outright asked about Brody once, and that’d taken every bit of her nerve. Irene had said SEAL business was top secret and that she was doing her part to support her grandson by keeping her mouth shut. Given that Genna’s question had been along the lines of had she heard from him lately, she’d taken the hint.
“He was on a mission. Something went wrong.” Irene shrugged, the movement as helpless as her expression. “He doesn’t say anything about it. But I can see the hurt in his eyes.”
Her heart weighing heavy in her chest, worry pressing down so hard Genna wanted to cry, she could only shake her head.
“He’s going to be okay. He’s tough, Irene. He’s a SEAL.” From everything she’d read, which was everything she could find on SEALs—just out of curiosity—they were the elite, the best of the best.
“I hope so.” Irene gave a shaky sigh, then her expression lightened a little and she peered at Genna. “You and Brody were friends when he lived here, weren’t you? You’re close to the same age, at least.”
Her and Brody? Friends?
If she didn’t wish that were true so much, Genna would have laughed. Brody as a teen had been gorgeous, sexy and fascinating. And that was from afar. Then she’d discovered his sense of humor and clever mind, to say nothing of his wickedly talented hands and delicious mouth.
And, of course, his writing skills.
But she was pretty sure none of that added up to them being friends. She frowned. It hardly made them acquaintances.
“He and Joe were friends,” Genna said, sidestepping the issue. She didn’t talk about that night ten years ago, ever. To this day, she didn’t know if Brody’s decision to join the navy was his own, or if it’d been forced on him. Her father refused to discuss it, and by the time she was off restriction, Brody was long gone.
“Will you talk to him, Genna? Please, for me?” Irene pleaded, the worry in her eyes adding years to her creased face. “He’s been here three days now and said maybe twice that many words.”
“Irene—”
“I’m so worried.”
Genna started to say she didn’t think he wanted to talk to her, then stopped and sighed. For a million reasons, she wanted to talk to Brody. Heck, she was here specifically to do just that. And she wanted to do whatever she could to relieve the worry on her friend’s face.
Why bother coming up with excuses she didn’t mean?
“I’ll talk to him. Is he going to be back soon? Or is he staying at the hotel?” She’d figured if he was, someone would have mentioned it. But he was a SEAL and had all that top secret mojo going for him.
“He’s in the guesthouse. Just go on back.”
On back? To the tiny building behind the house that faced her own backyard? Genna had thought that was a storage building.
“Now?” Genna was so nervous, the word took on three syllables and ended on a squeak.
“If you don’t mind. You can take him some cookies. He does love your cookies,” Irene said with a glint in her eyes.
Mind? Of course she didn’t mind. Just as soon as she tamed the dragons suddenly doing somersaults in her belly. It was a toss-up what made her more nervous. That she was about to see Brody, for sure. Or that he was spending the next little while sleeping so close to her bedroom.
And Irene didn’t give her time to figure it out.
The sweet old lady moved impressively fast, bundling the cookies and Genna out the back door, then standing there to make sure Genna didn’t bolt across the alley.
Her fingers were damp again and her knees just a little wobbly. Genna was pretty sure they’d carry her home, though. She glanced over her shoulder and grimaced. Making an eighty-year-old woman run after her was rude, and the look on Irene’s face left no room for doubt. Genna had been told to do something, she’d damned well better do it.
She took a deep breath that did nothing but spur the tummy-tumbling dragons to spin faster, and stepped up to the door. Holding the plate so tight her knuckles were white, she lifted the other hand to knock.
Okay, so maybe it was a tap, not a knock. But still...
This was it.
A chance she’d been dreaming about off and on for over ten years. A lot more on than off since she and Brody had started exchanging letters.
She didn’t know what she felt.
Excitement, definitely. Brody Lane was her fantasy guy. He inspired feelings, reactions, emotions that she had no business thinking. At least, not while his gramma was watching.
She looked over her shoulder again to check.
Yep. Gramma was watching.
She tried to think nice thoughts instead. Good girl thoughts. Like dating. That was a possibility, right?
It wasn’t as if he was off-limits anymore, either.
He was a hero.
The mayor wanted to throw him a parade.
Even her parents couldn’t object to her dating a military hero, could they?
Not that she was counting on Brody’s wanting to date her. Sexy letters aside, it wasn’t as if they knew each other. Not really. And then there was the fact that their one and only kiss had gotten him corralled into the navy.
But who knew. Maybe all that postal flirting was going to turn into something else. There, Genna decided. Nice, delusional thoughts. Totally appropriate to entertain in front of his gramma.
Inspired, she knocked again. This time with enough force to actually make noise.
There was a loud thump inside, then the scraping sound of wood against wood.
Her stomach tumbled over itself.
She stood straighter, pulled back her shoulders and took a deep breath. The move had never done a thing to make her breasts look bigger, but a girl could hope.
The door opened.
Oh, please, let the whimpering sigh be in her head and not aloud.
Oh, my.
The years had been kind, indeed, to Brody Lane.
Even as his expression folded into a scowl when he realized she wasn’t who he’d expected to see at his door, she couldn’t stop staring.
It was as if Mother Nature had looked at the perfection that had been him at nineteen and decided to add a few layers of “oh, baby” gorgeousness to her work of art.
Arresting before with its sharp planes and brooding features, his face was more intense now. Even sharper, despite being unshaven and shadowed. His eyes were just as striking, like molten gold. They’d always been distant, except when he’d smiled. But now there was a chasm there, as though he was watching from miles away. Assessing. Her, the situation, their past, present and future, all without blinking.
It was kinda scary. Not sure what he was seeing, or more important, what he thought about what he was seeing, Genna bit her lip.
It was nerves as much as curiosity that made her peel her gaze from his to check out his body. And what a body it was.
Broad and muscular, his chest and shoulders looked as though they were sculpted from marble under his black tee. He still had that lean build, his waist tapering to slender hips.
Her eyes dropped lower and she gulped.
Oh, my, the blue cotton sweatpants did nothing to hide the muscle between his legs, either.
Little dots danced in front of her eyes. She realized she’d forgotten to breath.
A gulp of air cleared the dizziness, but the tingling didn’t go away.
He