Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (4 page)

“Don’t worry, Sniper,”
Caleb leaned into him. Nurse Hatchet can hold
her own
. Tony’s been trying to get his licks in for three weeks
now, but….” The
crowd shouted their approval when
Nina blocked a power-kick from her opponent, reversed and made her own attack.
This time it connected with his left cheek. “Those long legs of hers aren’t
spindly. She packs a hard hit, believe me.”

“She’s good,” he
admitt
ed, watching her offense and defensive
maneuvers. She had a sharp-edged grace. Every time Tony opened up, she took
advantage. At one point they connected between each other’s legs like a
four-legged scissor. Nina’s body coiled like a snake, and her foot sm
acked the back of his head.

Tony barely held his
own. Knees bent, her steps exact, every move had precision and a target. Tony
went for a shoulder kick. She took it, but didn’t falter, turning in the air,
building up pressure and nailed him hard in the hea
d.
Tony took two staggering steps and fell on his ass. He shook himself, a hand
held up in defeat. Nina gripped it, and pulled him to his feet. He slung an arm
around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek.
What
the fuck?

“What the hell is the
matter
with you, Mace? Ya look like you want to kill
your swim buddy.” Ditz elbowed him.

“What?” He quickly hid
his expression, not even realizing it had been painted all over his face.

Nina waved, seeing him
and sprinted over. “Hey, how was the workout?” she bre
athed
heavily.

“Nothing
like yours.”

She searched his eyes,
and the smile disintegrated on her face. Tony stepped up beside her. “I think
we need a team name for Nina. Nurse Hatchet isn’t doing it.
How about Ninja Grasshopper?”
Tony joked.

Nina gave him a
set of narrowed eyes. “I don’t think so.”

“Let’s grab some
lunch,” Caleb said, pulling his shirt over his head and waving himself to cool
off.
“Showers first.
I built up a sweat getting my ass
kicked by Ninja Grasshopper here.”

The guys all
dispersed, leav
ing him and Nina face to face. “I
didn’t know you practiced Tae Kwon Do.”

Nina stepped back and
shrugged.
“Started when I was
twelve.
I competed for a while, in my teens.”

He tried to bite down
on the words, but they came out anyway. “So did Tinman. You gu
ys have a lot in common.”

Nina’s jaw tightened,
and there wasn’t a sign of warmth in her eyes, in fact they began to spark with
anger. “Maybe we do.” Her lids hooded and she turned away from him. “I’ll see
ya later.”

“Aren’t you coming for
lunch?” She didn
’t even bother to look at him as she
shook her head and kept walking. “You’re not going back to the apartment now,
are you?”

With the same fluid
motion she portrayed on the mat, she turned to face him. “Why?”

“Not by yourself.”

She sighed. “Mace, I
can tak
e care of myself. In fact, I hope the Shark
does show up. Then I can rip his head off and serve it up to him.”

From what he’d seen
she probably could. “I’ll walk with you.” For a split second he’d forgotten
about the aching ligaments, and the fact he had m
ost
of his weight balanced on a cane.

“Tony’ll give you a
ride. You look beat.”

How do you deflate a
SEAL in two seconds flat? Make him realize he can’t protect his own girl, and
to top it off sound like a simpering, jealous boyfriend. “I can walk you back
to the apartment, Nina.”

She shook her head.
“I’ll see ya later, Mace. I’ve got some packing to finish.”

“Packing?”
Shit, from bad to worse at the speed of
light. “Nina.” He knew he’d used the wrong tone, wrong for his strong lady.
“Nina,” he barked, and
she stopped in her tracks. He
waited until she cocked a look over her shoulder. “We both need patience.
Especially me.”
He swallowed, not sure what to say
next. Half of him wanted to let her go, the other half was screaming,
not
in this fucking lifetime
di
d he want to let her walk away
or give up on him. He took a few struggling steps until his muscles eased up.
“Is there something between you and Tony? If there is, I won’t get in the way
of that.”

“You’re going to stand
there and firebomb my morals? You re
ally think I
would do that to you? I flew all the way to Germany when you were hurt. I’d
known you for a sum total of two weeks. I’m the fool here.”

People flowed past
them, keeping their attention elsewhere, but his and Nina’s stance and words
had formed
a bubble of tension that, if poked, would
blow the building to bits. “I don’t judge people, Nina. Things happen. This
happened to me, and I’m not even a quarter of the man I was before.”

