CHAPTER TWO
YOU’RE SERIOUSLY GOING out with a Navy guy?” From where she was leaning back on her hands on the flower-print comforter covering the bed, Melissa’s neighbor-slash-best-friend Veronica Cartwright eyed her dubiously. “I thought you had a strict no-sailor policy when it came to potential boyfriend material?”
“I do.” Melissa turned this way and that in front of the mirror mounted on the back of the door to the closet, checking out her reflection. She wanted to look nice for Kurt, but not so nice that he’d think she was interested in him. So while the little black dress hugged her curves, it didn’t show too much leg or too much cleavage, and the platform sandals didn’t scream, come and get me. “Though, to be honest, there’s absolutely no boyfriend potential here. I’m only going out with Kurt because he helped me out with my career day fiasco at school. I had twelve parents lined up for today and ten of them canceled at the last minute. If Kurt hadn’t stepped in and spent an hour playing with the kids, the entire event would have been a train wreck.”
Veronica shrugged her slim shoulders. “He sounds like a pretty good guy to me. Is there anything wrong with him other than the Navy thing? I mean, is he hideously ugly or something?”
Hideously ugly? Melissa’s lips curved. That would be a definite no. In fact, Kurt Travers was extremely attractive. Heck, she might go so far as to say he was gorgeous. There was even a part of her that was kind of psyched a guy this hot wanted to go out with her. But it was a small part, and she was smart enough to push those silly thoughts aside and forget about them. She came from a Navy family, and had seen firsthand what a woman had to deal with if she wanted to be involved with a man whose job required him to be away from home more than he was there. It had taken a toll on her mom and the family. Melissa had no desire to walk down that road again.
This date was a one-time thing. A thank-you for a man who’d helped her out of a tight spot. That was it—period, end of sentence.
Still, Kurt was freaking hot. There was no denying that. And when she’d stood close to him while they’d watched the kids run around the playground at recess, she couldn’t help but notice he smelled yummy, too. Then there was the obvious fact that the guy had a totally awesome body. Even the blue camouflage uniform he’d been wearing couldn’t hide that.
“Should I assume from the dreamy look on your face that Kurt isn’t ugly?” Veronica asked.
Melissa frowned at the interruption, then realized it was probably for the best, since her mind had started wandering off into dangerous territory, such as exactly what Kurt looked like underneath his uniform.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, turning to face her friend so she wouldn’t have to keep looking at Veronica in the mirror.
Veronica lifted a brow, her smoky blue eyes skeptical. “Seriously, you don’t think I know your facial expressions after living right next door to you all this time? You think this guy is hot. That’s why you’re going out with him, not that crud about being appreciative he helped you out at school.”
Melissa shook her head. Veronica was about as different from Melissa as two women could get, but they’d hit it off within moments of meeting each other the first day Melissa had moved into the apartment building after graduating from college almost two years ago. While Melissa was a school teacher and considered herself a nurturer, Veronica was an accountant-slash-tax advisor, and as linear as some men Melissa had met. Whereas Melissa usually went with her instincts when it came to dealing with problems, Veronica considered things from every angle. The two of them were so different in how they looked at the world, it was crazy to think they’d become friends, but in reality, Melissa appreciated having someone like Veronica in her life. They were like their own version of yin-yang.
On the downside, having a girlfriend who wasn’t scared to call you out if she thought you were full of it could also sometimes be a pain, especially since Veronica forced Melissa to face situations a little more directly than she liked.
Melissa grabbed her dangling gold earrings off the dresser with an awkward shrug. “Yeah, there’s a little bit of that too, I guess. Kurt is attractive. And while that probably had something to do with why I said yes when he asked me out, I honestly don’t think it’s enough to get me to overlook the fact that he’s in the Navy. That typically comes with more baggage than I’m willing to handle.”
“I don’t know about that,” Veronica said. “If a guy comes with baggage, you can always get a damn luggage cart to help carry everything, but if he’s ugly, there’s absolutely nothing you can do for him.”
