Page 29 of Fake Dating the SEAL
“We’d talked about future plans like most people. A house, kids, a dog, maybe a cat. Would that house be by the water or the mountains. Big or small. In theory, we’d agreed on a nice family home.”
“I sense a but coming.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “The reality was that my first wife was the Navy. My missions were long, and often secretive, and staying behind waiting for me to return to go on a movie date wasn’t as romantic as she’d thought it would be.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. She married an insurance salesman and I realized that I had no business asking any woman to wait for me to come home, praying it wasn’t in a coffin.” He held up his hand. “And before you say I’m sorry again, the most unexpected thing was not being upset when she broke it off. I mean, my pride took a hit, but not my heart.”
Sara shifted in her seat, her smile almost self deprecating. “I actually know what you mean. I gave and gave and gave because I thought my relationship with Vinny mattered, and then I realized one day, that the only thing that would be hurt if we broke up was my pride.”
Unable to resist, he reached across the console, took hold of her hand, and squeezed. He didn’t say anything, neither did she. How many people had he known in his life, where so much could be said with so few words?
When they pulled into the dive shop parking lot, Kenny was still holding her hand. The silent connection gave her a sense of comfort and strength. How she wished things could be different, real. As usual, Kenny opened the door for her. Both the car and the dive shop. She was getting used to this old fashioned chivalry. Rejoining the dating world after this Christmas was not going to be easy.
“Oh, good.” Lexi looked up from her regular perch behind the main counter. “Billy’s been waiting for you. There’s been a bit of a glitch in today’s plans.”
“Did Emily not bring her gear?” Since Sara and Emily were the same size, and even though she’d grown up diving with the Everretts, Sara had never found the spare money to invest in her own gear.
“Oh, she did.” Lexi waved her thumb over her shoulder toward the warehouse behind them at the same moment Billy came out.
“Oh good.” Billy grinned up at them.
“I’m starting to wonder.” Kenny drilled him with a serious stare.
Billy shook his head. “We had a boat limp back to the docks this morning. Doug is working on finding the problem, but that means we don’t have a spare boat for diving today.”
“Oh.” Sara didn’t realize until now how much she’d been looking forward to sharing this part of Kenny’s world with him.
Hands in front of him, Billy smiled at Sara. “We’ve got a fix. Nick asked the Thornes if they’d mind having a Navy SEAL share the boat with them.”
“And?” Kenny was still staring oddly at Billy.
“They love the idea of having a big bad SEAL on their boat. If you can’t trust Uncle Sam’s elite, who can you trust?”
“Mm,” was all Kenny said.
“They’re at the docks waiting for you.” Either Billy hadn’t noticed the steady glare Kenny threw his way, or he didn’t care. Sara, on the other hand, was curious to know what was going on. “Let’s get all the gear in the back of the car and you two can be on your merry way.”
“Merry,” Kenny muttered.
Two seconds later, as the guys were hefting the bags of diving gear over their shoulders, Sara saw their heads locked together, their voices low and inaudible from this distance. Then Kenny nodded. Something was most definitely up.
All the gear loaded in the car, and the two of them buckled in, Sara waited for Kenny to pull out of the parking lot before facing him. “Care to tell me what that little tete a tete was all about?”
“You noticed.” His stern expression gave way to a slight smile.
She bobbed her head.
“That Julian Vance character’s boat hasn’t moved on. They’re hovering around Kona.”
“And that’s a problem?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Why maybe? I gather they’re treasure hunters, like the Thornes.”
“Not just hunters. Poachers.”
