No Reservations (Special Ops: Tribute Book 1) (21 page)

Listening to the low roar of traffic on the Navy Bridge from
her rocky perch in Jonas Green Park, she reminded herself it was all good news
she’d heard today.

With a real estate agent in tow, she’d spent the afternoon
touring other available historic homes in Annapolis for sale and one struggling
bed-and-breakfast inn in Eastport to get an idea of what her own place might
sell for. And it seemed as though all the hard work she’d put into the inn
would only help her sell it more quickly and for a much higher price.

She should be happy. Thanks to her aunt’s generosity, she’d
walk away with a bit of cash even after the mortgage and the secondary loan
were paid off. If she socked away that money, she could maybe buy a bed-and-breakfast
sometime in the future. Because that was her dream.

Yet it wasn’t. She didn’t want
somewhere else
. She wanted
that little inn right next to the Academy—that place that first welcomed
her when she’d had her first meeting with her long lost aunt her freshman year
of college. Something about that day, that place, had been special to Bridget. Something
about the way the inn always smelled like sweet rolls or bacon and the way
people buzzed in and out of its doors bringing their own energy to the place.

Every callus on her hands was because of that inn, and she
wore them like medals, with pride in her accomplishments. She loved the
basement that she transformed with her own crazy vision, and the way the
imperfect floors brought memories of an unwieldy power sander. She loved the
freshly painted walls, and that the fireplace would always make her think of a
wasps’ nest and the romantic evening when she’d first felt the light caress of
Maddox’s lips on her cheek. And maybe more than anything, she’d loved the sense
of history inside each of its drafty old rooms, the feeling that the inn had
seen more life than she ever would in her own time on this earth.

That inn felt like home to her.

Kind of like how she felt with Maddox.

At least, she consoled herself as she wiped away a renegade
tear, the inn had brought her to him. Even when she moved back to DC, which was
inevitable, they’d only be a half hour away. They’d have the weekends together.
They’d make it work.

She loved him too much to let geography come between them. She
loved him too much to let anything come between them.

And when she was a little more certain that he felt the same
way, she’d tell him.

Feeling her phone buzz in her purse beside her, she reached
into it and glanced at the text she received from Leia. “How r u holding up?”

Such a good friend
, Bridget thought, tapping in, “Hanging
in. Coffee tomorrow?”

“U bet. Buying us some lottery tickets. LOL. Call if u need
anything.”

Bridget gave a little nod, as though in silent answer. The
inn had brought her Leia as well, the kind of friend she’d always wanted. The
kind, she hoped, that would last even after she sold the inn and found a new
job in DC. Leia’s friendship, too, was an unintended legacy that her aunt had
left her with the inn.

Tapping the display on her phone, she opened the text she’d
sent Maddox a half hour ago telling him she was going to watch the sun set over
the Severn River at the park. She hadn’t been ready to go home yet, feeling the
need to put some distance between her and the inn. Her head needed to clear, to
refocus on a different future.

It wasn’t like him to not reply, she thought, staring at the
unanswered text. Hoping that everything was all right, she slid her phone back
into her purse, and pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around
them. The human touch felt good to her right now, even if it was only her own
arms giving her a hug.

A kayaker and two paddle boarders passed into her view,
slicing their way through the sparkling water. There was a healthy dose of wind
today, which would explain why so many sailboats were out. One had its spinnaker
out, and Bridget smiled at the sight of the huge sail filling with wind. It
made her think of Maddox, of the boat that he was buying. She was so happy that
his dreams were coming true. His ice cream shop would be a reality in a matter
of months, and he’d end his days sipping a Sam Adams on his own floating home.

That’s what love is
, she thought, the voice in her head
lifting above the sound of the cars passing over the bridge.
Being able to
want his dreams to come true even more than my own.

“Hey.”

Stiffening momentarily until she recognized Maddox’s voice,
she turned to see him standing behind her, carrying a six-pack of soda in one
hand.

“You came,” Bridget greeted him.

“Of course I did. And brought drinks. I didn’t think they’d
allow a bottle of champagne to go with the sunset in a public park. So I
brought these instead.”

