Page 14
D ALI
We’d been working for almost an hour when I heard a knock at the front door. I peeked around the corner of the aisle I was stocking and smiled when I saw Navy peering through the glass.
Jodie was working an aisle closer to the front, so she got to the door before me and unlocked it so Navy could come inside. He looked at her with a smile that most men would reserve for their younger sister before he put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close.
“Hi, firecracker. Killed anybody lately?”
Jodie wrapped her arm around his waist and said, “Not today. Well, yet.”
Navy laughed before he looked up to see me coming closer. The smile he gave me looked nothing like the one he’d given Jodie, and I felt my cheeks flush with a creeping heat at the silent implications that grin had.
As he took his arm off Jodie’s shoulder and reached for me, he said, “I was surprised when I came out of the office and realized you’d left.”
“I wanted to visit my family, and it was a short walk.”
The corners of Navy’s mouth turned down as he looked at Jodie and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t think to check on your family earlier. Is everyone okay?”
“They roughed up Aunt Amihan, but Dad got the worst of it when he tried to fight back. There were four men, so he was completely outnumbered, but he gave them some bruises to think about.”
“Good. I hope he recovers quickly. Is Nathan here too?”
“Yes. We’re staying at Mom and Dad’s.”
“I assume you had another visit this morning?” Navy asked. When Jodie’s eyes narrowed, he said, “That’s how I feel about the situation.”
“I’m not sure what we can do. They said going to the cops would be useless, and they’re probably right. The police can’t post a guard at every business on the street.”
“I’ve got some friends coming in to help, and I can call more if I need to. We’ll get someone to be with you as soon as we can.”
“Thank you, Anthony,” Jodie said before she pushed me out of the way and hugged him. “When this is over, would you like to run away together?”
“I’m afraid not,” Navy answered as he returned her hug. “I’ve got my sights set on your cousin.”
Jodie shrugged and said, “I could get rid of her if I wanted to.”
“You’re safe, Navy. The aunts are working on finding Jodie a suitable husband.”
Navy started laughing before he said, “Are they going to warn the poor guy or leave him in the dark?”
“It’s not completely dark in the basement,” Jodie muttered as she walked off. “You two play kissy-face for a minute while I get Nathan. He’ll be happy to see you.”
Navy pulled me into his arms and kissed me soundly before he frowned and said, “Would it make any difference if I asked you to stay close by while we get this worked out?”
“Depends on how you ask.”
“Dali, I know that you are a strong and independent woman who can kick ass and take names, but it would make me feel a lot better if you would do me a favor and not take off on your own until we get this situation under control.”
I managed to hold in my laughter and cleared my throat before I said, “I’ll have to thank Corrie for working so hard to help you curb your caveman tendencies.”
“Is that a yes?” Navy asked hopefully.
“I promise that I won’t take off again without telling anyone.”
“That’s as good as I’m going to get, isn’t it?” When I nodded, Navy smiled and said, “I’ve got some friends coming to town that I can’t wait for you to meet.”
“Are they staying at your place?”
“A few of them will, and some others will need to bunk at Corrie’s. I’ve called our downstairs tenants, and they’ve agreed to let me use their condos for the overflow.”
“How did you explain that?”
“I told them I was having a family reunion.”
“Are these some of your friends from Texas?” I asked.
“That’s where I met most of them, but they all belong to Time Served MC.”
“So they’re all ex-cons?” Navy nodded before I remarked, “I bet they’re some colorful characters.”
“Oh, honey, you have no idea.”
“Are they all as handsome as you?” I asked.
Navy shrugged before he said, “Hell, I don’t know. Why?”
“Give Jodie whichever one is the biggest asshole, or she might make him fall in love.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but if she’s half as awesome as you are, that won’t be hard for her to do.”
“I assume we’re going to have to put off our first date for a while.” Navy frowned, and I said, “It’s not a big deal!”
Navy shook his head before he explained, “Dad and Rafael are going to stick together, so they’re good. I’d still like to take you to dinner tonight.”
“Be honest. You just want to get me into bed.” Navy grinned, so I leaned in and gave him a lingering kiss before I whispered, “I can feed myself, Navy . Let’s skip dinner and go straight to the good part.”
“If we do that, then what are we going to tell our kids when they ask us how I made you fall for me?” I felt my mouth open in shock, and Navy chuckled before he asked, “Too soon?”
