Nowthatwas a loaded statement. “Wanna give telling me a shot? I know next to nothing about you.”
Brock looked uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, and then looked relieved when the waiter came to take their order.
“What? Did I manage to out-badger the Badger?” Brianna asked when Brock gave no sign of continuing after the waiter walked away.
Brock laughed and blew out a breath. “You very well might have. Bravo, that’s not easily done.” He raised his glass in a toast. They clinked glasses.
“You’re still avoiding my question.”
Brock looked down, then straight into her eyes. Those crazy butterflies in her stomach fluttered. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. You’re trusting me—which, like I said, means everything—so I’m going to trust you. Before I came out here, I lived in San Diego. I had my whole life planned out.” He lowered his voice. I was SWCC, a Swick. Do you know what that is?”
“It’s military, right? I guessed you were from the dog tags. But I’m not familiar with the acronym.”
He nodded. “I’m not surprised. It stands for Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen. We’re a division of the Navy, handling small boats and supporting the SEALs. Can’t tell you how many of their asses I’ve saved.” He winked.
She started to laugh at his flirting, but there was a look in his eyes, something that went much deeper.He’s covering something that hurts him with humor. She put as much warmth as she could into her smile and asked softly, “What is it you really want to tell me?”
A look of surprise spread across his face. His mouth opened slightly and his gaze pierced her. His attention turned inward as he gave her the ghost of a nod.
“We had a mission go bad, rescuing a team of SEALs pinned down by insurgents.” Brock swallowed hard.
Her stomach twisted into a tight knot. Had she pushed too hard, too soon? “I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“No, I do. You’re just the first person I’ve talked to about this outside of military buddies and my family.” His level of trust in her took her by surprise.
Brock went on. “I lost my best friend in that attack. He was like a brother to me. Sean Voelker.”
Oh. Oh, goodness. Brianna nodded. “I knew of him but never met. He was older than me. His…death…was in the local news though. I’m so sorry you lost him.”
He took a deep breath. “It’s not just that I lost him, it’s that I feel like it was my fault. I’d already gotten back aboard the boat with a casualty. I thought he was right behind me. He wasn’t.” Brock closed his eyes. “We don’t leave our own.”
Brianna’s heart went out to him. “You had a man down and you had to think of that guy first.”
Brock opened his eyes. “I’ve told myself that. Some days it helps, other days it doesn’t.”
She reached for his hand again. “Thank you. I’m honored that you would share this with me, that you feel like you can talk to me about something so important to you.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. “It was…I’ve lost teammates before, but that did me in. I retired, wondering what I would do next with my life. I was living in San Diego.” He paused. “Seeing someone casually.”
Her heart skipped and her chest tightened. “Oh.”
Brock shook his head, his eyes widening. He squeezed her hand again. “But we’re over. We were over before I even left the military, I just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Too much time away. And then when Kyle—my boss—contacted me to interview for Watchdog, she had no desire whatsoever to move to Colorado or to maintain a long-distance relationship. She said it felt like we’d been in one from the start and she was through with that.”
Brianna hated the way she relaxed after that. It must have been hard on Brock, a second kick to the gut after losing his best friend. But, that left him completely single—available.
“That must have been so hard, to lose two important people so close together.”
He gave her a tight smile. “It was.” His smile softened. “Up until Sunday, when I helped out a woman in distress.”
Brianna laughed. “Isthatwhat that was?” Then she thought. “You know, actually that’s true. I was in distress about playing in front of an audience for the first time and you definitely helped me with that.”
“And again, it was an honor.” He’d turned her hand over and was studying it, running his thumb along her wrist, sending pleasurable shivers up her arm. “You have no idea how good you are. How talented.” He looked from their hands to her face. “How absolutely beautiful you are, especially when you play. When you’re doing what you love.”
She looked away, shaking her head.
“Brianna, look at me.”
She shyly turned her head back. The intensity of his stare pinned her.
