So you think I’m a child, huh?
“Well, thanks for the water.” Again, he was masking by trying to act gruff. He tossed back the entire plastic cup of water in just a couple of gulps, squeezed it, and tossed it into the garbage can. “Just what the doctor ordered.”
It was very difficult for Brady to walk away at that moment, but he had to, as some sort of self-preservation mechanism, protecting him from an unknown enemy. But she was far from an enemy, he thought as he languished in and felt consumed by the look and feel and smell of her.
Months later, the familiarity and command he would take with her body parched his mouth and got him hard even tonight as he was off preparing for another dangerous mission. It had been such a miraculous year they spent together in San Diego. Everything about her had been magic, and he couldn’t get enough.
Today, he was coming back to the town where it all started. But he had no desire to go back to Scripps Hospital and relive it completely. It wasn’t the hospital he craved but Maggie’s pulsing, shattering body as he pleasured her to oblivion.
Again, his mind took him back to that first meeting. When he’d looked up at the desk, she was gone.
“Are you waiting for someone?” the little blonde, pregnant wife asked. He’d forgotten that he sat close to her. His head was in a completely different space.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. My manners.”
“An apology is not necessary. I was just making idle conversation.”
“I have a confession to make,” he began. “I was listening to you speak to the attendant, the lady doctor. And—”
“Oh, Maggie? She’s my neighbor and a good friend, but she’s not a doctor. She’s a neonatal nurse. Works upstairs in the nursery ICU. She’s a good person. Going to be doing some volunteer work in Africa next summer. Places I’d never ever want to go. But you know—”
Brady saw the young woman was nervous and interrupted her. “What I meant to say was I heard you talk to her about your husband. He’s a team guy, is that right?”
She didn’t quite know how to respond. She began mumbling, and then Brady interrupted her again.
“I’m a team guy, too. SEAL Team 5. I’m Brady Rogers, ma’am.” He held out his hand, and her very small hand barely squeezed him back in a limp and timid shake.
“My husband is with SEAL Team 3. His name is Jared Cooper. I don’t know what else to say except that he got injured. It’s his eye and perhaps affecting his hearing, so we’re a little nervous that—”
She hesitated.
“Go on,” Brady encouraged her.
“Well, Jared’s here and not at the VA hospital because we don’t necessarily want the Navy to know. So please don’t say anything, okay?”
Brady smiled and understood completely the sentiment. He’d heard it a lot. It was his turn to reassure her. “The Navy really doesn’t try to toss guys. If they’re still active and useful, they’ll work with them a while. If he loses his eyesight, that could be something else. But usually if it’s from a temporary injury, he’ll heal. They’re very good here. You came to the right place. The Navy will eventually find out about it. There’s no hiding it. But I wouldn’t worry. We sometimes are short on heroes, and we’re going through a spell like that right now.”
She looked up at him with her sweet innocent eyes and thanked him.
Brady adjusted himself in his seat and stared back at the wall in front of him. All he could think about was the way it felt to look at Maggie, to examine the awesome colors of her fiery red hair, the willfulness and strength of her personality exuding from every single cell of her body, and the heat as his finger slide gently next to hers. He was hungry, thirsty, and packed with whatever was causing his heart to race. It was like he’d gotten infected with a contagious disease, and he knew exactly what the cure would be.
Brady just didn’t want to grab that card away from the little woman next to him. He’d find a way. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to think of anything else until he was able to be alone with her.
Later that month, he’d went back for a follow-up and ran into Maggie again.
This time, as she approached him, he dropped his guard, testing the waters a bit to see if it was a mirage or if she was happy to see him. All his bells and whistles were flashing, flaring, and vibrating. The closer she got, the more intense the screams inside his head projected.
“Well, hello there.” That was as far as Brady was going to go until he knew she was as interested as he was. It wasn’t difficult to smile at the woman who stood perhaps a little too close for comfort. She was unafraid. He could say even defiant.
And he loved it.
Bring it on, sweetheart. I can handle whatever you’re going to dish out.
“Fancy meeting you here,” she said softly, almost sounding like she was out of breath.
“Yes. I’m here for a recheck.” His own breathing turned ragged, just like hers.
“Oh, darn, and here I thought you came to see me.” Her eyes danced, searching his face, examining his neck, the size of his shoulders, his biceps, even dropping down his sides to examine his fingers. Then she scanned him head-on, face to face. He saw in her complete acceptance. Maybe even a little bit of desire.
Could this be? Am I imagining this?
“Well, I was hoping to. Does that count?” He waited for her answer.
She rolled her eyes and gave him a coy smile, an alluring come-on type of smile, like he might get in a bar somewhere late at night over a drink. That kind of smile. But this was the middle of the morning on a sunny San Diego Tuesday. No alcohol involved. Just as intense.
“I would like you to buy me a coffee,” she whispered.
“That would be my pleasure. I am going to be seen here in the next few minutes. Can you take a break after that?”
She looked down at the floor, her body wiggling, her head moving from side to side as she thought about what she was going to say. He was completely enchanted.
“I don’t care if I’m supposed to take a break now or not. Would you break your appointment?”
“Is that an invitation?” He made sure to lower his voice, making it come straight from his chest.
“I think it must be.” She blushed and then asked, “Would you tell me your name, please? I never kiss strange men.”
Brady nearly gasped at her words. He took a very small step toward her, and then she closed the gap, her warm body leaning into his, setting his belly, groin, and thighs on fire. His hand naturally came up to her face, his thumb rubbed across her parted lips. He bent down and kissed her.
The hospital, the waiting room, the canned music, the intercom system, and those walking past all disappeared.
He learned in that single delicate moment that he’d do anything she asked him to do. He would follow her anywhere. He would take chances he’d never taken before. The world he’d known, which started out as a black-and-white film noir movie with all sorts of scary side effects, bloomed into full living color.
She fit in to that place in his heart he’d kept barricaded his whole life.
Chapter 11
She’d been there with him last night, all night long. Brady didn’t think he slept more than a couple of hours, and he really needed the rest. But Maggie joined him in spirit, even though it was impossible. Somehow, he just was not willing to let her go.