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“Paris for O,” Dean said. She laughed. “And I’ll go by Striker. It was my SEAL call name.”
“Well, get some rest,” General Harkness said. “We still have weapons, C4, and missiles out there.”
All Ophelia knew was that she had found her man again, and she was going to hold on tight no matter what. Together they could weather anything.
EPILOGUE
“This is a mistake,”Ophelia said as they pulled up on Stella in front of her parents’ house. “It’s got to be a trap. My mother would never invite you here. She wouldn’t let you step foot on the lawn let aloneaskyou to aparty.”
“Chill, O. Your mother doesn’t scare me. I have Tier One commando skills. I think I can take her. You know, unless she uses her Mrs. Freeze ray, then I might be balled.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t joke about this, Dean. It’s a freaking trap, I tell you.” God, he looked good. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, a tight pair of jeans that fit him like a glove in all the good places, boots that were studded with metal on the toes. His white mesh T-shirt clung to his six-pack abs and stretched across his impressive chest. God bless the freaking Navy.
He stopped her on the flagstone path that led to the back. He kissed her, deep and quick. “I’m tough. Besides, we’re partners,” he murmured. “I have you to watch my six, babe,”
“It’s a spectacular six,” she murmured back.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the backyard where she could hear people talking. She took a deep breath.
When the engraved invitation arrived a few weeks ago, she hadn’t believed her eyes. At first, she refused to go. Then she’d had it out with Dean about her fears that he would be subjected to her mother’s ugliness if they were to get married. How would she react to their kids?
He’d been so turned on by her talk of marriage and kids, they’d made love. He scoffed and told her there was no way he was worried about a little old woman in Beverly Hills. He’d seen combat for God’s sake. He continued to make light of it, and Ophelia swallowed her pride and grabbed onto her courage and accepted.
Now was the moment of reckoning.
When they came around the side of the house, Katie saw them first. She squealed and rushed at them, hugging Dean, then her sister. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Her mother was in a small circle of her friends. She turned and met Ophelia’s eyes, cool and composed. Not even a shimmer of anger in her brown eyes. The women in her group stared at Dean, their eyes widening. He was a hit with the over fifty crowd. Why not? He was a man in his prime, a SEAL, gorgeous, kind, and lethal when he had to be. God, she loved him beyond words, and there was no way she was going to let her mother hurt him.
Her mom went to a cooler and pulled out two beers. She walked across the beautiful patio on the lawn in her lovely shoes, unfazed by the dirt she was getting on them.
She handed the bottles to her and Dean.
Shock coursed through her as her mother nodded to Dean, her face contrite and open. “Thank you for saving my daughters.”
Then she turned back toward her friends.
Dean reached over and closed her mouth. What the crazy hell was that!
She strode up to her mother and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her several feet away.
“What are you playing at?”
“I’m done with playing games, Ophelia. When we picked Katie up from Metro, they told me what Dean had done. He saved you and Katie. I realized what a complete bitch and idiot I’ve been. You being shot and then Katie kidnapped hit me hard. I realized how important you both are to me and how all these years I’ve been pushing you away and pushing Katie too hard. I don’t intend to be a fool any longer. You love that young man?”
Ophelia was speechless. She nodded her head.
“You’re going to marry him if he asks you?”
She nodded again.
“You’re going to have my grandchildren?”
“Yes, eventually.”
“So, you see how much I will have to lose if I shun him. He’s a decorated SEAL, fought for our country. I was holding a terrible grudge against him. I blamed him for you not attending law school, for you becoming an officer for the LAPD. Now I know it wasn’t him. Being a cop was what you were meant to do.” She took Ophelia’s arm. Dean was already talking to her dad and his cronies. She overheard him ask Dean if he played golf.
Dean launched into a story about how his team played golf. She didn’t hear the rest, except for the burst of laughter that came from the party as her mother ushered her into the house.
