The Navy Seal's Promise (2 page)

“I need to get home to see my son,” Saskia confessed. “I told him I’d be
home for Christmas, and I don’t want to break my promise.”

Luke Gray stared at the beautiful woman seated beside him. Truth was,
he’d liked her sleeping on his shoulder. It had been too long since he’d had a
woman curled up next to him, felt the softness of a woman in his arms.

But seeing her cry had done something to him. Because he knew some of what
she was going through. “I wished I’d been able to come home for something
important, but I never made it,” he confessed. “So if you need to get to your son
in time for Christmas, there’ll be a way to make that happen.”

When his wife had died, he’d spent months thinking about what he should
have done. Phone calls and letters hadn’t been enough, even if it had been all
he’d been permitted to do at the time.

The speaker crackled to life again, announcing their imminent landing.

Saskia was sitting deep in her seat as the lights flicked off in the
cabin, but her fingers sought his, reaching for his palm and then entwining
their hands.

Luke didn’t look at her, just shut his eyes instead as the plane lurched.
But he did return her touch, lacing his fingers between hers.

There was something nice about holding the hand of a woman who could come
close to understanding what he’d been through. Who could help him forget about
all he’d seen and done this past year, even if it was only for a couple of
hours.

Luke unbuckled his seatbelt and stretched before opening the overhead compartment.
He pulled down his bag and passed Saskia the one she pointed to.

“Here you go.”

She grinned. “Thanks.”

He watched as she unzipped her bag and stuffed her book and a water
bottle into it. How the hell had he managed to end up seated next to someone as
cute as her?

Luke stood back as the line cleared ahead to let her out. “After you.”

They shuffled down the aisle and he tried to stay a comfortable distance
from her, but given the space they had it wasn’t easy. From where he stood he
could smell her perfume, or maybe it was her hair. He couldn’t tell, but he liked
it.

“So you’re really a soldier, huh?”

Saskia half-turned to face him, smiling as she shook her head slightly.
“And by that you mean…”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s sexist but none of the female soldiers I
trained with looked so…” Luke stopped himself before he could finish the
sentence. He’d dug himself a big hole with this line of conversation.

Saskia’s head was tilted, waiting.

“Feminine.”
Beautiful, soft, sexy… all way better words to describe
her.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said with a laugh. “I think.”

Luke clamped his jaw shut so hard he was almost grinding his teeth.
He
was acting like an idiot, trying way too hard to impress her.

“You know, you don’t have to take pity on me and take me for dinner.”

Her words took him by surprise. Pity? “I didn’t ask you out because I
pitied you. I can guarantee you that.”

Luke nodded at the flight attendant
as
they passed her and walked off the plane and onto the jetway.

“Well, just remember than I’m not easily offended, so you don’t have to
go through with helping me or anything else either.”

“Does this get in the way when you’re commanding your crew?”

Saskia’s head was tilted slightly. “What?”
“Being argumentative. I’m guessing this is why we don’t have girls as Navy
SEALs,” he joked.

Saskia landed a punch on his arm that had more force than he would have expected.

“Is that tough enough for you?”

Luke couldn’t help but laugh. Yep, she was as pretty as could be and
tough when it counted. And he hadn’t enjoyed flirting, if that’s what he could
even call it, with a woman in what seemed like forever. Had been happy up until
now to play the widower card.

“If I promise to lay off the teasing will you still have dinner with me?”

Saskia laughed. “You know, if I didn’t have you ribbing me I’d probably
be having
my own personal pity-party somewhere.”
She sighed and adjusted the bag resting over her shoulder. “I still need to get
to a ticket
counter first, but after that,
dinner will be my first priority.”

“Let’s go.” Luke marched through the crowd walking in the direction of
the ticket desks, determined to get to the right counter before any of the
civilians. He could see Saskia keeping up with his pace from the corner of his
eye, so he didn’t slow down.

