The Navy Seal's Bride

Okay, so Tom was hot. Gorgeous in fact. Sexy as hell. But it still didn’t mean she was capable of liking him in that way. And if he’d been interested in her, surely he’d have made a move by now? Guys like Tom were used to playing the game, knew how to attract a girl and how to reel her in.

Which was another reason she wasn’t interested in him.

“I’ve got to get back to class,” Caitlin said, raising her fingers in a wave and scurrying toward the door. “And nothing happened, okay? I mean, jeez, I only just met the man. I was hardly going to jump him in the hall!”

“Admit it, Miss Rose,” Lucy called out, voice all prim and proper. “There’s nothing about him not to like and you know it.”

She ignored Lucy and kept on walking. That part her friend was wrong about. Caitlin had perfectly good reasons for not being interested in Tom, for wanting to keep her distance from him, she just had no intention of sharing them. Of delving into the past and letting those feelings resurface.

Not now.

Besides, she was happy. Liked her life the way it was. If a man came along to tempt her, he’d have to be perfect husband material. And Tom Cartwright sure as heck didn’t fit the bill.

“Miss Rose, Miss Rose!”

She looked up to find a little girl from her class jumping up and down in the hallway. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Caitlin bent to talk to her, preferring to be on the same level as the children.

“Sarah fell over in the playground and hurt her knee. She’s crying.”

Caitlin took the girl’s hand and let herself be led outside. “You did the right thing, sweetheart, let’s go find her.”

Tom found it hard to indulge in the simpleness of guzzling water on a hot day. He’d spent so long rationing every sip, being so careful to preserve what he’d come to think of as his lifeline. Yet here he was, back on American soil, gulping water as though he had an endless supply of it.

He stopped and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

It suddenly hit him as if he’d been slammed into a wall—a solid, massive brick wall.

He was back for good. There were no more rations, no more missions. Nada. He was back now and he had to lump it or leave it. Or however the hell that saying went.

“Sir?”

Tom turned, bottle almost squashed in his hand, the plastic pressed tight between his fingers. He paused, wanting to calm down before he risked snapping unnecessarily at his pupil. Just because he hadn’t been able to sleep last night didn’t mean he could take it out on anyone else.

“Yes?” He fought not to glare. The poor kid was suffering enough through his training without him being an ass, as well.

“Sir, I saw your name on the board and the guys wanted me to ask if it was you.”

Tom nodded, a tick starting to pulse at this temple. He could feel it, like a pressure point, thumping away. “Yes, that’s me.”

He’d taken the top honors in the water for his year. Had been in the top five percent consistently, one of the strongest of the bunch in all their training. Tom raised a hand to his ear as he so often did these days, rubbing, worrying it. Self-conscious of his hearing, he angled his body further to make sure he could hear the young man without having to ask him to repeat himself.

If he hadn’t been so close to the explosion, hadn’t suffered such damage to his eardrum he’d still be in the water instead of being on the sidelines with nothing to do other than coach others, encouraging them to do the same.

“You sure set the bar high, sir.”

Tom smiled as the young man walked back off to his buddies. A giant’s fist clenched around his throat, squeezing the lifeblood from him as he watched the group of men bond, knowing how close they’d become, those that made it.

It was something he’d miss for the rest of his life, but he was going to have to get used to it.

Because the doctor had been pretty clear about his prognosis. He could still go permanently deaf in one ear, and he’d never be able to get in the water again. Or at least not in the way he had to be able to in order to pass his physical.

It was over. Period. Something else he’d have to get used to.

“Okay, boys, break’s over. Back in the pool,” Tom barked. He also needed to stop playing Mr. Nice Guy. If these men were going to make it, they had to be the toughest of the tough. He knew that firsthand. “Unless you’re prepared to break my record or come damn close, you can expect a long night.”

Groans echoed out.

“Do I hear a ‘Yes, sir’?” he boomed.

“Yes, sir!” came an even louder response.

“That’s more like it. Now get in the water!” Tom ordered.

Tom folded his arms and fingered the whistle hanging around his neck. If he couldn’t be out there himself, he was going to make darn sure he trained the best Navy SEALs ever to graduate from the academy.

Tom was starting to wish he hadn’t been such a demon to his training team when they were still in the water two hours later. He was also starting to think that perhaps none of them were going to make the cut. Because they hadn’t left the pool yet and they still had hours to go.

“Come on!” he ordered. “Push yourselves. You can do this!”

He waved over another training officer over who’d clearly finished for the day. “Can you watch these guys for me? I have to make an urgent call.”

Tom gave his colleague a quick pat on the back and jogged into the office. He looked up the school number, glanced at his watch and dialed.

But all the bravado in the world wasn’t helping his nerves any. The hand holding the phone went clammy, he couldn’t stop fidgeting.