Melissa laughed and immediately felt bad about it. She liked to think of herself as a little deeper than that. She put in one earring, then the other. “Don’t you think there has to be something more to a guy than his good looks to make a relationship work?”
Veronica sat up and flicked her black curls over her shoulder with a slender, light brown hand. “Relationship? Crap girl, you haven’t even gone out on the first date yet! Maybe you should wait to see if you two like each other enough to eat dinner at the same table and swap a little DNA on the doorstep before you worry about if he’s relationship material.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Okay. I don’t necessarily agree with you, but I see your point. I promise not to think of this as anything more than a simple date with a hot guy. Relationship potential isn’t even on the table.”
Veronica grinned. “Good girl! Now you’re learning. Just remember—there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a relationship that never moves beyond the horizontal stage. Sometimes, those are the best kind. Not that there aren’t other positions besides horizontal that work equally well.”
Melissa opened her mouth to tell her friend how absolutely horrible she was when the doorbell rang. She waggled a finger at Veronica. “Don’t say anything to embarrass me.”
Veronica put on a hurt look. “Moi?”
Rolling her eyes, Melissa hurried out of the bedroom and through the cozy living room to the door, checking through the peephole to be sure it was in fact her date on the other side.
Melissa was glad Kurt couldn’t see her because her jaw just about hit the floor. She’d thought the guy had looked good in his uniform, but in a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a casual black sports jacket, he was absolutely stunning.
She was still gazing through the peephole when Veronica showed up in the entryway and pushed her aside.
“Hey!” Melissa hissed softly, almost falling over. “What are you doing?”
Veronica shooed her away with a hand as she peeked through the little hole in the door. After a good ten seconds, she turned and gave Melissa a wide-eyed look. “Holy crap, he’s hot as hell!”
Melissa cringed. Much like the kids in her class, Veronica did not possess an indoor voice. In fact, she was so loud, Melissa was pretty sure the nice elderly sisters three doors down had heard her.
Sure Kurt had heard too, Melissa wedged her friend away from the door and put her eye back to the peephole. Kurt was standing there with an amused expression on his handsome face.
Crap. He’d heard all right. And there was no chance in hell he hadn’t figured out Melissa was standing there staring at him. She whirled around and pressed her back to the door. Maybe she could fake a cold or something and cancel the date. This was too mortifying to deal with.
No, she couldn’t do that. Beyond the fact that Kurt already knew she was standing just inside the door, there was also the fact that she had too much integrity to lie to someone simply to save herself a little embarrassment.
Melissa glanced at Veronica, giving her the stink eye. “Behave.”
Smoothing her dress, she took a deep breath and opened the door, prepared for the worst. But Kurt merely stood there, looking calm and cool, all signs of mirth fully erased from his face. Melissa opened her mouth to launch into an apology anyway, but the moment she got an up-close-and-personal view of him without the door in the way, she forgot what she’d been about to say.
Damn, he was even more handsome than she remembered. At least six-four, with broad shoulders, dark hair, blue eyes, and a little stubble on his jaw, he was model material if she ever saw it.
“Hi,” she finally managed to get out. “Thanks for waiting. It took me a moment to get to the door.”
“No problem,” he said, giving no indication that he’d heard anything through the door at all. When she didn’t say anything, he arched a brow. “Should I come in, or would you rather just go to dinner?”
Before Melissa could say anything, Veronica smiled broadly and extended her hand in greeting.
“You should definitely come in,” her friend said. “I’m Veronica Cartwright, by the way—Melissa’s neighbor.”
He returned Veronica’s smile and shook her hand.
“Melissa said you were a SEAL, but she didn’t mention how tall and well-built you are,” Veronica said. “Or how hot.”
Sure she was turning all kinds of red, Melissa had to resist the urge to smack her friend. The woman was beyond incorrigible.
“Didn’t you say you needed to go back to your apartment and clean your cat’s litter box, Veronica?” Her friend didn’t have a cat, but Kurt didn’t know that. “You know how much Mr. Whiskers hates it when you forget to do it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Melissa caught sight of Kurt fighting to keep a straight face as Veronica gave her a look that promised retribution at some near point in the future.
