A/N - I didn't plan to write this next (it was supposed to be Cruz introducing them in Norfolk!) but Guest mentioned meeting while on vacation and this demanded to be written. So thank you for the inspiration! Not sure this is what you were imagining but, either way, hope that you enjoy! Oh, and warning for foul language. xoxo - tmtcltb

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Title: Books

Place: Bahamas

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Danny scowled at his - soon to be former - best friend. "What the hell is your problem, Benz?"

"My problem?" Frankie repeated, before throwing his arms out. "My problem, Green, is that we're in the middle of paradise and you are bringing down the mood. You've scared off the last two sets of luscious ladies that I have brought by with your sulking. Did you forget that we are here to get laid?"

"I didn't forget," Danny muttered. Hell, it was the reason he allowed Frankie, Steve Berchem and Jason Smith to drag him here. Promises of golden beaches, plenty of alcohol, and women ready and eager to indulge in a little no-strings-attached loving. Although none of them had ever been to this resort before, Teylor Cruz recommended the place and the man had not led them wrong. The beaches were so bright that they hurt his eyes. The team had been plied with so much booze since their arrival that Danny was actually craving water. And everywhere he looked, there were gorgeous women in miniscule bikinis. "I'm surveying the options."

And none of them compared to Rebecca.

"That's it," Frankie snapped. "Be gone."

"What?" Danny demanded.

"You're thinking about she-who-shall-not-be-named again," Steve explained, not moving from his position on the lounger. As far as Danny could tell, all the man had done since they arrived was sit on his ass and drink, but Frankie wasn't on his case.

He folded his arms across his chest. "Are you a mind reader now? Besides, the rule was no saying her name. Not that I couldn't think about her."

"Well, I'm changing it," Frankie replied. "Because you might not care how blue your balls are but I do and there's no way I am wasting this opportunity when chances are that a month from now we'll be back in Somalia or some other shithole without a drink or a woman in sight."

Frankie was right, damn it, but Danny wasn't used to being overridden. He glanced at Steve and Jason. "Are you going to let him get away with this shit?"

"Rules are the rules, man," Jay replied, gesturing to Berchem. "And you made the rules last year when Steve was hit with the same bug. No talking about her, no mentioning her name, and no cock blocking the team."

Damn it. Danny wished they would stop reminding him that he was the one who originally made the rules. "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'll see you back at the room for dinner."

"Make it breakfast," Frankie muttered as he tossed back some frothy concoction. "Maybe then you'll be tolerable."

"Fuck you." Picking up his vodka tonic, Danny stalked off. As soon as he was out of sight, he slowed. The resort was an all-inclusive destination for single adults, no children allowed. The kind of place where people went to see and be seen, meaning that private space outside of the bedrooms was scarce. And Danny knew better than return to their suite, where Frankie was bound to come looking for him, determined to "break the dry spell" as the guys were terming Danny's current bout of celibacy.

Danny was wandering around the lobby, searching for any sort of privacy, when he saw it. A semi-circle of potted plants with just the foot of a lounger poking out. The perfect spot to spend a couple of hours in peace. Well, maybe not perfect. It was next to the toilets and probably stunk to high-heavens by midnight but at 1600, that shouldn't be a problem. Stopping by the bar to pick up a six-pack and some bottled water, Danny headed toward his chosen spot. He turned the corner, only to stop cold. Instead of one lounger here, there were two. And one was already occupied.

Shit.

The woman looked up at him, although he couldn't see her eyes through the dark shades she wore, and Danny realized that he had been standing there staring. When she spoke, her voice was cool. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Avoiding someone, actually," Danny admitted, immediately kicking himself for being too honest, but the woman didn't seemed bothered by the admission. He nodded towards the empty lounger. "Is that taken?"

She hesitated before shrugging. "Nope."

Danny settled into the lounger as his companion's attention returned to her book. An actual book. She was hidden away in the corner of a resort where people went to hook up reading a book. The last book he read was back in Afghanistan. His sister Caroline always threw a couple into his care packages - biographies mostly, despite his stated preference for magazines or mysteries. Which is the only reason he had read Frozen in Time, the book that the woman next to him held. It was surprisingly good. A bit dry at times, but anyone who could make it through a winter living on a glacier had Danny's respect. Besides, he wouldn't mind something to read himself right about now.

