“As soon as we set foot on deck,” she spat, “we’re done. Over. Kaput. Finito. Got it, soldier? Whatever game you’ve been playing with me is finished. I’m not part of your war games, and if there ever was an us, there isn’t anymore.”
“Understood,” he said, because he did. He’d had his chance. He’d blown it. He and Maddie being anything more than a quick vacation hookup had been a fantasy, and fantasies stayed on Fantasy Island.
14
TONIGHT’S MISSION HAD been the SEAL version of ringing the doorbell and running. Mason’s unit had been tapped to bring in one of the Marcos brothers’ higher-profile lieutenants. The lieutenant, being neither stupid nor possessing a death wish, had gone to ground inside a compound just outside Belize City. The guy had played possum for so long that the higher-ups had started to wonder if he’d had another escape route planned and backdoored it out of the compound unseen. Mason and Levi had been charged with spooking the guy. Catch a ride on the Black Hawk, drop in and make a little noise. See if anyone startled and ran.
The chopper set down, hovering over the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. The rotors chewed up the air, announcing their arrival with a loud whap-whap-whap only a dead man could have missed. He and Levi jumped down and started a quick run toward the compound walls.
“Maybe next time the CO will issue us cowbells,” Levi quipped, stroking a hand down the barrel of his cut-down grenade launcher. The man liked things that went boom a little too much sometimes.
“Or get us some instruments and we could lead the parade.” Behind them, the Black Hawk lifted off. The pilot would make a few circles and be back to extract them in ten minutes, unless they discovered their target hiding inside.
Mason doubted it, though. The place was terminally sleepy, a small collection of run-down houses that didn’t even qualify as a town. In addition to one small square that was little more than hard-packed dirt, there was a sorry-looking tree, a dilapidated church and one street. Set back two hundred yards from all that exciting action, the lieutenant’s compound was the biggest, the windows covered with iron bars. It needed a paint job, though.
He got on the radio. “We got any signs of movement?”
“Negative” came the spotter’s voice.
Okay, then.
He took a knee against the wall and looked at Levi. “You ready to ring the bell?”
“Hooyah.” Levi flashed him a thumbs-up and then took aim, firing a stun grenade over the compound wall.
Lights flew on at the other houses. There were plenty of folks home there. Mason watched as the metal grille covering the nearest house slammed open, Mrs. Homeowner storming out to give someone a piece of her mind. She skidded to a halt four steps outside her door when the Black Hawk started to descend. A guy who was likely her husband came barreling out the door behind her, pulling on her arm to get her to back up.
“True love.” Levi sighed as the couple retreated inside. “A woman like that would be perfect for us. Too bad we can’t invite her along.”
Mason did his job. He went in, he kicked ass, he pulled out. It was a nice, simple formula that worked for him. He’d never considered getting married again. His marriage with Bethany was proof enough that he wasn’t husband material. He didn’t check any of the boxes on those magazine quizzes about the perfect guy and the perfect husband.
But the perfect woman? He had a bad feeling that he’d watched her gorgeous ass storm away from him on a naval cruiser. As soon as he’d gotten Maddie to the ship waiting off the coast of Belize, she’d walked away without so much as a backward glance, a muttered curse or an attempt to get even. He’d seen SEAL teams take a stretch of sand with less determination. Her initial hurt and anger weren’t unexpected, but her willingness to believe he cared for her? Yeah. That was a knee to the emotional balls he hadn’t realized he’d grown. A woman hadn’t made him think about playing for keeps since Bethany.
Which made this whole situation with Maddie difficult. He’d been pursuing her since he’d spotted her on Fantasy Island, and he wasn’t good at the whole dating thing. In fact, he pretty much sucked at it. The sex was fantastic, but he was seriously out of practice at having a relationship. Maybe he should have been asking Gray for pointers, because the last he’d heard, his lieutenant commander was getting mighty serious with the surgeon he’d met on Fantasy Island.