“Soda’s fine. And more appropriate. I don’t feel much like
champagne right now. That’s more for a celebration.”

“Don’t be so sure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled
out a slip of paper. He handed it to her.

Curious, she glanced down at it and saw a check made out to
her.

From
him
.

“What is this?”

“It’s to pay off the loan. And to put in a roof deck. Maybe
a couple other additions, if you’re up for it.”

Her jaw sagged. “What are you talking about? You don’t have
this kind of money.”

“I took out a loan.”

“What bank would—”

“From a friend,” he cut her off. “It’s not all from them. I
have some leftover savings after my investment in the ice cream shop,
and—”

“But your boat—”

He chuckled. “I’m still getting the boat. I have some
interesting plans for it, actually.”

She handed it back to him. “I can’t take this, Maddox. I can’t
take this much money from you. You already have a business. You have enough
risk in your life. One start-up is enough.”

“Look, I’m not worried about the ice cream shop. We’ll be
fine, because we have a
team
. They won’t let me down, anymore than I’d
let them down. Remember what I told you? We take care of our own.”

“I remember,” she answered, feeling that familiar sense of longing
washing over her at the words.

“So let me be on your team. I’ve said it before, but they
were just words. This makes it a little more official,” he said, his hand pressing
the check back into her palm.

She held her other hand to her mouth for a moment, and then
shook her head. “I can’t run a business knowing I have a mortgage
and
a
loan from you. It’s too much. I’d be paying it off till I’m sixty.”

“I don’t want the money back. I want
in
, Bridget. I
want to be your partner.”

A business partner?
She just stared at him.

“Look, I know you might not have ever considered it, but you
told me once that you wanted what I had. Someone looking out for your back. Someone
covering for you when you need it. That’s what you need now. And I’m not asking
to be a full partner here. I know you’ve got a lot more financial stake in this
than I’ll have, even after you cash this check. But I just want a piece of it,
just enough so that you’ll know you can count on me when you need me.”

“Maddox, this is so kind of you. Really. But you already
have a business to look after.”

“And I have twenty-four hours to fill. You know me, Bridget.
By now, I think you know that I’m a person who always has to keep moving,
working. You’ve got the creative vision for the place. You’ve got the people skills.
I’ll be your workhorse. Your pack animal.”

A giggle slipped from her at the image, and he grinned at
the sound of it.

“You crack that whip when things need to get done, and I’ll
do them,” he added, nudging her in her side till she laughed again.

Maddox wanted to be her partner. Her breath came more
quickly now, thinking about the solution he proposed. It was so generous. So
perfect.
Like him.
Yet she found herself resisting. There was something
else, something more that she wanted from him and if she took his offer, would she
put that in jeopardy? Would being his partner in business compromise the chance
to be his partner in life down the road?

Just then, saving her inn didn’t seem nearly as important as
preserving this blossoming relationship she had with Maddox.

Leaning into him, she brushed her lips lightly against his.
“You are so generous, Maddox. But you have enough on your plate right now. And
I’ll be fine. I really will. I don’t want you thinking you have to help me.”
She handed the check back to him.

“I’m not doing it because I want to help you. I’m doing it
because I love you.” He shook his head. “Wait—that didn’t sound right. I
do
want to help you. But I—”

“Wait.” Bridget held up a hand. Lightheaded suddenly, the boulder
she sat on seemed to wobble. “
What
did you say?”

“That I do want to help. It’s just that—”

She shook her head. “Not that part. Before that.”

Maddox looked at her blankly. “What? You mean the part that
I love you?”

Her eyes bugged slightly at his casual reference to the
word. “Um, yes. That part.”

A trace of a smile settled over his features, and his head
cocked to the side. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”

She blinked several times. “Um, no. No, I hadn’t.”

