Burning For Nero (SEALs Going Hot) Page 2

  “How is Jon?” Securing his seat belt, he breathed in the fragrance of Cass’s honeysuckle perfume.

  “Good.” Cass sounded tentative as she rounded the car and slid into the driver’s seat. “Squirming like an eel to see you. He wanted to come with me, but I told him he had to take a nap if he wanted to stay up and go to the party tonight.”

  She punched the ignition button on the dash, then checked her rear mirror to pull out into the street.

  “I’m eager to see him.”

  She didn’t respond, didn’t even look at him, but seemed absorbed in taking them off the side street to the turnpike feeder. Blending in to traffic, she rearranged herself in her seat. Her hair glimmered in the sun, wild and carefree in the wind, but her jaw was set tight. She stiffened, her knuckles white on the steering wheel.

  Suiting up? For what?

  She glanced at him. Once. Twice. Beneath her sunglasses, her forest green eyes burned him like lazers. Her lips thinned as she narrowed her eyes and lost her cheery air of greeting. A chill settled in to the car that had nothing to do with the wind blowing through his brains.

  He admired the perfection of her profile as he led her into the argument she clearly was geared for. “I feel the icicles forming on my face.”

  “Well, your vision has been obscured for a long time, so I don’t see how ice much matters.”

  “When you don’t talk to me, it matters big time.”

  “Does it really?” She rounded on him like a she-wolf. “Jon needs you. You trained him to need you. And then you walked away from him.”

  Blown apart by the first salvo she had ever thrown at him, he recovered quickly. Okay. He deserved some of this. “Let me explain—”

  “Oh, please. Like it matters.”

  “So you just want to wail on me. Have at it.”

  She ground her teeth. “Why not talk to me about it before you leave him bewildered? Crying because he misses you?”

  “I told him I go on missions like his dad did.”

  “Goody for you. All that did was make him wonder if you’re going to disappear like Ray. The damage is done.”

  Shit. Irreparable? “You’re telling me I was wrong.”

  “Oh, do you think?”

  He grimaced. Hated that he’d hurt the boy. Hated that he’d made Cass angry. “All right. I was short-sighted.”

  “Short?” She blustered. “You are nuts.”

  “Ah. Look, babe, you’d better slow down.”

  “I can’t.”

  Course she could. They whizzed past everything that seemed to crawl on this highway. He’d never seen her so riled. “I can explain but you have to ease up on the pedal.”

  “Tough shit, Nero.”

  He braced his good hand against the dash. “Okay. Fine. But if you don’t slow down you will crawl up that guy’s trunk, honey.”

  “Honey?” she scoffed. “Don’t you dare try to charm me out of this.”

  He snorted. The last time he used that on her had been the first night he met her—and it hadn’t worked. He’d lost her to Ray. “You are the only woman I have never been able to charm.”

  “I’m either complimented or baffled.” She gave him a quick check, then focused back on the road. This time, she got pinned between two sedans who hogged the two lanes forcing her to slow down. “Talk to me. Tell me what you’ll say to him. I need to know so I can deal with him.”

  “Here?”

  “Now.”

  “This is a longer discussion than the ride home. And I won’t talk to you when you’re upset and driving.”

  She growled and shook her head. “I’ve got a little boy who lost his father, and half-assed as Ray was at that, Jon loved him.”

  “Of course, he did.” Ray was not a good dad? Since when?

  “Jon didn’t understand what losing that man meant when Ray died. He was four. The guy who waltzed in and out of our house in Dam Neck was more ghost than parent, but hell, what does that matter when you hear your daddy is gone? You just know you’ve lost someone that you shouldn’t and that it hurts.”

  Ray was a ghost? Even when he was home? What she painted here was no picture of Ray that Tony had ever seen.

  He scrambled for a response to keep her talking. “I get it. Then I show up. Take him swimming. Playing ball. Fill the void.”

