Читать книгу A SEAL's Kiss - Tawny Weber - Страница 11

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WHAT THE HELL was going on?

Sage kissed him as though she’d realized he was the answer to her every sexual fantasy, and now she looked as if she was about to fall apart.

While he could handle the kiss—even if that kind of thing was strictly off-limits—the falling apart was a definite cause for concern.

And the Professor looked like... Well, Aiden looked again. He’d rarely thought of the other man as aging. Sure, in the twenty years since they’d first met, there was a little more silver at the temples and the once-robust physique was showing some softening.

But now the old guy appeared to be three steps away from death. Gray-tinged skin seemed to sag from his bones and he looked as though he’d lost twenty pounds and half his hair in the couple of months since Aiden had seen him.

Suddenly feeling as sick as his mentor looked, Aiden’s gaze cut to Sage. The quick, tiny shake of her head made it clear she didn’t want him to ask questions. He debated. He didn’t like waiting, and would definitely prefer to get his information from the Professor. The straight facts, untainted by the emotions emanating from his daughter.

Sage’s lips trembled and Aiden sighed. He’d never been able to resist her. Even when he knew better. Even when he had no idea why she drowned herself in the emotional depths she did.

This time was no different.

As if she’d read his mind, and he was never one-hundred-percent sure she couldn’t, Sage gave a relieved smile.

“Daddy, would you mind if I stole Aiden away for a little while? We haven’t seen each other in so long. I know you need to talk with him, but, well...” The words trailed off as she heaved a sigh deep enough to challenge her bikini top and Aiden’s resistance.

Then, either for effect or to try and make his libido explode, she sidled closer, plastered herself against his side and wrapped one arm through his so her breast pressed against his bare bicep.

Aiden bit back a groan. An instant erection over his mentor’s daughter while the older man was standing there was poor taste, to say the least.

“I think I should speak with Aiden,” the Professor said quietly, not looking any happier about the idea of what he had to share than Aiden knew he was going to be to hear it.

“Daddy, please,” Sage said, hitting three syllables on that last word. She threw in a fluttering of her lashes and stopped just short of sticking out her bottom lip. “I know it’s important, but can it wait just a little bit?”

His face set in deep furrows, the older man only hesitated for a second before his expression changed from determined to relieved.

“I think I’ll take a short nap, then. We’ll all meet for dinner?”

He waited for Aiden’s nod, then gave them both an indulgent smile before slowly making his way inside.

Sage waited for the door to close before she shifted away. She didn’t let go, though. Instead, after a frown at the sliding door her father had gone through, she tugged him around the corner of the house to the French doors, grabbing what looked like a silk towel off the patio chair as they went.

“You know, if your dad had ever been able to resist that big-eyed pleading look, you might not be having to explain what hugely fabricated make-believe story you’ve dragged me into,” Aiden said, letting himself into the family room, crossing the Persian carpet to close the double doors before turning to face her. “Again.”

“Again? You say that like I’ve dragged you into tons of make-believe situations,” she protested, shaking out the fabric, then shifting it this way and that until he realized it was a dress and she was looking for the hemline. He wished she’d hurry, since the sooner she found it, the sooner she’d put the damned thing on.

“Shall I make a list? We could start with prom, when you told everyone I was your date so you could get out of going with that football player you didn’t like anymore.”

“I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Besides, you had fun taking me to prom,” she claimed.

Fun? Maybe.

But it’d also been his first introduction to torture, realizing that Sage was everything he found sexy in a woman, and completely off-limits.

Which put that night at the top of his most-regrettable choices list. For a Special Forces officer who’d served multiple missions during wartime, that was saying something.

“Sage.” Through playing word games, he wanted information. And his expression made it clear he was going to get it.

“You can be such a grump,” Sage said, pulling a silky dress of some sort over her head. He should have been relieved when the mossy green fabric covered all that tempting flesh. That he wasn’t, he figured, was due to her not giving him his usual buffer time between his typical instant lust for her and the point when his well-honed discipline kicked in.

