Jordan could play the devil till hell froze over, but he couldn’t fool his father. He was suffering from his stubbornness and his denial.
“What do we do now, Erin?” he asked. “How do we save our boy now?”
He’d been asking his wife that question for far too many years.
His fingers stroked over the stone as Jordan returned, his gaze now calm, though icy cold.
Yes, this was how Jordan handled all those pesky emotions he refused to allow himself to deal with. He froze them out.
“I’ve got to head back, Da,” Jordan told him. “Is there anything more you need?”
Rory shook his head slowly. “Is there anything you need, Jordan?”
Jordan’s jaw clenched. “No games today, Da,” he warned him.
Rory chuckled. “I’d like to see the lass before she’s out of our lives forever,” he said. “Once she leaves, Jordan, she’ll never come back without your invitation. I’d like to tell her goodbye.”
Jordan looked away for a long moment before giving a sharp nod. “I’ll let her know,” he promised, and Rory almost grunted mockingly at the promise.
He let his boy get away with it though.
When the truck had sped away, Rory turned back to Erin’s grave.
“Far too much like you, my love,” he whispered again. “Like talking to a brick wall.” He smiled at the memories. “But a fine woman you were Erin.”
And God knew, he missed her.
He missed her until he felt withered, lost without her as he struggled to keep his promise to her.
“Work on him love,” he finally sighed. “Lead him in the right direction.” This time, his fingers clenched on the stone. “I’m ready to come home to ya, Erin. Help me, just this one time.”
He’d never asked it of her before, but he was damned tired.
It had been far too many years since he had seen her, far too many years since he had loved her.
And he was ready to go home.
She was a vision of beauty.
Standing in the dim light of the silent communications room of the Elite Operations Alpha Base in the heart of Big Bend National Park, Tehya Talamosi, looked like a woman awaiting the lover that would fulfill her naughtiest dreams. A lover that had waited far too long, and left her far too lonely if the expression on her face was any indic
ation.
Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Tehya was awaiting a lover that would fulfill dreams of forever, not simply those of lusty, heated sex. Tehya was a happily-ever-after woman, and he didn’t have happily ever after inside him.
Jordan Malone had accepted that long ago. That acceptance had sent him to the SEALs, and life as a SEAL had taught him that nothing lasted forever, and a man never let himself make friends he couldn’t bear to lose, or to have lovers that he wouldn’t be able to walk away from.
Some rules were broken day by day, but while in the SEALs, those were the rules he had lived by.
As the commander of Elite Operations One, he’d remained true to one rule only. Never let himself get close to his operatives. Only one had been close to him, the nephew he had nearly lost before he’d entered the select, secretive organization.
And he’d almost broken that rule a thousand times over with this woman.
He watched her, the deserted communications room for some odd reason a perfect backdrop for the fact that she was barely dressed.
They were the only two there, and they both knew it. They had known it the moment the last operative left the base earlier that day.
She stood proud in the central cavernous center beneath the metal catwalk he stood on now, staring below, would know she could dress down, dress up, or dress not at all, and no one would know it, but him. If he saw her. And he was supposed to be in his suite, not here, watching her from the shadows.