Page 26 of Curves and Cradles

chaptereighteen

Kevin

I left Jane’s shortly after the call.

There wasn’t much left to say between us. She doesn’t believe I’m capable of being the man she needs. I don’t bother calling or texting Cade. I dive straight to his security offices.

Cade is swearing at something on his laptop when I walk in.

“Problem?”

“Finalizing my travel plans for my jackass of a brother’s wedding.” He slams the laptop shut. “What happened?”

“I asked her to marry me. Again.”

“I take it she said no.”

“Yeah. Evidently, she’ll never know if I truly love her, and I shouldn’t want to marry her for Stella’s sake.” I lean forward, bracing my elbows on my knees. “She’s right. I don’t know how to be in a family. I’ve never even signed a long-term lease on a place to live. I lease all my vehicles. My longest relationship is with my cell phone provider. I only come here because this is your hometown.”

Cade nods. “Corpus Christi is a hell of a town. We’ve got the beach and great seafood. You could call worse places home.”

“Glenn called. I’ve been cleared.” I stretch out my arm, flexing my fingers. I’ll have to earn my place back as the team sniper—prove myself again. “Those guys over there, my team, that’s the only family I’ve ever known.”

“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? To go back?”

“I’ve never had a reason not to go. I’ve never had anything to stay back for.”

Cade shrugs. “You’ve served your time and fulfilled your commitment. You could retire.” He blows out a breath. “You’ve got two choices, brother. You can win over Jane, or you can go back over there and keep fighting. But you can’t go back into battle with your head screwed up like this. You’ll be a danger to yourself and the team. I’d give anything to be back where you are, but I don’t have a woman or a kid. And I’m missing half a leg.” He was quiet for a moment. “You always said that all you ever wanted was to be a SEAL. Is that still true?”

“All I ever wanted was to have my own family. To be part of a family.”

Cade slams his palm on his desk. “Then you go after her, man. Do whatever it takes to make her believe. You survived SEAL training. Winning her over should be a piece of cake.”

I leave Cade’s office thirty minutes later, still not knowing what to do. Am I ready to walk away from my career? The thought of not seeing Jane, of not watching Stella grow up, puts a knot in my stomach. But I’ve been a soldier my entire adult life, and I’m not sure I know how to be anything else.

chapternineteen

Jane

“Did he say how long he’d be gone?” Dani asks.

I blow out a breath and stare at the lesson plans sitting in front of me. “Nope. I assume he’ll come back in another two years.”

“Jane, he didn’t know. You can’t still blame him for that.”

“You’re right. And I don’t. Not really. He’s a great guy.” I’ve already told Dani about everything that’s transpired over the last few days.

“You could always call him.”

“No. He made his choice.” Again, I glance at my lesson plans, but the words blur. “It would never have worked with us, anyway. He’s way too hot for me, way out of my league.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“What the hell does that mean? You saw him. He looks like an underwear model.”

“But he’s more than that, isn’t he? Or is that all it was? Physical attraction?”

“No, of course not. He’s amazing. Sweet and funny and pretty damn perfect. Except for being a soldier and all.”

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