He didn’t know what the hell was happening to him. Why his usual nerves of steel and unflappable attitude were failing him now. But he wasn’t going to let a woman rattle him.

Not a pretty wisp of a teacher who could be blown off her feet in a strong gust of wind, who’d looked so vulnerable the other night that he’d struggled not to soften. Found it hard not to let her in.

Because he wasn’t that guy anymore. He didn’t have the strength to deal with his own problems, so he certainly didn’t have anything to give a woman, and he didn’t want to have to explain himself. Or hurt anyone else, let anyone else close, and then expose them to the demons that kept him awake at night.

“Brownwood Elementary School.”

Tom cleared his throat and made a fist, pressing it hard into the desk. “I’m sorry to call during school hours, but I need to speak to Miss Caitlin Rose.”

Caitlin nodded to the office lady and walked quickly down the hall. It wasn’t often she had to disrupt her lessons to take a phone call.

“Hello?” she pressed the telephone to her ear, dread crawling in her belly.

“Caitlin? It’s Tom.”

She didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified! A ripple of goose pimples tingled across her skin. “Hi, Tom. Is … ah, everything okay?” Why was he phoning her during school hours?

There was silence, followed by the deep rumble of his voice. “Yeah, everything’s okay, it’s just that I’m not going to make it to pick Gabby up and I don’t have anyone else to phone.”

Oh. Caitlin ignored her feelings, kicking herself for hoping, even for the tiniest of seconds, that he might have been phoning her for something else. He’d hardly call her during class time to ask her out on a date!

“Caitlin?”

She had no idea what he might have said. “Sorry, Tom, I was listening to one of the children.” Caitlin cringed. She was a dreadful liar, surely he’d know she was fibbing?

“You wouldn’t be able to watch her for an hour or so, would you? I’m not going to be able to get away early and I don’t know what else to do.”

Caitlin relaxed, forced her shoulders to fall from their hunched position. “Of course. It’s no problem at all.”

“Are you sure? I hate having to ask you.”

She started nodding before realizing that he couldn’t see her. “Honestly, don’t even think about it.” She paused, knowing she had to end the call yet reluctant to say goodbye. “I’ll take her home with me if that’s okay? Save me hanging around here, then you don’t have to hurry.”

“I really appreciate it, Caitlin. I owe you.”

They said goodbye and she placed the receiver down carefully, before leaning against the wall and shutting her eyes, needing a moment to herself. Needing to think about what she’d said yes to, about the fact that she’d just invited Tom to her home. Sure, it was only to collect Gabby, but home was … well, until now it had been private. Sacred.

She’d never, ever invited a man there. Yet right now, without even being pushed into it, she’d told Tom to collect his niece from her place.

And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she’d be asking him in. No matter how hard her heart was pounding at the thought of it.

She’d always known the day would come, but it still troubled her. Her privacy—being alone—had been her sanctuary, the only way she knew how to protect herself, to stay out of harm’s reach.

CHAPTER FOUR

CAITLIN peered out the window, then berated herself for doing it. There was no point waiting, mooning around. He was coming to collect his niece, not to see her.

She looked up as the timer on the oven rang out.

So if she wasn’t trying to impress him, thinking of ways to lure him in, why had she scooted home to make lasagna as if her life depended on it?

So much for being committed to keeping guys out of her domain.

“Miss Rose, look at him now!”

Caitlin crossed the room and fell onto the sofa beside Gabby. “I think he likes you.”

She watched her patient, kind-natured Burmese cat as he stretched out in Gabby’s arms, paws swatting at the little girl but meaning her no harm. She knew he’d never show his claws.

“I’d love a pet.” Gabby sighed dramatically.

“They’re a lot of work you know,” said Caitlin, reaching over to stroke Smokey. “You need to feed them and love them every day, and if you get a dog you need to walk it, too.”

Gabby rolled her eyes, but she didn’t let the cat go and she was still smiling. “You sound just like my mom.”

“Well then, your mom must be a very smart woman.”

A knock echoed through the living room and Caitlin jumped. Jeez, just when she forgot that she was waiting for someone. The loud knock rang out again.

“Coming!” she called.

Gabby stretched out on the sofa, Smokey curled up against her belly. “Tommy always knocks like that. My mom says it like he’s always in a hurry and can’t wait for even a moment.”

Caitlin didn’t turn around when Gabby spoke, was too busy rushing to the door and running her hands over her jeans to answer.

Because no matter what Gabby’s mommy said, Caitlin guessed she never felt like this when Tom was knocking at the door. And Caitlin didn’t want him to be in a hurry, she wanted him to stay.

She didn’t know why, she just did. Even if she was nervous as hell.

Caitlin pulled the door back and found a rumpled-looking Tom standing on her porch.

“Hey,” she said, as though seeing him there was the most natural thing in the world.

“Hey,” he replied, running a hand through hair that looked as if he’d just fallen out of bed. “Sorry I’m so late.”

