Chapter 7
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T ucker stepped outside onto the shaded patio to wait for Brynn. He should have never said it. But for nearly a week, thoughts of her had popped into his head. And when she’d arrived, the way her eyes—the color of bourbon over ice—had studied him in a distant, reserved manner had triggered a need to rip down the polite boundaries she’d erected.
It was all about that challenge thing again. And just the distraction he needed to get the NCIS interview off his mind.
He didn’t have time for a relationship. Relationships took emotional stamina, effort, and commitment. But Brynn Barrington didn’t have relationship written all over her like most women. She had thick walls built around her that made him want to break through them and see what the real Brynn was like.
Her thick, mid-back length, pale blond hair with its butterscotch undertones shone every time she moved her head. The contrast between her fair skin and dark eyes was striking. He’d seen her bend and twist, taking photos of kids, and had a quick flash of how those long legs could twine around his body. He’d have to be dead not to be attracted.
Damn it!
He changed into his wetsuit in the garage, then retrieved his diving equipment from the storage cabinet there and set it out on the picnic table.
At the sound of the door sliding open, he turned to look over his shoulder.
He’d been right about her being built to wear a wetsuit. The black suit had aqua panels that curled around the sides of her breasts, dipped in at her waist, and flared at the hips. The design emphasized every curve of her body. As slender as she was, she had deep curves at her waist. She’d platted her hair into a tail that hung down her back. She could have modeled in front of a camera instead of standing behind one.
He took a deep breath and turned his head to look out across the yard to where the fire pit would be constructed in an effort to control his response. He moved to the picnic table where he’d placed the bag that held his gear. “I’m going to go over the basics of scuba and show you how to assemble your gear. Then we’ll get wet.”
The sudden flare of color in her cheeks captured his attention and made him smile. The attraction was there, and it was intense. Maybe her barriers weren’t so impenetrable.
He set out his gear as he normally did and waited for her to do the same. Through his training, he’d learned that the only way to learn was by doing and repetition.
Brynn proved a quick study and handled her gear with confidence, mimicking his every move as they assembled it. He held up her BCD with her oxygen tank and all her gear attached so she could slide her arms into the vest. She was quick to secure the straps to fasten it around her. She secured the octopus in the holder as he’d shown her.
“Everything feel comfortable?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m good.”
“We’re going to kick from the deep end of the pool to the shallow end and practice clearing your mask and your regulator. If the seal around your mask is broken by a brush against something, water will build up in the mask and obscure your vision.” He explained how to clear it. “If your regulator’s jerked out of your mouth, and you have to put it back in, you’ll have to clear it so you’re breathing air, not water.” He explained that process. “We’ll practice that several times. Then I’ll show you some of the basic kicks.”
Standing at the side of the pool, flippers on, mask adjusted, they inflated their BCD just a little, and he gave her one last instruction. “One major rule in scuba— don’t hold your breath . Just breathe normally.”
He pulled his mask down and put his regulator in his mouth. He gave her a thumbs-up signal, took a giant stride forward, stepped off the side of the pool, and dropped into the water.
*
Nerves drove Brynn’s heart into a quick, sharp tattoo against her ribs. She was confident on the water in a kayak and on a surfboard. She was a good swimmer. She could do this. She pulled her mask down, put her regulator in her mouth, and tasted the rubbery texture of it, something she would have to get used to. She forced herself to take two steadying breaths through the device before she stepped off the side of the pool and plunged beneath the water.
After that first moment of emersion, she realized she’d kept her eyes closed and opened them. She took a breath from her regulator and then another, the sound of the bubbles a kind of dulled rumble. The silence that enveloped her was like plunging into cotton wool. She focused on Tucker as she kicked toward him. He shot her an okay sign, and she gave him a thumbs-up. Even though all she could see of his face was his eyes, she could tell he was smiling.
He was a taskmaster. He tugged at her mask and waited for her to clear it, signaling for her to remove her regulator and clear it once it was back in her mouth. They surfaced so he could demonstrate three different kicks step by step. Then they flippered back and forth in the pool, their bodies suspended in neutral buoyancy. She found the longer she was submerged, the more the exterior things drifted away.
After nearly an hour, when they climbed out of the pool, he helped her remove her equipment and, under his direction, had her take it all apart. They carried the gear to his garage to hang in a locker until her next lesson.
After getting dressed, she wandered back out to the pool and slouched in one of the cushioned Adirondack lounges. Her muscles felt like overstretched rubber, but she was satisfied.
She couldn’t complain that Tucker wasn’t thorough. He’d packed a lot into this first lesson. He’d also warned her he’d review most of it each time she came. She was certain he’d be able to have her scuba ready long before her Australia trip. However, the photography part of the trip still worried her.
Dressed in his shorts and T-shirt again, Tucker came out of the house with two tumblers. “You need to hydrate,” he said as he handed her a glass. “Breathing compressed air sucks the moisture from your body.”
She took a long drink of the very sweet tea and hummed her appreciation.
“So, what do you think so far?” he asked as he sat on the long cushion of the lounge and sipped his own glass of tea.
“When I first went into the water, and the silence settled over me, I thought I’d like to release the air from my BCD, settle on the bottom, and do some meditation.”
Tucker chuckled. “I’ve heard of underwater meditation but never tried it.” His sun-streaked hair, already dry, curled across his forehead and ears. As he rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, his hair fell over his forehead. She was tempted to brush it back.
How long had it been since she’d felt this kind of interest in a man?
She didn’t really want an answer to that question. It would make her feel somehow… defective.