“A grump who’s engaged to be married, apparently,” Aiden pointed out. Better to take control of the conversation and get right to the point. Otherwise who knew where this discussion would meander.

Despite the worry still etched on her forehead, Sage clapped her hands together and gave him a pleased smile. Why he’d expected her to look ashamed was beyond him.

“Oh, good. You’ve already heard. That makes breaking the news to you easier.”

Aiden tilted his head to one side and shook it a little, wondering if that’d shake his brain cells into the same odd configuration as Sage’s apparently were.

“Do you regret nothing, ever?” he asked in wonder.

“Regret? What’s to regret?” Suddenly as serious as he’d ever seen her, her face grew ferocious and her eyes fierce. She threw both hands in the air. “My father is dying, Aiden. Hearing that you and I were engaged was like giving him a huge dose of hope. Even his doctor said it’s been great for him. Why on earth would I regret that?”

It was like taking a mortar shot to the gut.

Fast, painful and devastating.

For a second, Aiden couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t begin to process the immensity of her words, of what they meant.

Clearly not quite the way she’d planned to break it to him, Sage slapped her hand over her mouth, her expression horrified. Then her eyes filled with tears. Before he could decide if he should hug her or run, she held out both hands as if to say wait. It only took her a couple of breaths to regain her composure, then she sank onto the couch and gestured that she’d wait until he had processed it all.

How did someone prepare for this kind of hit?

He was trained in war. He was skilled in strategy and stealth ops. He’d learned early into his career with the SEALs to build into every relationship the strong possibility of an abrupt goodbye.

Hell, his career had been founded on loss.

But this?

This was something different.

Suddenly feeling as if his entire world was made up of destruction and death, Aiden pushed his hand through his short-cropped hair and tried to gather his thoughts.

Self-pity and drama wouldn’t help anyone, least of all the Professor. And as Sage had already made clear, finding ways to help the older man was their top priority.

“What’s the diagnosis?” he asked quietly, finally ready to hear the details.

“Stage three pancreatic,” she said hoarsely, watching her fingers twisting the fabric of her dress instead of meeting his eyes. Her way of keeping control of her emotions, he knew.

He needed to research this cancer. See what studies had been done, what treatments were offered. Perhaps there was something experimental they could explore.

But hope and a positive attitude would go further than any treatment, Aiden knew. An oncologist specializing in rare forms of cancer, his own father had shared more than one story about miracle recoveries based on nothing more concrete than optimism and faith.

“Tell me what you’ve done,” he finally said, dropping into a wing-backed chair and gesturing that he was ready to deal with whatever she could dish up.

“It all started when Nina—who just eloped, by the way—tried to fix me up with some guy,” Sage began. By the time she’d wound her way around to how her father had heard about their fake engagement at the same time he was telling her the news about his illness, Aiden was shaking his head in awe.

Despite the craziness, it actually all made perfect sense. Well, Sage sense, which was usually perfect in hindsight.

“So that’s how we ended up engaged,” she said with a deep sigh. “I’ve tried to find a way to wriggle out of it, but you’re so great in my father’s eyes that nothing I’ve said will convince him that you aren’t perfect. For me, even.”

“For you, even,” he repeated, laughing helplessly and admiring Sage’s easy acceptance of her own flaws. “Now that’s saying something.”

“It’s making him happy,” she said, looking down at her tangled fingers and giving a sigh heavy enough to break a heart. “It’s giving him hope and a purpose. I cringe every time he mentions the wedding, but he glows. How can this be a mistake if it helps him get better?”

How, indeed.

“What if he expects an actual ceremony?”

She was shaking her head before he finished the words.

“He knows I won’t get married while worrying about his health. That’d be bad juju.”

Aiden’s grimace quickly shifted to a rueful grin. Looked like all that new-agey stuff she was obsessed over might pay off.

“And the exit plan?” he asked. Never commit to a mission without a clear way out.

“When he’s better, and cleared by at least two doctors, we realize that we aren’t suited. I’m thinking we blame your career choice,” she said, batting her eyelashes and giving him a look so sexy and persuasive that he was nodding before he realized what she’d said.