Nina’s lips pressed
together, her nostrils flared. “You’re exactly th
e
man I want. If you meant what you said in Germany, than say it again, this time
I’ll believe you.” Her gaze locked on his and never wavered. When he kept his
lips shut and his tongue in park, she turned and left the workout center with a
fiery step.

It t
ook him a second to realize Tinman was standing beside him.
“I just accused that woman of wanting you instead of me. I’m losing it, buddy.
It feels like the whole world was hinged on my physical abilities and without
them, I’ve got nothing.”

Tony was silen
t for a moment. His chin dropped and he eyed Mace. “Even if
you tossed her out of your life, I wouldn’t chase her. You’re my best friend,
and because she’s your girl, that makes her my
friend
too. You guys spent all your time
breathing heavy before we left
. It’s time to get to
know the woman. Nina’s smart and has a wicked sense of humor. She’s made of
sweetness and spice.” Tony gave him a thoughtful look.

“Yeah, you don’t like
her at all, do you?” he said with a bitter twist.

“She’s perfect for
you. Nina ha
s enough optimism to keep you both buoyed
until you get your head screwed on right. Don’t fuck that up.”

“I don’t want to, but
I keep thinking I’m leading her on.”

Tony shifted and
crossed his arms over his chest. “I bet you’re sleeping on the couch, aren’
t ya?”

Mace ground his teeth.

“Ya know how they say
chicken soup is good for a cold.”

Mace’s brow wrinkled
waiting for one of Tinman’s bent analogies. He used them to break the tension
on their missions. When things seemed to be twisting out of context,
he’d come up with some stupid-ass analogy that made
everyone laugh.

“It’s a homeopathic
remedy. You need the same. Just staring at your junk is not going to get it
moving again. Nina’s enough motivation for any man, and she’s as natural a
remedy as you’ll
get.”

“And with enough
failures she’ll be frustrated as hell.”

“Doubt that. Your
tongue still works, doesn’t it?”

“Okay, Doctor Dick.”

Tony rolled his eyes.
“Let’s get some lunch. Maybe a full belly will put your sorry-ass mood into
better spirits. Better
yet, I can take up the sexual
slack with Nina until you’re in running order.”

“I thought you were my
friend?”

“Tough love, buddy.
Tough love.”

“You’re an asshole, ya
know that?”

“Yeah, I love you too,
bud.”

Chapter Three

Chairs scraping on the
tile f
loor made Caleb “Stitch” Stone and Clay “Ditz”
Sacks crank their heads.

“Hey!” Stitch fisted
his hand and Tony bumped it with his own.

Both
Stitch
,
the squad’s corpsman, and Ditz, their communications and electronics whiz-kid,
gave Mace a shallow smile as
he sat down and offered
a nod.

“Mace, ya been holed
up for the last week. What gives?
Ninja
Grasshopper been keeping you in bed?”
Stitch taunted.

“Don’t call her that
or he’ll go all
psycho
on you,” Tony warned. He slid a
sidelong look at his best friend.
Mace wasn’t a happy
warrior. He’d peppered him with what ifs on the way over to Breakers, the
favored hangout for the teams. Nina was all Mace talked about. The guy was
going crazy because he couldn’t get his junk to operate with the ultimate
payload. No m
atter what he told Mace, his friend
couldn’t keep the faith. Aside from listening to his woebegone friend, who had
fallen for the redheaded Canadian beauty like a nuke test in the Nevada desert,
he moped.

“Glad you could make
it,” Ditz said.

Mace hooked hi
s cane on the chair. “What’s so important you had to call
this meeting?” he asked, wincing as he sat down.

“Utmost importance,”
Stitch chimed in,
then
leaned across the table like he was
going to offer the hiding place of a HVT, High Value Target. “We’ve g
ot a homeland mission.”

“And you think I can
do what?” Mace asked with a strong slice of sarcasm in his voice. “I can barely
get to the bathroom.”

“You’re part of this
team, and we have a brother SEAL to set straight,” Ditz explained, leaning over
as well.

Tony’s brows rose.

“Never lie to a
brother, that’s the motto, right?” Ditz said, swinging a look over his
shoulder.

“What lie?” Mace
asked.

Ditz fingered the
coaster, balancing it on its edge. “Our cocky junior has been handing us a load
o’ shit.”

Mace an
d Tony waited, arms crossed.

“What did Tadpole
promise?” Ditz queried.