I nodded and mumbled, “Way too soon.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll check in next week to see if you’re ready to start.” He looked around the store, taking in the stacks of boxes before he said, “I guess they’re not exactly open for business, so I need to stop by a pharmacy sometime soon.”
I managed to slow my racing heart so I could speak before I said, “Or you could realize that part of the strong, independent woman thing you’re attracted to in me means I’ve already taken care of birth control, so you should just pick me up and carry me to bed.
” Navy groaned as he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
I couldn’t resist throwing his own words at him. “Too soon?”
Navy picked me up bridal style as I let out a squeal of shock. As he turned toward the door, he yelled, “Jodie, we’re outta here! Come lock up!”
“I hate you right now, cousin!” Jodie yelled back from somewhere behind us.
I was laughing too hard to respond.
◆◆◆
Navy wiped his mouth and took a sip of his beer before he asked, “What injury was your most difficult to get over? I’ve had bruised ribs before, and they hurt like a motherfucker, so I can’t imagine what it feels like to break one.”
“Cracked sternum was probably the worst,” I told him before I shuddered. “It felt like there was an elephant on my chest, and I couldn’t even move my fingers without pain.”
“But you’re all good now?”
“You’re not going to hurt me,” I assured him. “It’s hard for me to let go after months of being so careful, but something happened that made me realize I’m just fine.”
“Like what?”
“My cousin picked me up in a bear hug, and it didn’t hurt at all.”
“That’s good to know,” Navy said before he cut another piece of his steak.
“I have an appointment tomorrow to hopefully get a full medical release. Once I do, I'm going to buy a board and get lost in the waves for at least a day.”
“That will cure just about anything.”
“I missed the beach while I was in the Navy, which sounds crazy because it’s the Navy . I was on the water for the majority of my career, but you can’t exactly hop over the side of the carrier with your board.”
“I remember,” Navy said before he sighed. “When I was in prison, I dreamed about surfing.”
“I dreamed about you.”
Navy smiled.“Really?”
“They were young girl dreams, but you were the star.”
“What’s the difference between young girl dreams and woman dreams?”
“Picket fences and nudity.” Navy barked out a laugh and then started coughing and gasping for air. “For the most part, they were G-rated and included a big white house and a nuclear family. As I got older, they became less chaste and more . . . spicy.”
“Spicy. Hmm.” Navy grinned before he asked, “How spicy?”
“They varied from bell pepper to ghost pepper, depending on what was going on in my life.”
“Explain.”
“When I was a kid, it was hero worship. When I was a teenager, I compared every boy I met to you. None of them ever measured up.”
“Because I’m awesome.”
I rolled my eyes before I said, “When I started dating, I kept up the comparisons, but that’s when the hormones really went into overdrive. I compared everything I experienced with boys and then men to what I thought it would be like with you.”
“Damn. Nothing like pressure to make me doubt myself,” Navy replied with a wince. “What if I turn out to be a dud in the bedroom and you regret spending so much time dreaming of me?”
“You said you dreamed of me.”
“I thought of you when I was awake too.”
“Really?” I asked.
Navy nodded before he blushed and admitted, “As a matter of fact, I thought about you in the shower this morning.”
I grinned and suggested, “Keep that in mind and maybe we can recreate it in the shower tomorrow morning.”
“As much as I love that idea and want to take you home to get started on making our dreams come true . . .”
“That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard,” I interrupted.
Navy rolled his eyes and continued, “I have an appointment this evening that I can’t miss. That means that as much as I want to spend the night and then shower with you in the morning, I have to wait one more day to do all the naughty things we’ve both imagined.”
“You sound so . . . businesslike.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Navy asked.
“It’s hot.”
“Hot enough to make up for the cheesy comment?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll accept that.”
“What you’re saying is that you’re going to leave me smoldering and not give me any choice in the matter.”
“No! That’s not what I mean at all!”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
“I’m saying that maybe we should stick to naughty dreams until . . .”
“No.”
“No?”
“Unless your previous appointment includes getting naked with another woman, I’ll be more than content to let you leave me sleeping until you finish whatever your business may be.
When you’re done, you can crawl back into bed and wake me up so we can continue what we started and then have shower fun when we wake up tomorrow. ”
“This is not how . . .” Navy looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds and then back at me before he said, “You are nothing like I imagined.”