SEAL'd Perfection Book 2 Read online

  I considered him for another moment, mesmerized by his transformation. The space between us was still sparking with tension, and the darkness in his eyes told me this was far from over, but I’d fired my shot, said my piece, and got up from the table and left—without another word.

  I only had to wait until the following afternoon to find out what his return volley was. After taking a mid-morning break to run some errands, I returned to find a beaming John waiting in front of the shop. “Good news, Jace. We found some clients today that I think will make a fantastic episode.”

  I studied him with a wary eye and made my way into the shop, stopping in the doorway when I saw three faces I never thought I’d see again.

  Chapter Three — Jace

  Sitting on the long leather couch were three sailors I’d served with side by side, in Afghanistan, a few years ago. All three had been injured on the same mission when an explosive had taken out their convoy, leaving one dead, and three in various state of injury. I’d seen them again after returning home from the war, but after I’d said goodbye to them that day—I never wanted to go back.

  My eyes seared into John’s, wondering if he had known about it. I didn’t think it possible, he’d probably just figured it would make for good TV, but there was something heinous in his dark smile…

  “Winslow!” One of them yelled as soon as I entered the shop.

  I smiled as best as I could, taking in each of them in turn. Richard Lambert was in the worst shape, left without the lower portion of his legs and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life due to additional nerve damage. Carter McNeil’s face bore the scar from where he’d been grazed by a bullet trying to get Richard out of the line of fire after the explosion. And Kenny Lawrence, while healed on the outside, anyone who knew him, could see the deep scars he carried with him on the inside.

  “Hey you fucks!” I said as enthusiastically as I could. They were my brothers, and just by looking at them, I was overwhelmed with a landslide of emotions. Everything from guilt, shame, sadness, despair, and bittersweet memories of better times, bore down on me as I tried to keep it together. “What the fuck drug you squids all the way out here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  Richard chimed up first, “We heard you could make us famous, bro.”

  They all laughed and I joined in. I’d taken more than a little ragging for becoming a reality star after leaving the SEALs, but I knew it was all in good spirits.

  John stepped in and cleared his throat. “Jace, these gentlemen are here to get a memorial tattoo for Ryan Peterson, and they would like you to be the one to design and do the honors. I think this will make a great, two-part episode, where we can really highlight our soldiers and talk about your background as a SEAL as well.”

  Inside, I was growling like a hungry wolf, ready to rip him a new asshole, but on the outside, I smiled and thanked the three vets for the opportunity and honor.

  * * * *

  Six grueling hours later, as the last crew member shuffled out for the night, I released a pent up yell that carried off like steam releasing from a pressure valve, until there was nothing left in my lungs. I sucked in a harsh breath, and punched the wall behind the desk. I growled at the pain shooting up my arm from the impact, and after pacing a few minutes to shake away the sting, dragged myself back up to my apartment to get my tool kit to fix the hole I’d left in the wall. I didn’t need anyone asking questions about it the next morning when the rat bastards from production arrived.

  “Come on Jace, don’t go there again,” I snapped at myself as I began the patch job. Seeing my brothers—the seamen—had been enough to shake up the ghosts from my past, but spending all day trying to fight those ghosts off until I was alone, had drained me of all energy, and I was too tired to try anymore.

  The three vets had been in another unit while we’d been overseas together, but whenever something like the explosion happened, it sent shock waves through all of us. Everyone felt the terror, grief, and the guilt over not being able to stop it. No matter how illogical that might seem to others looking in from outside the situation. It was something only the sailors—my brothers in arms—could fully understand.

  I heaved myself up from the floor after re-packing the tool kit, and went outside to get some fresh air to clear my head before the walls shrunk in around me even further. It was too late for the diner to be open, and as soon as I stepped outside, the dark windows confirmed my suspicion that everyone had gone home for the night. I turned and began walking down the sidewalk, when the soft chirp of the diner doorbell rang out into the street. I whipped around and saw Kat standing there, a brown paper bag tucked under her arm. I watched as she turned back to lock the door, and then started across the street towards my shop.

  “Kat!” I called out, taking a few steps into the light.

  She jumped. “Shit! Jace, you scared me!”

  “Sorry,” I replied softly. I looked at the bag in her arms.

  She shrugged it off and looked down the section of sidewalk I’d been following before her arrival. “Are you going out?”

  “No.” I shook my head and pocketed my hands. “I just needed some air, that’s all.”

  “Rough day?” She cocked her head sympathetically at me, her eyes wide with concern.

  For a moment, I wondered if she’d missed me, but immediately dismissed the idea. She was the one who’d told me we couldn’t be anything more than friends, and then she’d put up even thicker walls than the ones she’d had up the first day we met. I hadn’t been the one who’d backed off, that was all her, and you couldn’t miss someone you were running away from, could you?

  “Jace? Is everything okay?” She asked.

  I snapped back to attention, wondering how long my mind had been drifting. “Yeah,” I lied. “Everything’s fine. Were you coming to see me?” I asked, wanting to throw her off track.

