Page 45 of Bewitched

“No, I’ve only been to Los Angeles, and that was years ago. I’ve seen pictures and it looks lovely. Do you live close to the beautiful hotel?”

“You mean Hotel del Coronado?”

“Yes. I think that’s the one.”

“I live about five miles away in Officer Housing. It’s across from the NAB where the BUD/S program is located. That’s where I’ve spent the last couple of months, helping my buddy. He’s in charge of Phase One and was short a couple of instructors, so I helped him out with the tadpoles.”

“I’ve seen pictures of guys running up and down the beach. Are those the tadpoles?”

“Probably. The guys in blue T-shirts are instructors, and the guys in the white shirts are the tadpoles. When you secure Hell Week, you’re given a brown shirt with your name stenciled on the back. It’s a damn good day when that happens. Less than twenty percent of any given class earns one.”

“Do you still have yours?”

“I’m sure it’s in a box somewhere. I’ll look for it and show it to you when you come out. I think you’re going to love Coronado. My buddy Mark lives there with his wife and daughter, and I have a bunch of friends who live close by. They all have families. If we end up in San Diego, then you’re going to have a lot of friends.”

Slipping her feet out of his lap, she patted his leg. “Would you like some more lasagna?”

“I just gave you a ten-minute speech on Coronado and that’s all I get?”

“Blake, what do you expect me to do? It sounds lovely and I would love to see it someday, but I’m not going to get excited until I know it’s a real possibility. Maybe the baby and I can come see you in a couple of years if you end up retiring.”

Slamming his hand on the table, he shouted, “No!”

Scooting back, she crossed her arms and felt a tear slide down her face. When a second and a third followed, she got up and walked out of the room. Making her way down the hall, she slipped into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. The unraveling had begun, and she had no idea how to stop it. Pulling the quilt off the bottom of the bed, she covered herself and buried her face in her pillow.

“Paige, honey…” The bed dipped down and he lay down next to her. “I’m sorry that I yelled. The last thing I want to do is scare you or make you upset.” He curled himself around her and held her and apologized again and again.

Turning, she faced him and shook her head. “Why don’t you go before we say more things we’ll regret? This is a difficult situation with no good answers. Let’s not spoil the month we’ve had together with a blowout fight.”

“I’m not leaving until the last possible moment. I don’t want to give up one second with you.”

“Blake, I don’t want you to shout anymore. It scares me.”

Pulling back, he looked stricken. “I’m sorry, honey. I would never hurt you. You have to know that.”

“I know, but you’re a very big man with a very big voice, and when you yell it scares me.”

Kissing her head, he wrapped her up tighter and rubbed his hands up and down her back. “I promise never to yell again. I could kick myself right now for giving you a moment’s worry.”

“I guess I pushed a button with my last statement. Now that I know where it is, I don’t plan ever to do it again.”

Running his hand down her face, he laid his hand against her cheek. “Honey, this whole thing has me half-crazy. I’m out of control for the first time in my life, and I have to tell you that I’m not enjoying it. It’s going to take me a while to figure out how to operate in this new environment.”

“I’m an environment? When did that happen?”

“It happened the moment I saw your picture on my tablet in the helo when we started the op. You are my moon, my stars, my breath. You have become my center, and I’m not sure how I’m going to manage if I’m not around you.”

Tears slipped down her face and she didn’t even try to stop them. He had said the night of her birthday that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he owned her heart, and she’d thought at the time it was just a line. But the way he was looking at her made her realize it was a promise. Blake Carmichael wasn’t going to be satisfied until he owned her body, heart, and soul. Seemed he managed the first thing since he knocked her up. If she had to guess, she’d say he was well on his way to owning the other two as well.

“Paige, will you please come to San Diego next week? I want you to see where I live and meet my friends.”

“What if you get deployed right away?”

“I’m not going to be deployed right away. I have to be assigned to a new platoon, and that takes a while. I’ll probably be helping at NAB, which means that I’ll have a regular schedule and be home every night. You can lie on the beach and relax. Maybe we can meet for lunch too. We’ll be just like any other working couple. Except your work is going to be growing that boy of ours, which, from what I’ve seen, is no easy feat.”

“Well…I guess so.”

Blake let out a loud hooyah and pumped his fist. “God damn, that makes me happy. I can live without you for a week, but that’s about it.”

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