as he warmed to the topic. “I want to try to get them all on the computer each day, which won't be easy. We need to devise a system to move them along when each child finishes their program. Recess and snack are group activities, of course, and every morning we do Daily Circle to talk about the date and weather. I also teach them new sign language and a song in circle each day.” He noted the smile on her face was now of the can't-hide-it variety. “What, you don't think I can sing?"

"I'm sorry.” She placed her fingertips over her mouth. “It's just, you're such a big man, and it's hard to picture you in a circle with the children."

"You're not the first to have trouble with that image."

They talked about the daily routine a bit more, then Cable stuffed his briefcase and walked her out. By the time they left the parking lot in their cars—hers a Chrysler Sebring convertible, his a Ford Expedition—he had accepted an invitation to dinner Sunday night.

Elyse Macgregor had a plan.

Brianna could sense it before she'd even set foot in the house. The cars were wrong. Usually, her father and mother squeezed their cars into the cluttered garage, Kira and Sophie parked their SUVs in the driveway, and Brianna parked her little Jetta on the narrow street. But today, Kira's 4Runner was sitting by the mailbox. Brianna parked behind it, stepped onto the sidewalk, and saw why. A silver Expedition sat in Kira's usual spot. A silver Expedition just like Cable's. She hesitated, but decided it was coincidence and continued up the walk. No doubt a friend of her mother's was in town, one of the women she'd met on her annual “personal” vacations. She'd taken one just before Kira and Jake married, and it had changed her life.

Certain she was right, Brianna opened the kitchen door and walked in with a smile.

Of course, the smile froze as soon as she saw Cable chopping carrots at the counter. He wore a ruffled apron around his waist but looked as comfortable as he had in his classroom. Both were places he just shouldn't belong, but he did. And Brianna's system went haywire.

She backed out of the kitchen and shut the door, hearing “Bee-Bee!” as the latch clicked. She grimaced, feeling terrible when the excited cry turned into a wail.

She couldn't help her reaction, or her instinctive need to hide it. But she couldn't let her nephew cry, either.

She hesitated two seconds, wondering how bad it would be to run back to her car. The “I wanna huuuggg!” behind the door told her it would be very bad.

She sighed and went back inside, pasting a huge smile on her face and opening her arms wide.

"Joey, baby! I'm here!"

He didn't run to her this time, but kind of slid over into her arms, sniffling and ducking his head. He looked at her from wide, shimmering blue eyes that matched his mama's, and kept two fingers in his mouth. She folded him into her arms when he came close enough. “Shh, love. I'm sorry.” He let her stroke his hair for a few seconds, then babbled something about a ball and Cody, the dog, and ran off into the living room.

"Well, that was unusual.” Her mother was watching her from the stove. “What did you do that for?"

She glanced at Cable and blushed when she saw the look on his face. “I forgot something.” He knew, she could tell, and blushed harder. “Um, what can I do to help?"

Her mother put her to work slicing bread at the island, back-to-back with Cable. The kitchen wasn't tiny, but it was close enough that she could feel his movements behind her, and for some reason, that felt intimate. Too intimate.

Which was ridiculous. Why shouldn't she get intimate with Cable Addison? She had too many instinctive reactions to him, all conflicting, and it would be easier if she could just avoid the whole thing. Working together was bad enough, but at least they were in separate rooms most of the time. She kept finding herself peeking out the window to see if he was home, maybe doing yard work in his muscle shirt, but she didn't have to go outside herself. But here, with this forced proximity, both attraction and fear were building every time they touched.

She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly, forcing herself back to normal before anxiety got completely out of control.

Her mother was talking to Cable about the kids in their classroom, mundane stuff about next week's lessons. Brianna relaxed and listened while she finished slicing the loaf and arranging it in a bread basket. This was familiar territory, and they soon drew her into the conversation, which continued, with Jake's input and Sophie's smart remarks, into dinner.

Suddenly, without warning, she yawned. Mortified, she slapped her hand over her mouth, but everyone had noticed. It had been a pretty loud yawn.

"Not enough sleep?” Cable asked, grinning at her over his fork.

"Nah, we're just too tedious for Brie,” Jake teased. He reached to move Joey's cup away from the edge of the table. The toddler, wiggly in his booster seat, was intent on scooping peas onto his spoon. His father nudged them on with his thumb, and Joey dumped them gleefully into his mouth.

"See, Mama! I do it!” He waved the spoon.

"I don't think you guys are tedious,” Brianna protested, watching her nephew to avoid seeing Cable viewing her embarrassment. “Or teaching, for that matter. You know I love it."

"For now.” Parker, Sophie's husband, hadn't been part of the family for long, but he'd quickly gotten the hang of picking on Brianna. “By Christmas break she'll be taking off again, maybe for the Middle East. New York and LA haven't seemed to be enough."

"Shush, you guys.” Cable didn't need to hear about her past restlessness, and it wasn't like she could counter their accusations by pointing her finger at her sisters anymore.

"Middle East?” Cable questioned, eyeing her. “What are they talking about?"

"Nothing.” She stabbed a piece of meat with her fork, then set it down, her appetite gone. She had no doubt Cable was intimately familiar with the Middle East, and wondered what he was thinking.

"So, what do you think the Sox's chances are to win the pennant this year?"

Grateful to her father for taking pity on her, Brianna stood and started gathering plates while the rest launched into their favorite fall debate. She'd just get a few moments alone in the kitchen to recover. But Cable followed her with his own stack and started scraping remains into the trash. Stuck, Brie bent to help.

"You do a lot of traveling?” Cable asked, something careful in his voice. Not sure why that was, she answered cautiously.

"Not really. Just a couple of times in the last few years."