Anything to distract himself from the fact that he had just broken up with his girlfriend of almost ten years.

They had broken up before. In fact, there had been almost a two year break when Danny did his first tour of Iraq. But for the past three years, things had been becoming more and more serious with everyone - including Danny himself - seeing marriage as the ultimate outcome. But then his mother casually asked whether he would be proposing over the holidays and Rebecca started talking about delaying children for a few years until he was out of the Marines. Initially Danny put his irritation down to cold feet. But as he stood in the jewelry store looking at diamond rings, he couldn't lie to himself - or her - any longer.

He didn't want to marry Rebecca.

Ultimately, they claimed that the breakup was mutual. Two people who grew apart over the years, their lifestyles incompatible, with each unwilling to make the sacrifices that marriage would have required. But Danny knew better. Rebecca would have followed him to the end of the world. He was the one who balked. Still, even as he hid from his friends in order to, as Frankie would no doubt claim, sulk, Danny knew that he made the right decision. Because the only thing that could make him feel worse than he did right now, would be if there was a kid involved in this mess.

Annoyed at the direction of his thoughts, Danny picked up his phone. Maybe Frankie did have a point about his mood. Unfortunately, reception at this place was crap and Danny hadn't thought to download anything new before he left. The resort shop might have some magazines but he was loathe to leave his hiding spot only to find himself with a choice between People and Cosmo. Popping open a beer, Danny checked his watch, realizing that only thirty minutes had passed. Damn it. He glanced at the woman next to him. She was petite and muscular, her body filling out the relatively conservative two-piece suit that she wore, her brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail. Pretty but no knock-out, especially in this crowd. He could see at least one other book tucked into the bag that sat next to her chair, although he couldn't see the title. A second glance confirmed that she didn't have a water bottle near her and, based on the last thirty minutes, Danny guessed that the service in this hidden corner wasn't great. He hesitated for a few more minutes before speaking. "You have anything else to read?"

Her head turned in his direction but, with the large glasses, he couldn't see enough of her face to figure out what she was thinking. "Pardon?"

"I'm willing to trade a drink for something to read," he explained, holding up a beer and a water, giving her the choice.

She hesitated, before her eyes returned to her book. "I doubt that we have the same taste in reading materials."

"Normally I'd agree, but most women aren't fans of military history," Danny replied, annoyed at the dismissal. "Although I might dispute whether the Coast Guard counts as military."

She lifted her head. "You've read Frozen in Time?"

"Not the way I would want to go," Danny replied. "Stuck in a hole in the ice."

"Me neither." She reached up, sliding her sunglasses down her nose to reveal dazzling hazel eyes. "I'm Kara."

"Danny," he replied. He held out the beer and water. "Drink?"

"I'll take a water," she replied, and Danny tossed one over. She caught it easily, unsnapping the top and taking a sip before leaning down to her bag. "But not sure that The Girls of Atomic City is your style either."

He grimaced. "World War II, I assume?"

"Yup." A smile flitted across her lips and, for an instant, Danny felt himself tempted to close the distance between them and kiss her.

Dismissing the impulse, he held out a hand. "Pass it over. It can't be worse than Eat Pray Love."

"You read Eat Pray Love?" Kara was definitely laughing at him.

"I was stuck on a plane with nothing to do," Danny explained. Upon opening Caroline's package and seeing what she sent, Danny had immediately tossed the novel onto the pile of books, movies, and magazines that were available for common use. It was only once they were on their way home that Danny realized the guys switched out his new Tom Clancy for Elizabeth Gilbert. That had been after his first deployment, back when he was still the boot and subject to random razzing. "I wasn't a fan."

"I haven't read it," Kara replied. Having passed over Girls, she returned to her book, although Danny noticed that she left her sunglasses off. Maybe he hadn't completely lost his touch with the ladies. He moved the beer and water between their chairs, giving her the option of more, and cracked open the book.

Anything to burn a couple of hours.

"Danny?"

