The Navy Seal's Promise (3 page)

“Thanks, Luke. For what it’s worth, I’m just grateful that you’re trying.”
And she was. Getting home would mean more to her than she could ever express,
but knowing someone had tried to help her meant something too. “So how about
that steak?”

“Stay seated.” He stood and placed his hand on her shoulder as he passed.
“You save the table and I’ll rustle up some food that’ll make you remember why
you love being back here.”

Sakia watched him walk away and shut her eyes for a beat.
What the
hell was she doing?
She’d sworn off men for good less than a year ago, and
now she was flirting with a stranger
and enjoying it
.

Luke was gorgeous. Handsome. Fun. But could he really get her out of here
and to her family? She doubted it, but at least she could try to enjoy her
leave. Because soon enough she’d be back in the middle of nowhere, contending with
the desert and little else, and wishing she had something else to think about
than how guilty she felt about being separated from her son.

“Good?”

Saskia put up her hand as she finished her mouthful. “Oh my God, better
than good. It’s amazing.”

Luke laughed and gestured for her to keep eating. “Unless you’ve served,
I don’t think you can explain how good a medium-rare steak, shoe-string fries
and ketchup can taste. Even at an airport.”

He watched as she placed her fork back down and took a sip of wine. The
noise around them was deafening, way too many people crammed into not enough
space, but sitting here wasn’t half bad. Compared to going somewhere with him
and being alone? It was great.

“You’ve spent your fair share of time off shore?” she asked him.

“More than I’d like to admit. Sometimes I wonder when I’ll ever be able
to spend a decent stretch of time back here.” It was nice talking to a woman
from the military. Usually he downplayed what he did, but Saskia was different.
He’d always been honest with his wife about his work, but she’d been gone a
long time now and it was good chatting to someone who’d lived and breathed the
same kind of situations he had.

“So where were you headed tonight?”

Luke looked up.
No more thinking about his wife. It had been three
years this Christmas and he needed to dump the guilt and try to move on.

“Luke?”

“San Diego. I live close to the Navy base there.”

She nodded, looked like she didn’t know what else to say.

“So tell me something I’d never guess about you.” Luke didn’t want to discuss
family or work right now, but he’d never been great at small talk.

“I swear a lot.”

“Curse at me, then.”

“Mother fucking, son-of-a....” She burst out laughing and put her hands
over her face. “I can’t do it with you staring at me!”

Luke sucked back a breath, grinning at Saskia. “Look at you, cursing like
a sailor. I thought you said you were in the Army.”
He
finished his final forkful of steak, placed his cutlery together and leaned back
in his chair, eyes on the woman seating across from him.
She was full of
surprises
.

Luke swallowed. Hard. Not to mention the fact that she was tall and slim.
Her T-shirt hugged her curves, jeans showing off her long, slender legs. He
glanced down, trying not to ogle. Even her god damn wrists were slender and
attractive.

“Besides the cursing I can’t think of anything,” she confessed. “I do my
work, I think every day about coming home to my son, and that’s it.”

He looked up and smiled straight back at her.

“And you?” she asked. “Or doesn’t Mr. Navy SEAL have any vices?”

“I like small dogs.”

She burst out laughing. “As in you have a fetish that involves them, or
you just really want a teacup poodle?”

“Ha ha, very funny.” Luke leaned back further in his chair, pushing it
onto two legs. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting a small dog. And I don’t
recall mentioning poodles, either. I’d just quite like a nice little terrier
when I finally settle somewhere, something small enough that it can’t take my
arm off.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bad experience?”

Luke rolled up his sleeve and held his left arm out, his scars on show.
“Let’s just say I’m lucky I don’t have Tetanus or rabies.”

She held up her hands in a truce. “Shit.”

“Yeah,
shit
. Can’t say I enjoyed being attacked by a rabid Iraqi
dog.”

She started to laugh again. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I just can’t
imagine a dog thinking it was a good idea to take you on!”