Tony thought for a
second. The only promise Nathan, the newest and youngest member of the squad
had made was to…
“No way.”

“Yeah, way,” Stitch
said leaning back. “The little bastard sai
d he quit
three months ago.”

Mace scratched his
brow, and gave them a resigned look. “So, he fell off the wagon.”

“Maybe, but that’s not
the point. Nathan has been an arrogant little shit from day one, don’t get me
wrong. I like the kid, but if he’s gonna
die, it’s
gonna be in combat, not from sucking back cigarettes. Besides, he’s straying
from the squad. It’s time for that boy to learn a lesson.” Stitch pushed his
empty glass to the side.

“Snatch and grab?”
Tony asked, knowing what Ditz and Stitch had in
mind.
It happened in the teams, but it would only happen once. A SEAL learned his
lesson after some hard love from his fellow team members. The sentence was
straight up and understood by all. It was a cardinal sin to lie to your
brothers. If they asked a q
uestion, you answered.
Failure or success, didn’t matter, truth did.

“I saw him yesterday
outside a bar in the Gaslamp district. He was smoking up a storm. Today when we
went for a run I asked him how he was doing with the quitting. The son of a
bitch said, ‘No problem.
Been
smoke-free for three months.’”

Every guy at the t
able shook his head. “What do you have in mind?” Tony
asked, knowing it would require some setup time. A snatch and grab for a SEAL
was a delicate mission. Some guys got yanked off the street, others bagged in
their girlfriend’s bed. Girl wasn’t usually to
o happy
about that.

“I’m thinking tub of
ice, duct tape, and a few instruments of torture.” Stitch ticked off the items
with his fingers.

“Count me out, guys.
I’m not in the mood,” Mace said.

“You’re in,” Tony
barked at his friend. It was time for Mace to
get
some tough love too. “Not asking you to run the beach, man. Come on.” He cuffed
him on the shoulder. “You’re part of this squad.”

“Can’t walk let alone
run,” Mace griped.

“Mace, snap the fuck
out of it,” Stitch said, his expression dropping into a chur
lish squeeze. Beers descended on the table and each of the
guys grabbed one. “You got all your parts. Hell of a lot better than what could
have happened. You gotta give it time.”

Mace thumped his
half-empty glass on the table. “Saw the neurosurgeon today a
t the hospital. He said it wasn’t responding like it should
by now.”

“So
what?”
Stitch piped out. “Not all kids learn to walk on their first birthday, either.”

“I don’t want to tell
Nina. She keeps thinking things are going to get better.”

Tony intervened.
“I told ya how to deal with that. Let her perform some
homeopathic skills if ya know what I mean.”

The guys chuckled.

“Funny.” Mace lobbed a
sarcastic look at him.

“Use everything and
anything, Mace. Whatever works,” Ditz added.

Mace’s head snapped
around
with an angry scowl. “It doesn’t work, that’s
the problem. I might as well have lost it completely.” He ran a hand through
his hair. “Nina wants to take me to Canada. Her father is a neurosurgeon.”

“Why don’t you?” Tony
asked. His friend was spiraling dow
nward. Giving in
to a whirlpool of negativity wasn’t going to help.

“I want to stick
around.
Any word from the Captain?”
Mace asked, trying to change the
subject.

“Nope,” Ditz said,
thumbing a cool drop from his glass. “I know why he keeps searching for
Snow White, but maybe he should give up.”

“No” both he and Mace
said at the same time.

Stitch reserved
comment, but seemed to be onside with Ditz.

“Kayla is alive,” Tony
spoke out first. “Mace thinks so, Nina does, and so
do
I. Ghost will find her. Until t
hen…,”
he slapped both hands on the table, “you need to make some reservations to
Canada, and we need to teach….well, speak of the devil.”

Nathan sauntered in
with his cocky swagger.

“Hey men, how goes
it?” he said, flipping his shades off and tossing them
on the table. “How’s your dick?” Nathan offered a stupid grin.

Mace cocked his head,
and a small spark lit in his eyes. Kind of an evil, I’m-gonna-take-it-out-on
you, look. “Not standing at attention yet.”

“Sorry to hear that
man. It’ll come around,” Nath
an said.

Tony wrapped an arm
around his own shoulder and gave it a scratch. “Tadpole, how’s the nicotine
addiction going? My aunt quit a few years ago, said it was hell.”

