Sea of Dreams (The American Heroes Series Book 2) (7 page)

She hung up the phone, fighting off tears, and went back inside. As the girls slept into the morning, Blakesley showered and dressed, focusing on what she needed to accomplish that day.  She had already arranged for a babysitter through the hotel because she planned to go to the house that morning to inspect it before her one o’clock appointment with the real estate agent to start looking at gallery spaces.  It was a busy day and not one she wanted to drag the girls along. 

At around nine in the morning, the babysitter arrived.  She was one of the young women who worked at KidTopia, so the girls were already acquainted with her.  Blakesley ordered room service and had cereal and fruit waiting for her children when they finally woke up.  Blakesley wanted to make sure she was there with the babysitter when the girls woke up so they wouldn’t be freaked out,  but they were fine with Ashley the babysitter, who had brought coloring books and a couple of games with her to keep them entertained.  Charlotte was already sitting in Ashley’s lap within the first few minutes, so Blakesley collected her purse and keys and told Ashley to call her with any little problem or question.  Ashley, coloring a clown along with Charlotte, waved her off.

Dressed in tight jeans, a bright red wrap-around blouse with a deep “v” neck, gold platform pumps and her usual jewelry, she looked sleek, sexy and stylish as she took the elevator down to the lobby.   Blakesley was admittedly a clothes hound and she liked fashionable clothing, so she knew how to project a sexy yet professional image. It was something she had worked hard at as a businesswoman and, fortunately, she had made enough money in the past to support the habit.  

Her long hair was loosely curled, tumbling sensuously down her back as she stepped off the elevator and out into the lobby area, slipping on her designer sunglasses before she even left the hotel.  When she reached the door, the doorman held the big panel open for her and she stepped out into the Victorian-style porte cochere where the valet stand was.   The entire area was lush with plants, cobblestones and carved benches, and a soft sea breeze blew in from the west.

Digging in her purse for her valet receipt, she didn’t see Beck until he stood up from one of the benches and blocked her path. Startled, she almost tripped as she came to a halt and he smiled weakly at her.

“Sorry,” he said softly. “I seem to have a habit of surprising you every time I show up.”

Blakesley yanked off the sunglasses, her sea-colored eyes wide on him. “Beck,” she gasped.  “I… I called you this morning. I left a message….”

“I know,” he cut her off gently. “I got it. That’s why I came.”

Blakesley threw caution to the wind. Now was not the time to show reluctance or uncertainty. She reached out and touched his arm.

 “I’m sorry,” she whispered fervently. “I’m so sorry I told you to go away. I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t sleep all night because I knew it had been a mistake to tell you that.”

He was shaking his head even as she spit out the words.  He put his hands on her shoulders, gently yet with unmistakable power, and pulled her towards him.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” he countered, interrupting her. “I don’t know why I did, but you had every right to be freaked out. You must have thought I was some kind of incredibly needy person, telling you all of that when I had only just met you. If anyone is sorry, it’s me. I’m so sorry I said those things to you. I shouldn’t have.”

Her hands were on his chest, her warm palms against his tee shirt.  She realized his arms were going around her but she didn’t particularly care.

“You were just being honest,” she insisted, her guard completely down. “I can’t fault you for being honest.  But you have to understand… after what happened to me over the past couple of years, I’m still kind of messed up a little.  Now I’m being honest.  I see in you someone that I would love to get to know and it really scares the hell out of me on so many levels.  That’s why I told you to go away. I was just scared. But I’m so sorry I did.”

He was caressing her arms gently, listening to her halting speech.  After a moment, he smiled faintly. “I think you and I are both pretty afraid of getting involved with someone, but I have to tell you, when I look at you, I’m just not afraid anymore. I’m willing to be open about it and see where it takes us.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Even after everything I’ve told you?”

“Even after that.  If you’ve even got half the strength and character I think you have, then you won’t be damaged forever. Neither will I.  Maybe… maybe we’ll fix each other in some ways, better than we were before. I’d sure like to explore the possibility.”

She thought on that, thinking it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.  She bit her lip thoughtfully. “So where do we start?” she wanted to know.

He grinned at her. “Are you saying that you’re willing?”