Saskia hadn’t finished all her dinner and he pulled his chair back in
closer to the table.

“I can’t believe you’re not going to eat all that.”

“Why, do you want to save it for your little dog?”

He shook his head at her, not impressed. “You’re hilarious.”

Saskia threw her balled-up napkin at him and stood up. “I’m going to make
a quick call home and grab some provisions. It could be a long night. Do you
want anything?” she asked.

Luke shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” she said, smiling at him over her shoulder.

He watched her go, eyes trained on her body as she walked away. Luke
reached for her wine and took a long, slow sip. He had no idea what the hell he
was doing here, why he was calling in high-level military favors to impress a
woman who was virtually a stranger to him, but he wasn’t complaining.

He should have known by now that things never turned out as he
expected.

Saskia glanced at her watch as she approached Luke, trying not to just
stare at him. There was something about him that made her want to run. Another
possibly reckless, stupid part of her wanted to get as close to him as
possible. Because she hadn’t met a man like this in a long time and while he
might not manage a miracle, she wasn’t going to get home to Jack on her own.  

“Did you get through to your son?”

She shook her head.

“I’m guessing the line was down?”

“Yep,” she said, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. Breaking her
promise to Jack was one thing, but not even being able to explain it to him
over the phone would be unforgivable. “I couldn’t even get a connection.”

“Come here,” he said, patting the seat. “I have blankets and coffee, so
we may as well try to get some sleep.”

She stopped, looked at the blanket he was holding out. “When did you get
that?”

Luke shrugged. “See that family over there?”

She looked where he was indicating. “Yeah.”

“They were standing over here before and I heard them say they were short
on cash. Couldn’t buy what they needed for the kids.”

Saskia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Surely he hadn’t…

“I offered them a little money if they watched our bags so I could go buy
some provisions. It was a win-win situation.”

She started to laugh. “Haven’t you ever heard about not leaving your
things with strangers at airports? What are you going to say when the check-in
attendant asks if you’ve packed your own bags? They could have put anything in
there.”

He just shook his head, smug look on his face. “I’m not planning on
flying tomorrow, so I think we’ll be just fine.”

“They could be al-Qaeda for all you know.”

“Yeah, sure. That’s exactly what I thought when I saw a nice American
family with four kids.”

They both laughed, though Saskia knew it was completely wrong to be so
amused. “I’m serious, Luke. Don’t you get kind of suspicious and cynical given
the work we do? I look at everyone like they could be a potential threat these
days.”

He patted the seat again and she sat down, taking the coffee he held out.
“I used to,” he admitted, sipping slowly before leaning back in the chair. “Now?
I try to just be a regular guy when I touch down on home soil, because it’s way
easier to deal with than the alternative.”

Saskia relaxed. It wasn’t something that came easy to her, but there was
nothing within her power she could do to change the situation with the storm.
She’d done everything she could to get home for Christmas, and now all she
could do was wait. Until morning.

“Can you tell me how, exactly, you plan on getting us out of here
tomorrow?” she asked Luke.

He shook his head.

“Come on. Either you don’t have a plan at all and you’re just trying to
distract me from thinking about the snow, or…”

“What?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“Okay, I don’t have another option.”

“I can’t tell you.”

Saskia stared at him, but she was guessing her intimidation tactics
weren’t going to work. She wasn’t his superior and he knew it.  

“If I told you I’d have to kill you.”

His voice was low, gravelly, and it sent a lick of adrenaline through her
body. “Really?” she teased.

Luke leaned closer, his face way too close to hers, but she didn’t move
away. Just held her breath and stayed deadly still. “Really,” he repeated.

Saskia gulped and sat back, forcing her body further from his. Because
the way her pulse was racing right now wasn’t healthy, and no matter how much
she wanted to pretend she was used to this kind of flirting, she wasn’t. Every
day she was surrounded by gorgeous men with big egos trying to trash talk her all
the time, so what was so different about this guy?

