Page 22 of Casey's Hero
“Exactly.”
She looked up at him, her eyes rounding at the same time as her brows furrowed. “Yeah, but if I hadn’t been so preoccupied last night with making everything perfect, I might have seen what was happening with this Camila woman.”
Jacob frowned. “You weren’t even supposed to be there. For that matter, why were you the stripper in the cake?”
Casey’s lips pressed into a thin line. “My stripper called and canceled just as the delivery men unloaded the cake.” She shrugged. “When your help doesn’t show, you do what has to be done.”
His lips quirked upward. “That’s taking your business a little too seriously.”
She glared at him. “No one was supposed to know it was me.” She poked a finger into his chest. “And as far as everyone else goes, they better never know.”
Jacob held up a hand. “I’m not going to tell a soul.” His lips twitched and spread across his face. “It’ll be our secret.”
“Damn right, it will be.”
“Do you own the costume?” Jacob asked.
“Why do you want to know?”
“It’s not rented or anything, is it?”
“No. I bought it because I wanted the show to have a Navy theme.”
“Good. Keep it. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in it next time.”
Her brow dipped low as she lifted her chin. “Who said there would be a next time?”
Jacob cupped her cheek. “After we get Hawk back and married, I’d like to take you out on a real date.”
Casey shook her head. “I told you before we…before we…well…before, that one of the conditions was no strings.”
Jacob’s gut knotted. He liked Casey. She was feisty and sexy. “I’m not asking for strings. Just a date.”
“And I’m not interested in a long-term relationship. Especially with a Navy SEAL.”
“What do you mean, especially with a Navy SEAL.”
Her nostrils flared. “I lived in San Diego most of my life before I moved to Honolulu. Many of my friends have dated, married and divorced Navy SEALs. They have a reputation for having a woman in every port. At the very least, they’re not known for staying married for long.”
“Have you ever considered that the women who married them might have been the ones who couldn’t handle the relationship?” He stepped up close to her, standing toe to toe. “We don’t have easy jobs. We’re not accountants who can go to work and come home every night of the week and be there on theweekends. Women who marry a Navy SEAL should understand what they’re getting into before they marry. It’s not easy watching your husband leave for weeks or months at a time and not knowing when he’ll be back. It’s not easy raising children on your own because your spouse has a duty to his country. Is that the real reason you don’t want to get involved with a Navy SEAL? You don’t have the stamina to deal with the separation and worry?”
She stared up into his face, her eyes glassy as if holding back tears. “I know what it’s like to be the one left behind. My father was a Navy SEAL. I never want to be a woman like my mother, always waiting for her man to come home. Dreading a visit from a uniformed chaplain, coming to tell her that her husband was killed in action. I watched her cry for so many nights I lost count. So, no. I don’t want to get involved with a Navy SEAL.” She drew in a deep breath, her chest rising beneath her snug pink shirt.
He could picture her pert breasts naked, which didn’t help his cause. He wanted to go out with her again. But she had a point. They could never be more than just lovers. “I didn’t say I wanted a long-term relationship. What if all I want is someone to hang out with for a few dates?”
Her gaze held his for a long moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but before the words came out, the hotel clerk poked his head back into the office. “The police just arrived.”
Casey snapped her mouth shut. “We’d better go fill them in. Maybe there’s something they can do to help find Hawk.” She started for the door.
Jacob stopped her with a hand on her arm. “I’m not finished with this conversation.”
She stared at the hand until he dropped it. “I’m not sure there’s a point to it. And now isn’t the time.”
“Agreed. Hawk is our priority. Until we find him, we’re on hold.”
“We’re not—” Casey shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s do this.” She hurried out the door and met the police as they exited their patrol unit.
As Jacob, Casey and the hotel clerk gave the police an account of what had happened the night before, an SUV pulled into the parking lot.
