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Forget his problems. Shit, this was serious. If Cade was having cold feet, rethinking his trip to the altar…
“No, but the waiting is driving me insane. So Red Rock Canyon, here we come. Time for a little physical training.” Cade climbed into the driver’s side, set the doughnut on the dash, and turned the key.
“PT before your wedding night?” Jack watched the hotel disappear from sight as they drove down the famous Strip.
“I’ll have time for a nap. Who the hell thought a four o’clock ceremony was a good idea? We’ve been in Vegas for days now. I should have taken her to the nearest chapel the minute we hit the Strip on Thursday. We could have spent the weekend celebrating as husband and wife.”
“I thought Lucia wanted the real deal,” Jack said, still stumbling through relief. Cade wasn’t looking to hightail it back to Coronado. Thank you, Jesus.
“She does,” the groom confirmed. “Flowers. The dress. A hairstyle that will take three damn hours. And I want her to have it all.”
Jack nodded. He opened the bakery box resting on his lap and selected a glazed doughnut. They drove in silence as Cade merged onto the highway out of town.
“You can’t give up on Natalie because she got scared and ran,” Cade said.
Jack groaned and closed his eyes. “You’re taking me to the desert to fucking lecture me?”
“Natalie’s not going to hand over her trust after a night or two,” Cade continued. “And it has nothing to do with the bet. She doesn’t let people in because she’s afraid the sky will fucking fall if she does. She expects the worst. Natalie sees a future with you as impossible for her.”
“Impossible,” Jack said. He wanted to tackle the challenge and win. But this wasn’t a war. He couldn’t win simply by digging his heels in and refusing to give up. “Yeah, well, that sums it up, doesn’t it? Yet you think I should show up with doughnuts and set myself up to take a second hit when Natalie has made it clear she always planned to go back to ignoring me. I don’t think so.”
“She’s had a lot of people ripped from her life,” Cade said quietly. “She’s learned to save herself the pain by not letting anyone in.”
“I don’t want in,” Jack said firmly.
“Bullshit.” He took his eyes off the road for a second and glared at him.
“Let it go, Cade. I can’t make her love me.”
His teammate nodded and they drove in silence. Jack glanced out the window at the wide-open desert. “Where is Red Rock Canyon?”
“A
bout twenty miles from the Strip. We’re getting close.”
To the middle of nowhere.
“I have the wedding rings hidden in my room,” Jack said. “Might be hard to find them if you leave me out here.”
“Thought about it last night,” Cade admitted as he turned and steered the Jeep into a parking area. A handful of cars were lined by the trailhead, including a pickup that looked exactly like Dante’s truck. Jack scanned the area. There it was—visual confirmation. The truck belonged to their recently divorced SEAL. And it looked like he’d abandoned his role as fake orgasm spectator in favor of audience participation in the real deal.
“What the…?” Cade said, turning the key. “Was that…?”
Yeah, Jack wasn’t the only one who’d caught an eyeful of their shirtless teammate following a topless woman with bright pink hair behind a large rock.
“I don’t think Dante came out here to watch another fake climax,” Jack said.
“We should have eloped.” Cade shook his head. “Bringing a bunch of SEALS on leave to Sin City—what the hell was I thinking?”
“Let’s get this over with so you can marry Lucia and we can all go home,” Jack said, climbing down from the truck.
Cade reached behind his seat and pulled out two water bottles. He tossed one to Jack. “One more question.”
“I don’t think so.” Jack headed for the trailhead.
Cade followed him. “I know you care about her, Jack. But do you love her?”
Yes.
