probably take her up on her not-so-subtle come-on. They could go out. Get to know each other. Have sex.
All of which should have sounded really good…and it didn’t. He didn’t want blue eyes, he wanted green. A fiery redhead, not a blonde and the only fatherless kid he wanted in his life was Erin.
He swore silently. It had been nine years. Why couldn’t he get Skye out of his head? Why did she have to be the one who got to him?
The door to the classroom opened and Erin came out. She shrieked when she saw him.
“You’re here! You came.”
“Of course I came.”
She waved him into the room where they stood in back while a woman talked about how she rescued horses. A few minutes later, she finished and the kids applauded. Then Erin led him to the front of the room.
“This is Mitch Cassidy,” she said proudly. “He owns the ranch next door and he’s a real hero. He was a SEAL and fought in the war and protected our country and saved lots of lives.” She started to go to her seat, then stopped.
“Oh. He lost part of his leg and now he has a metal one and it’s really cool.”
Several of the kids leaned forward eagerly.
“Can we see it?” one boy asked.
The teacher, a tall middle-aged woman, hesitated. “I’m sure our guest doesn’t want to-”
“I don’t mind,” Mitch said, surprising himself and possibly the teacher. He drew up his jeans pant leg.
Several of the boys oohed while one girl covered her eyes.
“What happened?” a boy asked.
“I got in the way of an explosion. You don’t want to do that. The explosion always wins.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Before. Not now.”
“Does your fake leg come off?”
“How do you stand in the shower?”
“Can you run faster or slower?”
The teacher raised both her hands. “Okay. One question at a time.” She smiled at Mitch. “Unless you’d prefer to give your prepared talk.”
“Not really,” Mitch said. He had a few notes on what it was like to be a SEAL, but everything he’d written down had sounded stupid. Answering questions seemed easier.
“My leg comes off,” he said. “I don’t sleep with it. I don’t run as fast as I used to, but I’m getting better. I can ride and walk and do pretty much anything you can do.”
“What’s it like being a hero?” one girl asked.
Skye slipped into the back of the room. Mitch looked good standing up in front of the class. Maybe too good. Looking at him made it tough to think.
She watched the emotions chase across his face and knew he was debating the whole “hero” part of the question. He accepted that Erin called him that but wouldn’t think it of himself.
“I was doing a job,” he said. “Taking care of my responsibilities. That’s what people do-the right thing. Sometimes that meant being in danger.” He settled on the corner of the teacher’s desk. “Danger is a funny thing. It shows up when you don’t expect it, so you don’t have time to think. You act on instinct.”
Several of the kids frowned, as if confused.
He saw it, too. “You just act. You don’t have time for a plan. So you have to know what you’re going to do before the danger shows up. Can anyone here tell me when you practice for danger?”
There was silence. The students got wide-eyed and looked at one another. Mitch casually pointed to the fire alarm on the wall.
“Fire drills!” one boy yelled.
“Right. You know how to leave the classroom and where to go in the yard.”
“Did you have to practice?” a girl asked.
“Yes. All the time.”
“So you could save people?”
“That’s why I was there.”
He talked about riding on navy ships and airplanes, about jumping from thousands of feet in the sky. He had them enthralled for nearly half an hour.
“I hate to interrupt,” their teacher said, “but we have other special people here to speak. Thank you so much for coming.”
Mitch waved at the kids. He paused by Erin’s desk and spoke to her, then started for the door. Skye knew the exact moment he spotted her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as he followed her into the hallway.
“I wanted to hear you speak.”
“Why?”
“I thought it would be interesting.”
They walked outside the building and stood in the parking lot.
She found herself oddly nervous. Had he always been so tall? Or maybe it was something else. Maybe it was Lexi and Dana’s ridiculous claims that she was in love with him.
“Erin really appreciates that you did this,” she said, staring at his chest. She couldn’t seem to look into his eyes. “She was so excited that you were coming to her class.”
“I was happy to do it. She’s a good kid.”
Skye risked raising her gaze. “I thought you’d hate her forever.”
“For not being mine?”
She nodded.
“I thought about it,” he admitted. “Then I realized if she was mine, she would be different and I don’t want her to change.”
It was the best thing he could have said.
“I’m glad,” she whispered, then cleared her throat. “You were really good with the kids. They loved hearing you talk.”
“Edited stories. The truth would keep them up for months.”
She was sure of that. “You talked about rescuing people. Who rescued you?”
“A guy named Pete.”
“A fellow SEAL?”
“Yes. He’s a few years younger than me. Married. They’re having their first baby.” He looked past her. “He dragged me to safety, then went to get help. He could have been killed. He was shot himself, but did that slow him down? No way. He’s back in Afghanistan right now.”
He sounded angry. With himself?
“Mitch, you’re getting a couple of medals for what happened. It’s not like you just sat there and had a good cry.”
He shrugged. “I laid down some cover. Got a couple of snipers.”
While he was possibly bleeding to death with his leg blown off. Sure. Just another day at the office.
One of the teacher’s aids walked up and joined them.
“Hi, Skye,” Monica said. “Mitch, that was amazing. Thanks again for coming to speak to the kids. You were a hit. There’s, um, going to be a reception later. You might like to come.” Monica barely spared her a glance. “You, too, Skye.”
A halfhearted invitation at best, Skye thought, trying not to step between Mitch and Monica. She saw the other woman’s interest and, while she wanted to claim him as her own, she wasn’t in any position to do that.
Annoyed, frustrated and not sure why, she gritted her teeth, excused herself and walked to her car. Monica and Mitch were still talking. Neither seemed to notice as she drove away.
Stupid man, she thought, turning the corner. He could date anyone he wanted. She wasn’t interested in him. She never had been. He and Monica could get married and buy a house and she wouldn’t care for one minute. They were both stupid and they deserved each other.
MITCH RODE that evening, after dinner. Sunset was later now that they were heading into early summer. He