“No problem, man.
Kicked the habit.
Don’t even want one.” Nathan nodded at
the waitre
ss to bring him a beer. “What are ya guys
up to tonight?”

“Got plans,” Tony
answered, and darted a look at the rest of the guys. He’d given Nathan a little
bit of rope and he’d just hung himself. “I’m gonna take the Missus here back to
the nursing home. I’
ll catch ya later.”

Mace gave him a
caustic glare.

Tony shrugged. “It’s
true, you’re as miserable as an old woman with tight nylons. We can pick up a
frozen dinner and TV Guide on the way,” he said, giving him another jibe. He
knew Mace had a very long fus
e on his patience, but
if he kept pushing, he’d cut it short and try to prove him wrong. They’d gotten
through Hell Week that way, and every hurdle they’d encountered since joining
up. Whenever Mace faltered he kicked his ass and vice versa.

“Yeah, we’re o
ut of here too,” Ditz said, slugging back his beer. “See ya
round.”

“Something I said?”
Nathan’s brows squeezed together.

Stitch slapped Nathan
on the back. “See ya for the run in the morning.”

“Sure, what time?”

“Oh-seven-hundred
hours.
Meet you in the pa
rking lot.”

“Sounds
good.”

The guys rallied
outside sans their target. “I’ll get the ice and we’ll meet at my place in
thirty minutes. Enough time?” Tony scanned their faces.

“Yup,” Stitch said,
ramming his hands in his pockets.
“Kid’s
about to learn a val
uable lesson.”

* * * *

“What the hell is
that?” Mace asked, holding back a bark of laughter. The suctioning
thunk
of the amply sized rubber dildo wavered
in the middle of Nathan’s forehead.

“Looks good on ya man,
don’t ya think so?” Ditz grinned down at
Tadpole.

Tadpole had a temper,
and his eyes blazed, but he couldn’t say much with duct tape doubled up across
his mouth and an extra wrap around his head for good measure.

“That thing almost
makes me jealous,” Stitch said, tearing open another bag of ice
and adding it to the tub.

“Ya forgot the
cardinal rule, seaman Tadpole. Never…ever…lie to one of us.” Tony poked the
dildo, and it swung like the top of a tall building in an earthquake. “It’s not
that we care ya started smoking again.”

“I care,” Stitch br
oke in. “That shit will cut ya down in the prime of life.
Don’t ya think being a SEAL is enough? Don’t feel like puttin’ ya in a coffin
because you’re stupid.” He leaned over a well-trussed Tadpole.

Tadpole made muffled,
angry noises and his brows bounced
with annoyance.

“Still got some fight
in ya, huh, kid?” Mace shunted a look at Tony. “Did ya remember to bring the
camera?”

“Yup.”
Tony yanked the bag from the counter
and pulled out the camera.

“Where’d you get that
damn thing anyway?” Ditz asked, referri
ng to the
rubber boyfriend still swaying on Tadpole’s forehead as he unscrewed a cap off
a tube of crazy glue.

Tony shrugged. “Friend
left it at my place.”

The guys laughed.

“Yeah, yeah I know
what you’re thinking, and you can shut the hell up.” Tony quipp
ed. “I had enough to make her happy.”

Mace snorted and shook
his head. “What are ya doing with that, Ditz?” he asked, watching him drain the
entire tube of crazy glue across Tadpole’s feet.

Ditz wore an evil grin
on his face. “Saw
The Hobbit
the other nigh
t.”
He reached into a knapsack and pulled out a baggie filled with hair clippings.
Ditz’s wife worked in a salon. “Thought he might look good as Dildo…I mean
Bilbo Baggins.” He tipped the bag and covered Nathan’s feet, then patted the
furry covering so the
y’d stick. With crazy glue as
adhesive, Tadpole would have to shave off his new fur coat and lose a couple
layers of skin.

Stitch returned with
beers and they clanked them together over Tadpole, who wiggled fruitlessly
below them.
“So, what now?”
Tony aske
d.

Mace shrugged. “Wait
for the glue to dry.” He leaned against the counter for support. It was good
being with the guys again. Not that he minded all the attention Nina poured on
him. She cooked, cleaned, and worried over him. The woman was a saint, a bea
utiful saint. Nina wasn’t a patient woman in a lot of ways,
but she was giving him all the time and space he needed. She’d bugged him again
about going to visit her parents. She’d already arranged it with her father who
had his practice in Victoria.