Laughing, he took her hand. “Bridget, I think I’ve loved you
from the moment you tried to assault me with a rolling pin, crazy as that
sounds. And then I loved you a little more when I ate that first omelet, the
dry one without any filling. Then I loved you more when you stood with me in
that basement and watched me break two records in Galaga never telling me once that
I was an overgrown child.” He slid the check back into his pocket and took her
other hand. Turning to her fully, he touched his forehead to hers and spoke in
a soft voice. “And then I loved you completely when I realized that you might
move thirty minutes away from here and that distance felt like it might as well
be the other side of the world.”

A lump lodged in her throat and tears stung at the backs of
her eyes.

“I’m a guy, so I’m not too good with the flowery talk,
Bridget. I’m 100% guy. I love working with tools and tearing down walls. I love
pounding my feet into the pavement until they bleed and working my muscles till
they scream in pain. I love beer. I love grilling.” His grin grew. “And I love
you more than any of it.”

A tiny squeak managed to expel from Bridget’s throat.

“You know that thing your aunt said, about shifting sands? She’s
right, Bridget.” He glanced toward the sandy bank along the river as the waves
brought in new sand pulling other bits apart, never to touch again. “She was
right. That’s what most of us are to each other. We come into each other’s
lives and then some wave pulls us away. And we never meet again. But it’s not
always like that. Sometimes, something keeps us together. Something more
powerful than any wave. Sometimes, it sticks. That’s what I want to be to you. I
want to be your constant. I want you to rely on me. And I don’t ever want us to
drift apart.”

“Oh, Maddox.” She breathed out the words, watching his eyes
return to hers again.

“Let’s do this. Let’s be a team. Let me be a part of your
life and help make that place all that you—all that
we
—could
ever dream it to become.”

As the whisper of a breeze came over the riverbank, there
was so much she could dream right now—and none of it had to do with the
inn. It was all Maddox. And somehow innately, she knew that together she and
Maddox could do it. Run an inn. Make a life. Build a future. She could see it
all, just as the sun dipped behind the homes on the other side of the river and
the evening glow made the man in front of her look like an image in a dream.

Because this
was
a dream. This was one of those
perfect moments when dreams and reality fused together, flowing united in
perfect unison.

She kissed him, unwilling to let words shatter the
perfection that had fallen over the evening. She kissed him like her life
depended on it, caressing her lips against his, and letting her fingers stroke
his endearing evening stubble. Breathing in his scent, her lips moved to his
cheek, to his ear, till finally she let them leave his skin.

But not for long. Only long enough to whisper, “I’ll be your
team, Maddox Kerry. Because I love you too.”

He’d never minded the rain, especially since that night
during Commissioning Week when Maddox had first stepped, soaking wet, into
Bridget’s foyer.

If it hadn’t been raining that night— if a sliver of
moon or a starry sky might have lit the street a little better so that he would
have seen the “closed” sign in her window—he would never have met her.

So the rain, in Maddox’s view, had brought him to Bridget.

But this afternoon, when a downpour had pummeled the inn
threatening their plans for a party on their newly opened roof deck, he’d been
very happy to see the sun peek through the dark clouds.

He wanted tonight to be perfect.

Swinging open the French doors that led to the new deck, his
eyes were met with a sight that he’d grown accustomed to during the many nights
he and Bridget had watched the sun set, stretched out on her roof until
construction had begun. Sunlight kissed the harbor in the distance, making it
sparkle as though a thousand diamonds were cast upon the water.

Giving a nod to the horizon, he stooped to light the votive
candles on the tables set up on the deck. In less than an hour’s time, this
space would be filled with the voices of friends and guests alike as they
celebrated the completion of the deck. There would be wine, beer, and an
assortment of appetizers. But the champagne Maddox moved to the front table
after the last votive was lit was not meant for anyone but him and Bridget.

He only hoped that he’d have something to celebrate when he
popped its cork.

“Hey.” Bridget’s soft voice came up behind him and it
soothed him like it always did, as though having her near somehow completed
him.

When he turned to face her, though, he felt anything but
calm. In her eyes he saw his
everything
, and as she slid her hand around
his waist to his back, pulling him toward her, he had no doubt she was oblivious
as to how vulnerable he was to her right now.

“Hey, back,” he answered, touching his lips to hers, feeling
his heart pump double-time behind his ribcage.