"You going overseas?"

"No, that was a joke. I'm sorry, that's just kind of what happens with a big family. They toss out inside jokes and ignore how rude it is to guests."

Cable dropped the silverware into the sink next to the plates and scooted the trash can back into place with his foot. “What are you doing after dinner?"

"Um, well, usually we ... I go home and relax, ‘cause tomorrow's Monday. Tonight I have some bookkeeping to do for an accountant I help out, though, so no rest for me."

"I was hoping you'd go get coffee with me or something. But if you're busy—"

"Not that busy.” Brianna felt like she was in high school again, her chest filling with air and threatening to take her to the ceiling. “Um, there's a new coffee shop on the square. It's within walking distance. We can take it to the park, then walk back. If you want."

"Sounds good."

"Hey, you guys want to play Cranium?” Jake poked his head through the door. “Sophie and Parker are hanging out for a while before they head home."

Brianna and Cable looked at each other, then back at Jake.

"Sure,” said Cable.

"For a little while,” Brianna added.

"Great.” Jake winked knowingly. “Save the dishes. Dad'll do them later. Come'n out."

Brianna wiped her hands on a dishtowel and followed them, cursing herself. She didn't want to play Cranium, she wanted to go on this pseudo-date with Cable. But she hadn't wanted to contradict him, when he seemed to be enjoying himself and might see her as being pushy.

Damn it. She had to stop this. She still felt like a teenager, but now in a bad way. She'd smile and play the game for half an hour, then they'd go get their coffee. It was as simple as that.

Brianna should have known. Simple was never part of Macgregor family events, not anymore. The game went on for two hours, interrupted by drink runs, bathroom trips, the impossibility of getting her mother to sit still for five minutes, and Joey's interest in Cable's biceps and refusal to nap. By the time the game wrapped up, it was sunset, and Brianna figured Cable wouldn't want to go for their walk now. She was trying to hide her frustration and disappointment as she put the game away, when Kira spoke up.

"Anyone in the mood for appletinis? Brie makes great ones, Cable, though...” She looked him over. “That might not exactly be your kind of drink."

"Actually, Kira, I think we're going to say goodnight."

Silence descended on the living room, except for the burbling noises Joey was making with his lips. Brianna wasn't sure what to say. He'd said “we,” right? Everyone turned to look at her. Yep, he'd said we.

"Um, we were going to go get coffee on the square,” she added.

"I wanna go! I wanna go!” Joey started bouncing at his mother's feet.

"No, sweetie.” Kira bent and hefted him to her hip when he turned on the siren. “I think that's our cue to go home."

"They have a new coffee shop?” Parker asked. He looked at Sophie. “You want—"

"No.” She grabbed his arm. “We have to go home. Boston traffic, you know."

"It's Sunday night. It won't be"—Sophie whacked him on the shoulder—"easy to get through town, you're right, we should leave now.” He led the hugging and kissing goodbye, while Brianna endured the significant looks and smug smiles and Cable's amusement. She wondered if this was even worth it.

A few minutes later, when they were walking in the soft light, with the cool breeze rustling the leaves above them, the dying sun casting that last-ditch, golden glow, she was absolutely certain it was.

They chatted about school a little until they got their coffees, then strolled around the square.

"I don't want to always talk about work with you,” Cable said, sipping his espresso. “So tell me something about Brianna. Tell me about the traveling."

"Geez, you don't want to hear about my piddling travels. You've been all over the world."

"Yeah, well, it's not the same when you're going for the stuff we were going for. I didn't play tourist very much."

Brianna mentally kicked herself. “Sorry. I didn't mean to be glib."

"No, it's okay. No one really understands unless they've lived it. It doesn't bother me. Plus, I want to hear about you, not just about the places you've been. So, what's your goal?"

She looked up at him. God, he had a gorgeous profile. “Goal?"

"Some people travel to learn new cultures. Some want to see the sights. Some want to sample the food. What are you about?"

"Ah. Well, I guess I was looking for adventure.” She waved a hand. “For a while, Brook Hollow felt tame for me. I got restless. It seems to run in the family. My mother kind of had a breakdown a few years ago, took a vacation alone, going where she wanted to go, and it revitalized her and my parents’ marriage. So now she goes every year, making new friends, doing things like white-water rafting.” The breeze blew her hair in her face and as she reached for it, her hand bumped Cable's. He caught the errant strands and tucked them behind her ear. She smiled.

"Sounds like she'd been bottling it up for a while.” He smiled back. Something wiggled happily inside her.

"No doubt. It scared us. But it also taught us something, I think. Kira thought she needed the excitement of Boston, but realized she really needed Jake and Brook Hollow. It was almost too late, but they got through. Sophie hated her job and hated the rich playboys she had to suck up to as investors, so she ended up doing a radio show, then Parker joined her. And guess what he was?"

"A rich playboy."

"Yep. They still do the radio show, Rant and Rave."

"I heard them when I was in Boston. I never caught that it was your sister. They're great."

She beamed. “I know. It's such a bummer that we can't hear them here. Anyway, they found what fulfilled them. I don't think I have yet.” She hesitated, but why bother hiding it? Cable was involved with her family, and he'd get the full picture sooner or later. Or most of it. “I thought it had to be something exciting. First grade is mundane, doing bookkeeping even worse. I watched too many movies,” she confessed, and realized she'd been rattling on forever. She sneaked a glance at Cable and saw he was frowning. She'd bored him to death. Man, this wasn't going well.

"Anyway, I'm over it, back to my little world here in Brook Hollow.” She tried to trill a laugh, but it came out sounding nervous. “You're no stranger to adventure. What made you retire and start teaching?"