  Her eyes followed my gaze as though she’d forgotten about the bag. “Yeah, um, you looked busy over here, so I thought I’d bring you some dinner. It’s not much, just some leftover pot roast and potatoes. The garlic ones you like.” She tucked her chin under, and I wondered if she was regretting her kind gesture.

  “That’s really nice. Thank you,” I said. “Do you want to come in?”

  “No, thanks, I should get going,” she said. “I have to go get Jax from his dad’s. If I’m not there on time, my ex will—” she stopped short, as though hearing herself and realizing she was giving out too much information. “Here—” she pressed the bag into my hands, “—I’d do the meat at 350 for thirty minutes and the potatoes on the stove. Or, ya know, just nuke it all, I guess,” she laughed nervously.

  “Right,” I said, smiling—probably for the first time all day. “Thanks again. You knew just what I needed.”

  Kat smiled, her eyes shining as she looked up at me. “Uhm, if you need anything…” Her words trailed off and I didn’t press any further.

  Chapter Four — Kat

  I left Jace standing alone under the dim street light, but the sad, distant look in his eyes haunted me the entire trip to pick up Jax. The pit in my stomach that had formed on Monday telling Jace we couldn’t be together had only grown and grown, and was now filling up with guilt at the shitty way I’d been treating Jace all week. The way he’d looked, out there all alone, wandering aimlessly down the street without so much as a jacket…something was wrong and I was beginning to wonder if it was all my fault.

  A million possibilities had whirled through my mind by the time I walked up the steps to the front porch and rang the doorbell.

  Seconds later, Mitch pulled the door open and my mind shifted from worrying about Jace to a blast of sheer panic at the self satisfied look on my ex-husband’s face as he stared at me.

  “Oh, I see you didn’t bring your thug with you this time,” Mitch said, his voice sharp as he sneered. As I stared at him, I wondered what on earth had ever attracted me to him in the first place. Either he’d changed significantly
over the years, or my radar had been completely on the fritz when we’d first met.

  I decided on the former, it was an easier truth to admit to myself.

  “Mitch, as I’ve stated, my love life is not your concern anymore. I’m just here to pick up Jax, so can we move on?”

  “It might be more of my concern than you might think,” he replied. “I’m not too sure what the courts would think if they knew you were hooking up with a tattoo artist with a party boy reputation. What do you think?”

  I folded my arms, keeping my face frozen in place, even though my heart racketed inside my chest, shocked by his statement.

  Mitch laughed, low and dangerous. “What? You thought I wouldn’t find out? Come on, Katherine, I’m not stupid. The answers were all a quick Google search away, and boy, what a goldmine…”

  I didn’t dare to say a word in response. I had no way of knowing what Mitch had read, what he knew—or, at least, thought he knew. I took a defiant step forward and pushed past him into the house. “Where’s Jax?” I asked, unable to hear the echoes of his little voice as I wandered down the hallway.

  “He’s sleeping. He had a very exciting day. Hannah and I took him to the zoo, and then out to dinner, and on the way home, we went to his favorite toy store and he got to pick out whatever he wanted.”

  My heart sank. Mitch loved rubbing it in my face—the lifestyle that he was able to provide for Jax, knowing full well that even just one of those activities would have busted my meager budget.

  Someday…I reminded myself. It wouldn’t be this way forever.

  Mitch shut the door. “So, does Jax know who Jace is? Has he been inside the tattoo shop?” His voice was pleasant, and to an outsider might sound like innocent questions, but I knew better. Mitch was only mining information to be used against me.

  “I think I’ll go wait in the car. I brought a book,” I said, going back to the front door.

  Mitch blocked me. “I may sound friendly, Katherine, but if I catch even a hint of anything unpleasant—I’ll drag you back to court so fast your pretty little head will spin.”

  The blood in my veins seared through my body, my pulse so loud it was ringing in my ears. “Let me out,” I growled.

  He kept me locked in a silent standoff, only broken by the sleepy voice of Jax, “Mama?”

  The rage spiked and then flushed away as I turned to find my boy running down the hall and into my arms.

  “Come on, baby. We’re going home.”

  I grabbed his backpack from the stair banister and hauled him outside, pushing past Mitch, leaving him to seethe on the front porch.

  As I watched Mitch get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, I knew that the time had come to take control of my life. I made up my mind to stop living in fear of his constant threats, and live my life. The thought of going back to court, of having to fight to keep my baby boy with me, was enough to freeze my blood cold, but I was beginning to see that it was never going to end, and I needed to decide what to do in light of that revelation.

  * * * *

  Jace continued his daily visits, but each day it was like less and less of him was walking through the diner door. His eyes, that had been so vibrant and bright when we’d first met, took on a dull, listless quality, and although he was still friendly, he no longer tried to engage me in conversation, and spent the entire time eating his meal staring out the window at his shop, almost like he could see something that was invisible to the rest of us.

  By Friday, I’d made up my mind that while it might be self-inflicted torture, I would invite Jace over for dinner once Jax was over at Mitch’s house for the weekend. I wasn’t ready for Jax to meet anyone, even if it was just a friendship. Which, was the boundary I’d still fenced around Jace, regardless of how much my body might protest every time I saw him. Even though weeks had passed since our date—and hot and heavy make out session—my mind and body was still craving him. In fact, it almost amplified with each passing day. I resolved that a dinner was harmless enough—choosing to ignore the fact that a dinner was all we were supposed to have done before.

