CHAPTER FOUR
Friday, April 6th
Willa somehow managed to direct Chad through his session without embarrassing herself and, there was no doubt, she had to find him a new PT. Not only was dating a patient probably against regulations, but it was not in his best interest.
Between the off the charts attraction she felt and the hot memories she couldn’t forget, she was in no way giving him the best therapy. His delicious scent kept assaulting her as she coached him through his exercises, and she had lost focus so many times that she’d lost count.
And that wasn’t acceptable.
She finished the notes on their session and then tapped her pen against the desk. “I’m going to find a new therapist to work with you.”
Moving to her desk, he parked his behind on the corner. “Why?”
“I’m too distracted, and you deserve better.” She looked around her office and then shrugged. “I can’t be fooling around with you at night and then be your therapist during the day.”
“I disagree. The way you held my hips made all the difference in the world.”
Letting out a snort, she dropped her pen on her desk. “Is that because you stole a couple of kisses?”
“Maybe.” He took her hand and grinned. “It sure didn’t hurt.”
“Which is why I can’t be your therapist. I’d have to tie you down to get anything done and behave, and that’s not an accepted practice in physical therapy.”
“If you feel like tying me up, then let me at least take you to dinner first. Only seems right to have a proper date before we get into the kinky stuff.”
“And you just proved my point, and I’m getting you another therapist.” Sitting back in her chair, she crossed her arms and watched him come around her desk.
Crouching at her feet, he took her hands. “If you feel uncomfortable, then send me to someone else because this thing between us is on and I’m not going to back off or pretend it’s not the real fucking deal.”
Pushing him up, she stood in front of him. “Don’t bend down like that. It will stress your knee, and after the workout today I don’t want it to swell.”
“You can pretend to ignore it, but we both know there’s a storm brewing between us.”
“I like to avoid storms.”
“Not going to be possible with this one.” When her hand went to his chest and she lay her head against his heart, he knew she had accepted his words. “Honey, being with a boat guy means you’ve got nothing to worry about. Rough water and storms are my wheelhouse so know we’re going to come out of this beautifully.”
“Says you.”
“Let’s go to dinner. We need to get to know one another, so you can relax about what we’re about to take on. I’ll ask you a question, and then you ask me one, and we’ll keep going until we can’t think of any more. I have at least five thousand things that I want to know about you, and I imagine you might want to know a few things about me.”
Lifting her head, she nodded. “I do, but my list comes in at around two thousand.”
“Let’s go grab something to eat; my buddy Frisco told me about a great Cajun restaurant. What do you say?”
Seeing his hopeful smile melted the last of her reservations and she decided to go for it and see what was possible. “I think it sounds like fun.”
“Great!” He stood and slid his hands on his hips. “Ready when you are.”
“I need fifteen minutes, and I’ll be set to go.”
“Get to it then.”
Before she could move away, he tugged her hand and bent down, so their mouths were a breath apart. “What?”
“Just want you to know that I’m damn grateful were starting this thing between us.”
His wide grin was the last thing she saw before his lips descended. A spark of electricity shot through her heart as their lips met and all the silly clichés about finally finding the right man flew through her mind.
She felt like she was sitting at the top of a roller coaster, scared out of her mind and also incredibly safe. Two opposing feelings that were giving her a happiness she didn’t know was possible.
Perhaps fate was finally smiling down on her, and the man holding her tightly against his chest was the person she could give her heart to.
***
The Cajun Kitchen was doing brisk business, but they got lucky and were seated right away. Once their drink order had been placed, they both studied the menu.
Taking Willa’s hand gave Chad a feeling of satisfaction he hadn’t expected. Her soft skin felt perfect under his fingers, and her sweet vanilla scent surrounded him, making him hungry to consummate their relationship.
Not only because he wanted to be as physically close to her as possible, but he wanted to claim her. Animal instinct was no joke, and he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until they could mix blood and bone.
He was at the mercy of thousands of years of evolution, and his animal brain knew he’d found his mate, and he needed to make sure both she and the world understood that.
Crazy thoughts about how he was going to make that occur circled his brain, and he realized he had to make it happen before he was deployed. No way was he going to leave her for three to six months without a ring on her finger.
Yeah, he’d lost his fucking mind.
Didn’t bother him as much as he would’ve guessed. Maybe crazy had more advantages than he thought. “What looks good?”
“Perhaps the crawfish etouffee. Let’s see if they can make a decent roux because that’s the real test when making many of the most popular dishes. My mama used to say, if you couldn’t make a roux, you couldn’t cook.”
The waitress approached and dropped off their drinks and took their order and, once she was gone, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for coming out.”
“You’re an impossible man to resist.”
“Good because now that I’ve got ahold of you, I don’t plan on letting go.”
She lifted their conjoined hands and laughed. “Your hands are huge, so I’m guessing I should just enjoy it.”
“You got that right.”
