Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (26 page)

Kayla smiled up at
him, her eyes glowing. He brushed Adam’s cheek as he suckled on her breast, his
cheeks rosy and warm. His godson was a handsome boy.

“Mace.”
Gabbs jumped on the couch beside Kayla.
“Mommy says I’m going to the zoo.
I want you to
come.” Lexi romped over and jumped on Kayla’s legs.

“Gabbs, I think you
better take Lexi for a walk.”

“Okay, Kayla. Come on,
Lexi.” The girls ran out the patio door, and Lexi bounded after them.

“She already peed on
the carpet twice. Thane i
s so impressed.” Kayla
chuckled.

“Adam’s got his
father’s appetite.”

Kayla nodded. “Yeah,
but thank God he doesn’t suck as hard.”

“T.M.I.,” he said,
raising
a hand laughing.

Ghost sat down next to
Kayla, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. He watched his
son with pure adoration and love. A slow grin crossed her
features.
“He’s
a miracle.” Ghost glanced up at Mace. “I’d wrapped my heart in a hundred pounds
of chain and tossed it into the Pacific long ago. Kayla came into my life with
all guns blazing. I wou
ldn’t change a second of it.
None of it.”
Ghost’s gaze swept to Kayla’s and there
was no doubt he would be in love with her forever.

Kayla shook her head.
“You’re such a sap.”

A big, toothy grin
broke out on his face. “Yeah, I am, and proud of it.”

Kayla s
hifted. Adam, having lost his food source, mouthed his
displeasure.

Ghost palmed his son’s
head. “Don’t worry buddy, I feel the same way.”

“Funny.” She offered
Adam the other breast which quieted him down. “So what happened last night? Are
you going to
share or do I have to do my own recon?”

Mace lay back against
the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “Good, I think.”

“You think,” Ghost
drawled.

“Cayson called at the
crack of dawn. I know what he’s doing. It’s a setup. Nina wouldn’t let him take
Gabbs
alone.”

“I think you’re right,
Mace,” Kayla agreed, “but Nina will set him straight. Patience is one of your
best attributes.”

“Did you ask her to
marry you?” Ghost asked.

“What?” Kayla blinked.

Mace gave Ghost a
thanks-a-lot-buddy
look.

“You’re popping th
e question?”

“Before you go running
to the phone, the answer is no.”

“Why
not?”
Ghost asked. Adam finished feeding, and he placed a cloth over his shoulder,
gently took his son and rubbed him on the back.

Mace lost his train of
thought watching Ghost. Here
was a warrior who killed
men with his bare hands and never twitched an eyelash. A cold emptiness in his
steel-blue eyes could strip a man of his soul, but he burped his son with a
tender paw that covered the baby’s back, and looked ecstatic when Adam brou
ght up a mouthful of milk on him.

“Why
not?”
Ghost repeated and lifted his son above his head, getting a huge smile from
him.

“I think Nina has
enough to worry about right now. Until things settle down, it’s operation
status quo.”

“All right, but Thane
and
I
are
heading to Hawaii next week for a
house-hunting trip. I want reports daily,” Kayla ordered.

“Yes,
ma’am.”

Gabbs appeared in
front of them with a trailing Kelsey and Lexi. “Lexi didn’t have to go and
we’re hungry, Uncle Thane.”

“Breakfast is…”

They a
ll watched Lexi squat and pee on the carpet next to the
Admiral’s foot. All eyes shifted to Ghost. He took in a deep breath and
plastered a tight, but patient expression on his face. “I’ll get the paper
towels.”

Kayla choked back a
laugh, and nodded. “You
do that, sweetheart.”

The Admiral was a
natural-born killer, reduced to mopping up puppy pee. When his and Kayla’s eyes
locked they roared with laughter. Ghost trudged to the kitchen, grumbling.

Chapter Sixteen

Nina waited on the
porch with Gabbs,
and watched as Wade parked on the
tiny, broken driveway that led to her home. She’d have to redo that at some
point in time. Her savings account would be taking a thrashing for the next few
years.

“He’s here,” Mace
said, closing the door behind him.

She wa
s glad he stayed to see them off. Wade would get the
picture. She wasn’t part of getting to know Gabbs.

Wade wandered up in a
tight black T-shirt and stonewashed jeans. A broad leather belt wrapped around
a fit waist, and his dark, almost blue hair glisten
ed
under the sun.

“Petty Officer
Callahan.” Wade reached out a hand.

Using his rank?
Mace was a SEAL, and an honorable man.
Just because Wade was a lieutenant didn’t make him more impressive to her.

“You can call me
Mace.”

“If we’re off the
base, I suppose you can call me Wade. And you,” he knelt down in front of
Gabbs. “You get to call me Dad, and I can’t wait to get to the zoo.
How about you?”
A warm smile radiated from him.