She nodded, then shrugged, giggling. “I’m willing if you are,” she said. “Besides, I don’t like the alternative. I don’t like the thought of never seeing you again.”

His smile faded, the green eyes riveted to her. “Me, either,” he admitted softly. “So… can I kiss you now?”

“I thought you were going to pace yourself.”

“I lied.”

She snickered softly. “Sure you can kiss me, but you know what the consequences are.”

“A fork to the eye?”

She laughed. “You need to get your consequences straight before we can continue. I told you a kiss was like sleeping together.  We’ll have to have a shotgun wedding.”

He loomed lower, pulling her against him gently.  Blakesley’s breathing quickened, her heart doing that wild fluttery thing, as his lips came close to hers.

“No, it’s not like sleeping together,” he whispered. “That will be much, much different.”

She barely had time to draw in a breath as his mouth closed over hers, a sweet and gentle kiss that quickly turned heated.  He was a wonderful kisser, not sloppy, but rather soft and sensual, and Blakesley quickly succumbed to him.  Her hands moved to his face, holding his dimpled cheeks as he kissed her deeply.  But just as things started to heat up, he pulled away.

“Oh, God,” he groaned softly. “You’re right. It’s like sleeping together.  That’s the sexiest kiss I’ve ever had.  Where’s the shotgun? I’ll go peacefully.”

She grinned at him, reaching up to wipe her red lipstick off his lips. “You’re pretty good at that.”

“Thanks. So are you.”

She laughed softly, realizing they were in a fairly heated clutch in a public place and reluctantly pulling away purely for decency’s sake.  She wiped at her lips to catch any smeared lipstick as she faced him.

“I was just heading out to check out the house and then meet with the real estate agent,” she said. “I hate to cut this short, but I’m sure you have other things to do today.”

He shrugged. “I don’t have anywhere to go until later this afternoon.”

She lifted her eyebrows.  “Do you want to come with me? We could get to know each other a little better, you know, just hanging out and all. I’d like the company.”

A sexy smile took over is whole face. “I was waiting for you to ask me that,” he held out his elbow to her. “As long as you’re okay hanging out with a guy in fatigues.  I’m not really supposed to be wearing these out in public, but I left the base rather quickly after I got your message. Actually, I sort of flew over here.”

She’d only been focused on his face and hadn’t really noticed he was in his NWU Type II working fatigues until that moment. It made him look big and tough. His rank insignia was pinned to his collar along with what she would later learn to be the S.E.A.L. insignia with the eagle holding a trident, and the name “SEAVINGTON” was emblazoned over his right breast.  She shrugged.

“You look like G.I. Joe,” she teased.

He snorted.  “He’s Army.”

“Okay, so you look like Navy Joe.”

“There is no Navy Joe.”

She just grinned and took his elbow as they made their way towards the valet stand. “I think I have a lot to learn about the military.”

He patted her hand. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’m a good teacher.”

She had no doubt that he would be.

Chapter Four

After collecting Blakesley’s 2011 BMW X5 from the valet, they took off in the direction of the Coronado Bridge.  A massive expanse of green steel, it linked Coronado Island to the mainland, spitting out traffic into the southern end of the city of San Diego.  Blakesley wasn’t entire sure where she was going but she had navigation in the car, so the soft female voice told her where to turn and where to go.  Beck sat in the passenger seat, grinning at her when she accidentally ran a red light.

“You should have let me drive,” he told her.

She made a face at him, looking at the street signs. “This isn’t a boat,” she told him. “Leave the driving to us land lubbers.”

He laughed at her. “Next time, I drive.”

“Are you always so bossy?”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Yes, pretty much. I’m a take-charge kind of guy. Sorry. I’ll try not to do that anymore with you. I don’t think you appreciate it.”

She just grinned, glancing over at him and watching him wink at her.  “So, bossy guy, tell me what prompted you to join the Navy,” she asked.

He shrugged, looking out of the window to watch the scenery pass by. “My dad was Navy,” he said. “I was always surrounded by it so there really wasn’t much doubt that I would.”

“Do you like it?”

“Love it.”

“Even when you’re deployed for years?”

