SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) (40 page)

As I was washing dishes, my sister Marlene
called. I have three of them – all older. They all hate Dylan, and they all
think I’m still twelve years old. “Hey, Marlene, what’s up?”

“Can you do me a huge favor on Thursday?”

“I will try.”

“Can you pick Nona up from school?” Nona
is my six-year-old niece.

“Um…I have to work…”

She sounded like she was going to cry.
“Okay, then, I’ll see what else I can figure out-”

“No, wait, I can change the schedule
around. What’s wrong?”

“Jackson’s stupid lawyer called a
mandatory custody meeting. I feel like I’m having a heart attack every time I
think about losing her, Sissy!” My sisters all call me Sissy. It started when I
was born and the rest of the family picked it up. Even my nieces and nephews
call me “Aunt Sissy.”

“Oh, Marlene, honey, I’m sorry. I really
don’t see any reason for that to happen, though.”

“Jackson has the money. The judge is going
to look at the paltry salary I make and-”

“And add in the alimony and child support
and the fact that even broke you’d be a fabulous mother. Try not to get
yourself too worked up, honey, okay?”

“I’m trying. I need a distraction, I
think. Maybe while Jackson has Nona this weekend you and I can do something?”

I groaned inwardly. I love my sister, but
I hate going out with her. She’ll bitch about Jackson all night, get drunk, and
try and go home with some slimy cowboy. Then, she and I will argue and she
won’t speak to me for two weeks. It happens every time. “I think Dylan will be
home,” I said, using my ace in the hole. She despises Dylan. “I could see if he
wants to go with-”

“Never mind. You know where to pick Nona
up, right?”

I smiled. “Yeah, should I just keep her
for dinner?”

“Yes, please. I’ll pick her up in time for
her bath and bedtime. I have to drive all the way to Fort Worth for the meeting.”

“Okay, good luck.”

“Thanks, Sissy. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

*******

I woke up happy the next two days. One
reason was because Dylan wasn’t home…and as bad as I hate to admit it, the
other reason was because I knew I got to see Kyle again on Wednesday. Wednesday
morning, I took a ridiculous amount of time picking out my scrubs. I stayed
away from any of the green ones because asshole or not, what Dylan said had
stuck in my head. I finally settled on a dark blue pair that I hoped made my
ass not look so big. I left my hair down and curled it and shamelessly, I wore
a little bit more make-up than usual.

As I walked into the clinic, I hoped no
one I worked with noticed. But as my luck would have it, the first thing my
co-worker Joyce said was, “Damn, girl, you look hot today! You have a date?”

I felt myself blush. “No…But thank you.”

She made a mm, hmm noise and I blushed
again as I went to put my things away. I came back out and started to work
right away. My first two clients were elderly folks with hip replacements, and
we just did some basic physical therapy exercises. I was at the front desk
filling out some paperwork when I saw Kyle coming through the door. He had a
ball cap on again, so I couldn’t see his face until he looked up. When he did,
his brown eyes immediately locked onto mine and my breath caught in my throat.
Jesus, even with staples in his head, this
guy is hot.
My heart sped up when he smiled. I smiled back and turned away.
Joyce was looking at me, and it was her turn to smile. I narrowed my eyes at
her, and she laughed.

“I’ll be in the back for a few,” I told
the receptionist.

As I was headed past Joyce she said, “Have
to go cool off, huh?”

I gave her a nasty look and kept going.
She was right, though. I had to get my own vital signs to calm down before I
could see my patient. This had never happened to me before. Kyle was not the
first good-looking guy to roll in here. I’ve always been able to maintain a
level of cool professionalism and I’d never thought about them when I went
home. Since Monday, Kyle pretty much took up residence in my thoughts. I didn’t
know what the hell was wrong with me, but this was not okay on any level. I had
a boyfriend and an obligation to be a respectable member of the medical
community.

