Chapter 9
Chapter nine
“Okay, now that the bride-to-be has finished with her required social schmoozing,” Lakelyn Fox said with a dramatic sigh as Khloe joined them in their secluded corner of the spa and reclaimed her lounger, “Katrina, you need to tell me how you met that hunky Navy SEAL of yours. More importantly, does he have any friends?”
Katrina laughed as she sipped her mimosa. She, Khloe, and Lakelyn had spent the morning being pampered with a massage followed by a mani-pedi. She was relaxed and absolutely loving the lavender color on her fingers and toes that matched her bridesmaid gown perfectly.
“Well,” she said, speaking softly so the other women outside their corner of the spa wouldn’t overhear.
“My friend, Talia, and some of the other nannies got into a scary situation with some really bad people who wanted something very valuable from our employers. Talia and I didn’t mean to get involved, but before we knew it, we were sitting in a surveillance van on an empty street, spying on these people.
Then suddenly, there was shooting, glass shattering, and the whole vehicle was coming apart all around us.
It was scary as hell, and I thought for sure I was about to die. ”
“Oh, my gosh!” Lakelyn gasped. “What happened?”
“Darwin happened. He scooped me up in his arms and got me out of there.” Katrina grinned. “After that, how does a girl not fall for the guy who swept her off her feet like that?”
“I don’t know if that’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard or the most terrifying,” Lakelyn said. “That whole story should be a movie, or at the very least, a romance book.”
“Never mind that,” Khloe said, waving her hand at her friend before looking at Katrina. “Why the heck didn’t you tell me any of this? I thought you and Darwin met at a coffee shop or something. You almost died, Katrina!”
“But I didn’t. Thanks to Darwin,” she said, reaching over to take her sister’s hand and giving it a squeeze.
“I wanted to tell you, but I thought I needed to keep the stuff about us getting me involved in a shootout secret. Honestly, sometimes, I’m still not sure what I can and can’t say when it comes to Darwin being a Navy SEAL. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“I forgive you. As if you even had to worry about that.” Khloe smiled. “Just promise you won’t ever keep anything like that from me again. Better yet, don’t get into a dangerous situation like that ever again.”
“I’ll do my best, believe me.” Katrina gave a little shudder. “One near-death experience is quite enough for me, thank you very much.”
“Does danger usually come with the territory when you date a Navy SEAL?” Lakelyn asked.
Katrina thought about that for a moment. While she hadn’t personally been in danger after that shootout, Talia and Lennox had. Everything had worked out, though, and she knew Talia wouldn’t trade what she had with Lennox for anything.
“I don’t know if it comes with the territory,” she said. “But even if it did, I’d still want to be with Darwin.”
Khloe grinned over the rim of her mimosa glass. “Are those wedding bells I hear?”
On the chaise beside her, Lakelyn looked just as interested to hear the answer to that.
“Whoa, hang on there,” Katrina said with a laugh. “Darwin and I haven’t even slept together.”
“Yet,” Khloe said.
“Yet,” Katrina agreed. “But the point is that while we’ve known each other for a while, the meet-and-greet the other night was technically our first date.”
“Seriously?” Khloe did a double-take. “I thought for sure you and Darwin had been dating a while. What took you so long to get together?”
“I wish I could tell you.” Katrina shrugged. “We kept trying to get together, but it seemed like fate kept getting in the way and interrupting our plans every time we made them. Which is, full disclosure here, one of the obvious downsides to dating a Navy SEAL. They tend to be on the go a lot.”
Katrina paused as an attendant came over with a tray of gigantic chocolate-covered strawberries. Thanking the woman, she helped herself to one, then watched as Khloe and Lakelyn did the same.
“While I agree that it’s probably too early to order wedding invitations yet,” her sister said, “is Darwin the kind of guy you could see yourself marrying?”
Katrina nibbled on her strawberry as she considered the question.
“Sometimes when I’m daydreaming, I do think of marrying him,” she admitted. “I think I could be really happy with him, even with all the SEAL stuff I’d have to put up with. Is that crazy?”
“It’s not crazy at all,” Khloe said. “I thought the same thing when Asher and I started dating. I think when you know, you know.”
When you know, you know.
Could it actually be that simple? Katrina wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she liked Darwin––a lot––and that falling in love with him seemed like it could be the easiest thing in the world to do.
“What about Upton?” Lakelyn asked.
“What about him?” Katrina said.
Lakelyn looked from her to Khloe and back again, confusion in her blue eyes. “Well, according to your mom, he’s here to rekindle the romance with the woman he let get away, and she’s thrilled you guys might be getting together again.”