Caitlin took a step back, gesturing with one hand. “Come on in.”

He hesitated, shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I don’t want to put you out, Caitlin, so we’ll head straight home.”

“But Miss Rose made us dinner,” Gabby called out.

Caitlin shut her eyes for a beat before forcing a smile on her face, trying to stop her hand from shaking, from trembling. She’d never been so pleased for a child to interrupt a conversation in her life, and she’d never felt like she’d held her breath for so long, either.

Tom raised an eyebrow, his head on the slightest of angles. “You cooked for us?”

Caitlin swallowed. “Yeah,” she said softly, “but it’s just lasagna …”

“Just lasagna?” Tom was grinning now, one hand falling from his pocket to rest on the doorjamb. “On second thought, I’d love to come in.”

Caitlin stood back as Tom passed her, his frame dwarfing her as he moved toward Gabby, grabbing her around the waist and planting a kiss on her head before following her to the sofa.

She paused, just for a second, knowing she’d taken a big step, but feeling as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Just like that, she’d invited a man to step over the threshold and into her home. And she had no regrets whatsoever. Maybe if he’d been on his own she’d have thought otherwise, but with Gabby here, too, it comforted her. Made her feel secure.

“Tommy!” Gabby squealed.

Caitlin followed and stood, watching them play, seeing the look on Tom’s face as he pulled his niece onto his knee. Even if it was only one dinner with the pair of them, she was going to enjoy every moment of it. After years of wanting to live alone, to keep a distance from others, suddenly she was pleased to have company. No, more than pleased, she was happy.

“So, tell me about being in the Navy, or is that a taboo question?”

Caitlin nursed her glass of red wine, taking a slow sip before turning her attention back to her meal. She watched as Tom swallowed before pausing, his knife and fork hovering an inch above his plate.

“If I tell you I’ll have to kill you.” His voice was deep and dangerously serious.

Now it was Caitlin who was swallowing, or more like gulping furiously. He was joking, she knew he was, but those kinds of flippant comments still made her teeth rattle.

“Kidding,” he said, raising his eyebrows, smile hitting his eyes.

Caitlin laughed nervously and blew out a breath. “I didn’t mean to pry, I’m only interested, that’s all.”

Tom kept eating, focused on the food, before raising his head and setting the cutlery down. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s— I don’t know, complicated, I guess.”

Caitlin understood complicated. “Honestly, Tom, I was only making conversation.” The last thing she wanted to do was pressure him into talking about something he’d rather keep private. “Don’t feel like you have to answer me.”

“Tell her one of your stories!” Gabby called out from the living room, cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the sofa, eating her dinner in front of the television. “Please.”

Caitlin waited, not wanting to stare at Tom but finding it difficult to look away. She’d thought he was too similar to her father and her ex because he was military, and because he was physically imposing, but she could see from the look on his face that she’d been wrong. He was different. At least he seemed to be.

Tom didn’t have the hard edge to his profile, the cocky, self-assured aura that she had expected. Maybe when she’d first met him she’d wanted to think he did, but he was so far from that she didn’t know how she could have been so judgmental. When he’d found out that she’d made dinner for them tonight, his face had lit up like hot embers being coaxed back to flame.

The last thing Tom wanted to do was talk about his career, that much was obvious, but he never snapped at Gabby, and seemed to want to shield her from any hurt. “Maybe another night, okay?”

Caitlin could see the pain, see how troubled he was behind those deep, dark eyes. But if he didn’t want to talk she wasn’t going to push him. Because she’d been there herself.

“How do you feel about dessert?”

Tom grinned at her, his face breaking into the most genuine smile she’d seen in a long while. “I think that’s the best question I’ve heard all night.”

“It’s not much, so don’t get too excited. Some ice cream and a chocolate brownie,” she told him, clearing their plates and leaving them in the sink to do later. “And before you ask and make me feel guilty, they’re store-bought brownies. I’m not the world’s best cook.”

Tom laughed. “You could have fooled me. I’d never have known.”

She was pleased he was still at the table. Having him here—it was different. Ever since she’d been single she’d kept home as her private place, only ever inviting girlfriends over. She’d been on dates every now and again, but she’d never let a man collect her or come back to her place, so Tom being in her private space was … not uncomfortable, but something she was going to have to get used to. Slowly. Just like ever learning to trust a man again would be a huge leap of faith for her.

Caitlin ran her wrists under the cold water she had running; she was nervous, jangling like a bunch of jittery wind chimes. He was just a parent. An acquaintance.

Argh. Who was she kidding? He wasn’t a parent and that’s not why she’d asked him in.

She turned off the faucet and served up dessert.

“Can I help?”

Caitlin spun around and pressed a plate into Tom’s hands. “Here we go, this is for Gabby.”

His gaze held hers, eyes questioning, but he took the plate and took it to his niece.

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