Ultimate Romance Collection. Rebecca Winters
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put her soda can down and then added, “And another thing. What man takes a chance and swims across the ocean to save a woman? Do you know how far from land we were? Think about that.”
Swan had news for her—she had thought about it. She could never forget how David had appeared seemingly out of nowhere on that boat, looking tough and ready to kick asses while wearing nothing more than an outlandishly tight pair of swim trunks with a military belt around his waist. Even when she’d been in what seemed like a dire situation, that hadn’t stopped the woman in her from noticing how dangerously sexy he’d looked at that particular moment.
“When I mentioned what an astounding feat he’d accomplished to his friends,” Jamila said, reclaiming Swan’s attention, “they said that’s why they call him Flipper. Did you know that’s his code name as a SEAL?”
Swan wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Yes, I knew he was called Flipper. But no, I didn’t know it had anything to do with him being a SEAL because I didn’t know he was one. I assumed Flipper was his nickname.”
Swan forced from her mind the day she’d asked him about those dolphin tattoos. He’d told her then they represented Flipper. That had been the day they’d made love in this office. Right here on this desk.
She wished she wasn’t thinking so hard about that now.
She looked over at Jamila. “Why are we talking about me instead of you?”
“Because I think you should and because I think I should,” Jamila continued. “Talking about your situation actually helps me believe that not all men are jerks and that there are some who still possess real honor, Swan. Whether you want to admit it or not, David Holloway is an honorable man. He couldn’t help being attracted to you any more than you could help being attracted to him.”
Swan stuffed the wrappings from her sandwich into the empty bag. “Now you sound like Candy.”
“Maybe there’s a reason why I do,” Jamila said, stuffing her own wrappings into a bag. “It might be because Candy and I can see things that you refuse to see. I often think about what could have happened to us had David and his friends not shown up when they did. Do you ever think of that?”
Swan drew in a deep breath. “I try not to.”
“I think you should,” Jamila said, standing. “Thanks for bringing lunch. It will be my treat the next time.” She then walked out of the office.
Swan stayed in her office after Jamila left, trying to put their conversation out of her mind. She was working on her computer, verifying inventory, when her office phone rang. “Thank you for calling Swan’s. How may I help you?”
“Hello, island princess.”
She smiled upon hearing her godfather’s voice. “Godpop 2. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I just wanted to check on you. So much has happened and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She had spoken to each of her godfathers and had thanked them for believing in her. They had taken a risk with their individual careers to do that. “I’m fine. How is Godpop 3?”
“He’s fine but as the director of naval intelligence, he has his hands full with the investigation. It seems that more names are popping up in this scandal each day.”
“And how are Godpop 1 and Barbara?”
“They are as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Learning about Georgianna was a shocker for all of us. We had no idea. When we decided to send Lt. Holloway to prove your innocence, the three of us weren’t sure just what he would uncover. The only thing we knew for certain was that you weren’t guilty of anything.”
“Thanks for believing in me.”
“You have Andrew’s blood in your veins. You could no more be a traitor to your country than he could. Considering all that happened, I’m glad Holloway remained in Key West when he could have left.”
Swan sat up straight. “Wasn’t David on assignment?”
“Not the entire time. His assignment officially ended when he sent that ink in to be analyzed and we discovered it was tainted. I told him that he no longer had to stay in the Keys since by then we knew you weren’t involved and we would take over the investigation from there.”
“Then why did he stay?”
“To protect you.”
“He told you that?” she asked.
“Yes. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. I told him he could consider his job assignment complete and go home to Texas and enjoy the remainder of his leave. But he said he wanted to hang around Key West for a while.”
Her godfather paused. “I asked him if the reason he wanted to stay was because he thought your life might be in danger. He said he felt that as long as Duggers and Jacinto didn’t know they were suspects, then no, your life wasn’t in any immediate danger. He informed me that the reason he wanted to stay was because you had come to mean a lot to him. I told him in that case how he spent the rest of his leave was his decision. And, Swan?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Yes?”
“As his commanding officer, I felt the need to remind him that although he was no longer on assignment, since the issue that had started with you was an ongoing investigation, he could not tell you anything.”
When Swan didn’t reply, her godfather asked, “You’re still there, Swan?”
“Yes, Godpop 2, I’m still here.”
“Did you not know how Holloway felt about you?”
“No. I thought I was just an assignment.”
“You were at first and I’m glad you were. Otherwise you would be in jail wrongly accused of a crime you hadn’t committed. But on the flip side, I’m also glad that when you stopped being an assignment, Holloway had the insight to stay and look out for you because he cared for you.”
Long after her telephone conversation with her godfather ended, Swan remained seated at her desk, leaning back in her chair and sitting in silence while thinking about what Candy, Jamila and her godfather had said.
Some people never got betrayed, but she had been, a lot. William, Rafe, Horacio, Rosie, Georgianna and even Jamila. No one had been who she’d thought.
She remembered David and replayed in her mind all the time she’d spent with him since that day he’d first walked into her shop.
Was anything he’d told her true? Did he really come from a huge family? Was his mother even celebrating a birthday? Did he honestly have three sisters-in-law?
One thing was for certain, both Candy and Jamila were right. David hadn’t pushed her into sleeping with him. In fact, Swan was the one who’d invited him to dinner at her place with the full intent of having sex with him.
She got up from her desk and walked over to the window. She knew from Jamila that David had left the island with his friends after that first week, after he’d completed all the questioning by naval intelligence. Was he back home in Texas? Did his parents really own a medical supply company? What parts of what he’d told her were true and what parts were fabricated for his assignment?
And why did she still love him so much it hurt...even when she didn’t want to love him? Even when she didn’t know how he felt about her? He might have told her godfather he cared for her but David hadn’t told her anything. Shouldn’t he have? But then, had she given him a chance to do so?
The answer to that flashed in her mind quickly. No, she hadn’t.
He had saved her life that night, swam across the ocean to do so, and then she’d told him she didn’t want to talk to him. And he had honored her wishes...for that one night. Then he had called her almost every single day since, and yet she had refused to take his calls.