He stretched and shook the blanket, before placing it over her lap. Luke
grinned at her, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

A lot,
was the answer. There was a lot different about this guy,
and she didn’t even want to think about it. There was a confidence within him
that terrified her, and something playful that was making her want to get
closer to him. His hard-edged sex appeal made her nervous and… excited. Because
he could reel her in and spit her out before she even knew what had hit her.

“You going to let that coffee get cold?” he asked.

Saskia shook her head and clutched her coffee cup tighter between her
fingers. “No sir,” she mumbled.

Luke just laughed, and so did she. How the hell had she ended up stranded
in an airport with a Navy SEAL for company?

“Chocolate?” Saskia asked, putting her now empty coffee cup on the ground
and reaching for the Kit Kats she’d purchased on her way back from calling
home.

“Sure.”

She passed one of them to Luke and tried not to stiffen when his hand
touched hers. Because he didn’t move it, just left them connected for a beat
before taking the Kit Kat and peeling off the wrapper.

“Another reason why it’s good to be home, huh?” he asked, taking a bite.

Saskia nodded and did the same. “I’m sure I’ll put on the pounds when I’m
back for good. Between home cooking, chocolate bars, wine… you know what I
mean, right?”

He chuckled, made her look up.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“The idea of you putting on the pounds.” Luke took another bite and shook
his head. “Somehow I don’t think that’s likely.”

The slow movement of his gaze going up then down made her entire body
flush hot.

“I think we should try to get some shut eye. It’s late and we’re going to
have an early start.”

“How early,” she asked, drawing the blanket up around her, pleased by the
change in subject.

“0600 hours,” he said, slumping down a little, feet extended out and
crossed at the ankle. “That’s when we’re leaving, so we’ll need to be up before
then.”

The lights in the terminal dimmed as if on cue. He guessed they did this
to let people get some sleep when there were so many stranded.

“I guess it’s good night then,” she said, wishing she knew exactly how he
was planning on evacuating them in the middle of a snow storm.

“Sweet dreams,” Luke drawled.

Saskia shut her eyes. He was just a man. They were just two people
stranded at the airport. There was no reason for her to be acting like a hormone-crazed
teenager crushing on a handsome guy.

But one thing was for sure… if she did manage to ever fall asleep and
dream, she had no doubt those dreams would be very sweet indeed.

Luke eased his arm out from behind Saskia’s shoulders and gently tucked a
balled-up sweater under her head. He’d just about lost all feeling in his
forearm and it was starting to cool off again. He pulled the blanket up higher
across them both, making sure she was covered.

He surveyed the room, watched people walking, sleeping and talking. The
food court was shut down for the night, and there were hundreds of people
stranded. It was a wonder their plane had even been able to land.

Luke shut his eyes. He needed sleep if he was going to try to drive them
out of here, and he wasn’t even starting to feel tired yet. Fatigued, sure, but
there was too much going on in his head to want to sleep.
Like how the hell
he’d ended up sitting next to Saskia on the plane, and then promised to get her
home to her son.

But he knew why. Because she was beautiful and interesting, and he was
alone again for Christmas. Not to mention god damn sick of everyone in his life
knowing that his wife had died. He’d had plenty of invitations for the
holidays, but the last thing he needed was someone feeling sorry for him and
asking him to tag along with their own family.

This? This he could do. Because Saskia was the one in need of help, and
he was only too happy to do something about it. He could take her to her
family, and be back on the road driving through Christmas Day, with the Humvee
back to base before any one even knew it was gone.

Unless she was actually able to catch a plane in the morning. Then he’d
be shit out of luck.  

“Morning sunshine.”

Saskia groaned and forced her eyes open. Her neck was sore and her back
felt like it had twisted into a pretzel. But her head…
oh.
There was a
reason her head was so comfortable, because it was tucked into Luke like he was
her pillow, and her hand…