Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (20 page)

“Are you kidding me? Do you know what a turn on that is for me?”

“What are you talking about? I think I should last longer.”

“Do you know how powerful it is? You fall apart in my arms almost right away - I have never experienced anything like that. It means that we are made for each other. It’s a gift we need to appreciate. Has it always been with this way with you?” He watched her shake her head and look down at the ground as they walked.

“No, never…. not even close. At all…..ever.”

A smile crossed his face and he squeezed her hand. “Me either.”

She looked up at him in disbelief. “You don’t have to say that. I know you have a lot of experience. I don’t want you to lie to me.”
 

He stopped and turned her towards him and tipped her face up, “I am telling you the truth. This is a completely unique experience for me….that’s why I know you are the one for me. I have never felt this way. That’s why I’m trying to get you to fall for me.”

“I think it’s happening, just don’t rush me.”

He let his lips fall against hers and sealed his promise of patience when he finally lifted his mouth.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“I can drive myself over to Birdie’s house! Jackson isn’t following me around.”

“Why won’t you let me drive you? Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Why are you being so paranoid?”

“Because paranoid keeps you safe and that’s all I want.”

“Max, I’m driving over to Birdie’s house and I will call you when I get there.” She stood in front of him and waited for him to back off a little - she was concerned it could take a while.

“I don’t have a choice about this without being an asshole…. right?”

“Pretty much.”
 

“All right.”

She leaned up and kissed him, “Good choice Mr. Bishop.”
 

He wasn’t happy about it, but didn’t want to win the battle to lose the war. “What are you and Birdie going to do?”

“We are going to cook and hang out. I think there is too much testosterone in her house and she is going a little crazy. Apparently Mark and Travis are driving her nuts. They are both lousy patients.”

“That’s what happens when you have two bored, aggressive, overgrown male children with too little to occupy their time. Too bad they can’t have a van brawl and get it out of their systems.”

“What in the world is a van brawl?”

“When we were in training, we would end up in a van for a couple of hours as we were being transported to wherever the next training exercise was happening. On a lot of those trips a van brawl would erupt over something. Sometimes it was out of boredom, a stupid debate or because someone spilled something. It’s what happens when you have a bunch of guys with excessive testosterone pumping and no way to let it out. We would beat the shit out of each other. Every SEAL enjoys a physically crushing challenge and if there isn’t one readily available - we will make up one.”
 

“I don’t believe regular people do this at work. You all are crazy and I don’t mean than it an endearing way.”

“I understand, and that is why there are so few of us. We never miss a chance to compete. If we don’t have something, give us five minutes and we will make something up. It’s the nature of the guy who ends up on the teams and team culture. I sure miss the hell out of it, I would go back tomorrow if I wasn’t so banged up.”

“Is it something that you can ever leave behind or is it always there?”

“I think it is always there. Maybe that’s why I started the Security Firm. I wanted to recreate the team experience as much as I could as a civilian. I work with men who were on the teams, and we do some of the same things we did when we were employed by Uncle Sam. I think this is the best we can do.”

“It sounds like a letdown…. As if those were the glory days and everything after that will never live up.”

“I don’t think of it that way. I’m pretty satisfied with the company that I’m creating with the guys. I think we are doing good work and helping people out - there is nothing wrong with that. A big advantage is now that I’m retired, I have a chance at a family.”

“Do you want to be married or do you want a family?”

“First I want to be married, and then I would like some children…. preferably with you.”

“Well, it’s something to think about.”

“That’s all I ask… give me a chance.” He dropped a kiss on her lips very gently and quickly. “Call me when you get there and let me know you made it safely.”

***

Rory knocked and walked into Birdie’s house, “Thank god you are here. Those two knuckleheads are making me crazy.”
 

“What are they doing now?”

“They are bored, so they are complaining about not being able to work out. They each have a week before they can start their rehab, and I’m not sure we are going to survive.”

“They need a project to work on. Let’s think of something that they can do. Maybe I can have Max bring over something that they can work on. They have a bunch of requests for security analysis for some manufacturing plants in Pakistan. They are at the bottom of the pile for priority because he doesn’t have enough people to work on it. That would keep them occupied for a while.

“That’s a good idea. Can you call him right now? I’m a little desperate.”

“Of course. Maybe he can bring it by later on this afternoon. What are they doing right now?”

“They are in the garage going through the boxes and deciding what we should keep. Adam is starting on the garage tomorrow and I want to get rid of whatever we don’t need.”

“What are you going to do with the garage?”

“One part of it is going to be Mark’s man cave, and the other part is going to be a workshop and gym.”

“Does he know about all of your plans?”

“Of course not. I wasn’t expecting him to be home. It was all supposed to be a surprise. Adam is going to try and keep him off track as much as he can. Mark goes back to the base next week, so I have a small chance of pulling it off.”

“Let me call Max and let him know I’m here, and then I can ask him about the projects.”

“OK, I’m going to go check on the guys - it seems a little too quiet out there. It worries me a little.” She turned towards the French doors and saw Mark slowly walking towards her. He still had a little time before his knee was going to be fully operational.
 

“Baby, we are going to drive to Home Depot and get some racks for the garage. Do you need anything else?”

“I didn’t think you were supposed to be driving yet?”

“Travis is driving and I’m going to be lifting - between the two of us, we can get it done.”

“Ok, what time are you guys going to be back?”

“Late this afternoon.”