  “Better than that, when you’re home on stand-by, you show up regularly. You tell him when to expect you and he learns to trust you because you keep your promises. And suddenly Jon is captivated. He has a buddy. A pal. A man.” She swallowed hard, flicked on the right turn signal to exit the highway.

  He couldn’t conduct a conversation like this. Her angry. Him, guilty and surprised. They needed to calm down. “Pull over, will you?”

  She shook her head, blinking.

  “Don’t cry.”

  “I. Am. Not. Crying.”

  Shit. He reached over, his fingers flat along her toned thighs. She was warm, supple. Bad move. Right intention.

  But she didn’t pull away. Instead, her muscles relaxed beneath his touch. The tears in her eyes dried.

  He stroked her leg. Bad move. Bad intention. He should have retreated, but she seemed more peaceful with his hand on her.

  Okay. Now was the time to share some of his reasoning about not showing up for Jon. “I apologize for being an ass. I never meant to hurt Jon. I thought if I pulled away before you moved to Washington, he wouldn’t expect me to show. He wouldn’t miss me.”

  She checked his eyes, then shrugged. “Yeah, well. You’re wrong about a lot of things, Nero. One is I’m not going to Washington.”

  “Why not?”

  “No jobs for a woman who hasn’t had one in six years. I’m as marketable as a tick.”

  He suppressed his smile at her humor and sought logic to draw her out, keep her rational. “You don’t need the money.”

  She frowned as she eased on the brake for a red light. “True. Ray’s death benefit was generous. Jon’s education is paid for with the GI bill.”

  “So why move? The house is paid for.”

  The light changed and she took the right hand turn down the street toward his parents’ home and her in-laws’.

  He squeezed her thigh. “Tell me.”

  She clenched her jaw and kept her eyes on the road. “I’m bored. I have a mind. I neglected it for years while I was waiting for Ray to waltz in the door.”

  Ouch. “You always looked like you enjoyed being a military wife.”

  “I did. Until I didn’t.”

  Lots to explore there. But he’d bet most of it was none of his damn business. “Cass, you worked in that congressman’s office after you graduated Maryland. You have savvy and brains.” And looks that melt a camera lens. “Someone will want you.”

  She scowled straight ahead as she drove the convertible into his folks’ circular driveway. “Thanks for the compliment. But bottom line is I have to get out of Dam Neck.”

  Coming to a stop, she faced him then and the look in her eyes socked him in the gut. Longing radiated from her large sad eyes, igniting a flame in him to take her in his arms and caress her hurt away.

  Voices hailed them from the front door. Footsteps on gravel rushed in their direction.

  He couldn’t stop examining her extraordinary expression. What was different here? What did he really see written in her big green eyes?

  “We need to talk about this.” He punctuated his words with a squeeze of her thigh.

  This time, she jerked her leg away. Shook her head. Her eyes narrowed into shards of hard green glass. “No. We don’t.”

  “Tony!” his mother called to him as she approached. “Get out of that car! Hug your mother!”

  “Lieutenant!” his father bellowed. “Let us see you, bum hand and all. Now’s the time.”

  Hating like hell to let Cass go with their unfinished business, he promised her one thing. “Tonight.”

  Then he flipped open his car door and stepped out for the welcome of his boistero
us family. Behind him, he heard the engine of her car rev as Cass sped away.

  He strolled up the sidewalk, one arm around his mom’s shoulder and caught glimpses of Cass steering into the Phillips’s driveway. She parked, slammed her door and stomped a bee-line for the entrance to the house.

  Pissed much, Cass?

  You won’t deter me. Tonight we talk.

  He’d get her alone and nail her down on some of the things she’d said today.

  He huffed. Yeah. Nail her.

  Hell. He’d solve his own problem, if he could really nail her.

  But that wasn’t gonna happen. Not in this man’s lifetime.

  Chapter Two

  Cass knelt and opened her arms to her son as he ran to her babbling about his straw hat. “It falls off, Mommy. It’s too big.”

  “Here, when we sing, hold it in front of you like this. Both hands.”