“What? Why my career?”

“Because I don’t have one.” For a second, her lower lip poked out in a cute pout. “And before you suggest we blame it on me being too flighty, I’ve always been that way. He’s not going to believe you changed your mind over something that’s always been a fact.”

It took Aiden a second or two to follow that logic, but once he did, he had to admit she was right.

“Okay, fine,” he said grudgingly. “We can blame my commitment to being a SEAL. Statistics will support that claim.”

Hopefully a few of his team would beat the odds, since two were recently married and one newly engaged. But military and marriage weren’t a good bet under most odds. Factor in the added issues of Special Forces, with the extra dangers and secrecy, and the odds got a little longer.

“Ahhh, statistics,” Sage said fondly. Then she rolled her eyes. “A nice fallback and one my father will undoubtedly let himself believe. But we all know that I’m not statistically correct.”

“Are you any kind of correct?” Aiden asked in exasperation.

She pondered for a moment, her fingernail tapping on her lower lip in a way that made his mouth water.

“I’m sexually correct.”

“You do sex correctly?” he clarified before he could stop himself.

“Oh, God, no,” she said, laughing. “How boring would that be? I’m sexually correct in that I’m the perfect sexual orientation for all of my sexual preferences.”

Aiden had to sigh.

It was that, or drop his head into his hands and groan.

What was it about Sage that let her take a completely crazy statement, twist it into knots so it made perfect sense, and turn him on all at the same time?

He’d always found smart women sexy.

And Sage, God help them both, was brilliant. Twisted, flighty and very out there. But, his body insisted as it hardened in appreciation, definitely brilliant.

* * *

SAGE BIT HER LIP, trying not to laugh aloud at the frustrated expression on Aiden’s face. She’d never in a million years have allowed her imagination to venture into a scenario that had her father fighting for his life, and his battle dependent on she and Aiden pretending to be in love.

But since they were there, she was starting to think this might actually be kinda fun. Or at least, fun enough playing with Aiden to distract her from the terror dogging her every thought.

“Okay,” he said, waving his hand as if trying to erase all of her crazy comments. “Time to get serious.”

“Ahh, then you’re taking charge now,” she murmured.

He shot her a look that said she was stepping outside the serious line, and had better behave. Sage was tempted to ask if he’d spank her if she didn’t.

But she was afraid she might like his answer a little too much.

“If this is going to work we have to see it as a mission,” Aiden said, his words clipped and his tone cool. Official, she realized, leaning forward and clasping her hands together in anticipation. She’d never seen Aiden in military mode. This should be fun.

“Are you listening?” he asked, giving her a narrow look, his dark eyes assessing her seriousness.

As tempting as it was to tease him, Sage managed to keep her expression sincere. After all, she wanted this to work more than anything. Well, except for seeing him take command. That, she was really looking forward to.

“Of course I’m listening,” she said, gesturing with a finger wave that he keep it coming. “We’re on a mission. Of course, I’ve never been on a mission before. Unless you count those two months I belonged to the Commune of the Sacred Light up in Seattle and tried to convert the pescatarians to pork. You know, the other white meat.”

“I thought chicken—” Aiden cut himself off with a shake of his head, then gave her a chiding look. “Do you want us to successfully pull off this fake engagement or not? Either you call the shots, or I do.”

The tight knot that’d tangled her heart and guts so miserably the last week loosened for the first time. Not just because Aiden was home and taking charge. But because finally, here was someone who could actually distract her enough to keep from worrying every single second.

Diving into the distraction, she debated suggesting they share the shots, preferably out of a tequila bottle. But she figured that’d go over about as well as the pork idea had. Although Aiden probably wouldn’t threaten to roast her over a barbecue like the gang at the commune had. Who knew living on just seafood could make hemp-wearers so bloodthirsty.

“Call away,” she instructed, waving one hand regally as she leaned back on the couch and got comfy. Better him than her. She wasn’t so good at the making-rules thing. Mostly because she never cared about following them. But rules and Aiden? Peanut butter and jelly.

