Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (30 page)

“What’s that for?” he
asked, palming his cheek.

“Thanks, Tinman.”

“Meh
, nothing.”

Nina knelt in front of
Tony and placed a hand on either knee.

“It’s something. Thank
you for looking out for me and Gabbs. I owe you one.”

Although still
blushing, Tony crooked a brow at her.

“Not that,” Mace said
quickly.

Tony bit his bottom l
ip to stop from laughing and shook his head. “I actually
dream about that night. Call me an asshat, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing it
through.”

“Yeah, well, keep
dreaming. If I can’t have her, neither can you,” Mace said.

“You know you can call
any of
us, and we’ll be here in a second, Nina,” Tony
said. “You’re part of the team, even if you and the idiot here are on a
temporary break.” He picked up Lexi and plopped her on the floor. Tinman
plucked his jacket from the chair, pushing his arm through the s
leeve. “I hope you two realize you’re both stupid.”

“How’s
that?”
Nina asked, kneeling on the couch.

Mace waited for Tony
at the door. “Time to go,” he ordered.

Instead of heading
toward the door, Tony wheeled around and leaned over inches from Nina’s
nose. “Cayson is a fucking idiot. He might have contributed
to bringing squirt into this world, but I’m guessing that’s his only redeeming
quality.” Tony planted a kiss on Nina’s cheek and stood up. “And you’re a
bigger fucking idiot,” he whispered, sweepi
ng past
Mace.

Mace hesitated, his
hand on the doorknob. Nina wasn’t going to ask him to stay. Over a beer she’d
opened up a little and told him Gabbs was happy and Wade was helping her fix up
her place. She’d moved on, and he had to as well. He had his ans
wer, and now he had to face the future without her. “Night,
Nina.”

She nodded. “Take
care, Mace.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Helloooo,
anyone home?”

“In
the kitchen, Kayla.”

“Hey.” Kayla set
Adam’s carrier on the counter and tucked a blanket up to his chin.

N
ina gave him a big kiss.
“My little buddy.”
Adam
gurgled
a happy smile back at her. “Man, he looks like Ghost,
doesn’t
he
?”

“Don’t tell the
egomaniac that. The Admiral was all pumped up to begin with, now I can barely
get him through a door.”

Nina grinned
at her friend and they chuckled.

“I love the color you
chose for the kitchen,” Kayla said, gazing around.

“Wade helped me paint
it.”

“Huh!”

“Don’t give me huh,
the guy offered to help, I’m not going to refuse.” She put away the last cup in
the dishwasher.
“The new cabinets are being installed
next week. Housewarming present from Mom and Dad.”

“I’m sorry I missed
saying goodbye.” Kayla leaned against the small countertop separating the
kitchen from the living room.

“Mom and Dad said to
tell you goodbye and s
ee you soon.”

“How did your parents
like him?”

Nina stopped wiping
down the counter and gazed at Kayla from beneath her bangs. “Mom is
noncommittal actually, and Dad.” She paused. “Dad hates him.” She leaned
against the sink and crossed her arms.

Kayla’s b
row wrinkled “Did he say why?”

“Didn’t
give a reason.
They know Wade is only in Gabbs’ life, not mine.”

“You
sure about that?”

“Why? So you can
report back to Mace?”

“Yup.”
Kayla didn’t even bother hiding it.

She didn’t want to
ask, but she couldn’t help
herself. “How’s he doing?”

“Ask your daughter.”

“What? Why would I do
that?”

“They talk every
night.”

Nina didn’t know
whether to be angry or relieved.

“Before you go
spinning into the stratosphere, Gabbs calls him, not the other way around.”

Nina crossed
her arms behind her head and twisted out the kinks in her
neck. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope.
He helps her with her homework, and she
tells him what she did in school. Then she squeals on you and tells him you’re
sad all the time.”

Nina walked to the
window
and Kayla joined her. “I think she’s
grounded.”

“Hardass.
Why would you do that?”

They watched Wade play
catch with Gabbs. Lexi ran after the ball with gangly puppy legs, and then took
off with her prize when she caught the ball.

“Guess he’s really
trying
?” Kayla
said,
a little disgruntled.

“He’s here every day.”
Nina shrugged her shoulders.

Kayla gave her a
sidelong look.

“
What’s that look
for? Nope. Forget it.” She remembered
what day it was. “I’m not going. I told you that.”

“You’re going.”

“Kayla, I’m
not really part of the team like you are.”

Kayla threw on her
angry face. “You are part of the team.
At work and out of work.
Alpha Squad is leaving in a few days on
a mission. They’ll be back in a couple weeks. At least they better be.”

“It’s their first
tasking since—” Nina paused.

“Since Mace returned
to the squad and my future husband won’t be with them. Does that worry me? Yes.
Does that worry you?”

“Of course it does.”
Nina bit the inside of her lip and looked away from her friend.

“This is an annual
event, and it’s not just Team One,
it’s
all teams. Gabbs will love it. You’ll
get a chance to meet other team moms and—”

She crossed her arms
over her chest. “And Mace will be there.”

Kayla sighed. “Yes,
Mace will be there. And before you ask, Wade is not
invited.”

“I wouldn’t bring him
anyway. We’re not a couple.”

Kayla assessed her,
looking for a lie.

“I would not lie to
you. If anything, I’d probably admit I’m an idiot to you before anyone else.”

Gabbs and Wade rushed
in through the patio doors. “Kayla,
how are you?”
Wade asked.

“I’m good, Wade,” she
answered, but Nina heard the ice crack even if Wade didn’t.