  I took in a deep breath and went to Jace’s table to drop off his check. He smiled up at me as he lay a twenty down on the paper bill when I set it on the edge of his table. Just spit it out. “Jace, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?”

  His face masked his surprise well. His eyebrows gave him away, lifting up at the question. “I would,” he answered a heartbeat later.

  “Seven o’clock,” I instructed, swishing away before my bubbling panic could talk me out of it and revoke the invitation.

  I hurried out of the diner, a couple hours later, ready to jet back home and take Jax to drop him off with Mitch and Hannah. Hilda offered to have me come over for dinner once I got back into town, something she did nearly every Friday, knowing how rough it was on me to leave Jax. When I declined, she gave me a questioning look, but thankfully, didn’t ask the questions that were brewing in her mind.

  Jax dawdled while packing his little backpack for the weekend, which was more of a routine than anything, since he had more clothes and toys than he’d ever need already at Mitch’s house. But, he liked packing his bag, and on most days, I was fine with him taking his time and stalling, but I found myself rushing him, mentally planning ahead how much time I would need to drop him off, get back, shower and change, and pop something into the oven.

  “Jax, honey, it works better if you keep the things you’ve already packed, inside the bag,” I instructed, keeping my voice calm. I heard my phone ringing out in the living room, and left Jax under Mickey’s watch, to go answer it.

  It was Mitch.

  “What now…?” I groaned. I clicked on to the call, noting the time before saying, “We’re leaving in five. Jax is packing right now.”

  “Katherine, it’s Hannah…”

  The sound of her voice sent nails raking down my spine. The mistress turned Mrs. “What’s up?”

  “Mitch had an emergency business trip. I don’t know the details, so don’t ask, but he has to fly out to New York right away. So, you’ll need to keep Jax with you this weekend.” She said it like it was a duty. As though it wasn’t what I wanted all the time.

  I ignored that and pressed my eyes closed, trying to fight back the irritation. I wanted Jax, of course, I hated spending the weekends apart, but tonight…with Jace…

  “Obviously,” I said dryly. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  I hung up before she could simper anymore, and immediately fired off a text to Mitch reminding him that if I were to have pulled a “last minute trip” and canceled on him, he would have been irate. He quickly fired back that unless there were “diner waitress conventions” he wasn’t unaware of—I would have no immediate need to travel.

  I huffed a few cross words and threw the phone into the depths of my purse.

  Jace would be knocking on the front door in less than two hours, and I had nowhere for Jax to go hang out. I bit my lip, trying to sort it out, but there really were only two options…

  Cancel on Jace.

  Let Jace meet Jax.

  I went back and forth, but as I went back to Jax’s room, something clicked into place and I decided that a dinner with my friend Jace could in no way be a punishable offense in family court, regardless of what Mitch might try and make me believe.

  “Hey, honey,” I said, kneeling back to Jax who had moved on from packing to playing with one of the new toys Mitch had purchased for him on his last visit. He looked up at me and my heart fluttered. “Guess what? You’re gonna spend the weekend here, with mama!”

  He clapped and Mickey started barking, which made Jax giggle and five minutes later we were both lying on the floor laughing while Mickey licked our faces.

  It was the perfect moment.

  Chapter Five — Jace

  Whether she knew it or not, Kat had temporarily set me free from the constant haunting of my past when she’d invited me to dinner at her house. Ever since the da
y at the shop with the vets, I’d been in a funk that only got deeper and darker by the day. I had no idea what had prompted her invitation, but I wasn’t about to question it. I sailed through the rest of the day, hardly noticing John’s annoying comments and demands of the crew as I finished a tattoo on a client who was to be featured in the show. When they left, I raced upstairs to shower, shave, and change. Kat had said she was making dinner, and I knew it would be casual, but I put on a button up black shirt and my nicest pair of jeans—essentially the only ones without holes, tears, or stains. I slipped my leather jacket on and headed out, barely remembering to lock up on my way out the front door.

  I made record time to Kat’s townhouse, and sat on the bike, marveling that I was even there after she’d put the deep freeze on me. Walking up the steps, I shoved aside any nerves that sprung up. The only thing that scared me about a night alone with Kat was the fact that if I pushed her, she’d be gone for good. I had no doubt about it. I didn’t know why she‘d invited me to her home for dinner, but I knew it wasn’t for a booty call.

  I knocked on the door and was surprised to hear what sounded like a large dog start howling from the other side. Moments later, Kat opened the door a tiny crack. “Hold on,” she said, quickly shutting it again. I smiled as I heard the dog bark and Kat holler at it to shush. When she came back, she opened the door all the way and let me inside, “Sorry about that,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her dark brown hair was rapidly falling out of her ponytail, strands framing her face in an alluring undone look.

  “I didn’t know you had a dog,” I commented.

  She rolled her eyes down the hall. “Five days a week, I do.”

  Before she could explain anything else, a tiny little boy popped out from around the corner. “Hi! I’m Jax!” He shouted at the top of his tiny little lungs.