Something he was clearly aware of, since rather than looking surprised, he instead gave a nod to indicate he’d expected nothing less. Mulling with his chin low, he got up from the chair. He paced two steps to the right, clasped his hands behind his back like a general plotting a coup, paced two steps to the left, then faced her again.

“Okay, then, here we go. The obvious goal of the mission is to offer peace of mind to the Professor.” He waited for Sage to agree, which she quickly did, then gave an answering nod. “Which, to him, is the concept of both of us being settled and happy. Marriage, as he’s hinted at from time to time over the last decade, is his ultimate goal.”

Say what? Her father had dropped plenty of hints to her over the years. Hints she’d laughed at. But he’d tossed a few at Aiden, too? To the same reaction? She frowned. It was one thing for her to think they were totally unsuitable and the idea of them as a couple was funny. But she was oddly insulted that Aiden felt the same.

Then it hit her that this mission, as Aiden was calling it, was something her father really, really wanted. It was so important to him, and it might be the last thing he ever asked of her.

Suddenly all of the other things he’d ever asked bombarded her. That she come home for Christmas. That she get a degree. The three weeks he’d spent nagging her to see a dentist to make sure her tongue piercing wasn’t going to ruin her teeth. The concern he’d shown over the guy she was dating. Any guy, she realized. He’d been concerned about them all. To the point that, somewhere after her twentieth birthday, she’d stopped letting him meet them. All because it’d been easier than worrying about making her father happy.

What did that say about her? And how much longer did she have to worry about his happiness? Her chest too tight to pull in a deep breath, Sage bit her lip and tried to keep from crying.

“Sage?”

She took a shallow breath, trying to get air to her lungs. The pain was too much, though. She debated putting her head between her knees. But while she wasn’t averse to a head between her knees, she didn’t want it to be her own. Nor did she want to explain why it was there to Aiden.

Because that’d be admitting fear. Admitting that she didn’t believe that smiles and positive energy and this crazy scheme were going to be enough to pull her father through.

“Sage?” Aiden asked again, stepping over to lean down and peer at her face.

“I’m okay,” she croaked.

“What’s wrong?”

Unable—unwilling—to explain, she shrugged and waved at Aiden to keep barking out rules.

He narrowed his eyes, stepping closer as if he were going to offer comfort. Then, since he probably didn’t figure mission leaders were supposed to hand out hugs, he frowned instead and gave her a nod.

“If we’re going to succeed, we both have to be completely committed to whatever means necessary to fulfill said mission.”

Blinking back the tears that were burning her eyelids, Sage sniffed and forced herself to focus on Aiden instead of her morbid thoughts.

A good choice, since he made for a great view. He was so cute, all serious and intense. Unable to resist, Sage widened her eyes and asked, “Will that include night-vision goggles, matching camo outfits and secret passwords?”

“Maybe,” he said without even a hint of a smile. “But more to the point is that we both agree that we’ll give this one hundred percent. If you want the Professor’s mind at ease, it’s going to take focus and effort.”

Sage frowned. Neither of which he seemed to think she had. Needing a few seconds to process that, she leaned back, tucking her feet under her. The nubby fabric of the sofa scraped gently over her bare toes, contrasting with the silk of her skirt.

“This isn’t a whim, Aiden. This isn’t an experiment or a fun lark. This is my father.” She paused, as much to swallow the tight ball of fear in her throat as for effect. “I’ll do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to bring him comfort and to keep him from worrying. So if Mission Marriage is the answer to his peace of mind, consider me in.”

He gave her a look so intense and searching, she felt like he’d just scanned her every thought, delved into her secrets and checked her pockets for loose change.

If he could package that, TSA would pay a fortune.

Sage shifted, angling her feet under her butt to keep herself from getting up to run from that look. Or, more to the point, from discovering what he’d found. Or worse, what he hadn’t.

As usual, he didn’t say.

Instead, he shook his head, then instructed, “Let’s call it Mission Engagement. Neither of us is crazy enough to think we’re marriage material.”