“You’re right. I do have to clean the litter box,” her friend said. “Nice meeting you, Kurt. Have fun tonight.”
Giving Melissa a wave, followed by two thumbs up when she was out of Kurt’s line of sight, Veronica hurried over to her apartment, leaving them alone.
“Ready?” Kurt asked.
Melissa nodded and grabbed her purse from the table in the entryway. She couldn’t meet Kurt’s gaze until they’d walked down the stairs and outside to his pick-up truck. Even then, she barely glanced at him as he helped her into the passenger seat. Only when he climbed in beside her and cranked the engine did she finally turn to look at him.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “Veronica has absolutely no filter. I never told her you were hot.”
Kurt chuckled and put the truck in gear. “Is that because you don’t think I am, or because the subject never came up in conversation?”
Melissa felt her cheeks burn. She had indeed talked to Veronica about Kurt being hot. But there was no way in hell she was going to admit that. “I plead the fifth on the grounds that either answer is bound to get me in trouble.”
His mouth twitched as he pulled out of the apartment complex parking lot and merged with San Diego evening traffic. “That’s probably best. So, you good with barbecue, or are you in the mood for something different?”
She didn’t eat barbecue very often, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like it. Just the thought of meat covered in a delicious tangy sauce made her mouth water. “Barbecue sounds great.”
“Have you and Veronica been friends for a while?” Kurt asked.
“Since I moved in a couple years ago. I invited her over to dinner as a thank-you for helping me move in and she ended up having to call the fire department when I burned what I was cooking.”
“Yeah?” He glanced at her. “What’d you make?”
“Brochette Dijon.”
He did a double take. “Damn. I wouldn’t even know how to spell that, much less make it.”
Melissa laughed. “It’s just a fancy way of saying chicken smothered in Dijon mustard, garlic, and Drambuie, then grilled on skewers. It was easy enough to make until it came time to flambé it. I damn near burned down the whole apartment building. If Veronica hadn’t been there, I probably would have. The crazy thing was that the recipe looked so easy when they made it on TV. Suffice to say that I now avoid recipes that require setting anything on fire.”
On the upside, she and Veronica had both gotten dates with a couple of hot firefighters out of it. Melissa didn’t mention that to Kurt, though.
“Always a good plan,” Kurt agreed as he changed lanes. “You really don’t have to be embarrassed by what Veronica said, you know. She’d fit right in on my Team. The guys and I like to rib each other all the time, too.”
Melissa immediately tensed at the mention of his SEAL Team, expecting him to launch into an endless monologue on all things Navy and special ops, but instead he asked if she’d always wanted to be a teacher.
She relaxed back against the seat. Teaching was one thing she definitely didn’t mind talking about.
“Pretty much,” she said. “When I was a kid, I’d come home from school and teach my dolls whatever I learned that day. I always thought that learning things was so much fun, and I wanted to pass that love of learning on to children.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Why first-graders?”
Melissa laughed. “Because that’s the grade level the school was hiring for when I was looking for a job after graduation. I really wanted to teach fourth grade.”
“Huh.” Kurt glanced at her as he turned into the parking lot for the restaurant. “I would never have known it wasn’t your first choice. You’re really good with the kids, and they clearly love you.”
She smiled. “I love them, too. Now, I wouldn’t want to teach anything else but first grade.”
Grabbing her purse from the seat beside her, Melissa reached for the door handle, but Kurt had already jumped out and come around to open it for her. She took the hand he offered, trying not to notice the way her pulse quickened when his fingers closed over hers. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he released it.
The restaurant wasn’t at all how Melissa had pictured it. Every barbecue place she’d ever been in smelled like smoke, had dim lighting, and the most godawful wood paneling. But the Iron Pit was well lit, didn’t reek of smoke, and there wasn’t any wood paneling in sight. But above all that, the aromas coming out of the kitchen were absolutely mouthwatering. If the food tasted as good as it smelled, she might have to add this to her list of favorite places to eat.
