A SEAL's Oath (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 1) (9 page)

Riley knew all about the ways Boone could focus on something to the exclusion of everything else. It had been frustrating at times when they were kids and she’d felt he’d forgotten about her while tinkering with an engine or doing his chores. But when he’d focused exclusively on her—those had been the most breathtaking moments of her life.

“I’ve overwhelmed you. Don’t feel like you have to make up your mind tonight,” he went on. “Let’s talk about it again tomorrow.” He slid his hands over her arms and for a brief, heart-pounding moment she thought he might kiss her. When he didn’t, she couldn’t fathom why she felt disappointed. Hadn’t she learned anything over the years?

“This feels like a setup—like someone’s going to jump out and tell me I’ve been tricked on camera.” She pulled away from him.

“No tricks, Riley. I couldn’t be more serious about this.”

If it was anyone else, she wouldn’t have believed him, but even though Boone had hurt her feelings badly, he’d never once lied to her. “It takes more than a day to know if you want to marry someone.”

His gaze held hers. “We were good friends once, you and me. We could make this work. I know you’ve had a shock—” He glanced at her friends still grouped around the fire. “But you love Westfield, I know you do. If you help me, you can stay.”

“Boone—”

“Think about it for twenty-four hours. I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow night. We’ll go on a date. Maybe it’ll be fun.” With a wicked smile, he caught her wrist and pressed a kiss into her palm. “If you ask me to dance, I’ll say yes this time, Riley Eaton.” Riley gasped and tried to pull away, but he merely pressed her hand to his chest. She could feel his heart thumping, a strangely intimate sensation.

She snatched back her hand. Her palm tingled from the contact with his shirt. Boone gave her a salute and turned to stride off into the shadows.

Riley held still a long time before returning to her friends, still clustered around the fire.

“Who was that? What did he say?” Savannah asked.

Riley had no idea how to answer her.

‡

B
oone’s mind was
reeling as he picked his way through the dark along the rutted dirt track that wound down the hill to the cluster of outbuildings. The last thing he’d expected when he’d charged up that hill to see who’d set the fire was to find Riley—and propose to her. Maybe he should have waited and wooed her first, but a courtship could go wrong in all kinds of ways. He needed a wife. Riley wanted Westfield. And he hadn’t felt this interested in a woman in a long time.

Why chance it?

He could probably have strong-armed her into agreeing to the marriage idea tonight, but that would be winning the battle in order to lose the war. One glance at her told him she must have her choice of men these days. He had to make his offer too good to turn down—and then use the time he’d gained with her to see if they could connect enough to make their marriage real. Boone was prepared to do whatever it took to satisfy Fulsom, and if he only had to marry he could have suffered through a fake relationship in order to fulfill that requirement. But Fulsom wanted pregnancies and that was a whole other matter. Boone refused to bring children into the world unless he loved their mother.

Could he love Riley? The question nearly made him stumble, but he recovered his footing quickly, and the answer came just as fast.

Yes.

He’d loved her once, in his way. He’d never put it into words when they were young. Back then she was simply part of his existence. Someone he took for granted until those last few minutes before he lost her for good.

He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

This time around he’d get to know all about her and hope the connection that had once wound between them could tighten into the kind of relationship that stood the test of time.

He didn’t know how to convince Riley to give him a chance, though. Her whole demeanor told him she hadn’t forgotten or forgiven what he’d done when they were teens. He had to turn things around before she dug in her heels. Maybe if he talked to her about his interests he could prove he wasn’t the thoughtless teenager he once was. It seemed like they’d taken different paths to reach similar conclusions. She might talk about beauty while he talked about sustainability, but in the end they had in common the desire to improve the world. When she learned what he was doing, wouldn’t she become interested in sustainability—and him—too?

Giving her too much time to think it over wouldn’t be smart. First thing tomorrow he’d head back up to the house, take her on a tour of the ranch and explain his intentions for the place. Something about him had attracted her to him when they were young. He hoped like hell he still possessed that quality. He’d emphasize the community aspects of his plan and the way everyone involved would work together to build a harmonious whole. She craved beauty, so he’d give her beauty. He’d show her the way the spare lines of his houses and communal buildings wouldn’t block the view of the natural world that surrounded them. He’d talk about the cycle of life they would tap into and the way they would emulate it in their planting, reaping and replenishing of their gardens, and the closed-loop systems they’d put in place to harvest natural energy to fuel their homes.

He’d gamble on the possibility she was as lonely as he’d been these past few years. Fulsom was right—he was ready to settle down. Did Riley want a partner, too?

Did she want kids?

He did.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Boone pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Jericho, who picked up on the third ring.

“You at the ranch?” Jericho asked by way of greeting.

“I’ve already surveyed it and found a home site.”

“That was fast.”

“You want to hear about fast, check this out. I found a wife, too.”

“You’re shitting me.” Jericho chuckled. “Even you couldn’t pull that off.”

“Well, my ring’s not on her finger, but it will be soon.”

“You must have pulled out the charm.”

“Something like that. It’s Riley.”

After a pause, Jericho dredged the name up from his memory. “Tagalong Riley?”

Anger gripped Boone. “Call her that again—
ever
—and you and I will part ways. Got it?”

“Fuck, man. Yeah—I got it.”

Boone didn’t care if Jericho thought he’d lost his mind. That nickname ceased to exist now.

“She didn’t know her uncle sold the ranch,” he went on, “so she arrived here with some friends today to stay at the house. Apparently Russ has been gone a long time and she comes and goes as she pleases. Or she used to, anyhow.”

“Shit. What’d you tell her?”

“That if she wants to stay she has to marry me.”

