CHAPTER THREE
Smoothing down his hair, Bryce walked in the direction of the Pizza Hut and felt his heart hammer against his chest. Which made sense, considering he was about to have his first date with Daphne.
At least it was a date for him.
She may just be thinking of it as grabbing a slice of pizza with a new acquaintance and nothing more, but he sure as hell didn’t. As far as he was concerned, this was his chance to see if they could start something. The girl was a catch, and he wanted to make sure that by the time she landed back in San Diego, he was the only man she was thinking about.
If he didn’t, then he was going to have to get rid of whatever competition showed up, and that was going to take time away from them getting to know each other.
And that’s the last thing he wanted.
Unfortunately, the fast food outpost that sat on a strip of concrete in the middle of a base wasn’t where he wanted their first date to be, but he had to work with what he had. Patting his pocket, he confirmed he had the card he’d picked up earlier and hoped she liked what he’d done.
As he approached the small metal building that housed the pizza place, he saw Daphne approaching from the opposite direction and felt his heart hammer even harder.
Coming in his direction was the very definition of a cool California girl, at least for him. Under the stark overhead lights, he was able to see her well-worn form-fitting jeans hug her curves and a faded concert T-shirt that told him he’d be a lucky man ever to spend more than ten minutes in her company. Her long hair was moving across her shoulders and she had a smile pointed directly at him. “Hey, girl, thanks for meeting me.”
“Of course.”
Sweeping his arms up, he grinned. “Only the best for you.” When she got close enough, he took her hand and leaned down, kissing her gently on the cheek. Inhaling her scent, he decided she smelled like something he might eventually want to call home. He trailed his finger over her soft skin and felt her shiver. “Let’s eat because I bet you’re hungry after all the wallowing in mud we did earlier.”
“Sounds good,” she replied quietly as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Seeing her shyness made him weirdly comfortable and relaxed because it meant they might be more alike than he first guessed. And that was something that would definitely work in their favor. Taking her hand, he led her to the line and then looked up at the menu. “Cheese or pepperoni?”
“Both.”
“My kind of woman.” When it was their turn, he ordered a half-dozen slices and sodas, hoping it would be enough to get them started.
Once he had a tray loaded with food and drinks, they grabbed a table and sat down. Lifting his soda cup, he looked at Daphne and winked. “To wonderful things starting in Djibouti.”
She tapped his glass and nodded. “Probably not a toast someone makes more than once in a lifetime.”
“You never know. We could come back here on our fiftieth wedding anniversary and make the same toast.” When her eyes got big and she started laughing, he decided not to take it personally.
So what if she couldn’t see the possibilities the way he did?
Didn’t make him crazy.
He handed her a napkin and pointed to the tray. “Ladies first.”
Wiping her eyes with her napkin, she then lifted a slice of pizza off the tray and grinned. “I’m guessing you’re not the first colorful and crazy character in your family.”
Taking a slice of pizza, he shrugged. “The ability to see into the future does not make you colorful or crazy where I come from. It just makes you interesting.”
“And where in the South do you hail from?”
“Mobile, Alabama.”
“Let me guess, you went to University of Alabama and played ball.”
“Roll Tide, sweetheart.” He watched her eyes crinkle at the corners as she smiled. “How did you figure it out?”
“You’re built like a ballplayer, and if you made it to the Teams, then I know you’ve always given everything you’ve got to whatever you’ve chosen to do. You must’ve been in demand when you graduated high school, and I bet your home state didn’t want to let you play for someone else.”
“That’s a little scary how accurate you are.”
She hitched her shoulders and then ate some pizza. “I’m observant and have been trained to connect the dots when gathering intel.”
Leaning forward, he took her hand. “You gatherin’ intel about me, darlin’?”
“I’d be a fool not to.” She moved her hand away and finished eating her slice of pizza. “You’re the first man that I’ve had a meal alone with since I got here, so I wanted to know what I was getting into.”
“And what did you discover?”
“Nothing really interesting. You have only one social media account and haven’t posted in a year, so my sleuthing didn’t tell me much, other than you’ve been working your tail off since you joined the Navy.”
“What would I find if I dug around and researched you?”
“I have a Facebook page and an Instagram account, and they are not very exciting since I can’t talk about my work.”
“We can’t take a picture together yet because every op I’m on is classified, but when we have our second date in San Diego, then we can.”
“I didn’t know we were on a first date.”
Snorting, he looked around. “The romantic atmosphere and hand-holding didn’t tell you what you were involved in?” Wiping his mouth, he leaned back and pulled the card out of his pocket. “Couldn’t manage flowers, so I got you something else.” He watched her take the card and noticed her fingers were slightly shaking and decided to take it as a good sign. “Go ahead.”
“I am, hold on.” Opening the card, she read it and then looked up with a huge smile. “This is the best gift anyone has ever gotten me.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Leaning back, he watched her re-read the card. “When you said elephants were your favorite animal, I texted a friend who loves them and asked her what a good gift would be.”
“I can’t believe you fostered an elephant for me.”
“When I went on the website, she was the latest arrival, so I chose her and thought she’d be perfect.”
She ran her finger over the picture that he’d printed and grinned. “Kiasa is a beauty if I do say so myself.”
“Everybody needs a six-month-old elephant to foster. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has been around forever, so I decided to go with them. They’ll send you pictures of Kiasa and I think there might be a live video feed that you can look at if you want to see how she’s doing.”
“You really gave this some thought and I’m so impressed. Excited too.”
“Maybe you can post her picture on Facebook instead of ours.”
“I think that’s all I will be doing for a while since I feel like a proud mama and want to show her off.”
He watched her stand and immediately did the same, and when she opened her arms, he tugged her in and embraced her tightly. “Glad you like your elephant.”
“Bryce, you are something else and I love her. Thank you.”
“Just getting started, darlin’.” Holding her tightly, he enjoyed the feel of her soft curves and decided this part of the world was more than lucky for SEALs.