“If you have five thousand questions for me, then you better get started.”
“I’ll start with the easy stuff. Did you grow up in Lafayette?”
“No, my father was career Army, and I was born in Italy. He was stationed at the Caserma Del Din Base, near Vicenza. It’s in northern Italy, in the Veneto region.”
“He was part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team?”
Leaning back, she gave him a smile. “Yes, that’s impressive you could figure that out from where I was born.”
“I love military history, so it wasn’t that hard. Is he retired now?”
Looking down at her hands, she let out a small breath. “He died when I was fifteen.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. He died doing what he loved, so I think he was lucky. He always said there was no better honor than serving your country and, if he had to die, he’d like it to happen in battle and not in some hospital.” Taking a sip of her wine, she looked out over the restaurant. “How many people get to leave this earth exactly how they want?”
“Not many, that’s for sure.”
“What made you want to join the military?”
“I guess the biggest reason was that the idea of right and wrong being definable appealed to me. I’m not a man who enjoys ambiguity. I like black and white, yes or no, right or wrong. I’m also a natural protector. Have been since I was a kid. Maybe it had to do with being the oldest son or maybe my size or just the way I was built. Whatever it was, it came as naturally to me as breathing. So, when I turned eighteen, I enlisted in the Navy.”
“Has it turned out as well as you hoped?”
He lifted his beer and nodded. “I’d have to say better. I didn’t know anything about SWCC when I joined and being on the boats has been about the best adventure I could’ve asked for. A call comes in and my team forms up. We put a thirty-three-foot RHIB in the back of a C-17, fly halfway across the world to a combat zone, and push the boat into the ocean and then jump after it, wearing parachutes.”
“And that’s fun?”
“More than,” he replied with a laugh. “We perform high-speed, medium-range all-weather insertion and extractions of SOF and also conduct maritime interdiction ops, tactical swim ops, and intelligence ops. One mission had us in fifteen to twenty-foot swells, and our RHIB could barely make it up the swells before the engine sounded like it was dying. When we got to the top, we became a twenty-four-foot surfboard as we came down the face of the wave.”
“Good Lawd, that is worse than I thought.”
He saw her brows draw together and realized she probably didn’t need to know exactly what he did at work. Might make her worry about him coming home. “It wasn’t a big deal.” He drank down some of his beer and decided to change the subject. “What brought you to San Diego?”
“My best friend Tia and I came out for college together and decided we liked the area, so we stayed after we graduated.”
“San Diego is hard to resist.”
“Absolutely, though I think we’ll both eventually end up in Lafayette at some point.” She sipped her wine and then fiddled with her napkin. “Where did you grow up?”
“I was born in Billings, Montana. My family has a small ranch and they raise cattle. Mom and Dad are still active, and two of my brothers work the ranch.”
“Sounds amazing.”
“It was a great way to grow up, that’s for damn sure, but I didn’t want to spend my life with cows.”
“Makes sense.”
“Tell me something that few people know about you.”
“Not sure I’m ready to divulge any of my deep dark secrets,” she replied with a laugh. “Can’t we start out with music and hobbies?”
“No way. I want to know what makes your heart beat and fills you with happiness.” He ran his fingers over her knuckles and took a deep breath. “I’ll start, so you know we’re in it together.” Clearing his throat, he waited until her gaze met his. “I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life after I’m too old to be on SWCC.” He watched her lean forward and smile. “How come you don’t look surprised?”
“Every man that has come through my office seems to feel the same way. You’ve put everything into your job and thinking about the end is never easy.” She picked up her wine glass and shrugged. “But, from what I’ve seen, there’s life after the service.”
Before she could say more, their food was delivered. After the waitress left, he pointed his fork. “Don’t think you’re going to get out of answering the question.”
Looking at her food, she smiled. “I believe in mermaids. Or more accurately, I want to believe in mermaids because the whole Ariel thing seems plausible.”
“You’re not serious—are you?”
“I am. My soft, squishy Disney princess heart wants to believe that mermaids exist.”
Sitting back, he nodded. “Didn’t see that one coming, but okay.” If she wanted to believe in mythical sea creatures, then who was he to judge. As far as he could tell, she was a reasonable adult with a great career, and if mermaids made her happy, then good for her. Truth be told, it made her more likable because anyone who believed in the impossible was his kind of people.
“If you start laughing, it won’t hurt my feelings. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I don’t care. My mom passed away when I was eight, and she always read me The Little Mermaid. And the thing I remember most about her is how she always told me to believe in magic. Just because you couldn’t see it didn’t mean it wasn’t true.” Looking blankly across the room, she pressed her hand to her mouth.
“I think your mom was right.”
Her eyes flitted back to his, and she shrugged. “I hope so.” Lifting her fork, she grinned. “We should eat.”
“Good idea.” He dug into his meal and decided Willa and her mermaids were just about perfect.