He was used to missions that often meant the difference between life and
death, and he was taking this just as seriously. Luke wanted to help her, he
did, but also he wanted to have that hour alone with her to eat dinner more
than anything else. So if that meant securing the first available flight out of
here for Saskia so she could chill out instead of acting frantic and anxious
for rest of the evening? Then he was going to do everything in his power to
make that happen. Shit, an evening with her was worth a few minutes of tough
talking at the ticket counter.

Jolly festive music was playing from at least half the speakers they
passed, but Luke ignored everything but his goal. He held out his hand and
smiled as Saskia clasped it without hesitation. “We need to hurry,” he
muttered, spying the already long line ahead.

“You never did say where you were heading.”

Saskia’s question made him turn. He reluctantly released her hand, letting
her fingers slip from his grasp.

“Nowhere important. I’m just back here for some recovery time before I
head off again.”

Saskia’s raised eyebrow told him she guessed there was more to his story.
“When you say recovery time…” Her sentence trailed as she waited for him to
respond.

Luke grimaced. He hated to admit that he wasn’t bullet proof, even to a
soldier who’d no doubt seen her fair share of injuries and battle wounds.

“I had minor surgery on my knee and I need to rest up a while. Nothing
serious.”

She nodded. “And you already know where you’re going to next?”

Luke shrugged. “I know the basics, but I won’t find out the full details
until just before we head out.”

Saskia shuffled up alongside him as the line inched forward. “I have
another three months left on my tour, then I’m home for good.”

Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re leaving the military?”
“Yeah, it’s all over for me soon,” she said. Luke couldn’t tell whether it was
a good thing or a bad thing. “I can’t keep leaving my son, and it’s not fair on
my parents to have to care for him all the time. And besides, I never went into
this as a permanent career.”

Luke hesitated. “His dad’s not in his life anymore?”

Saskia’s eyes clouded over, a darkness passing through her, before she
regained her smile. “Let’s just say that we’re better off without him,” she
replied. “Jack’s a great kid, and he has plenty of people around him who love him
to bits. But yeah, my career plan kind of changed when
his
dad walked out.”

Luke nodded. He didn’t question her any further, but the smile itching to
spread over his face told him he liked the fact she was single.

The speaker system crackled to life and he touched her arm, as if she
wasn’t going to notice the rehearsed voice speaking to them all. The airport, a
moment ago chaotic and loud, was more like a low hum as everyone awaited the
announcement.  

“We regret to inform you that all flights are confirmed as grounded
until further notice. Please make yourselves comfortable and wait until your
airline has an official announcement as to when flights will commence.”

Saskia groaned and leaned into him slightly. Her head fell to his
shoulder, like they’d known each other for longer than an hour. “I can’t
believe it,” she muttered.

Luke awkwardly put his arm around her, not sure how to comfort her.
But
he knew what he had to do
.

“How long do you have before you’re back in the air?”

Saskia looked at him quizzically before checking her watch. “47 hours and
counting. Please don’t go telling me you’re going to hire a helicopter and go
all Rambo or something in the snow.”

Luke grinned. “Good idea, but no. How about you take our bags and find a
table. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“The counters are all closing.”

“Trust me.” Luke gave her a gentle push to send her in the right
direction, wishing he’d had the guts to drop a kiss into her soft dark hair
instead. “I’ll figure something out, okay?”

He nodded at her encouragingly. When she finally nodded back, trusting
him to give it his best shot, he turned and marched toward the airline counter.
The woman was already fending off more than a dozen people, but he had a plan.
And that plan did not include taking
no
for an answer.

“There must be something you can do.” Luke gave the woman at the
ticketing counter what he hoped was a pleading smile. She didn’t look impressed
with him blocking her way. “We’re talking about a soldier trying to get home to
spend a night with her family.
Please.
”

The woman sighed and shook her head. “I wish I could help, but I can’t.
Come back in the morning after the official announcement, and I’ll do my best.”

Luke raked a hand through his hair. There had to be something he could
do. Some way he could get Saskia to her son.