Afraid of what he might see in her face, she looked away and returned to his question. “Something about the pressure of the water against your body and the quiet…kind of blocks out all the external stuff.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”
She knew he couldn’t tell her anything about his job, but… “Do you dive in your spare time to decompress from…some of the other things in your life?”
He gave the question some thought. “Sometimes.”
Though she was curious, she understood the need to maintain secrets.
His were government-issued. Hers were personal.
She grasped at something neutral to talk about. “At home in Saranac, we learn to kayak almost before we learn to walk, and we learn to swim practically from birth. As kids, we were out on the lake a lot. I’ve never been afraid of the water, but I do have a healthy respect for it.”
“You’re a long way from home, Brynn.”
“Yeah, twenty-nine hundred miles.”
“What brought you out here?”
“I worked my way across the country using my camera to pay my way. I uploaded stock images and did some commercial work, shot images and created online ads for different businesses in the towns I passed through. I had the idea that I wanted to hit every state. I started my podcast during the journey to sell my work. And it took off.”
“How many states did you manage?”
“Twenty-seven.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“That doesn’t mean I traveled through the whole state. I researched interesting towns or places and tried taking pictures that would represent the area. I planned ahead. I contacted local businesses that might need photographic work. Every tourist town has a website and needs photos for updates to advertise their spots of interest. I attracted some big clients through my podcast and did website work for them along the way. I had a schedule and a plan before I ever left New York.”
“How long have you been in San Diego?”
“A year.”
“Two years on the road is a hell of a trip, Brynn.”
She looked away from him to the water. She’d run from her parent’s disappointment and blame. And from the ugliness of the court case and the aftermath. But in doing so, she’d learned to be herself again. She’d needed that time to put herself back together. “It was an adventure, but I was honing my skills, too. And I met a lot of interesting people. Regular people.” And a few nosy assholes. “Plus, I started the podcast.” Which had turned out to be her saving grace. “It gave me publicity for my photos. So, I got more and more jobs.”
“And then you hit San Diego, and Natalie latched onto you.”
Something in his tone drew her attention back to his face.
He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees again. “You need to be cautious, Brynn. She honed her skills by doing interviews for another magazine. She pushed and never took no for an answer. Now, she’s just as driven to make this magazine work and is following the same game plan.”
“Did she do something that affected you professionally?” she asked.
“She walked a fine line. There are a lot of things SEALs can’t and don’t talk about. But when she interviewed me, she also interviewed other people who didn’t have those restrictions.”
“Did you get blowback from it?”
“It was a close call. And it could’ve been a shit show for my career. The only thing that took the heat off me was that one of the others she interviewed did some follow-up interviews for another publication and spilled the same beans he’d already done in her interview.”
“After that, why would you agree to work for her?”
“I’m not working for her. I’m working for you. She may be footing the bill, but you’re the boss when it comes to your training. I made that clear to her. And I told her not to call me and ask me how you’re doing. That’s between the two of you if you want to share that information.”
Natalie must have really screwed up for him to still be pissed. “Why did you agree to give me lessons?”
“She showed me your photographs, showed me your podcast. If you’d been embracing extreme sports for the adrenaline rush, I’d have turned her down.”
So, he’d probably already surmised something had happened to take her in a different direction. She was surprised he wasn’t probing for answers and was relieved he didn’t push. Once he found out about the whole mess, it might change the way he looked at her.
Had he already done a media search on her? She waited for him to ask the questions, her body growing increasingly tense.
“The things you’re advocating would be good for some of the retired guys I know.”
Cautiously, she turned her head to look at him. “Send me a list of what you think they may be interested in, and I’ll message you contact information for the different companies and people I’ve worked with.”
“Roger that.” He cleared his throat. “When is your next free day? We can do a short dive at La Jolla and let you experience what it’s like in the ocean without being too deep.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. You handled yourself really well today. And we’ll go through all the prep stages here before we drive to the beach.”
“Okay.” She brought up her calendar and looked at it. “I’m free tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when I’m leaving the base, and we’ll meet here.”
“Sounds good.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to go. I have some work that has to be done by tomorrow morning.” She got to her feet.
“I was going to throw some burgers on the grill if you want to eat before you leave.”
“I’ve already taken up most of your afternoon.” Was he making a move to extend their time together because he was interested in her, or was he just being nice? As much as she’d talked about trusting her instincts about people to Martin, she doubted every decision.
“There’s still daylight to burn,” he said.
She smiled. The phrase triggered memories of her father’s addiction to old Western movies. “You said you liked to cook. Are you any good at it?”
“Throwing burgers on the grill isn’t really cooking. Anybody can do it.”
“Not so. There’s a knack to it. Trust me, I’ve tried. The result was not good. But I’m an expert at using the microwave.”
He laughed. “It just takes practice, Brynn. Like everything else.”
He seemed so good at so many things—scuba diving, house repairs, landscaping, cooking—that a girl wondered how good he was at other things. She breathed an inner sigh.
She asked the question she’d been burning to voice since she’d pulled up in the drive. “Who gave you the flowers on the front porch?”
“My next-door neighbor. It was a welcome-to-the-neighborhood thing. I’ve been trying my damnedest not to kill them. Why?”
“It was just a touch of feminine in an otherwise masculine landscape. I thought it might be a girlfriend, and I didn’t want to cause you any drama if I stayed for a burger.”
He shrugged. “No girlfriend, so no drama.”
She tried not to show too much emotion. “Okay, I’d like to stay for a burger. I don’t cook, but I’m an excellent slicer and dicer.”
He grinned. “I’ll light the grill.”