LITMIR.BIZ

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can answer that.” The sheriff shrugged. “If it were me, though, I’d probably be worried about my teammates. Maybe a little concerned that I couldn’t pull off the mission perfectly, so that means I was flawed. That I wasn’t a solid SEAL.”

      Brody had taken plenty of hits in his day. Some he’d been braced for, others had come as a complete shock. But nothing had knocked him on his ass quite like the sheriff’s words.

      He had to take a few breaths to pull his thoughts together. A few more to shake off the creepy feeling that the other guy was peeking through his brain for information.

      “Your teammates are SEALs,” he finally said, matching Reilly’s light, conversational tone. “They’re trained to kick ass and if they thought you were afraid for them, they’d kick yours.”

      The sheriff’s lips twitched.

      “And the rest?”

      Brody shrugged. The rest was right on target. But he wasn’t a pansy-ass. He’d spent most of his life being called a loser, feeling like his situation flawed him in one way or another. He’d overcome it before, he could overcome it again.

      “You know, I was a green rookie right out of the police academy when I married Genna’s mother. I was so damned cocky, so sure I could handle anything.” Reilly smiled, a reminiscing look on his face. “Then I got a domestic abuse call. Before I could knock on the door, the guy shot me.”

      Brody frowned. Obviously it hadn’t been fatal. But still...

      “My first thought as I hit the ground was Cara. That she was going to freak, want me to quit the force. My second thought was that it hurt like a son of a bitch, and that I wasn’t as invincible as I’d figured.” The man paused, whether reliving the moment or for effect to let those words sink in, Brody wasn’t sure. “But Cara didn’t freak. She never asked me to quit, and if she worried, she never let on. And you know what? Not being invincible made me a better cop.”

      If he’d taken a huge stick and smacked Brody upside the head with it, the guy couldn’t have hammered the message home any stronger.

      It wasn’t just his own fears Brody had been nursing like a dirty little secret. He’d generously assigned a whole slew of them to Genna, too. Fears she’d never once voiced, probably hadn’t even considered.

      But worrying about her fears, protecting her at his own expense? That’d been a hell of a lot easier than admitting his own.

      Brody dropped his head back, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out how he’d lost sight of the simple facts.

      Genna was sweet, loving and sassy. She was clever, gorgeous and talented. And she was strong. Strong enough to tell him what she wanted. And what she didn’t want.

      But he hadn’t given her a chance.

      He’d done the same thing he’d cussed her father out for.

      He’d made the decisions for her, all in the name of protecting her.

      Maybe he was more like the good sheriff than any of them realized. And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

      “Figure it out?” Reilly asked after giving Brody a few minutes to stew in his own stupidity.

      “I blew it,” Brody confessed. Then he shrugged and shook his head. “I’m surprised she didn’t kick my ass before she walked out.”

      “You want to make it up to her?”

      No. He’d rather find her, kiss her crazy until she forgot all the stupidity of the last week, then lose himself in her body for a few hours. But he didn’t figure that was the answer. Nor anything her father needed to know.

      So he shrugged instead.

      “Tucker went ahead with that event. The hero thing? It’s happening in about, oh―” he checked his watch “―ten minutes.”

      “Without me?”

      “Our esteemed mayor doesn’t like to waste a chance to show off for the press.”

      Damn.

      The only thing Brody wanted less than facing the crappy thoughts tangled up in his head was to stand up in front of a bunch of people and be declared a freaking hero. He wasn’t one.

      But Genna saw him as one.

      Which, he finally let himself admit, made him feel pretty damned good.

      Besides, if he went it’d make her happy.

      And he wanted that more than he wanted to hide.

      “I’m not saying I changed my mind,” he declared, grabbing the bar keys from under the counter, then snagging his jacket. “I’m doing this for Genna. So she knows I’m not a total ass.”

      And, maybe, so she’d forgive him.

      Then he could get rid of this sick feeling in his gut. And maybe, just maybe, they could talk about the future and how she’d feel about sharing hers with a SEAL.

      Maybe.

      If he changed his mind.

      Following Reilly to the cop car, Brody realized that while he’d ridden in a few over the years, this was his first visit to the front seat. Then the sheriff hit the road.

      “Where are we going? Town hall is the other way.”

      “We gotta stop by your place. Your gramma made arrangements for your dress uniform to be here in case you decided to do her proud today.”

      Dress whites?

      Shit.

      * * *

      A HALF HOUR LATER, Brody flexed his shoulders to try to get the heavy fabric of his uniform to lie comfortably. His hat tucked under his arm, he took a second to glare at the spit-shine polish on his black shoes and wonder if his gramma had done that. Then another moment to absorb how special it was that she had.

      “C’mon,” Reilly said quietly.

      Since the cop had parked illegally in front of the town hall, all they had to do was mount the steps and push through the wide doors. All the way, Brody focused as if he was approaching a mission. No room for emotions. He was here to do a job. A job that he was trained for, one that his military résumé claimed he was qualified to do.

      A deep breath, his emotions locked tight in some far corner he never saw when he was in the zone, he entered the battle—or as everyone else called it, the main hall.

      And stopped short.

      Damn, this was bigger than he’d expected. It looked as though the entire town had crowded into the huge room. Off to one side were a handful of strangers, cameras and recorders in hand. The press. On stage the mayor stood at a lectern, Genna seated to his right. To the left was a row of chairs, all but one filled.

      His team. To a man, they were all here. Like him, they were all decked out in dress whites. He tensed, his eyes widening when he saw who was seated in the command position. Admiral Pierce? Wasn’t it bad enough being declared a hero in front of a team of men just as heroic? But they’d brought in the brass, too?

      Then he noticed the large framed photo propped before the podium.

      Carter.

      This wasn’t about him, Brody realized.

      This event was to honor Carter.

      The real hero.

      Reeling with emotions so strong they almost knocked him on his ass, Brody’s gaze cut to Genna. She stared right back, her chin high and pride in her eyes. She’d arranged this. She’d understood what he hadn’t.

      His gut ached with the power of his feelings.

      He looked at his team.

      And knew they were all feeling the same thing.

      Pride and loss.

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