Risking It All

“And you called me rude,” she said sleepily. “And, for the record, I didn’t sleep with you to apologize.”

“I know.”

“Did it to prove to you that I’m not uptight.”

“Well, yeah, not anymore. But if you keep talking work, you will be soon enough.”

“I won’t be seeing you again,” she murmured. He didn’t bother to agree with her, because yeah, that’s usually the way these things worked. No matter how that thought churned his gut this time.

“You’re leaving later today?” He asked because he had to know for sure. She’d already made it clear that this was a one-night stand. If she ever found out why exactly, no doubt there’d be hell to pay.

“Leaving tomorrow,” she murmured dreamily. “Going to Africa.”

“Africa?” he asked, wondering what kind of cosmic joke the universe was playing on him.

She nodded against his chest. “Hoping to do a documentary there. Getting a grant. Finally get to do what I want to do.” Then she looked up at him. “See? I’m not that scared after all.”

“No, I guess you’re not,” he agreed and swore to himself he would follow his gut from that moment on, no matter what his other body parts stood up and told him.

RINA’S WAKE-UP CALL came at five that morning. Cash was already long gone. He’d left her aspirin and a bottle of water on the bedside table, his scent on her pillows and a sexual experience that easily outdid the videotape in terms of fantasy material.

Last night, with her ass balanced on the balcony railing, and her legs wrapped around his waist, she’d experienced Hawaii in a way she’d never dreamed she would. Being held in his strong arms, her breasts pressed tight against his chest, she remembered repeating his name. And she was pretty sure he’d been saying hers like a prayer, too, at one point.

Yes, Cash the surfer did have an excellent sense of balance. Even if he did ruin her video.

Every time she thought about that, her head throbbed more. And, she was annoyed to note, she was turned on as well. Stella would never let her live this one down.

Yes, Cash had lived up to his bad-boy promise, and then some. Still, he could’ve at least waited around until breakfast.

“Jerk,” she muttered, and covered her head with the pillow. Then she remembered that they’d ventured outside, on the terrace and the beach and she was so glad to be checking out today because how could she face the hotel’s patrons?

Between the darkness and the sounds of the ocean, and Cash supporting her, she’d felt comfortable enough to forget the fact that they had been outside. In public. Naked.

He had, at some point, assured her that no one had seen them.

But I can’t promise that no one heard us, he’d said, and then he’d grinned and done that thing with his tongue and she hadn’t cared.

Now, huddled in bed alone, she cared very much. And when her phone rang, she winced for a second, pictured the hotel manager calling to tell her about the complaints they’d received. Until she realized that it was her cell phone and not the hotel phone.

“Rina, it’s Jenny. Is this a bad time? I know it’s early.”

“Not at all,” she said. She’d hadn’t been close to her mother’s younger sister until recently, and now she thought of her aunt more like a sister. Jenny had even told her to drop the aunt-and-uncle stuff because it made her feel old.

Growing up, Jenny and Mac never came to Rina’s house for the holidays. Together, the couple had remained something of a cross between the black sheep and a mystery in her family. And then, Rina’s uncle had called her with an opportunity to do a recruitment video, which she shot a few months ago, so she’d grown close with her aunt in a very short period of time.

It was something Rina’s mother wasn’t too happy about, claimed her aunt was going to be a bad influence on her. It was partially the reason Rina hadn’t told her mother about the possible Africa project. She knew her mother would blame Jenny for influencing her, and she wouldn’t have been all that wrong. She and Jenny had spent hours talking about her uncle and Jenny’s brother, thumbing through photo albums and old letters and when Jenny had told her that she reminded her of David, she’d never felt prouder.

“I tried your home phone first and then I remembered you’d mentioned being away,” Jenny said, drawing Rina into the present.

She sat up and groaned, then fell against the stacked pillows. “Yes, I’m living the glamorous life in Hawaii.”

“I’m jealous, since we’re expecting snow here today. And hey, I won’t keep you, but Mac wanted me to let you know that the Navy big shots love what you did with the recruiting video. They think it’s a major coup to drum up business, half rock video, half Survivor.”

“That’s what I was aiming for, so I’m glad they didn’t think it was too progressive.” She’d agreed to shoot the video to help his uncle, who was a high-ranking Navy officer—she and Stella were on the Little Creek base in Virginia for two days last month in order to get proper footage and the necessary clearances. It had been a good video, highlighted her and Stella’s skills, but wasn’t long enough to be included in their grant proposal. No, that film needed to be bigger.

“He’d tell you himself, but he’s away,” her aunt continued. “He’s so proud of the work you’ve done.”

“I don’t know how you do it, Jenny, with Mac away all the time,” she said, thinking she sounded an awful lot like her mother.

“Practice,” her aunt replied. “It helps that he’s hot, too.” She and Rina both laughed at that. Rina had to agree that Mac was a good-looking guy. But Jenny’s marriage to Mac was a frequent source of tension in the family, even though Mac had tried his best in the beginning to win her mother over, it became painfully apparent that that wasn’t going to happen.

Of course, Stella found the whole thing completely romantic, and even though Rina would never admit it out loud, she had to agree.

Eloping in the middle of the night after a first date—well, Jenny told her that even she had to finally admit that what had happened between her and Mac technically wasn’t a date—but she and Mac were still solidly together after eleven years, Mac’s numerous travels with the SEALs and her two miscarriages.

They were talking about adopting. Jenny planned to try until she was forty—two more years—and then she’d consider the alternatives. And Mac seemed more than willing to do whatever it took to make her happy.

But Mac had more than one strike against him, at least in Rina’s mother’s eyes. Not only was his Navy SEAL job and lifestyle completely unconventional, he was also fifteen years older than Jenny. They’d also married right after Rina’s Uncle David had been killed, another strike, since her mom blamed the military for what had happened to David in Africa.

Even though her Uncle was a retired Special Forces Soldier and now worked for JAG, he still did what was considered highly classified and confidential work for the government, which required his schedule to be top secret most of the time.

“It was great having you here. You’re welcome back any time,” Jenny was saying, but Rina barely heard her. Her mind had already begun a steady turn, and her imagination took off.

Maybe it wasn’t too late to apply for the grant this year after all…. “I might take you up on that one. Soon,” Rina said, her pulse racing nearly as fast as it had been last night.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Could you have Mac call me when he gets back? I’ve got another video idea I think the Navy might like.”

“Will do,” Jenny promised.

Rina hung up and dialed Vic’s cell phone number immediately. “I’ve got a pitch for you,” she said, dispensing with the usual hello.

“You’re supposed to be finishing up the job you’re on now. But I’m listening.”

“Bigger, Badder, Faster—X-treme jobs,” she said, scribbling notes to herself on a napkin even as she spoke.

“I like it. Tell me more.”

“We could do things like roughnecks, race car drivers, stunt men. Navy SEALs,” she continued, encouraged by the way Vic sounded.

“We’d need some kind of in,” he said.

“I think I’ve got the in for the SEALs,” she said. “And I want behind the camera on this one.”

Her mom was always saying how crazy her Uncle Mac was. So really, what could be more extreme, more exciting, than a day in the life of a Navy SEAL?

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