Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (11 page)

“Everyone has a right
to their opinion,” Mace offered. “He’s obviously still grieving for his
brother.
Can’t blame the guy.”
He watched Nina’s body movements and
surmised Jack was asking her out on a date and apologizing again.

Nina joined th
em and drew Gabbs from his arms, setting her on the ground.
“Shall we?”

“I don’t know,” he
said. “Did you turn down the anti-war activist?”

Nina wrapped an arm
around his neck, and leaned in so they were nose to nose. “What do you
think,
hotstuff?”

With Ni
na’s body pressed against his, the main muscle wanted to
spring into action. Although not an opportune time, he allowed himself to
accept it, but it didn’t rise to the challenge. Don’t get frustrated, he
reminded himself. “Think I might have to work a litt
le
harder at making sure you don’t stray from my bed. There’s going to be no end
of guys hitting on you.”

“Yeah, well, guess
we’re in the same boat now, aren’t we?” Nina landed a smoldering kiss on him.
“Let’s get these kids organized.”

He knelt down in fr
ont of Gabbs. “Give it your best today, Gabbs, win place or
show, you’re number one with us!”

Gabbs kissed him on
the cheek and gave him an impish smile. “Mace
,
I don’t care what Mr. Mitchell says, you’re my hero.”

“And you’re mine,
Little Red. Now let’s g
o kick some
aaa…
behind.”

Gabbs giggled and ran
toward a gaggle of girls that had to be her classmates.

Mace had never cheered
so much in his life. Standing on the sidelines, he and Nina went crazy when
Gabbs won the long jump. With legs like her mom, she
was
a shoe-in, and she took the blue ribbon.

Jack, dressed in his
tight white T-shirt, made sure to strut a little taller whenever he passed
them. Nina conveniently looked the other way, but he didn’t, because it was
starting to piss him off. She’d turned
him down, what
the hell did he think he was doing strutting around like the cock of the walk?

They broke for lunch
and found a space on the grass to down hot dogs and drinks. Gabbs had won a
second blue ribbon in the fifty-meter dash, and she pinned one aw
ard on his shirt and one on Nina’s. His hunger kept growing
as he appreciated Nina in her short shorts and small tank top. The woman was
one hell of a lean, sexy goddess. His thoughts continually romped back to
wanting to throw her down in the grass and ma
ke love
to her, but the only alone time they had was after they’d put Gabbs to bed at
night. He got a taste of what parenting would be like, because they were both
exhausted when they hit the pillow. Two of them handling one little
eight-year-old girl shou
ldn’t be tiring, but it was.

“Can I have a
brother?” Gabbs asked, stopping him and Nina in mid-chew.

They both looked like
someone had shot them in the ass. Nina choked on the hot dog she’d only half
swallowed, and he got ready to jump to the rescue, but s
he forced it down.

“Whoa, there, kiddo,
we have a few things to do before that.”

“But I want a
brother,” Gabbs said.

“Where did that come
from?” Nina asked, turning onto her knees and fixing Gabbs’ ponytail.

Gabbs sucked on the
straw from her juice box. “I
don’t want a sister. You
and Auntie Dawn fight all the time, but I’d like a brother.”

“Aunt Dawn and I don’t
fight all the time.”

“Yes, you do.”

Nina rolled her eyes
at him. “Okay, well maybe we do, but we still love each other.”

“Nina?”

They shielded
their eyes from the sun, and looked up to see Jack standing
over them. What now? Mace wondered.

“I could use a hand
with the 100-meter sprint after lunch. My assistant bailed on me. I’ve got four
heats running. I could use you at the end of the line.”

“I s
uppose,” Nina said, “But I don’t want to miss any of Gabbs’
events.”

Jack squatted down and
gave Gabbs a big smile.
“How you
doing?
I see you’ve got two blue ribbons. Well done!”

“Thanks, Mr. Mitchell.
Mace helped me improve my long jump and my running. I’
m
faster now.”

“That’s good. Although
misdirected, I guess the SEALs are well trained physically. We’re having a few
parents events later. You should join in, even if you aren’t Gabbs’ father,” he
said.

“I don’t think,” Nina
began, but he interrupted.

“Nam
e the time…Jack?” Adding
ass
wouldn’t be very mature, but it crossed
his mind.

“Mace, you’re barely
out…” She stopped when he gave her a look to cease fire.

“There’s a tug-o-war
challenge for the fathers and a two-hundred-meter dash. Around three we’re hav
ing a father-daughter three-legged race.”

“We’ll be there.”

Jack offered a sly
grin. “Good.” He rose and sauntered off.

“Mace,” she ground
out. “How could you let that guy goad you into that? I don’t even know if it
would be good for you to try that.”

“Bab
y, before you woke up I ran five miles this morning. It’s
not top shape, but I’m getting there.”

“You did?” She looked
surprised.

“Yup, ran it with your
father.”

“Huh.” She gave Gabbs
a hug. “Okay, well, you know your limitations.”

He did, he didn’t have
a
ny, and he was sure Jack would be running in that
race, and he was going to kick his ass.