The hostess smiled at them. “Two?” When Kurt nodded, she picked up a pair of menus from the stand. “Right this way.”
As they followed the hostess though the restaurant, Melissa couldn’t help noticing how many women stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing to ogle Kurt as they passed. Not that she blamed them. Kurt was hot, and it wasn’t just because he was sinfully handsome either. She might be against the idea of dating a guy in the Navy, especially a SEAL, but that didn’t mean she was immune to the sexy confidence he exuded as he weaved among the tables and chairs like some kind of predator animal. She also couldn’t miss the looks of curiosity and envy—not to mention blatant dislike—those same women threw her way. It was like they were trying to figure out how she’d snagged a guy as perfect as Kurt. She wondered what they’d say if she told them it was because he’d balanced a ball on his nose like a seal at the aquarium.
The hostess led them to a small table in an out-of-the-way corner of the restaurant, slightly screened from the other customers by a low wall and some fake trees. It was quiet and kind of romantic. Or it would have been if she were interested in stuff like that. Which she wasn’t. No matter how gorgeous her date might be.
Or how much of a gentleman he was, she thought as he pulled out her chair for her. Wow. She hadn’t had a guy do that for her in… well, ever. She realized with a start that she appreciated the gesture more than she would have expected.
She would have thanked him, but their waiter came over to ask what they wanted to drink. Kurt ordered a beer, but Melissa stuck with iced tea. This was still a first date and she preferred to keep her wits about her, especially since Kurt was the kind of man who could make her forget herself way too easily.
“Thanks again for today,” she said after the waiter had brought their drinks and taken their orders. “I know balancing a ball on your nose isn’t something you do on a regular basis, but the kids had a great time. You’re surprisingly good at it, by the way.”
She’d been even more impressed when he’d balanced it on his nose while doing crunches. Considering how effortless he’d made the exercise part of it look, something told her he probably had some amazing abs under that T-shirt.
“Beginner’s luck.” His mouth curved into a smile as he set down his bottle of beer. “I’m just glad I was able to get away from work so I could be there. Cody was really hoping his dad would be back from deployment in time, so when his mom asked if I’d go to the school in his place, I couldn’t say no.”
Melissa sipped her tea slowly, once again waiting for Kurt to transition from there into a discussion about being a SEAL and how many times he deployed, but once again, he surprised her by focusing the conversation on her.
“So, I know why you became a teacher,” he said. “What about family? Do they live in San Diego?”
She waited until the waiter had set down their plates and left before answering.
“My dad was in the Navy. My parents moved back up to Washington State after he retired.”
She picked up her fork, eager to dig into the barbecue chicken breast, brown rice and steamed vegetables in front of her. Although she had to admit, the Carolina pulled pork with coleslaw and fries that Kurt had ordered looked delicious, too. If they’d been dating a while, she would have reached over and snagged a forkful.
“What about brothers and sisters?” he asked.
“I have two of each.” She had to force herself not to moan as she took a bite of chicken. It was the perfect combination of sweet and tangy. “I don’t see them very often though.”
Kurt eyed her over a forkful of coleslaw. “None of them live in San Diego, either?”
She shook her head. “Since we moved around so much, my brothers, sisters and I were all born in different states—Florida, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington State, and California, in that order. Maybe it’s because we moved around so much growing up, but they all live in different parts of the United States. I’m the only one who stayed in San Diego after Dad retired.”
Kurt regarded her thoughtfully. “Your family isn’t very close now, I take it?”
“The distance makes it hard.” She pushed her steamed vegetables around on the plate for a moment before spearing a carrot. “It’s not just that, though. As a family, we had a hard time with Dad’s career. None of us liked moving around every two years. It was difficult making friends, and my brothers got into trouble all the time. Mom and Dad fought a lot too, especially when he decided to stay beyond twenty years. Every one of my brothers and sisters bailed as soon as they had a chance. I mean, we still talk on birthdays and holidays, but we don’t make an effort to see each other very much.”