Jericho chuckled. “You’ve got balls. You’d better watch your back, man. I wouldn’t want a pissed-off Riley on my tail. Remember the time she hit Walker with a two-by-four?”

He’d forgotten that. It was an accident—mostly. Walker had a way of getting under Riley’s skin. He’d been the only one of them who tried to watch out for her and she didn’t like being reminded she was younger and less experienced than them. “She’s not pissed off. She’s… intrigued.” More like stunned and horrified, but Jericho didn’t need to know that.

“You think she’ll go for it?”

Boone hesitated. He should have known Jericho would ask difficult questions. “Maybe. There’s something else. She’s into all that
Pride and Prejudice
crap now.”

“Heck, if she’s got two X chromosomes, that’s a given.”

“I’m not sure that’s true.”

“Well, it’s true for a lot of them. Just how into it is she?” Boone heard the creak of a desk chair. Jericho must be doing paperwork again.

“As in, she dresses like one of them—one of those women in the movies.”

“Like—all the time?” Jericho sounded alarmed.

“As far as I can tell. She and her friends were all dolled up like that when I met up with them. She said they’d sworn an oath to live a beautiful life for six months. Something about taking time off from the real world to rediscover the things they’re passionate about.”

“An oath, huh? Well, I guess it could be worse. They could have decided to rob banks.” Boone heard a tick, tick, tick sound, Jericho’s pen tapping against his desk. Boone wished the others were here already. One day on the ground had brought too many complications for him to deal with alone. “I know you hung around with her more than I did, but do you really like Riley enough to marry her?”

Another hard question. “I think so,” Boone said. “I’m… attracted to her.” This was an uncomfortable conversation. “She’s still Riley. Beyond that, I’ve got to spend time with her to answer your question.”

“It’s hard to picture her grown up enough to be a wife. She looked pretty hot that last night before we left town, though.”

“Yeah.” Boone’s answer was short. He didn’t like Jericho thinking about her that way. And he didn’t like remembering how that night had turned out.

A silence. “We were shitheads to her at the end,” Jericho said.

“You got that right. I don’t know if she’ll forgive us, either.”

“We were pretty young. She’ll take that into consideration.”

“I hope so.” Boone reached the outbuildings and began to build a fire in the old fire pit several dozen yards from the bunkhouse. He needed to eat and he was a long way from ready to sleep.

“Do you think she’s into you?” Jericho asked after a pause.

“I don’t know,” Boone said. “She kept her distance. She has friends,” he added as an afterthought.

“Interesting. So what’s your first move?”

“I’m going to take her on a date.”

“You’re a brave man, Chief.”

“Either that or very, very stupid.”

“Out with it,”
Savannah said. “Who on earth was that man?”

“That was our landlord,” Riley finally said, struggling to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes. For one thing, she needed to present this new development to her friends in a way that wouldn’t send them running for the hills. For another, she had to sort through her feelings for Boone. Their conversation had been so strange she didn’t know what to believe.

Had she really just gotten her first proposal?

What a proposal it was. Trading marriage for a chance to stay at Westfield? That was ridiculous.

Except it was Boone making the offer.

She had to at least think it over.

She’d read and heard enough about Martin Fulsom to know the demands he’d made of Boone weren’t that unusual. No one else would tie their donations to a requirement like marriage, but Fulsom was larger than life, brash and a media darling. He thought nothing of pulling outrageous stunts himself. He’d do whatever it took to get his television show top ratings.

What was Boone getting himself into?

“That’s your uncle?” Nora asked. They crowded around her as the fire burned down.

“No. That’s definitely not my uncle—that’s Boone Rudman. He’s a friend of mine from a long time ago.” Riley was still in shock that he was here at Westfield at all, let alone the owner of the ranch.

“Boone? The guy you’ve told us about? The Navy SEAL? The one who embarrassed you in front of everyone?” Savannah exchanged a look with the others.

“I thought your uncle owned the ranch,” Nora persisted.

“He decided to sell it recently. I didn’t want to worry you. Boone bought it, so it’s all right.” She wished that was true.

“I don’t understand,” Nora said. “If Russ doesn’t own Westfield, what are we doing here?”

“We can we still live here, can’t we?” Avery asked worriedly.

“I thought you were supposed to inherit Westfield,” Savannah said.

“I was. Things have changed, but Boone said we could stay until December.” As long as she married him. Russ’s betrayal blindsided her again. It was cruel to promise that she’d inherit Westfield if he didn’t intend to follow through. Losing the ranch was like losing her grandparents all over.

“Will we have to pay rent?” Avery asked.

“You should have told us,” Savannah said.

“I know, I know. It was really unexpected.”

“Why was he so angry at first? Didn’t you tell him we were coming today?” Nora pressed.

“He… got the date wrong,” Riley improvised. “He thought we were kids up to mischief.” She was relieved when the others seemed to accept this.

“What’s it like to see him again after all these years?” Savannah asked.

“It’s… awkward,” Riley said.

“Lieutenant Rudman. It has a ring to it,” Avery said.

“I don’t know what his rank is,” Riley said.

“Lieutenant will do just fine,” Avery declared. “It sounds very Jane Austen-y. Is he single?”

“Yes.” Riley bit her lip. She had to give them some indication of what was to come. “He… asked me out.”

“Really?”

“What’d you say?”

The questions came from all sides.

The fire was quickly dying down to ashes. Riley moved closer to it, suddenly chilled. “I said yes.”

The others exchanged a glance again. Riley couldn’t tell if they were surprised or dismayed. Or both.

“Good for you,” Avery managed to say.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Savannah asked.