If he had any sense, he’d wait till the ice cream shop was
opened and successful before doing this. He should wait until things were more
settled and he could show Bridget just how much he could offer her—a
stable future with a man who loved her completely.

But if he had any sense, he figured, he might not have done
a lot of things. Join the SEALs. Quit the Navy. Throw his liquid assets into a
business venture in the throes of a struggling economy.

So he’d do this. Now. In these last moments before the crowd
filtered up the stairs to join them in this special place they’d created together.

“You said that you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“Yes. I just thought we should have a few minutes alone together
tonight.”

“It’s going to be busy. We should probably start bringing
the food up here.”

“Workaholic,” he accused, humor creasing his eyes.

“Takes one to know one,” she retorted back with a laugh,
letting him hold her close. Her head cocked, seeing the champagne and two
flutes sitting on the table. “What’s that for?”

“For us,” he replied.

“Not planning on sharing with the guests?”

“No way. We have to keep a few things for just us, don’t you
think?”

“Absolutely,” she agreed, stepping away from him and toward
the chilled bottle.

His hand lightly grasped her on the arm. “No, wait. There’s
something I wanted to tell you first.”

She turned to him again, and once more, his breath was torn
from his lungs at just the sight of her—azure eyes that he wanted to look
at for the rest of his life.

“What is it?”

He fisted his hands at his sides. As many times as he’d
practiced this speech, it was entirely different when he wasn’t saying it to
his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“I love you,” he sputtered out awkwardly. “You know that,
don’t you?”

Spine stiffening, her features fell, and she leaned back on
her heels. “Oh, no. What’s wrong?”

A chuckle escaped him. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. You’re
such a pessimist.”

“Okay, so prove me wrong,” she countered, caution still in
her eyes. “What were you going to say?”

“Bridget…” His voice caught in his throat, and he forced
himself to pull his gaze from her, hoping that it might help him get his brain functioning
correctly again. “I think you know how much I’ve questioned my decision to
leave the SEALs.”

She nodded.

“And there were times I regretted it, kicked myself for not
thinking it through a little further.”

“I know.”

He took her hand in his and it was like a confirmation, as
though every time their skin touched, he knew he was making the right decision.

“I don’t feel that way anymore,” he told her. “Honestly, I
don’t know if I made the right decision when I left. I’ve made plenty of
questionable choices in my life. But right or wrong, I can’t regret any of them
because every one of them brought me to this point in my life. This point in my
life when I’m with you.”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “That’s so sweet,
Maddox.”

Grinning, he felt bolstered somewhat by her response. But he
wasn’t finished yet. He’d never be finished until he knew that she would be his
forever.

“I love you, Bridget. I love how determined you are. I love
that you try new things and never shy away from a challenge. I love the way you
light up when a new guest walks into the inn. And I love the way you are with
them, and with your friends. And me, Bridget. I love how you are with me. And I
love the way you literally roll up your sleeves to get what you want.”

Her head tilted, curious, as he took a half step away from
her, rolling up his own sleeves.

“So,” he began, “I’ll do the same as you always do right
now. Because there’s something I want.”

Her brow pinched as she gazed at him. “What’s that?”

Pressing his lips together resolutely, he went down on one
knee. “You,” he offered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet
box.

Saucer-wide, her eyes filled as he opened it and pulled out
a diamond solitaire.

“Oh my.” Her words were a whisper, nearly lost in the
breeze. She touched her hand to her mouth, repeating, “Oh my,” as a single tear
dropped onto her cheek.

“Bridget Needham, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
He uttered the words so formally that he could barely recognize his voice as
his own. His heart was lodged in his throat as he waited for her answer.

“Yes,” she breathed out, a smile stretching across her face.
“Yes, I will marry you, Maddox.”

Shoulders sagging in relief, his sigh came from deep within
his soul.

Thank heaven
, he thought as he slipped the ring on her
finger and stood, pulling her into an embrace. Or maybe he said it aloud. He
wasn’t even sure. The only thing he was certain of as he touched his lips to
hers was that everything in his life had brought him to this moment.

And from this moment on, he’d never look back.