I went into the bathroom and wiped off my
lipstick. I ran my fingers through my hair to try and get the curls out, but
that just gave it kind of a messy, bedroom look. With a frustrated sigh I gave
up and went out to get him.

*******

It turned out that dissuading his sister
from coming into the back was a lot harder than it had been with Greg. Sarah
was not going to be left out of her brother’s care in any way. It was sweet and
annoying at the same time. Kyle seemed embarrassed by it and being the baby of
my family, I could definitely feel his pain. Today, we did flash cards with
simple words that would exercise his tongue and lips. He has pretty lips. They
were full and pink, but not feminine at all. Sexy, that’s what they were. I
tried not to stare at them, but then I remind myself that it’s my job to make
sure he’s forming his words right. I have to consciously remind myself not to
lick my own lips as I watch him.

“You want to take a break and have
something to drink, Kyle?”

“Beer?” he asked with a grin.

I couldn’t help but smile when he smiled
at me.
God…he’s beautiful
. “I think
we’re fresh out of beer. How about water?”

He laughed, and his sister said, “He’d
love some water.” I went and got the water and when I brought it back, Sarah
took it out of my hand and opened it before handing it to him. Once again, he
looked annoyed, but he didn’t say anything.

“Sarah, while Kyle is taking his break,
can you and I talk for a minute?”

She looked at me suspiciously, but
followed me to the back office and we sat down. It was strange because they
looked so much alike that they could almost be twins. They had the same heart
shaped faces, full lips, and dark eyes. Sarah’s seemed a lot more intense than
Kyle’s to me. Out of the two of them, I would be willing to bet he was the
fun-loving one. “Is he doing okay?” she asked as soon as we were seated.

I smiled. “Yes, he’s doing just fine. This
is only his second appointment, so we’re not looking for a miracle breakthrough
just yet. But, with some hard work, six months from now you’ll hardly see any
signs of what he went through.”

“Good. Then what’s wrong?”

“Well, the thing is…I think you do too
much for him.”

The suspicious look turned into one of
outright distrust. “What do you mean?”

“Opening his drink and insisting on
sitting in on his session, for starters.”

“I’m supporting him,” she said. I could
see a spark in her dark eyes.

“I know, and I think that’s great, really.
It’s just that what we’re trying to do here is make him more independent,
right? If we do everything for him, then he won’t re-learn to do those things
for himself.”

Sarah wasn’t looking at me any longer. She
was staring at a spot on the wall. She didn’t say anything for so long that I
almost thought she wasn’t going to. At last, she said, “I was so scared.”

“When they found the tumor?”

She nodded. “Our mom left us when we were
babies. My dad did his best, but he had to work to keep a roof over our heads
and everything that comes with that. Kyle and I are really close because of all
of that I always felt like his mom instead of his sister.”

“Well, I think you did a great job, but
with that being said, as hard as it is to watch someone you love struggle, in
this case it’s actually part of his therapy.”

She pursed her lips together and I braced
myself for more argument, but she didn’t give me one. Instead, she said, “I can
promise that I’ll try – how’s that?”

I laughed. “That’s good enough,” I told
her. When we came back out of the office smiling, Kyle looked from his sister
to me and raised an eyebrow. I winked at him. I seriously do not know what is
wrong with me. We moved on to some leg exercises, which I showed him how to do
on his own, and we also worked on wheelchair transfers using his arms and his
good leg. He’s really strong, so it won’t be long before he’s able to do it all
by himself, with or without that other leg. When we wrapped up for the day,
Sarah seemed satisfied with me.

As I watched them go, I must have had a
goofy smile on my face because Joyce walked up next to me and said, “I think
you have a little thing for that one.”

“No, he’s a patient.”

“Oh, who cares? This is therapy, not
surgery.”

I laughed. “I don’t have a ‘thing’ for
him.”

“We’ll see,” she said with a sly smile. I
didn’t want to protest too much, so I just silently walked away.

