Tangled Pursuit (12 page)

Tal realized that their conversation had just taken a whole new turn. She quietly absorbed that ripple of pleasure when his voice lowered to an almost guttural level and he called her “darlin’.” Uh-oh!

“Is that why you’re still single, Wyatt?” she asked, giving him a direct challenge.

“What?” he asked, somewhat taken aback. “Do you mean that my lack of diplomacy and honesty can’t keep a relationship going in the right direction?”

Tal squirmed. For the first time, she’d heard hurt in his voice, despite Wyatt’s teasing tone. She didn’t mean to hurt this man; in fact, from everything she’d seen so far, he was a pretty nice guy. Unless he was playing her . . .

“No, sorry, that came out all wrong. It’s just that I’ve seen relationships built on half-truths, and they eventually fall apart.”

Wyatt gave her a studied look. Finally, he said, “I’ve never considered getting married while I was a SEAL, Tal. There’s a ninety percent divorce rate among these guys. I saw it going in, and I don’t want to put myself or a woman I care about through that kind of barbed wire.”

Her spoon wavered over the last bit of her sundae. How to answer such an honest statement? She decided on giving him an appreciative response. “You’re clearly smarter than the average guy, then.”

He shrugged. “I figured I’d get married once I got out. That way, I’d be able to stay at home. If we had children, I’d be a real father to them, not someone missing in action three hundred days out of every year.”

She heard the emotion behind his words, but she also detected a sore spot somewhere in his background. “Family means a lot to you, then?”

“My folks are Texas ranchers. We have a long history in that state. And all my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins live within a two-hundred-mile radius of the Van Horn area, where I was born. I grew up surrounded by a big, happy, sloppy family. We have our issues and problems, but the bottom line is we are there for one another when needed. I want that same kind of family when I finally settle down and get married.”

“I imagine you’ll make a good father, then,” Tal said softly. “Today, I saw you hold a baby boy. He was so unhappy until you held him. Then he felt safe. I even heard you croon to him, Wyatt. You have a way with children that most men don’t have—an immediate connection and a nurturing side that comes naturally to you.”

“Hey, I have four younger siblings,” he teased. “Mattie is twenty-nine, Cathy is twenty-seven, and Jake, twenty-two. As the oldest, I got to babysit all of them. I helped raise Jake, the youngest; when I was nine years old I started changing his diapers, giving him baths, and feeding him his bottle. I got broken in early on babies and toddlers, believe me.”

Her lips twitched. “And you’re such a badass SEAL.”

Giving her an amused look, he murmured, “It’s just one part of who I am, Tal. Not all of me.”

“Most SEALs aren’t like that.”

“I’ve found that a lot of SEALs come from either broken or dysfunctional families. They’re looking for a father they never had, Tal. And the SEALs, as a group, are the ultimate father-warrior figure. I didn’t buy into some of what and who they are. I enjoy being a warrior because I’m good at it, but I have other parts of me that need to be satisfied, too. I make sure that being a SEAL doesn’t engulf me.”

“By giving back to the villages with aid and medical relief?”

“Yes, that’s one way.”

She finished off her half of the vanilla ice cream and the last of the pineapple sauce. Wyatt had gently pushed the bowl in her direction, gesturing to her to finish it off. He was a man who knew how to share, and she gazed thoughtfully at him. “You’re a Navy chief. How many years are you staying in?”

“I went in at eighteen and I’m thirty-one now.” He rubbed his right knee. “And I’m pretty well banged up. I don’t think my body is going to keep taking the kind of punishment the SEALs dole out much longer.”

“When’s your enlistment up?”

“Six months from now.” He frowned. “I’ve been torn about re-upping or packing it in, to tell you the truth.” He looked directly at her now.

“What kind of job are you looking for after you get out?” she asked curiously, an idea beginning to form in her mind.

“Something in computer science. I’ve already gotten invites from several universities interested in the software I created and wrote.”

Eyes widening, she stared at him. “Seriously? You’ve written a software program?”
It just goes to show
, Tal told herself.
Never judge a book by its cover.
Wyatt was the last person she’d have suspected of being a computer geek! Nor did he act like one. Tal saw his mischievous grin beginning to form.

