He knew, at some point in time, he’d have to change his direction. As his body aged, he wouldn’t be in prime condition to hunt down these criminals in quite the same way. It was already in the back of his mind, wondering what pathway he wanted to take. But that point in time was a good four to even eight years off for some SEALs—maybe earlier, depending on how the missions went. But Baylor also did want a family at some point in time, including children. As he sat here, staring at her long fingers, he had to wonder at the fate that had brought them together again.
“What are you thinking about?”
His lips quirked. “Honestly?”
She nodded, looking at him intently.
“Family and children.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Wow, that’s a surprise. Do you have any?”
“Oh,” he said, “I guess we’ve never mentioned that, but no. I don’t have a permanent relationship or a family anywhere. But it is something that I do want at some point in time.”
“I can understand that,” she said. “I always thought I’d have a family too, but somehow that just didn’t seem to work out.”
“You still have lots of time though,” he said.
“I do. I know. It just never really became much of an issue. I had a long-term relationship that I thought would end up in marriage, but he didn’t want children. At that point I just got accustomed to thinking that I wouldn’t have that stereotypical family that so many people have. And, when we split up, I just never changed my outlook.”
“That’s probably because you didn’t have any reason to,” he said. “It would be that next long-term relationship that would change it for you.”
She smiled. “That’s kind of how it works, isn’t it?”
“Often, yes, it is,” he said, with a nod. “When you think about it, we’re very affected by the people in our lives. It’s funny how we don’t really consider that, until it happens.”
“And yet I have girlfriends,” she added thoughtfully, “and that’s all they really wanted—having a family.”
“That’s just how some women are geared,” he said. “And I guess maybe men too. It’s not a case of one or the other.”
“I’ve never really known any men geared that way,” she said, “although I’ve known lots who were happy to have a family, once it happened in their lives.”
“I think we’re all just so different,” he murmured, “yet patently the same.”
She nodded. “I think you’d make a great father,” she said impulsively.
He looked at her, a slow dawning smile. “And likewise, you’d make a great mother.”
She chuckled. “Listen to us,” she said. “It’s like we’re setting out our hopes and dreams and discussing our future already.”
“Well, we’ve already established that we’ll see each other when this is over.”
Her smile fell away. “And you promise me that it will be over, right?”
“I promise,” he said.
“Then, yes, absolutely. We’ve already got that established,” she said, now laughing.
“Now that we know we both want children at some point in time,” he said, he left the rest unsaid, raising one eyebrow suggestively.
At that, she started to chuckle yet again. She pulled her fingers from his and said, “Why don’t we focus on these cinnamon buns right now.”
“Hey, I’m all for that,” he replied. “It’s just, you asked what I was thinking.”
“And it was fascinating,” she said. “I am really interested. You’re very different than most people I know.”
“Ooh, I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” he said, “but I’ll take it.”
She smiled yet again. “And you make me laugh,” she said, “and, right now, that’s also very nice.”
“Life is hard for all of us,” he said. “Sometimes laughter is what we need.”
“Always. We definitely need laughter,” she said, with a half smile, looking wistful. “It’s what kept my mother and me going throughout her treatments.”
He nodded as he watched her expression droop with sadness. “And it’s hard,” he said, “watching somebody go through something like that. It’s like there’s just never any end, and you can’t understand why it happened to you or to her.”
“Exactly,” she said. “It was such a hit-or-miss thing that you wonder what you did wrong to make the world hate you so much.”
“When the truth is, nobody hated you at all. Just one of those things that nobody can ever explain, and we can’t ever change those events either.”
“And that makes it even harder,” she said passionately. “You’d think, with all the money we have available to us in this world, that we would have found a way to solve or cure cancer by now, but instead the billionaires are becoming trillionaires, and we’re letting these crazy diseases take over the world, impacting an ever-widening circle of our people, with no end in sight.”
“And yet some people donate huge fortunes to decipher these disease codes, so they can find cures and vaccines for them.”
She nodded as she took another bite of the cinnamon bun, then closed her eyes for a moment, absolutely enjoying every mouthful.
His heart swelled, and dammit if he didn’t feel pressure in his groin at the absolute passion and innocence she revealed in her joy. “That must be a very good cinnamon bun,” he said, his voice thickening.
Immediately her eyelids shot open, and she stared at him, and he could feel the heat arcing between them. She took a long deep breath and whispered, “It is.”
He nodded, tearing away his gaze and staring down at his own cinnamon bun that he hadn’t even tried yet.
“Looks like it might be a little too deadly though,” she whispered.
His lips quirked. “Too hot to touch?”
“Or too hard to handle.”
He looked up in surprise. “There is nothing that you can’t handle. I’ve watched you these last few days,” he said, “and you have been nothing short of dynamite.”
Her gaze warmed, and she smiled. “In that case, you’re on.”
He
