Page 23 of Nixon’s Promise

“It was…I didn’t tell you I was from California.”

“Zack did. And just so you know, he also told me about his parents. Your dad and stepmom’s accident. He was talking, and I didn’t think there was any harm having him tell me about his dad. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no.” She waved her hand in front of her. “I’m glad he was talking about them. He never does. Neither of them do, and when I try, they both shut me down. It’s like they want to pretend they never existed. Mandy actually took down a picture I had hanging in the living room. It was of all of us, my last trip to LA. We were out to dinner. It’s a great picture, you know, all of us just smiling. I’d had it hanging up before they passed. It was the first thing Mandy did when she got to the house. Walked right by it, pulled it off the wall, and I haven’t seen it since.”

“Yeah?”

Damn, he wished he could take all that worry off her pretty face. Her shoulders had started to hunch forward as she spoke, until she looked like she was trying to fold into herself and hide from the pain. Nix hated that for her.

“Jeez. I’m so sorry. I didn’t come over here to wax poetic about death and teenage drama.”

“Then why did you come over?”

“To say thank you and give you this.” McKenna held out a very large Tupperware container.

“What is it?”

She smiled and shook her head. “Chocolate chip cookies and blueberry bread.”

“Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.”

“Zack may’ve mentioned that.” Her cheeks turned rosy and she looked at her toes.

So, Zack had shared.

Interesting.

“What else did Zack tell you?” Nix thought back about the conversations he’d had with the kid, trying to remember if he’d divulged any personal information.

“I guess I should come clean. Zack told me a few things, too. He said you were an ex-Navy SEAL—”

“Former,” Nix corrected.

“Former?”

“No such thing as an ex SEAL. Once a team guy, always a team guy. I’m a former SEAL.”

“Team guy?”

“Contrary to what the TV shows and movies portray, we don’t walk around and say, yeah, I’m a big bad Navy SEAL. You may hear us say we were part of the teams, or refer to the other guys as Team Guys. Hell, you may even hear us say we’re garbage men, but I’ve never introduced myself as a SEAL.”

“Big and bad, huh?” McKenna smiled, and on a wink she added. “If I was super-badass I’d totally tell people.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Nix shook his head.

“You’re right. I guess you don’t have to tell people you’re a super-badass. You walk in a room and people just know.”

Nix wasn’t going to explain to her all the reasons why when you did a job like he’d done, not only did you not want to talk about it, but the burden of that job weighed so heavily on your soul, the last thing you thought about was if people perceived you as badass. He also didn’t want to explain that the moment other men knew he was a SEAL they immediately got their ass in the air and wanted to challenge him.

If not physically, then on the morality of his mission—and having the moral high ground wasn’t a luxury he had. Nixon had lived his life in a moral gray area, always had. He had his own opinions on justice. He had a lot of regrets, meting out punishment for crimes against humanity was not one of those regrets. Every life Nixon had taken was justified, and that was enough for him to sleep at night.

“You okay with everything that happened last weekend?” When McKenna didn’t answer right away, he reminded her. “The sheriff showin’ up and Zack hearing about what I did in high school. Him inviting me over for pulled pork. Which, babe, if I didn’t tell you enough, Zack was right. Heaven on a roll. Best meal I’ve had since, forever. Then me jumping on Mandy about the oil.”

“Oh, well, of course.”

“Not, of course. We’re just learning to be friends and I don’t want to cross a line you’d rather I not. Things are a little different with Zack. He’s a teenage boy, and I think he’s looking for some male bonding time. Which I’m cool to provide if you trust me to lead him to a good place. But Mandy is a sixteen-year-old girl.”

McKenna stood quietly. He liked that about her, she didn’t say shit just to say it. However, the longer she was silent, the more his thoughts wandered, until they turned carnal. Realizing that they were in his house alone, and for the first time had total privacy, had him remembering how he’d almost kissed her the other day. How good her hand felt on his bare flesh. How he’d come home to shower before heading to her house for dinner and had palmed his cock while in the shower and stroked himself until he’d shot off, thinking about what her lips would feel like wrapped around his cock.