Sage blinked a couple of times, trying to process that kick in the gut. She wasn’t marriage material? As in, he didn’t think she was marriageable? Or was she simply not what he wanted in marriage?

Not sure why she cared, since marriage—especially marriage to someone like Aiden—was the last thing she wanted, Sage frowned.

Whether it was intuition, that he caught the look on her face or he was just in a hurry, Aiden waved his hand as if turning the page. Then he followed it up with lifting two fingers in the air.

“Point one is that this is a mission. Which means point two is that we agree that to better ensure the success of the mission, the truth of the situation would be kept between just the two of us. Under no circumstances is anyone else to know that this is a fake engagement.”

“So you wouldn’t actually want to marry me, but you don’t want anyone to think you’d fake our engagement?” she clarified.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t want to marry you,” he corrected, pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. His brow furrowed, a frustrated look in his eyes as he shrugged. “But wanting something doesn’t mean you should do it. That’s kindergarten one-oh-one.”

“I must have napped through that lesson.” Her own more casual shrug shifted the loose fabric of her dress so it slid down one shoulder.

Something flashed in his eyes as his gaze followed the silk’s slide. Something hot and wild and edgy enough to make Sage’s nerves tighten and heat swirl low in her belly. Then he blinked and the look was gone, leaving Sage wondering if celibacy was causing her to hallucinate.

The hot warmth between her thighs and the delicious tightening of her nipples weren’t just her imagination, though.

“So marrying me wouldn’t be so bad?” she teased, her words low and husky, a hint of flirty enticement in her smile.

“Of course it would.”

Huh?

“You said...” The words trailed off as she shook her head. Debating her many failings in his eyes wasn’t going to help them comfort her father. “Forget it. You were outlining the mission rules. Go ahead.”

“Okay,” he said, his gaze narrowed as if he were checking something off his mental list. He gave a short nod before continuing. “Rule three, the mission time frame is completely dependent on the health of the Professor. The mission is not complete until his health is completely recovered, or, well, until it’s no longer necessary.”

Nausea swam through Sage’s belly at his hesitation. Unwilling to acknowledge it, she tilted her head to the side, focusing instead on the way his shirt emphasized his biceps. Tight, hard round muscles that made her mouth water. That, she decided, was a much more enticing focal point.

“That means we’re both fully committed, Sage,” he said, his tone making it clear he didn’t think she was hearing him. Since he might have already recited the Gettysburg Address for all she knew, he had a good point.

“Fine, yes,” she agreed quickly. “We’re fully committed.”

“This might not be accomplished in one leave, or this month. Or even this year. I have to go back on duty, and you’re going to be, well, wherever you’re going to be.”

“Here,” she decided then and there. “I’m here until my dad is well again.”

“All the more reason to make sure you’re following rule three then.”

“Fully committed?”

“That means you’re pretending you’re engaged.” He paused, giving her an arch look. She was pretty sure she knew where he was going, but decided it would be more fun to make him spell it out. So she offered a blank look of confusion, adding a flutter of her lashes for good measure.

“I know this is going to be hard for you, but unless you can handle it, we might as well find an alternative now.”

Not so amused any longer, she ceased fluttering.

“Handle...what?” Hard and handling were giving her a lot of ideas.

“You have to be able to commit to keeping to the spirit of this engagement for the duration. That means no sex. You can’t keep bouncing from guy to guy.”

Bouncing? Sage was tempted to inform him that she was going on eight months with no sex and managing fine. But that wasn’t the kind of thing a girl wanted to admit to a guy who was currently making her wonder how many licks of his tongue it would take to get her off.

At least, not until they’d spent a little more time together, and she’d figured out what it was about Aiden that was suddenly making her hot and crazy.

“I promise, any sex I have will be within the accepted confines of our engagement,” she swore, one hand in the air.

“That’d be rule four,” he said quickly. “No sex.”

“I just said I wasn’t going to cheat on you. Even if the cheating was really fake.”

“I mean no sex between us.”