Kam considered this a moment. “You had your teammate look into him?”
“Hell yeah, I did.” He sounded surprised that she would question this. “The second Mom called to tell me about Terry, I had Lucky check the guy out.” Those shaded eyes rounded back to her. “Wouldn’t you, if you were me?”
“Absolutely.” Her lips curved with a nod. “Okay, so your father has passed, may he rest in peace, and your mother lives in Florida with a nice man named Terry. What about you?”
“I live in Seattle.”
“No, I know.” Kam chuckled. “I meant what about your…personal life?”
“Don’t have one.”
“A man with your looks and skills?” She watched him closely. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Yeah, well…believe it.” He pushed himself to his feet to walk over to the tip of the boat’s bow. Looking out over the slow rolling sea, he appeared to be contemplating whether he should share more.
Since she was rather enjoying the time spent getting to know him better, Kam decided to join him in hopes he wouldn’t shut down. Setting her empty plate on the floor—to prevent the wind from picking it up and tossing into the water—she left her half-drank bottle of water on her seat and went to where he stood.
“Are you saying you’re celibate?” she asked softly as she curled her fingers around the top rung of the railing.
“No, I’m not…” he started to bark. With a deep, cleansing breath, he let it out slowly before revising his initial reaction and saying, “I’m just saying I don’t do relationships.”
“Not ever?”
The man gave a barely-there shake of his head. “Not anymore.”
Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.
“But you used to?” She waited, and when he didn’t voluntarily elaborate, Kam got the feeling there was a story there. And not one with a happy ending. “Tell me about her.”
His handsome face turned her way. “Who?”
“The woman who broke your heart.”
“What makes you think there was a?—”
“If there wasn’t, you would have told me so immediately. Instead, you started asking how I came to that conclusion. Which, in and of itself, tells me that I’m right. So…who was she?” The breath in her lungs seemed to cease as she waited for him to reveal more of himself.
Looking back over the beautiful scenery, Van remained silent for several tense seconds. Kam was certain she’doverstepped, so much so, she parted her lips to tell him it was okay, and that he didn’t have to share.
But at that exact same moment, he began to really open himself up.
“Her name was Jenny. We met not long after I became a SEAL. It was a whirlwind type of thing, and less than a year later, we were married and expecting a kid.”
“You have a child?” Kam couldn’t hide the shock that revelation created.
“I did.”
He…did?
“I don’t understand. What happened?—”
“They died,” Van growled turning his hidden gaze her way. “My wife and son are both dead, and it’s all because of me.”
CHAPTER 12
Why the helldid I just tell her that?
Van stared down into Kam’s widening eyes from behind his polarized lenses. He wasn’t sure who was more shocked by his unexpected admission, him…or her.