CHAPTER
FIVE

KYLE

I was lying in my bed, exercising my legs
like Amber told me to, thinking about Amber and watching mindless afternoon
television on Thursday when Sarah called. I thought about not answering it but,
she would just race over here and beat the door down if I didn’t. She had no
idea how hard talking on the phone is for me. I accepted the call and put her
on speaker. “Kyle? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good. I know you don’t like talking
on the phone right now. I just wanted to let you know that I’m sending Michael
to pick you up at six tonight. Wear a clean shirt and shave – and don’t wear
one of those ugly ball caps-”

“Sarah. What for?”

“For dinner.”

I wondered why the clean shirt and the
shave, but I didn’t have the energy to get all of that out so I just said,
“Okay.”

I was able to do a lot more for myself
already. Dad got me a shower chair, and I was able to stand enough to get into
it. So after I got off the phone, I went in and showered and shaved. I know my
sister too well. If she’s telling me to put on a clean shirt, she’s having
someone besides just me for dinner. I can only hope she doesn’t have a wild
idea and think that she’s going to fix her brother up with one of her friends.
Surely, she has to get that a guy who still talks like he’s got a mouthful of
shit and has staples in his head isn’t up for meeting anyone new in the romance
department. Speaking of which – I’m wearing the hat. Sarah was on a mission
before I got sick to try and set me up with anyone she thought would make a
good wife. She thinks I should be married before I’m thirty. Look how good that
worked out for my dad.

When Michael got to Dad’s place to get me
at six, he took one look at me and whistled. “Well, look how pretty you are.” I
flipped him off and he laughed.

“What’s your wife up to?” I asked him. He
grinned and held the door open so I could wheel out.

“Who knows with that one? I haven’t been
home yet, but I was given strict orders to pick you up at six and not be late.”

“Great.”

He laughed. “Yeah, whatever it is should
be fun.” On the way to their house Michael said, “So…Storelli signed on.”

You
have to fucking be kidding me.
I had waited for that
man who owns a quarter of the real estate in Dallas to finally pick an agency
to design and build his new home. It would be his family’s private residence
and if his current house had anything to say about it, it would be a lavish
one. “Fuck,” was all I said out loud.

Michael laughed again. “Nope, it’s a good
thing.”

I felt guilty. I knew it was a good thing
for his firm. I was just jealous that I wouldn’t be the one to do it. “I know,
sorry.”

“It’s a good thing for you. Storelli
picked us because of your designs and mock-ups. I told him what happened and
that you might be out for a while. He’s okay with that – as long as it’s you
who handles it when you come back.”

Excitement coursed through my veins for
the first time since the day I took the nosedive. If I got this contract, it
would be the biggest one I’d ever gotten. Not only would it bring in a fortune
for the firm and me in commission, it would get my name out there. Storelli is
one of the most connected guys in Dallas. His company designs and builds the
rigs they use in the oil fields. He’s connected with anyone who is anyone in
Dallas…
this is huge
. “Fuck,” I said
again, only this time with a smile. Michael laughed.

When we drove into my sister’s driveway,
there was a little blue Honda sitting out front. “Looks like you were right,
kid, we’ve got company,” Michael said. I’d wasted all my “fucks” already, so I
stayed silent. Michael got the chair out and sat it next to my door. I put myself
in it as he went and opened the front door so I could roll myself inside. I
hadn’t gotten two feet before I was treated to a full-on frontal assault. My
niece Kimber launched herself at me and landed in the chair on top of me.

“Uncle Kyle! I was so worried and Mama and
Daddy wouldn’t let me see you!”

“Oh, baby, I’m okay.” She hugged me
tightly and when she leaned back, I could see she had chocolate all over her
face and hands. I looked down and it was all over the front of my “clean”
shirt. I looked back up at her, and she giggled. I laughed, too, and tickled
her before I made her laugh again by swiping my finger against my shirt and
tasting it. “Mm!” I looked up and that’s when I saw a little blonde-haired girl
with big green eyes standing a few feet back looking at us. “Hi.”