* * * *

“Gabbs doesn’t have an
ounce of fear, does she?” he said, standing beside Nina who looked a little
unnerved.

“Gabriella, not so
high,” she shouted at her da
ughter, who was trying to
get as much air time as she could on the trampoline.

“Watch, Mom,” she
yelled, giving her arms a pump when she hit the pad, her lean little body as
straight as a torpedo as she vaulted into the air. With her next jump she
tucked up tight and did
a midair
somersault.

“You’re not
listening,” Nina yelled back.

Mace chuckled and
crossed his arms. That kid would break the sound barrier if she could. With her
next bounce, he stiffened. She landed off-kilter with too much forward momentum
trying to pull off another somersault. He vaulted around the trampoline, seein
g what was coming. The spotters were talking instead of
watching. “Heads up,” he yelled. Too late!

Gabbs came down,
tagging the edge with one foot and falling to the ground. She curled into a
little ball and held her ankle, whimpering. “Wait,” he ordered w
hen Nina tried to pull her up.

“Gabbs, talk to me,”
he said, brushing her curls aside and looking into her eyes.

“It hurts.” She
sniffed, trying hard to keep the tears at bay.

“I know it does,
Little Red. I need to look at your ankle.”

She shook her head a
nd drew her leg in closer.

“Gabriella,” Nina said
sternly. “Move your hand. We need to look at it.”

The crowd circled
around them.

“Gabbs, straighten
your leg for me.” Slowly she straightened her leg and he gave it a quick check,
running both hands down th
e length. No blood, no
compound fracture, but her ankle was already swelling.

“It hurts, Mace.”

He swiveled on his
knees. “I need ice.”

Jack pushed through
the crowd and knelt down. “I’ll take care of this.”

Mace didn’t look, but
his hand was lightning fas
t when it clenched Jack’s
shoulder in a biting grip.
“Got
this, jock, standby.”

Jack flinched and
hopped back a step to get out from under Mace’s grip. “I’ll get the school
nurse to take a look.”

A couple of bags of
ice appeared, and Mace wrapped one in hi
s shirt, and
gently wound it around Gabbs’ ankle.

“Hurts,
Mace.”

He propped her up
against his chest and tied the shirt so it sat snug against her skin. “It’s
gonna feel cold, but we want to stop the swelling. Do you hurt anywhere else?”

She shook her head
; tears
beginning
to leech out. Nina swiped them away. Gabbs grabbed his
hand with both of hers and squeezed.

“Squeeze as hard as
you want, Little Red.”

Her head dropped back
as she said, “We won’t be able to run the race together, Mace.”

“That’s okay. We’
ll run it next year.”

When it was obvious
there were no other injuries, he picked Gabbs up in his arms and aimed for the
bleachers.

“Gabriella, you are
lucky you didn’t break that ankle. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“Hey,
Mom.”
Mace’s brows drew together.
“Later, maybe.”
It was too late. Gabbs had been
verbally reprimanded and she started to cry now that there wasn’t an audience.
“Hey.” He sat down on the warm metal of the bleachers and cradled her in his
arms. “Mom just got scared
,
okay? I got scared.”

Ga
bbs nodded as she wiped her eyes, but the tears kept
coming. She pushed her face into his chest and cried little girl tears all over
his heart. The drops made it thump harder and the cadence changed. Her tears
soaked through his skin and into his soul, and
he
realized it would be a cold day in hell before he would let anyone hurt this
little girl. Nina’s arm wrapped around his back and she perched her chin on his
shoulder.

“Mace is right. You
scared me, Gabbs. I don’t ever want to see my little girl hurt or
sad.” She brushed a red lock away from her cheek and bent
over, kissing it.

“Mommy, when can I
come and live with you and Mace in San Diego?”

Nina raised her head,
and he waited for her to answer.

“Soon, honey. I hope
very soon.”

“Why
not now?”

He and
Nina shared a look. Who was going to pull the diversion
tactic first? “Your mom is learning how to do her job and she has a lot of
homework, and I’m trying to get better, so I can go back to work.”

Gabbs blinked the
remainder of her tears away. “I miss you
, Mommy. I
don’t want you to go.”

How the heck did
parents do it?
he
wondered. Innocent need from a little
one was torture on the heart. How would it feel to leave Nina and Gabbs when he
was deployed on his next mission?

“Sweetie, as soon as
I’m settled yo
u are on the first plane to San Diego.
It won’t be long now.”

“Can I come for a
visit then?”

Argh.
He almost voiced it out loud, but
squelched the signal transmitting from his heart. He thought he better keep
quiet and let the professional handle this.

“So
on, Gabriella.
Now are we going to cheer Mace on in
the race?”

“Yeah,” she shouted.

He hadn’t been wrong.
Coach Jack, or Cockroach as he’d named him, was two positions to his left. Mace
had stretched out and done some prerunning exercises. No matter how ba
d it hurt
,
he was going to the finish line. On agreement they’d decided to run the
fifteen-hundred meter mid-range race. Cockroach had suggested it, so he assumed
he thought he could excel. Seven men would be running.