  She showed him what she meant so that he’d look like the singer in a Twenties’ minstrel show. The two of them were on next to perform in the annual Fourth of July sing-along at her in-laws’ recreation room.

  Last year, the Phillips had skipped this event in their weekend celebration, the timing too close to Ray’s death for anyone to feel like belting out Karaoke. But Jon had somehow remembered doing a bit with her and Ray the year before when he was only three. This year, he pleaded with her to participate. She had chosen something soft-shoe and the two of them had worked on their rendition of “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” until they whipped it in perfect counterpoint.

  In the huge rec room, Tom Phillips had installed a raised stage, one he had made ages ago just for this event. Constructed of plywood, it was perfect for what Cass had in mind for tonight. She and Jon were going to sing and tap their way through the century-old ditty.

  She hugged her son to her chest in anticipation of their happy little number.

  From the corner of her eye, she spied Tony, in civvies tonight. A white T-shirt. Khaki shorts. One massive shoulder to the far wall, a beer in his good hand, his devil’s black eyes fixed on her.

  She met his gaze, lingering there, shivering in recollection of how they had locked eyes that afternoon in her car. God. What had she done there? She had slipped and shown him something new about herself. Her vulnerability? Her desire?

  Kissing her son’s silky toe head, she forced her attention away from Nero. He was too handsome, too devastating to her composure to gaze at too long.

  No wonder women say they burn for Nero.

  She closed her eyes. She could still see him, imprinted indelibly on her mind.

  He was a giant of a man. Bigger than Ray had been. Taller by a few inches, broader by far, all solid scrumptious muscle beneath deeply tanned skin that rippled and enticed a woman to touch him. He moved like a viper, smooth and silent, fluid in his grace, belying the vicious animal he could be. He was a predator, his black hair sleek and thick, his onyx eyes hypnotizing, luring his prey, alluring in his concentration.

  Then he would speak, breaking the spell he cast, and his bass voice would envelop you from the pits of Hades. No other man spoke that low. That soft. He seemed to murmur, like white noise in your mind and soul. Shearing a woman of her ability to think clearly. Leaving her alive but swamped in only one desire—to allow that velvet seduction to seep into her blood and bones so she could crawl inside his massive body and love him from the inside out.

  “Cass!” her father-in-law called to her from the sideline. “You’re on.”

  “Mommy!” Jon tugged at her. “Let’s go.”

  Clearing her throat, she rose to her feet and grinned at her son. “They’re playing our song, buddy.”

  “Yep. Let’s do it!”

  She chuckled. Squaring her shoulders in the gold sequined flapper dress, she faced the audience and off the two of them went.

  “By the light of the silvery moon,” she started in her contralto, then listened as Jon added his lines so easily and on key, too. This was going to work, by golly. Jon would gain confidence from the experience, which was just what she’d hoped for when she’d agreed to do it. Proud of her little boy, she grinned as they continued the song.

  When the instrumental went into the refrain and the two of them began a simple tap dance on the plywood, Cass marveled that Jon not only had the steps down but had a grace and rhythm older than his years. Better yet by this time, the guests were awed, laughing and keeping time.

  On one turn, she caught Tony gazing at her, his face suffused with delight at the two of them.

  Choking in happiness, she directed her attention to her son. She winked at him, their signal that this time they would sing in counterpoint.

  They finished and strutted off stage, one arm up waving, palms open, grinning to rollicking applause.

  She snatched Jon up in her arms and kissed his chubby little face all over. He was giggling, something he hadn’t done in months. Not since Tony had ceased his visits.

  “You were fabulous,” she told him with gusto. “So wonderful!”

  “I want to be a singer.”

  “You can be whatever you want, my darling.” She swung him around and then, his grandfather and grandmother were at her side to congratulate him and praise him.

  Others came up to take her hand, kiss her cheek and giggle with her about how darn great she and Jon were together.

  But Tony was not among them.

  That surprised her and she searched the room. Curiosity drove her, but disappointment stung her when she found him.

