Chapter 32

James woke early and snuck out of the room, heading out for a run. Danika's declaration of love filled him with hope. Maybe they wouldn't last, but they were burning hot now, and he wanted to hold on tight. Tight might not be the right way to hold on, but he didn't want her to slip through his fingers again.

Before, when they were teens, he'd not understood how to deal with the abuse his father put him through. In the Navy, when he'd gone through recruit training, his recruit division commander may have thought he was a badass, but he couldn't match what James had suffered at home. At least in training, he'd been allowed to eat, shower, and sleep, though not as much as he liked. The Navy treated him so much better than his father had, and he was able to start healing.

Then after getting out of training and being stationed on a ship, he met people who held weekly sessions where they talked about becoming a better person. It wasn't church, and it wasn't therapy, but it changed him. Those men and women challenged him to start reading books that helped him recognize good actions from bad.

Maybe he wasn't ready for a relationship like marriage, but he wanted to get there. Working on himself had been the most important thing he'd learned the first year in the Navy. It was one reason he believed that he passed BUDs and became a SEAL.

He stopped by the breakfast buffet downstairs and grabbed an egg sandwich to eat before heading up to see if Danika was awake. With a smile on his lips, he quietly opened the door, hoping he didn't disturb her if she was still sleeping.

She drew in a sharp breath and sat up. "Oh, you're back."

"Did I wake you?"

Her hair stuck up and out as she shook her head. His heart melted, and he wanted to keep her safe always. Being allowed to see her this way while she still had marks from the pillow on her face was special.

"No. I was starting to wake up. Just easing into it."

"I need to shower, and then we should get downstairs to eat. They're only open for about forty more minutes."

"Ugh. Let me brush my teeth, and we can go down. We can shower after."

"I might stink."

She shrugged. "It's not bad. I mean, I can't smell you. If people don't like it, they don't have to sit close to us."

Her attitude brought laughter. After she brushed her teeth, she pulled on shorts and one of his t-shirts she'd taken ownership of, and they headed downstairs. They chatted about nothing in particular, just stuff they wanted to do while in Los Angeles. Though he had the desire to do the Hollywood sign hike, he didn't think they had time.

What he really wanted to do was just spend time with Danika when they weren't bogged down by expectations or commitments. He loved hanging out with other SEALs, but they needed time to learn each other.

"What are you smiling at?" Danika asked.

"The way you break up the bacon and eat each bite with a little bit of scrambled eggs."

Laughter spilled from her. "It is kind of funny."

"It's cute. I like it. I want to get to know you. I mean, I know some things, and we've been together for a little while, but I'm usually running off to work or something, and you have work. We're busy. It's all good, but I like having this time to just hang out with you."

"Yeah. I agree. I think it is nice just being with you. When we were in—" She paused and glanced around. "When we became reacquainted, it was nice hanging out. I was freaked out, and I knew neither of us was acting normal then. You know, we've both been through stuff."

He nodded and leaned in, glad she'd stopped herself before saying something about London. Not that anyone around here would be listening for him to say that he'd been in London, but if they talked about it, it would be easy to say something in front of his buddies or someone who didn't need to know what his assignment had been last year.

"I don't know when we'll be able to do something like this again, but I don't want to forget how wonderful it is to be with you when it's just us two."

"Same. Now then, how about we shower and go on one of those star tours?"

"Yes! Let's go be geeky tourists and do all that stuff."

His heart was so full of love that every moment spent with Danika was special. The buzz of work and international troubles still filled the back of his brain, but he was able to turn it low and enjoy their day. They did all the fun, crazy tourist stuff and ended up at the Santa Monica Pier close to sundown. They were on the Ferris wheel as the sun set, painting the sky with oranges and pinks that looked so amazing he knew he wouldn't be able to capture it with the camera on his phone. The whole setup was incredibly romantic, holding his girl, watching the sky fill with colors while the last rays of the sun said goodbye for the day.

He sighed, and she turned to look at him as the wheel stopped when they were at the top. She reached over and cupped his cheek, holding him so softly his heart almost stopped. Tears filled her eyes as she leaned in, brushing her lips over his. It was one of the most magical moments of his life. He felt like they were the only two people in the world, and nothing else mattered other than the two of them being together. This was pure happiness, and he wanted to hold on, never letting go.