I owe you, Luke. Any time you need a favor, if I can do anything to
help you, just pick up the phone and call me.

Yes.
Luke grinned and stepped back, allowing the unhelpful woman
to pass. There
was
something he could do, and he’d be damned if he
wasn’t going to call in a favor
that was long
overdue. He was determined to get Saskia home, no matter what. It didn’t
completely make sense to him why he felt such a… burning desire to do this, but
there it was. Maybe it was because it was the holidays.

Luke pulled his phone out of his bag, switched it on, and scrolled through
his contacts. He hit call on a number he’d never had reason to dial before.

“Luke Gray?”

It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. “Hi Rob.”

The other man let out a gasp of surprised laughter. “Don’t tell me that
after all this time you’ve finally decided to call me so we can have that beer?
You in New York?”

Luke stared after Saskia, tracking her with his eyes as she wandered
toward the food court. “Not this time, buddy, no. I need to call in that favor
you promised me.” It had been a long time ago, but Luke knew the other man
would never forget what he owed him.
His life.
They’d been on a special
task force together, and if Luke hadn’t found him, if he hadn’t scooped him up
and carried him out over his back, Rob would never have made it home to his own
family. Let alone ended up in the position he held at West Point Military
Academy.

“Any chance you can send a Humvee out to JFK airport? I have a situation
here, and I need a vehicle that can get me through the snow,” Luke told him.

“Official business?” Rob asked.

“No.” Luke paused. He could have lied but he didn’t want to. Rob knew he wouldn’t
be calling in the favor if it wasn’t important, official business or not.

Rob didn’t say anything and neither did Luke. “How soon do you need it?
This weather isn’t showing any signs of letting up.”

“I can sit tight until the morning, otherwise I’ll have to find another
way of getting out of here.”

Rob laughed. “Give me until 0600 hours and I’ll get you the Humvee. But
just promise me you’ll bring her back in one piece, okay?”

“You have my word.” Luke hung up the phone and headed towards Saskia. If
he couldn’t get her home on a plane, he’d drive her home himself. Right now,
all he wanted was to have dinner with her – he could figure out how the hell he
was going to drive through the snow in the morning.  

Saskia was nervous. She was heartbroken that she wasn’t going to make it
home, but it was her nerves troubling her right at this exact moment.
Especially watching Luke as he walked towards her. The Navy SEAL was hot, there
was no other way to describe him, and the thought of sharing more time up close
and personal with him was suddenly scaring the hell out of her.

“Hey.” She couldn’t read the look on his face.

“Hey,” he said back, dropping down into the seat across from her. “Did
you have to fight for this spot?”

The airport was full of people stranded, with no place else to go. “Surprisingly,
no. But getting dinner might be another story entirely.”

She met Luke’s gaze, desperate to ask him if he’d come up with a magical
solution to her transport problems but not wanting to make him feel like crap
if he hadn’t.

“Fast food, steak, ethnic…” Luke twisted around in his seat. “I wish I
could take you somewhere nicer, but I think we might have to pick by the
shortest line.”

Saskia laughed. “I haven’t eaten good food in a long time. Where I’ve
been? Believe me, I’m not fussy.”

“How about a good old fashioned steak then?”

“And alcohol,” she told him. “I think we definitely need alcohol.”

Luke bent toward her slightly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Now she
needed that drink more than ever.

“Just one drink for me. If I have any more I won’t be able to get you out
of here in the morning, will I?”

 His cheeky smile made her flush. So much for being confident around
men because of all the time she spent with them. “When you say get me out of
here…”

Luke touched her hand, gave it a squeeze, his fingers a little rough
against her skin. “I’m not making any promises until the morning. But if I can
get you out of here to see your little man, I’ll do it. I gave you my word and
I meant it.”

Saskia didn’t move. She was listening to him, smiling at what he was
saying, but inside she was terrified of the way his hand felt over hers. The
warmth of his hold. When he pulled away and stood up, she let out what must
have been her first exhale in a few long moments.