Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor- Cynthia D'Alba Page 0,70
help you?’
This time, she walked up to his bed. “In the condition you’re in, I think I can do it all by myself.”
A smile broke out on his face. “You never did put up with my horseshit, did you?”
“Nope. Never did. Never will.” She patted her chest. “You’re firmly planted in here.” Then she laid her hand on his chest. “I know the love that’s inside here. You’re a good man, Ben. Good and honorable. To deny yourself love for the rest of your life is wrong on every level. You have too much love to give to keep it inside. Your father, well, he was wrong. It’s that simple. You’re worthy of loving, or I wouldn’t love you so much. You’re worthy of respect, or your team would never have followed you into harm’s way. You are worthy of being a father to my daughter, or you’d have never had the chance to meet her, which would’ve been a shame since she adores you, too.”
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “I don’t deserve you.”
She smiled. “True. We can agree on that.”
He chuckled. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.”
“I never wanted to fall in love again, and definitely not with a man whose job puts his life at risk, but…” She shrugged. “I have. If the last month has taught me anything, I’d rather have as much time as I can with you than live without you in our lives. I know it’ll be hard. I know SEAL families have to be strong, and Katie and I will learn to be.”
“Well, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Gently, she perched her hip on his mattress. “This okay? Am I hurting you by moving the bed?”
“I’m fine. Do you remember when I told you that one of the reasons that being with one person over the summer would be perfect timing for me was because I had a lot of decisions to make?”
Her brow furrowed. “Sort of, but gosh, that conversation was five months ago. Pretend I remember and go on with your story.”
“I knew a year ago that I needed to leave teams. Hell, Holly, I’ll be thirty-six next month. I told myself I was living on borrowed time staying in teams. If I couldn’t keep up with the younger guys on my team, then I’d put them or me at risk. I was approached about two different jobs I could do while getting in my twenty for retirement. I’ve spent the summer going over the pros and cons of each position. I only had one chance to get it right, so I didn’t want to be distracted this summer with women.”
“I kind of do remember this. What did you decide? Are you leaving California?” Her heart stuttered at the thought he might have to move away for the Navy, and if he did, would he want her to go? She would if he asked.
“I’ve accepted a position as a SEAL instructor.” He smiled. “That means I’ll be based here.” He took her hand. “I want to be where you are.”
Her vision blurred with tears. “And I would have gone to wherever you had to go. I love you, Ben.”
“I love you, Holly.”
She leaned forward to kiss him, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“No. No kissing. I haven’t brushed my teeth since, hell, I don’t know when.”
“Got us covered.” She pulled a peppermint from her purse, bit it in half, and put one piece in her mouth. “Open up,” she said with a grin. He did and she set the second piece on his tongue. “Now, chew and then kiss me.”
He chewed, and then she leaned over to kiss him. He tasted like mint and love.
When she pulled away, she asked, “What are your plans when you get out of the hospital?”
He shrugged. “I’ll go back to my house to recover.”
“Buzzzzz.” She made a rude, wrong answer sound. “Wrong answer. When you tell a woman you love her, and she tells you she loves you, then the correct answer is, can I come stay with you? Now try it.”
He chuckled. “Holly Maxwell, the love of my life. Can I come stay at your house for a little while?”
“See? How hard was that? Of course, you can.”
Four Weeks Later
His legs were stronger. His bullet wounds had healed. His team had moaned and groaned when he’d confirmed he was leaving the teams. Jacob took over as Bravo One and Benjamin knew he was