Katrina groaned. “Why can’t Mom see that I’m not interested in Upton?”
“Because she likes to control everything and everyone.” Khloe frowned.
“I kind of suspected that getting you and Upton together was her plan when she insisted Asher make Upton one of his groomsmen, but I honestly never thought she’d try to actively sabotage your relationship with Darwin.
Not that it matters because Upton doesn’t stand a chance with you with Darwin around anyway. ”
“True story,” Katrina said. “That said, I need to finally have a talk with Mom before this nonsense with Upton gets any more ridiculous.”
Especially since, for all she and Darwin knew, Upton might be the one who killed Arthur.
“You know,” she said casually. “Upton was in the vineyard the other night when Arthur Davis was murdered. Darwin and I were taking a break from the scavenger hunt when he showed up to see if we needed any help with the game.”
“Huh.” Khloe thought a moment. “He was lucky he didn’t see whoever dumped the body there.”
Or the murderer. Katrina hesitated, wondering how much she should tell Khloe and Lakelyn. “The police don’t think it was a body dump. Arthur was murdered in the vineyard.”
Khloe frowned. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“But Dad and Rhett said–”
“Dad and Rhett lied. They also both argued with Arthur hours before he was murdered.”
Her sister stared at her, half a dozen different emotions flashing across her face, alarm forefront among them. “Wait a minute. Are you saying Dad and Rhett had something to do with Arthur’s murder?”
“I don’t think so,” Katrina said.
Khloe’s eyes went wide. “You don’t think so?”
Katrina sighed. “I don’t want to believe they did. All I can say for sure is that Arthur had a disagreement with Dad and Rhett, he was murdered in the vineyard, and that the chief of police shut down the investigation to placate Dad.”
“Wow.” Khloe shook her head in amazement. “I’ve always known Dad would do anything to make a profit, but I never expected him to cover up a murder.”
“Look, we don’t know anything for sure,” Katrina said. “Dad and Rhett had some kind of business deal with Arthur, but that might be all there is to it. There could be some other reason the guy ended up dead.”
Khloe looked hopeful and dubious at the same time. “You’re right. They might not be involved at all.”
“Until we find out what Rhett and Arthur were arguing about, we don’t know anything for sure.”
“I could try to find out,” Khloe said. “If Arthur was involved in one of Dad’s tech start-ups, it would show up in the paperwork somewhere.”
Katrina wasn’t sure that was a good idea.
“I don’t know,” Katrina said. “I know Dad and Rhett would never let you get hurt, but I also don’t want you to take any chances.”
“All I’m going to do is look through files on a computer,” Khloe insisted. “It will be fine.”
“Okay,” Katrina sighed. “But please be careful.”
“I will,” Khloe promised. Finishing her strawberry, she wiped her fingers on her napkin. “Enough talk about murder for today. Let’s discuss whether Darwin has any equally hunky SEAL buddies who’d be a good match for Lakelyn.”
Katrina laughed, all for that idea. “I might know a few guys.”
Simon was the first one who came to mind.
She’d met him a few times, and he seemed really nice.
He was outgoing like Darwin and the other SEALs, and while not as handsome as Darwin in her opinion, he was definitely cute.
He might be a good fit for Lakelyn. She’d have to remember to ask Darwin what he thought.
Her cell phone rang, interrupting her before she could say more. Katrina picked it up from the small table beside her chaise, grinning when she saw Darwin’s name.
“Hey!”
“Hey,” he said. “I have to go to San Nicolas Island for some more of that testing I told you about.”
“Oh,” she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice, and pretty sure she failed. “Do you know when you’ll be back?”
“Hopefully, tonight. But it might not be until tomorrow. It’s hard to tell with this stuff.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Always,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll text you when I’m on the way back.”
“Is everything okay?” Khloe asked in concern when she set her phone on the table.
Katrina nodded, relaying what Darwin had told her. She’d known there was a good chance he’d have to leave to do SEAL stuff, but she couldn’t hide how bummed she was about it.
“Well, that sucks,” Khloe said.
“It does,” Katrina agreed with a sigh. “But that’s what I meant earlier when I said SEALs are on the go a lot. This is what I signed up for when I agreed to go out with Darwin. When he gets a call to go somewhere, he has to go.”
Lakelyn frowned. “Ugh. Maybe I’m not so sure I want you setting me up with a SEAL. I want the guy I’m with to be all about me. I’m not sure I want to compete with his job. Especially when it means they might have to bail on something as important as this weekend.”
Katrina wasn’t thrilled about it, either, but she’d put up with it if it meant being with a guy as amazing as Darwin.