“How’s the Admiral? I
heard he’s in Hawaii.”

“He is.”

“And
your
wedding isn’t far off. December seventh,
isn’t it?”

Kayla nodded. “So, how
are you f
inding life in San Diego, Wade?”

Jesus, the air was
getting a little stuffy in here with the volley of questions, Nina thought.

“Great,
actually.
I like the men I have working under me.”

“What department do
you work in?”

“I don’t work in
it,
I’m in charge of it, Kayla.”

Oh crap. She knew how
Kayla would react with Wade putting that tone in his voice.

“Well.” Kayla’s voice
dropped a few thousand degrees. “Good for you.”

“Okay.” Nina clapped
her hands. “We’re heading out soon, so we’ll see ya,
Wade.”

“Out?
Where’re you going? You didn’t mention
anything about going out.”

Nina thought before
bursting out with a fiery response such as “None of your god damn business.”
Wade hadn’t stopped coming on to her, but he’d backed down a bit. Since he’d
hel
ped her fix up the house she could give him some
slack, but it came in the form of dinner once in a while. “It’s a beach party.”

He walked up to her,
leaving little room. “Am I invited?”

“No,” Kayla said from
behind the counter as she rocked Adam in the ca
rrier.
“It’s an annual SEAL get-together.”

“Last
I checked, Nina isn’t a SEAL.”

“No, but she works
with them, and she’s—”

Nina put her hand on
Wade’s arm and gave Kayla a look to shut up. “See ya later, Wade.” She walked
him to the door.

“Guess I have to l
eave without a kiss again,” he said leaning toward her.

His chest bumped
against her open palm.
“Yup.
Night, Wade.”

“Gabbs, sweetie, go
get washed up and change your clothes, we’re going to the beach,” she said
strolling toward the kitchen. The phone on th
e table
bleeped with a text and Nina looked down. “Wade, you forgot your phone…” her
words dwindled as she read the text.

From Pedro: The money is due, Cayson

Wade rushed in and
took it from her. “You just got a text.”

“Thanks,” he said
sharply. Wade looke
d at the text and departed without
a goodbye.

She’d talked to Wade
about the gambling. He’d laughed it off, saying he played poker once in a while
because he could afford to and it blew off steam. Nothing else pointed to any
dark addiction like Mace seemed
to think existed.
Until now, but there was no point chasing
him down.

Nina stepped over to
the counter and gave Adam a kiss.
“How
ya doing, big boy?”
She sniffed. “I guess if you didn’t eat so much, mom
wouldn’t have to change your diaper every hour.”

Kayla lifted Adam out
of the carrier and reached for a towel hanging over the kitchen chair that
Gabbs had tossed there. Laying him on the couch, she got rid of the offending
diaper and changed her SEAL pup. “Go get changed,” Kayla ordered.

“Into
what?”
Ni
na took a quick look at what she had on. “What’s
wrong with this?”

“You’ve been dressing
baggy for a month and a half now. Tighten it up, babe.”

She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t want Wade getting the wrong idea.”

“Doesn’t matter what
you think. He’s got his o
wn opinion on the
situation.”

She sat down across
from Kayla. “Listen, it just about killed me seeing Mace last time. I don’t
think I’ve ever pulled off such a good acting job. He was like a stranger.
There wasn’t an ounce of our time together left in him.
He was all SEAL telling me about Wade. He might as well have been
sending in a SITREP. When we went for a beer he was friendly, but didn’t show a
single intention of ever wanting to be anything, but a friend.” Kayla picked
Adam up and laid him in her arms
. The hurt she’d been
carrying inside swelled with a baby to cuddle again. She’d created a hundred
happy scenarios in her mind, all of them with Mace. None of them were possible
now.

Kayla’s hand curled
around hers. “They’re very good at hiding their emoti
ons.
Mace will come to his senses eventually. Go get changed.”

She cradled Adam and
his big blue eyes stared up at her. “Why don’t I just babysit this little guy
and you go without me?”

Kayla collected Adam.
“Go get changed.”

Nina yanked on a pair
of skinn
y jeans and a “T”. That was the best she had
to offer. She ran her fingers through her hair and added some lipstick, then
some shadow and well, shit….twenty minutes later she appeared in the living
room.

“Better,” Kayla said
and smiled at Gabbs. Gabbs nodd
ed her head in
agreement.

* * * *

Kayla drove them to
the beach, and lucked out finding a parking spot. The place was te
e
ming with SEALs and their families. Two big fires burned on
the beach. Nina and Kayla made their way through the maze of lawn chairs
until they caught sight of Alpha Squad. Nina’s stomach did
an enormous belly flop. She didn’t want to be here.

Gabbs carried the tray
of appetizers Kayla had made for the potluck party. The smell of hibachis
filtered through the air.

“Gabbs, put those on t
hat table over there, please,” Kayla instructed.

It barely made it,
because Gabbs caught sight of Mace. She screamed his name and hurtled herself
at him. He picked her up in his arms, and they hung onto each other in a tight
squeeze. Well, guess he knew sh
e was here now. No
avoiding this. She trudged through the sand
,
waving and saying hello to everyone.

She stopped eight feet
away. “Gabbs, Kelsey’s over there and she’s asking for you.”

She turned away, but
when Mace’s low voice called her it crept under he
r
skin and stopped her motion.
“Hi,
Nina.”

Her bare toes wiggled
in the sand, and her damn heart pounded in her chest.
“Hi, Mace.
How are things?” Her pathetic attempt
at sounding nonchalant rang in her ears.