Gabbs nodded. “I
brought juice and some things t
o eat so you don’t
have to buy us lunch.”

“Aw, baby. I want to
buy you lunch. Where’s your favorite place to eat?”

“Skippers,” she said
with a big, beaming smile.

“Okay, Skippers it is.
We’ll go there first and then head to the zoo.”

Mace remained in neutr
al territory until Gabbs started to run for the car. “Hey,
Little Red,” he called.

Gabbs whirled around,
and ran back throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. “Bye, Mace. I
wish ya didn’t have to work. I want you to come.”

“I’ll be here when ya
g
et back, okay?”

“’Kay.”

Nina stepped closer,
and wrapped an arm around her big hunk of a SEAL.
“Hey, hotstuff.
I’ll miss you.”

“I hope so.” His eyes
stroked a deep gaze into hers. “I’ll see ya when ya get back, babe.” Mace gave
her a swat on her rear end a
s she sauntered to the
car. She’d donned her mom garb for the all-day affair. No makeup, hair in a
ponytail, and a loose T-shirt and jeans with running shoes. The message
couldn’t be any
more clear
: I don’t want to impress you.

When Nina shut the car
door,
Wade leaned over as if he was going to kiss her
and she jerked back. A wicked smile pinched his lips. “I was going to say, you
look beautiful as always.”

She straightened then
pulled the seatbelt across her shoulder. “Thank you, Wade. Put your seatbelt on
, Gabbs.”

“Mommy is pretty,”
Gabbs added.

“She is, and we made a
beautiful little girl.” Wade put the car in reverse. Mace stood on the porch
watching them, and Wade shot a dark look in his direction.

“I am?” Gabbs
squealed.

Nina laughed. “Of
course you ar
e, Gabbs.”

“How come you and
daddy aren’t together?”

Didn’t take long for that question to
come bursting forth.

She opened her mouth
to answer when Wade said, “It was my fault, Gabbs. Being in the Navy I travel a
lot. Your mom wanted the best for you, and
staying in
Canada with your grandparents meant you’d be safe. With me, you would have had
to move around. That’s not much fun.”

Huh, not bad.
They glanced at each other and he
winked. She couldn’t figure out if he was trying to earn points or if she had
to
o many walls up. He knew Mace and her were tight.
She nodded her appreciation. She’d cut him some slack unless he started to pull
on the other end of the line to draw her in.

They parked in the
busy Skippers Restaurant lot. “I always have shrimp,” Gabbs an
nounced as they got out of the car. “It’s my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Wade said.

Nina eyed him. “Is it
really?” she asked.

He gave her a handsome
turn of his jaw. “Like father, like daughter.” He put his hand on the small of
her back, and held the door open
for them.

Amongst the cacophony
of little voices and the hum of the restaurant, Nina heard Kelsey. “Gabbs,
Gabbs.” She ran over with Marg close behind.

“Hey.” Marg hugged her
and then looked back over her shoulder. Lieutenant Cobbs stepped through the
crow
d and joined them.

“I guess you weren’t
introduced properly last time. Marg, Pat, this is Wade Cayson, Gabriella’s
father.”

Wade took a surveying
look at Pat. “Lieutenant Wade Cayson. You’re in the Navy too?”

Why did he always have
to push his rank in ever
yone’s face? They were off
the base.

Ghost had a
nerve-pinching look, and since he and Lieutenant Cobbs were the best of friends
it seemed to have rubbed off over the years. Or maybe it had been the other way
around. Cobbs had silver-gray eyes, and it felt
like
a wolf sizing you up for dinner when he gazed at you. “Navy SEALs, Wade.” The
message transmitted by Cobbs was I don’t have to play name that rank.

The girls had already
jumped into their own world and played a game while dangling their feet over
the
edge of the bench. “Why don’t we get a bigger
table?” Lieutenant Cobbs suggested. He didn’t wait for an answer, simply turned
and made it happen.

Wade didn’t look as
comfortable with the idea as she was. “They’re good friends, huh?” Wade asked,
watching
Kelsey and Gabbs.

“Yeah, it took all of
thirty seconds when they met. Now it’s hard to keep them separated. They’re
three years apart and Kels looks up to her lofty age,” Marg explained.

“It seems lots of
families are having only one child these days,” Wad
e
commented, and placed an arm around Nina’s waist.

Holy crap, what the
hell should she do? She couldn’t leap out of the way like he was a leper, but
this would not do. Marg noticed, and so did Lieutenant Cobbs.

Marg said, “Actually,
we have three children
. Our other daughters have
finished school.”

Nina pulled away from
Wade and went to the girls. An older couple had come in, which gave her the
excuse to move the girls and get them up.

