Chapter 6

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Laughing, Kara stumbled through the surf from the boat, unable to remain even the slightest bit graceful when weighed down by her scuba gear. Catching her hand, Danny tugged her forward and Kara bumped into him. He turned, leaning down to give her a laughing kiss.

The first time he did that, Kara looked around for their friends, assuming that someone was watching. But over the course of the day, Kara realized that Danny was apparently just a physical kind of guy. Looping his arm around her waist or over her shoulders. Taking her hand. Kissing her with no apparent agenda. And the more he did it, the more Kara relaxed. Making her realize how long it had been since that happened.

Even with Jeremy, Kara hadn't been so physical, both of them too reserved and aware of their behavior while in uniform to act in a way that might be misinterpreted. Which is why she was surprised to find that she enjoyed the casual caresses. Maybe things would be different if they were in Norfolk but here, with the surf and sun and sand, everything felt right. Rather than making her uncomfortable, Kara felt taken care of. Protected. As silly as that sounded, even in her head, given that she had known Danny for a grand total of twenty-four hours and really had no way of knowing for .

"I can't remember the last time I went scuba diving for the hell of it," Danny was saying, shaking water off his head as he began stripping down equipment. Although Kara considered herself proficient, within minutes of their arrival, it was apparent that Danny was in a different league and quickly let him take charge of their equipment.

"Do you do a lot of diving for work?" she asked.

"Not much now," Danny replied. "I started off thinking that I would go the underwater demolition route but then I got sent to Bridgeport for advanced winter training and found my groove."

"Your specialty is cold-weather operations then?" Kara asked, realizing how very little she knew about this branch of the Marines.

"Complex terrain," Danny clarified. "Think Afghanistan where you can go from a desert to a tundra in the same day, depending on the altitude. We do some diving but generally deep sea so not much of a view. How about you? How did you end up in operations?"

They returned their equipment and Danny took her hand as they headed back to the resort, with the plan of getting something to eat.

"I was on the rifle and pistol team during college so when I submitted my application, the recruiter suggested either a TAC team or warfare operations," Kara explained. "I looked at the success rates for women on the TAC teams and decided that CIC was a better option."

Danny nodded, remaining quiet for a moment. "My sister would probably kill me for saying this but you made the right choice. Going tactical would have been an uphill battle from day one."

"Have you ever had a woman on your team?" Kara asked, curious.

"Once." Danny paused, his voice suddenly very neutral, face revealing nothing. Kara had noticed the same thing happening earlier, when Nina tried to get his attention at brunch. The effortless shift was a good reminder that the friendly, easy-to-talk-to guy standing before Kara was also a veteran Marine who had lived through things that Kara, protected as she was in the CIC, could only imagine. She might not be seeing it, but Danny had another side. For the first time all day, she could feel the tension between them. Finally Danny spoke. "Before I was promoted to team leader. Shannon was a good Marine. She didn't pull any punches."

"What happened to her?" Kara asked, quietly, not entirely sure that she wanted to know.

Again there was that hesitation. "She got promoted."

"Promoted?" Kara repeated, her tension turning to confusion. "Why was that..."

"It's one thing to serve with a woman, another to follow her orders," Danny interrupted. He glanced sideways, apparently gauging her reaction. "I'm not saying that it's right. But it's the way that it is. Or, at least, the way it was for Shannon."

Kara let that sit for a minute. Wishing that she knew Danny well enough to read his expression. "I was up for a promotion to TAO last year. It was a bit of a long shot, but Captain Chandler gave me an excellent recommendation and you know that word of mouth matters almost as much as the numbers."

Danny nodded. "What happened?"

"Jeremy, the guy I was dating, was also an operations specialist, which I used to think was a good thing because he understood what the job was like. Anyway, I told him about the job. I thought that he would be happy for me." Kara paused, staring down at the sand, wondering why she was telling Danny a story that only made her look pathetic. "Instead, Jeremy went to his CO and asked the man to put Jeremy's name in for consideration. I found out that he got the job when we went out to dinner with a dozen of his friends to celebrate his promotion and transfer to San Diego."

Danny stopped abruptly, turning to look at Kara, his eyes giving away his fury. "What an asshole."

Kara looked away, studying the water. Hating the fact that, even six months later, she could feel the tears welling up. "I had to sit at this dinner with all of his friends talking about how they knew he was going to get the job. I found out later that during his interview he told them that we were dating, were practically engaged, and considering a family. Good for a guy, career suicide for a woman."

"Like I said, an asshole."

Danny moved suddenly, wrapping his arms around her, and Kara's eyes shut as she leaned into him. Accepting the comfort that he was offering. Relieved that he wasn't offering her meaningless platitudes about how something better would come along. Because Kara wasn't stupid. There were a grand total of eight-five DDGs in the United States Navy and the competition was stiff. Moving into a TAO spot took more than just skill, it required luck.

"Alisha agrees. She said that I have shitty taste in men."

Danny snorted. "I completely disagree."

Laughing, Kara realized what she had just said. She tipped her head back to smile at him. "Present company excluded, obviously. This is all pretend anyway."

Kara could have sworn she heard the words feels pretty real to me but then his lips were on hers. Not a peck or a greeting, but a full-on kiss, one that had her toes curling into the sand as she pushed herself upwards, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She shivered as one of Danny's hands slid to her lower back and then to her ass. Pressing them together as he deepened the kiss, making her wish they were back in her room or at least somewhere more private than a public beach.

"Get a room already, Green!"

At the sound of his name, Danny lifted his head, and Kara was slightly relieved to see that he looked as disoriented as she felt. Slowly his grip lessened and then he turned, arm still looped around her waist. "Kara, meet my other two teammates, Jason Smith and Steven Berchem. Berchem promises not to grab your ass. Don't you, Steve?"