“What? A SEAL can’t be something other than a badass with a rifle?” he teased.

“I just didn’t think about software and SEAL in the same breath!” She tried not to sound offensive.

“They both start with an ‘S,’ don’t they?”

Now it was her turn to laugh aloud, and she saw his grin grow larger. “Got me there. Tell me about this software.”

“I received a degree from Cornell University in computer science years ago. And I’m good at writing up plans for successful military missions, Tal. In fact, I’m better than ninety percent of those who write up missions. Over the years, I took a look at our SEAL mission plans to see which were successful and which had been a bust. Then I started writing a software program to show all the variables that determine whether a mission is tight or will fall apart during its execution.”

“That’s incredible!” Tal murmured. “You created a program that can help us devise better missions?”

He nodded, his expression serious. “Yes, I’ve been fine-tuning it for the last four years. I now have the ability to go over every mission we’ve set up since 1961, when President Kennedy started sending trainers into South Vietnam. I’ve created missions on my laptop for the past two years, and so have other platoons in ST3, SEAL Team Three. So far, it’s working well, and it’s allowed me to get rid of the bugs in the program.”

“And what’s your rate of success?” Tal was riveted. Her most important job was to devise successful missions that got her teams back safely and without injury.

“Eighty-five percent.”

She gasped, sitting up in her chair, her eyes widening as she stared at him. “Seriously?”

“Deadly serious, darlin’.”

She blinked, her mind racing with possibilities. “I’d like to try out that software, Wyatt. It could help us, couldn’t it? Or has it only been designed for SEAL missions?”

“No, I’ve been working on parallel mission demands such as Force Recon Marines, Special Forces, Delta Force, and other black ops groups. I also created one for police department SWAT teams.”

“No wonder you have major universities interested in your software,” she breathed.

“The Pentagon, specifically the Army and Marine Corps, is very keen on buying it,” he admitted.

“But you haven’t sold it to anyone yet?”

“No. I need to keep refining it until I’m satisfied. Variables, as you well know, are what make or break an op. Trying to prepare for all of them, given the location and the country, is a big, messy business. Every country is different and I don’t have them all configured into my program. Plus, all this is top secret. It’s not a program that will ever see the light of day in the public eye, that’s for sure.”

“If you’re eighty-five percent accurate, how to do you take into account the unknown fifteen percent on a mission?”

“Sometimes, the perishable, or time-limited, intel comes from a liar who is setting up an ambush to take out the team, or a sniper op,” he said grimly. “Weather plays hell with it, too. Or there’s a malfunction of a weapon, a broken-down Humvee, or a jet that’s supposed to be dropping ordnance on the enemy, and things go haywire and you have friendly casualties instead. I’ll never be able to create software that’s always accurate, Tal. That’s impossible. But I’ve got this pretty well refined to the point where it’s already saving lives out in the field. That’s all I care about—just bringing our troops home from these covert ops.”

“You have a four-year degree in computer science?”

He gave her an apologetic look. “Actually, I have a master’s degree.”

Tal was shocked. “God, I was right. You
are
an onion!” She sat there absorbing his hearty laughter, his gray eyes glittering with amusement. And something else.

T
AL CLIMBED OUT
of the Humvee driven by Wyatt’s friend Burt, who dropped them off in front of her B-hut area. It was dark except for a slice of a quarter moon, and there was a chill in the air. The moon curved above her, and it was beautiful. How many times on a sniper op had she sat there in the dark admiring the night sky? Or watching meteors streak across it?

Tal loved that about her ops: being out in nature, surrounded by a silence broken only by wind whipping across the ridges of the Hindu Kush.

Wyatt thanked Burt, waved goodbye, and then joined her on the sidewalk. “Come with me?” He looked down at her, studying her for a reaction.

“Where are we going, Wyatt?”

“Same place as last night?” he suggested with a wink. But his voice was husky and her pulse began to pound. This man was up front about everything, which always gave her a choice. She absorbed his shadowy face, searching his glittering, hooded gaze. Did she want this right now?

“What is your intent, Wyatt?” She saw his eyes crinkle, his delicious mouth draw into a bemused line.