It was juvenile as
hell, but during lunch Nina quickly sat down next to
Marg and put Gabbs on the other side of her. She didn’t need any sneaking hands
under the table. They enjoyed a long lunch, but Lieutenant Cobbs was still on
duty, because every probing question sent in Wade’s direction had a purpose.

When Kelsey found ou
t they were going to the zoo, Nina jumped on the
opportunity and asked them to come. Lieutenant Cobbs answered, saying he owed
his family a day, and they would join them. She might just kiss Marg’s husband
some day.

Later at the zoo,
everyone stood leaning
on the fence at the elephant’s
pen. They’d walked the park, but saved the elephants for last, since it was
both girls’ favorite. Wade had kept his distance from her, his attention on
Gabbs. He’d even carried her on his neck when she began to whine about b
eing tired. At some point Nina was going to have to explain
the fine division between earning brownie points and drawing the line.

The elephants lumbered
around their large pen, and swatted their backsides with their tails. Every
time one of them curled th
eir long trunks the girls
giggled. “It’s been a nice day,” Wade said quietly in her ear. He’d trapped her
against the fence with his body, and an arm on either side. Marg and Lieutenant
Cobbs were watching the elephants and talking.

“Wade,” she sighed.
“Wh
at are you doing?”

“Talking
to the beautiful mother of my girl.”

“And you can’t talk
without pressing your body against mine,” she said with an icy note.

“Nina, we had
something very special for a short time. We made something wonderful together.
Why don’t
you give me a chance? Wouldn’t it be better
if we were a family?” He took a step back and she turned, but that had
obviously been the plan because he now had her face to face and locked his arms
around her. “If I had known, I never would have walked away.
We could have figured it out. I know it’s been a long
time, but seeing you, I have the same intense attraction now as I did then.
Doesn’t Gabbs deserve us together?”

“Don’t pull the Gabbs
card.” She stepped out of his arms, but not soon enough; both Marg
and Lieutenant Cobbs had seen.

“I had a crappy
childhood and—”

“I don’t know anything
about your childhood.”

“That’s my point,” he
said, his dimpled chin and strong jaw moving closer. “Let’s get to know one
another.” His gaze flickered across her face.

“It’s strange for
Gabbs to have you in her life because she hasn’t known you for the first eight
years. It might be reversed, but that’s the way it is.”
Was
she making any sense?

“Nina, I loved every
moment of those five days we spent together. I couldn’t
wait to get off duty and come to you. I was already falling in love with
you.”

A gust of air escaped
her throat.
“Really?
That ended pretty quickly when you
sailed out of town.”

“I told you why.”

Nina narrowed her
eyes, and her temper began to ramp up. “I
know the
difference between love and lust, Wade. If you love someone, you don’t ever let
them leave you. You met Ghost and Kayla the other day. They just went through
hell, but he walked through her smoke and mirrors and never gave up on her.
That’s love.”

Wade surprised her by
changing track. “I guess because the Admiral knows Mace he automatically hates
me, and although Pat over there hasn’t admitted it, I’m guessing since he’s a
SEAL he knows Mace pretty good too. They stick together like a band of hard-
assed brothers.”

“What’s wrong with
that?” she said stiffly. “Gabbs and I are part of their family.”

“You’re not even
married to the guy.” His green eyes sparked with agitation. “How am I supposed
to get a fair chance in this?”

“Because
they are all honora
ble men.
If you want to be Gabbs’ father then
prove it, but I’m not part of the package.”

“Mommy, Daddy, can we
go get some snacks?” Gabbs held her bag upside down. “I shared mine with Kelsey
and I’m hungry.”

“Of course you are,
baby.” Wade bent over and p
icked Gabbs into his arms.
“You have legs like your mom and they’re always running.” He leaned his
forehead against hers. “I could use some cotton candy.”

“Me
too.”
She tossed her arms around his neck, hugging him for the first time. Wade’s
eyes darted at
her as if to make her guilty because
she wasn’t going to just slip on his ring and be a big happy family. She hated
that he’d used her weakest point, Gabbs, as a reason to let him in.

Wade carried Gabbs a
few paces ahead with Kelsey babbling happily at bot
h
of them. Marg and Lieutenant Cobbs fell in beside Nina as they walked to the
concession stand.

“He’s throwing his
gloves down, isn’t he?” the Lieutenant asked.

Nina shoved her hands
in her back pockets and wandered with them along the walkway. “Yes.”

“And he’s pushing you
to be a happy family for Gabbs’ sake.”

Nina stopped and
stared at the lieutenant. “You read lips like Ghost?”

Lieutenant Cobbs
offered a softer look, one he usually only shared with Marg and his girls.
“Nina, you have to do what’s rig
ht for you as well as
Gabbs. If Cayson’s yanking on your guilt, don’t let him.”