“Dinner will be ready at 6:00, so be home by then, please.”

“Yes, dear.”

“You are getting really good at that. I’m impressed.”

“That was my intention. I want you to be impressed: the same way you were impressed this morning.”

Birdie looked around, “You can’t say that aloud…. someone might hear.”

Travis walked in behind Mark and laughed. “Birdie, everyone already knows that you two act like rabbits. It’s not a secret. I would be more worried about the looks you guys give each other that telegraph your thoughts.”

“That’s not true…is that true, Rory?”

“Yes, it’s true.”

She looked over at Mark and he shrugged his shoulders, “You are no help.”
 

“We are going to leave before I get in trouble for lusting after my fiancée. I feel like this is a no win situation for me, so I’m going to Home Depot to buy manly things. Come on Travis… let’s make our escape.” He dropped a kiss on her lips before he left.

Birdie stood there with her hands on her hips and called after them, “Chicken.”

They both pretended not to hear and made their way to Mark’s truck. “I hope they make it there in one piece and don’t hurt themselves when they try to lift stuff.”

“They will be fine. Let’s take advantage of the break and do something girly. Do you want to go to the movies?”

“We can watch one here if you want. That way we can eat popcorn and have margaritas with it.”

“I like the way you think.”

“Do you mind taking a walk with me first? There is an open house down the street and I’m dying to see what the house looks like.”

“Of course not - you know how I like to snoop and see what people do to their house.”

“Let’s go and check it out. Maybe you can buy it, and then we can hang out all the time.”

“How big is the house?”

“I’m not sure. Let’s go look.”

***

They walked through the house and Rory kept making comments about how perfect the house was. “It’s too big for me, but if I had a family, this would be my dream home.”

“It needs a lot of work though.”

“It’s not that bad - the bones are good and the kitchen is great. It just needs to be stripped of all the bad taste. Look… the floors have been redone and the bathrooms are so charming. All the kitchen needs is new counter tops, but they did a good job with the rest.”

“You are ready to move in. Are you sure it’s too big?”

“Uh… yes. I don’t think I need a two story, five bedroom home with a huge back yard for just me.”

“What if you and Max get married? You could live here, and our kids could grow up together, and we could run in and out of each other’s house whenever we wanted.”

“You have it all planned out. Has Max been talking to you?”

“No. I just got home. Has he proposed?”

“Almost. He talks about it constantly. I asked him to back off and I think he is trying. He’s not really successful though. It’s like he can’t help himself.”

“I haven’t had a boyfriend in two years and he wants to bind me to him after two weeks.”

“It sounds eerily familiar - Mark was the same way. I thought he was in a hurry because he was going to be deployed, but he told me that wasn’t it. The thing I find interesting is that we are experiencing things that only seem to happen in movies or romance novels and we find it unbelievable. When did we become so cynical? We no longer believe magic is possible.”

“I think when your fiancé cheated on you with his assistant, and when every guy I ever dated seemed to lose interest right at the moment that I let myself fall.”

“Oh yeah… that must be it. Mark has restored my faith in the impossible idea of love. I’m not crazy - I don’t think that we are going to get along every day or it’s all going to be easy. But I want whatever it is… to be with him.”

“I think I just need time to adjust. The stalker problem is solved and I just left my job. I want to relax a little and see what I feel.”

“Let me ask you this…. if you never saw Max again, how would you feel?” She watched her friend take a quick breath in and cover her heart with her hand. “That’s what I thought. You don’t need to tell him, but I think you already know how you feel. Your brain is just fighting it because it goes against everything you believe.”

“Maybe.”

You have all the time in the world. It’s not like your pregnant and you have to decide quickly. Even then, you still have all the time in the world. You are in charge of your own destiny, and you get to decide what makes you happy.”

“I think I need a chick flick, popcorn and a margarita.”

“Let’s go.”

They walked back to Birdie’s house and saw Max drive up. They waited at the gate for him to get out. “What are you ladies up to?”

“We were looking at houses. There is an open house and we wanted to see what it looked like. Rory loves it, but it’s too big.”

He came over and took Rory’s hand and kissed her head and smiled at her, “How big was it?”

“It’s a two story, five bedroom house with a big back yard.”

“That doesn’t seem too big, not if we have three or four kids. That might actually be a little small.”

“Max, you promised me that you were going to back off and quit talking about marriage.”

“I’m not talking about marriage, I’m talking about children. It’s completely different.” He finally looked over and Birdie was trying to give him hand signals to get him to stop. “Too much?”

“Yeah, maybe a little. Let’s talk about something else. What are you doing here?”

“I brought over the files for Mark and Travis to look at. You told me you wanted them to have something to do. I have these requests to analyze security for these manufacturing plants in Pakistan and I have another for an oil refinery in the UAE. Where are they?”

“They went to Home Depot to get something for the garage, but I think they just wanted to get out of the house. Mark said they were buying manly things, but I’m not sure what that means.”

“Power tools - that’s what he means.”

“Since you’re here, you can help me decide what to get for the workout room I’m having built for him.”

“Sure, I would be glad to help.” Rory took his hand and led him into the house and he looked down at their hands and smiled. Even though he irritated her with talk about kids and the house, she still wanted to hold his hand. He figured that was a good sign, and let’s face it - he needed all the signs he could get. He also needed to figure out which house Rory liked. He didn’t think five bedrooms was too big at all.