“I think you know already, darlin’, but I’ll be happy to spell it out for you. I want the right to kiss you. I’ve waited three damned long years trying to get your attention and now I have it. I’m not wasting this opportunity, Tal.” His smile disappeared and he settled his hands on his hips less than a foot from where she stood. “Now, I could kiss you here”—he gestured around—“but I promised you I’d always have your back because you’re an officer. I would never put you into a compromising position with others, since I’m enlisted personnel. So, I’m asking you to come over to the supply building, where no one will see us kiss.”

Tal wavered, aware that a fire deep down was urging her onward, but her common sense was putting up a valiant fight. The result was the unsettling feeling of not knowing where she was headed.

Her hand went to her throat in an almost defensive motion, and then she asked him something no one had ever asked him before. “What will that kiss mean to you, Wyatt?”

He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”

“A kiss has to mean something to me, Wyatt. And I sure as hell want it to mean more than sex to the man who wants to kiss me.”

He nodded and looked down at his boots for a moment, in thought. Finally, he lifted his chin and held her gaze. “I’ve been wanting a relationship with you for years, Tal Culver. Doesn’t that say something about me and my intentions toward you? Have I had relationships here on base? Yes.”

She moistened her lips. “You said earlier tonight that you won’t get into a serious relationship as long as you’re a SEAL. So what am I to think about that? You’re sending me mixed signals.”

“Point taken.” Rubbing his beard, he looked beyond her, his gaze moving around them. It was that hypervigilance that could save their lives. “Before seeing you at the Rec Hall pool . . .”

“Yes?”

“I’d seen you earlier than that,” he began. “You were in Ops and had just come off a mission. I was there at the desk filling out a form when you came up and stood near me. I remember your eyes, Tal, how beautiful they were. I sensed your fierceness, felt your passion, and saw your confidence. Honestly, it turned me inside out. I’d never met a woman warrior like you before. You grabbed my full, undivided attention. After you left, I got your name and did a little SEAL snooping to scope out the situation. I liked what I saw, found out, and heard about you.”

“How did Matt play into this?” Tal asked, wondering if he had used her brother to learn more about her.

“I met him two weeks later. It wasn’t until a month afterward that I found out you were his older sister. That blew me away, but it also redoubled my desire to get to first base with you. Matt is a solid operator, which says a lot in my world. I figured you’d be cut from the same cloth, and I was right. I found out from him that when you were on base, you’d swim a couple times a week at the Rec Hall pool. That particular day, I had six Afghan boys in to teach them to swim when you came in. It was my lucky day.”

“And all of this reconnoitering was to maneuver me into your bed?”

“Frankly, yes. But it was more than that, Tal. The more Matt told me about you, the more I needed to meet you, talk with you, see what was in that head of yours, understand how you saw the world around you, what made you laugh and what made you cry. I can’t fully explain it, and God knows I’ve tried over the years. We share an incredible, organic connection; I damn well feel it and I know you do, too.” He grimaced, his voice lowering, amusement in his tone. “And you’re the first woman I’ve ever met who asked me to explain why I want to kiss her.”

Tal hid her smile, seeing the frustration in Wyatt’s eyes. She felt him floundering like she was, trying to figure out what was going on between them and whether or not it was worth connecting further. “I guess we’re both alike in that way,” she offered quietly.

“What way is that?” he growled.

A half smile pulled at her mouth. “We’re both logical people. We want to understand things because we’re very self-aware. We don’t like going into a situation blindly. We want to understand ourselves, other people, and the elements surrounding them.”

“Spoken like a true sniper,” he rasped, giving her an appreciative look.

“Yes, well you’re a sniper yourself—just one in disguise,” she said accusatorily.

“So are you coming with me?” He pointed toward the supply warehouse.

Tal gave him a panicked look. “Wyatt . . .”

“I don’t know where this is going either,” he told her gruffly, holding her wary gaze. “You’re a natural-born risk taker, Tal, just like me. On every op we take, it’s a damned life-and-death risk.” His mouth pursed. “I’m willing to risk my heart on you. I have no idea how it’s going to turn out between us. I don’t have any expectations about us. I just want to explore what we have with one another when we can. Are you willing to risk your heart to find out too? That’s what this all boils down to.”