He cocked his head thoughtfully. “That’s just part of the gig,” he told her. “I’ve been to parts of the world and seen things that with a normal job, I would have never done or seen.  It’s provided me with a lot of opportunities.”

“Have you always been on a S.E.A.L. team?”

“No,” he shook his head. “When I first got out of the academy, I was stationed on an aircraft carrier.  After a couple years of that, I volunteered for sub duty and spent a few years on a fast attack sub.  But I got bored of that. I wanted to get out and do something.”

“Like the S.E.A.L.’s?”

“Yes,” he turned to look at her. “I’ve been on the teams since 1997. It’s been my calling.”

“At least you’re doing something that you love,” she said, making a left hand turn when the navigation told her to. “I don’t know much about them other than a movie I saw once, but I know enough that you can’t really talk about what you do.”

He grinned coyly, looking out of the window again as they drove through downtown San Diego. “I can tell you but then I’d have to kill you.”

She giggled. “That’s an old, over-used line.”

“In my case, it happens to be true.”

She gave him a scaredy-cat face and pretended to button her lips. “Then I won’t ask you anything.”

He snorted, lifting a big hand to affectionately touch her shoulder. “You can ask all you want,” he told her. “But whether I not I answer you is another matter.”

They were heading out of the city and into more residential areas now. “Can you tell me what the coolest thing you ever did was?”

He thought on that a moment, looking from the window and watching the houses go by. “Well,” he said contemplatively. “Since you’re an artist, you might appreciate this.  When I was on a tour in Iraq back in ’06, the museums in Baghdad had moved all of their artwork and antiques to various areas all over the country to protect them from the bombings going on.  I can tell you that I saw stashes of relics and art that would make your head spin. Things that were thousands and thousands of years old. It was really amazing.”

She glanced at him, smiling. “Does stuff like that interest you? Ancient relics and art?”

He nodded. “It does, because it’s so precisely done. Maybe it’s the engineer in me, but it has always fascinated me how ancient man had the skill set to do things thousands of years ago that, even now, takes modern equipment and computers to accomplish.”

“Aliens helped them.”

He chuckled. “That would not surprise me.” He noticed they were heading into the gently rolling hills near the Presidio, the oldest section of San Diego east of the Old Town center.  “Hey, do you really know where you’re going?”

“Quiet up over there or you can walk.”

He smirked. “Would you really make me walk?”

She cast him side-long glance. “Yes.”

“I’m feeling insecure and threatened right now.”

She started laughing, giggling because he was.  It was a sweet, funny moment between them, building a relationship that seemed to be growing with a great ease.  As the car wound its way deeper into the residential area, the conversation died but it wasn’t uncomfortable.  Beck put his hand on the back of her chair, his fingers brushing her shoulder now and again.   Blakesley could feel his touch, electrifying her.  She fought to keep her focus on the road and not on his fingers.

They were in a very old section of the residential area and also a very exclusive one.  Beck began to look at the houses with more and more curiosity, big Spanish-style structures with big lots. They were old and expensive. When he turned to ask her if she was sure she was in the right neighborhood, she suddenly took a right into a big driveway shrouded by dozens of mature Eucalyptus trees.

“This is it,” she said softly, pulling slowly into the driveway. “I have to tell you, I’m a little scared about what I’m going to find. This house is so old that’s it’s really going to break my heart if it’s terribly damaged.”

Beck wasn’t sure what to say to that so he just put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her as she pulled up the driveway, which wasn’t so much a driveway as it was a small road.  The grounds were pretty extensive and Eucalyptus trees were mingled with gigantic mature oaks and carob trees, very typically Californian.

 It was a fairly lush property but overgrown and unkempt.   The entire lot sat on a section of a big hill with a deep canyon running alongside it, all overgrown and dense.  By the time the house finally came into view, Beck was in for a surprise.

The house seemed to be in two wings, mirror images of each other. The first thing he noticed is how thick and fortress-like the walls were, great expanses of plaster that were whitewashed on an imperfect surface.  There was a balcony on the second floor of both wings, the heavy dark wood in stark contrast to the brilliant white walls.  There were wrought iron railings on the iron exterior staircases that led from the balconies to the ground floor, all very intricate and element-worn.