He blinked, realizing that the lighting in the lobby was much dimmer than the last time he looked up. A glance at his watch revealed that three hours had passed since the last time he checked, the book more interesting than he initially gave credit. Looking to his right, he saw that Kara was sitting up, book closed and bag on her lap. He felt an unexpected sense of disappointment. This afternoon had been ... peaceful. "Are you leaving?"

"I was going to get some food," Kara explained, swinging her feet over the side of the lounger. She hesitated. "You can keep the book, if you want."

Danny considered his options. He was about a third of the way through the story and, if nothing else, it would give him something to do while avoiding Frankie. But he found himself wanting more. "If you give me your number, I'll text you when I'm done and we can meet up. I'll even buy you another water as a thank you."

Kara bit down on her lip, as though she was thinking about something, before straightening. "Look, Danny, I'm going to be straight with you. All I want is a relaxing week at the beach but my friends won't stop pushing me at random guys. And since you spent the last three hours sitting in a corner reading a book that you clearly wouldn't have chosen for yourself in order to avoid someone, I'm guessing that you're in a similar spot. I think we can help each other."

He turned to face her. Despite the fact that they were almost certainly the only two people at the resort who spent the afternoon reading, he was still surprised at her bluntness. A moment of hesitation and he put his cards on the table. "I broke up with a long-term girlfriend recently. My friends brought me here to cheer me up but they're just getting on my nerves."

She nodded. "I hear you. My friends don't seem to understand that I don't want to hook up with some random guy for subpar, drunken sex. Why do they care if I just sit on the beach and read?"

"Well then, assuming you aren't asking me to join you for subpar, drunken sex," Danny drawled, enjoying the slight flush that hit Kara's cheeks, "what are you proposing?"

"We hang out." Kara lifted her chin. "If we're together, they can assume what they want and nobody needs to know what we are or aren't doing. Rather than hide in this corner to get some peace, we can sit by the pool or on the beach and enjoy ourselves."

Spending the rest of the week reading about military history didn't sound as appealing to Danny as it apparently did to Kara, but he was also damn sick of being pushed at anyone with a vagina and a pulse. "Are you interested in doing anything besides books?"

"Like what?" Kara asked, leaning forward, and Danny found his eyes dropping to her chest, her navy blue bikini giving him a nice view of the top of her breasts.

"Swimming, snorkeling, frisbee, volleyball, jogging on the beach," Danny began, quickly refocusing his attention. "Maybe renting a jeep and exploring the island."

Kara was nodding along as he spoke. "Half a day relaxing at the beach and half the day doing something more...active. I'm okay with that."

"What about our friends? We can't avoid them the entire week and, I can't speak for yours, but mine aren't going to believe that we're hooking up if we're always three feet apart." He waved a hand between them, watching her face carefully.

Without warning, Kara leaned forward, hands braced on his knees, and pressed her lips against his. Caught by surprise, it took Danny a few seconds to catch up. Cupping her chin in his palm, he tilted her head back, running his tongue along the seam of her lips, taking advantage of a soft gasp to gain entrance to her mouth and give her a proper kiss. But before he could get more than a taste, though, Kara pulled away. Only the lingering flush in her cheeks suggesting that she might have enjoyed the kiss as much as him.

She returned to her lounger. "I think we can manage a little PDA. But if you start groping me, the deal is off."

Danny forced himself to focus, to consider what they were forgetting. "Understood. But this isn't going to work if I'm back in my room by midnight."

Kara bit her lip again, hesitating, before nodding. "I have my own room. You can sleep on the couch. Anything else?"

"If you change your mind and decide that you want to find somebody to have subpar, drunken sex with, you need to tell me first," Danny said quickly. He might be willing to go along with the charade for a little bit of peace and quiet, but he refused to look pathetic. Well, more pathetic than he already did.

"No problem," Kara replied with a wave of her hand. "So, do we have a deal?"

He found it interesting that she didn't ask him to promise to do the same if he decided to do a little hooking up on the side. Which meant she either wasn't worried about it, or she didn't care. Danny wasn't sure which irritated him more. Still, if all he wanted was a woman to fawn over him, he wouldn't be here talking to Kara in the first place.

Danny held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. Her grip was firm, decisive, and Danny felt his smile grow. "We have a deal."