  There he was, still holding up that wall, looking not at her or Jon but gazing down at a female hand that covered one muscular pec. His sister’s praying mantis of a friend had announced that morning even before she clapped eyes on the man that she wanted him for her own.

  And she’s doing a damn good job of making that a reality.

  And what about Tony?

  Cass blinked, clearing her vision.

  He picked up the girl’s hand and politely removed it. Shoving off the wall, he smiled down at her and then, as if radar had zapped him, he looked up right into Cass’s eyes. He stared, as if he wanted some sign of her interest.

  What would he think if she dared to show him how she valued him? Her heart pounded. Her lips parted.

  He squinted at her. His mouth moved, forming her name. Then to the co-ed clutching his arm, he said, “Excuse me.”

  Cass panicked. What had she done? Shown him now? What was wrong with her? How many times had she told herself that she never wanted any part of another military man? Showing Tony how she wanted him was such a lapse of strength.

  Licking her lips, she checked that Jon was in good hands with his grandfather and asked him to tuck Jon in for her. “I’m tired. A long day.”

  What an idiot. She’d told herself she could upbraid Tony for his carelessness. Yelling at him would be a terrific way to get her rocks off and set him straight about his failure to visit Jon. But she’d let her other hopes slip onto her face in the car and here. To show emotions to a man who made his living reading every minute aspect of another person’s being was a no-no. What a fool she’d been to think she could hide anything from him. They were friends. That’s all they’d ever been. Well, she’d get out of here before she made a bigger mistake.

  Wild to leave, she headed through the French doors. Across the patio to the lawn, she sank in the lush grass. Catching herself time and again from turning an ankle, she strode toward the boathouse. She stayed there whenever she visited, not wishing to sleep in the room she and Ray had shared. Jon still slept up at the main house, thinking it a vacation from Mommy and ordinary restrictions. Tonight, Cass needed the solitude the hideaway offered.

  The moon was bright and she made her way quickly. She got to the steps before his hand grasped her wrist, the strength of the man she wished to escape halting her in her tracks.

  “Stop. Cass, stop.”

  “No.” No, she would not cry or beg or scream. She couldn’t demean herself like that. She took a step,
but the giant in her path caught her against him. With just one arm, Tony could trap her.

  Against his formidable body, against her better judgment, she wanted to simply stand there, never move.

  He crushed her close, nearer than he ever had before, and she felt the power of his presence. His one good hand pressed her fully against him, then glided down her spine to press her hips to his. She caught her breath. He was hard. And he wanted her.

  She turned to leave.

  “Stay. Stay.”

  She shook her head, her gaze beyond him. “Let me go, Tony.”

  “I don’t want to.” He lifted her chin with his injured hand. “Look at me.”

  Bravery was her forte. Hell, she’d been a warrior’s wife. To face this one was easy peasy. Right? She met his gaze.

  Not the viper, not the seducer, not her friend, this man gazed down at her and absorbed her distress with sympathetic eyes. “You don’t want to go, either.”

  “I couldn’t watch—” Oh, lord. Had she really blurted that? She was botching this.

  “She came on to me, Cass.”

  She stared at him, caught between delight at his words and regret at her own. If she had more nerve, she could own up to wanting him. If she weren’t so stuck in her friendship rut, she could make a move on him. Was her pride more important than finding out if he could care for her as more than a friend?

  “Listen to me.” He stroked the small of her back. “I didn’t encourage her. Why would I, Cass?” His last words were so raw, she barely heard them. But the sorrow in them thrilled her and she looked up at him again. “Why would I when I just want to be with you? Tell you how I loved your song and dance with Jon. Praise you and say you are the finest mother, babe. Why would I want to be with her when you’re the one I want to talk to? Huh? Tell me.”

  She was speechless with joy.

  He cradled her near him as if she were fragile china. The feel of him was heaven, like coming home to a safe place she’d never known existed. He dropped kisses to the crown of her hair and his gentleness stunned her so that she wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed into him.