Berchem, who was quite clearly drunk, stumbled into Smith. His eyes rolled down Kara in a way that made her want to cringe. "Man, Green, if I knew that's what you were doing the other night, I would have joined you."

Danny's response was instant. "You, sit down and shut up." He turned his attention to the other man, who nodded politely at Kara. "Jay, Kara and I were just about to get some food. How about the two of you go ahead? I'll find you in thirty."

"Actually, I think that I'll just..." Kara began, only to be cut off.

"I'm pretty hungry," Jason said. "What's good here?"

"I recall a Mexican place that looked good," Kara relented, having been around enough guys to know that she was not going to shake Jason Smith. Guys and their codes.

"I'll find you in a few," Danny said, before turning to Berchem and hefting him up by one arm.

Kara watched Danny drag the other man off before turning to Jason with what she hoped was a confident smile. "Shall we?"

By the time they were done with their fish tacos, Kara had discovered that Jason Smith was the oldest of four children, the only boy, and grew up only a few hours away from Kara in Wichita. They were arguing about baseball, Jason having made the unfathomable decision to support the Yankees, when Danny returned.

He dropped into the seat next to Kara, casually slinging his arm over the back of her chair before looking at Jason, his face slightly pinched. "What happened?"

Jason's eyes flickered to Kara, then he shrugged, apparently deciding she could be trusted with the information. "He insisted on checking email. Missy sent him pictures of Emma in her flowergirl dress. About four shots in Steve decided that it's a conspiracy. All women are apparently out to get him."

"Damn it to hell," Danny muttered. He glanced at Kara. "Berchem's ex-wife is getting remarried and moving out of state with their daughter. He's taking it hard."

Despite Berchem's creepy behavior on the beach, Kara felt a touch of sympathy. "How old is his daughter?"

"Four," Danny responded. "But he hasn't seen her in almost a year. Missy thinks it's too confusing to have him walk in and out of Emma's life."

A common story, but one that Kara never understood. "I don't think that kids see it that way."

"Tell that to Missy," Jason said, beginning to rise. "I'll go check on him."

Danny shook his head. "No need. I assigned Frankie to the detox."

But Jason stood anyway. "Then I'm going to take advantage of the reprieve and hit the beach."

Kara watched Danny eat half his taco in one bite. "Is the plan for one of you to babysit the guy all week? Because it won't work."

Danny stopped chewing and Kara thought that she might have gone too far, half expecting Danny to tell her that it was none of her business. Which, frankly, was true. She knew nothing about Steven Berchem or his problems. But what Kara did know was alcohol. And using alcohol as a clutch through a messy divorce and custody battle was a very, very bad idea.

"I know," Danny said finally, surprising her. "I told Steve that he needs to cut out the booze completely. I even offered to take him back to Virginia myself and help him find a damn good attorney to help with the Emma situation."

Kara felt her stomach lurch at Danny's words, realizing that this could be the last few minutes that they would spend together. Knowing that the best option for Berchem would be to leave, but selfishly hoping that he hadn't taken Danny up on the offer. "What did he decide to do?"

"He wants to stay. Says it was a momentary slip. I think it's the wrong choice. No, I know it's the wrong choice. Too much temptation and Benz means well but..." Danny sighed. "Still, it's Steve's decision. I can't do the work for him."

Kara tried to ignore the relief she felt when Danny said he wasn't leaving, instead focusing on the words he was using. Ones that were very, very familiar. "You've done this before."

"Unfortunately," Danny explained, the far-away look in his eyes telling Kara that there was definitely a story here. "We work hard and we play hard but you have to know when to stop. Because once someone crosses that line, there's no going back. I'll never turn my back on a brother but I'm not letting somebody get killed because I lost my objectivity either."

"You can trust a drunk on or off the field," Kara muttered.

Danny glanced over. "I take it you have some personal experience?"

Kara hesitated. She rarely talked about Debbie but Danny had been open with her when he didn't need to be. "After my dad left, my mom started drinking. She never stopped. I convinced her to move to Norfolk last year, thinking that would help. Getting her away from the old haunts and friends and giving her a fresh start."

"I assume it didn't work," Danny replied.

"No." Kara gave him a half smile. "I knew it wouldn't but..."

"But you had to try," Danny finished, his own lips twisting. "I know the feeling."

"It's one of the things that drew me to the Navy. Months aboard ship with no alcohol. You learn pretty quick who can and who can't tolerate it." Kara took a deep breath before looking up. Not wanting to see the dreaded pity in Danny's eyes. But instead he looked pensive as he fiddled with his beer bottle.

He looked up suddenly. "Does this bother you?"

Kara blinked, confused by the question for a moment, until she realized he was referring to the beer. Although her close friends never drank when Debbie was around, Kara couldn't recall ever being asked if simply being around alcohol bothered her. Danny could be surprisingly perceptive.

"The beer? No. Like you said. Work hard, play hard." Kara watched as Danny inhaled another taco and then decided to change the topic. After all, this was their vacation. No need to spend it brooding. "Scuba diving was fun. I'm glad you suggested it."

"Does that mean you're up for paragliding tomorrow?" Danny asked, eyes gleaming. Out of all of his suggestions, it was the one thing that Kara had refused. After all, if she had wanted to trust her life to an aircraft that looked like it was made from a bunch of toothpicks and a bedsheet, she could have just joined the Air Force.

Kara laughed. "Not a chance. But I'm on board with kayaking if we spend the rest of today on the beach."

Danny's mouth curled into the slow, sexy smile that she already found irresistible. "It's a deal."