“That sounds rough.” Kurt sighed. “Now I can understand now why you weren’t thrilled with the idea of going out with a guy in the Navy.”
Since she couldn’t deny it, Melissa focused on scooping up some brown rice and barbecue chicken in the same forkful. “What about you? Are you from California?”
He took a swig of beer. “Born and raised in Oklahoma.”
She blinked. “Seriously? I never would have pegged you for a guy from the Midwest.”
He chuckled. “I lived on my family’s ranch until I joined the Navy when I was nineteen.”
Melissa tried to picture him in a cowboy hat. Yeah, she could definitely see it. “Brothers and sisters?”
“One of each. They both still live in Oklahoma. So do my folks.”
“Do you see them often?”
“Every chance I get.”
Wow. Oklahoma wasn’t exactly on the other side of the world, but she was surprised—and maybe a little jealous—by how close he and his family were. She’d always wondered what that would be like.
“How the heck did a cowboy from Oklahoma end up going in the Navy?” She picked up her iced tea. “I mean, could you even swim before you joined?”
Kurt chuckled. “Yeah, I could swim. Oklahoma isn’t a desert. We do have lakes out there, you know.”
Actually, she’d never really thought about it. “Huh. Okay, maybe my knowledge of Oklahoma is lacking, I guess. But that still doesn’t explain why you went Navy. Why not the Army or one of the other services?”
He shrugged, dunking a trio of French fries in ketchup. “I was in the middle of the country, landlocked and eager to see more of the world. When the Navy recruiter showed me photos of all these cool faraway places and ships out in the middle of an endless ocean, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.”
After giving him such a convenient opening, she figured Kurt would jump at the chance to talk about the Navy, but he didn’t. While she would never admit it, there was a part of her that wanted to ask him why he’d become a SEAL. She’d never understood what made a man willingly volunteer to do such a dangerous job. But before she could open her mouth, Kurt steered the conversation toward lighter topics. That was okay. It was nice that he had no problem discussing stuff outside his job.
So they talked about things like what they each did for fun, movies they liked, favorite food, books, and dream vacation destinations. She wasn’t surprised that he liked to hit the gym or go for a swim when he wasn’t working. If she was right about how well-built he was under that uniform—and she was pretty sure she was—he probably spent hours exercising. She took in the occasional aerobics class at the health club she belonged to, but she’d much rather hang out on the beach in her free time. While he was into action flicks and cheesy sci-fi movies, she preferred romantic comedies.
Despite their differences, Melissa was having a ball with him. Clearly, there was something to that old saying about opposites attracting. She couldn’t help it. Kurt was easy to talk to. Not to mention charming, fun, and engaging. She’d come into this thinking he was going to be an arrogant, conceited jerk because he was a Navy SEAL, but was embarrassed to realize she’d been seeing him as nothing more than a cliché.
Even though she kept telling herself that this was just a single date and there wasn’t any future with a guy like Kurt, it was hard to keep that in mind when it felt like they’d known each other forever. It didn’t hurt that Kurt was so easy on the eyes. Sitting across the table from him gazing into that ocean blue gaze was something a woman could easily get used to.
Melissa chided herself as she sipped her iced tea. She had to stop thinking like that. Kurt might be her dream guy, but he was a SEAL. If she asked him point blank what life in the Navy was like, he’d almost certainly tell her that he was out fighting wars way more often than he was home. The worst part was that it would probably be like that for a long time. She wasn’t naïve. She knew their country needed people like Kurt. Hell, they probably needed more of them, especially since the world was still reeling from Desert Storm. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be involved with a man like that. She wasn’t one of those women who could give her boyfriend or husband a kiss and tell him to be careful, then send him off to war. She wanted the man she fell in love with to spend more time with her than he did at his job. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms every night and wake up in them every morning.
It might be selfish, but after seeing what had happened with her parents and all the heartache the Navy had inflicted on their marriage, she knew what she was looking for in a relationship, and what she wasn’t. Getting involved with a SEAL wasn’t something she could ever do—no matter how sinfully handsome he was.