Brianna's Navy SEAL by Natalie Damschroder Read Free Book Online Page B

before. “I was just distracted."
    "Well, I can't complain about having to work with you."
    "That's not the part that bothers me.” A few feet from her room, she could hear her cell phone ringing. She'd turned it on to check messages and hadn't remembered to turn it off. She caught it just before it shot over to voice mail. The number was unfamiliar.
    "Hello?"
    "Brianna, good. Hope I'm not interrupting class.” Darcy didn't bother waiting for assurances. “I want to have the first meeting tomorrow night, my house, six o'clock. You know where it is. See you then?"
    Tomorrow was their usual movie night. “I—"
    "Great. Let Ken know, will you? I know you two are close.” She hung up.
    Brianna hit the “end” button, turned off the phone, and lifted her arm to throw it into her bag. But breaking the phone wouldn't do any good, so she relaxed and dropped it into the outer pocket.
    "Darcy's calling our first meeting tomorrow night."
    Cable seemed to read her mind. “It's all right, we can go to the movie the next night.” He rubbed her arm and she wished he could hold her. But they were both very careful at school and anywhere they could run into parents or school administration.
    "Sure, we can.” She checked the clock. “I have to call Ken before the kids get back. You want to drive over together?"
    "Of course.” He started to walk out to his own room. “I'll get you at what, quarter of?"
    Brie nodded, already on the phone with Ken, already regretting not waiting until the end of the day. She could hear her kids coming down the hall, and Ken seemed to want to chat about his ideas.
    "Ken, that's what the meeting's for. I have to teach now."
    "Sure, right, no problem. And thanks for that great job you did on the Moore account. They were thrilled.” His voice was warmer than usual, and she cringed.
    "Okay, good. Bye, Ken."
    "See you tomorrow night, Brie."
    She hung up and briefly dropped her head onto her arms with a groan. Ken had never called her Brie before.
    By the time she climbed into Cable's truck the next night, she was in a sour mood. Cable, being a guy, didn't notice. And she didn't think he'd appreciate her regaling him with Kira's story, or the McDonald's issue. Brianna didn't really care about the McDonald's, or what the rest of the town thought about it, but she could never forgive Darcy for trying to trap Jake into marriage and didn't think she could work with her on this committee.
    So why didn't she just drop off it? She was an adult. She didn't have to do things she didn't want to do.
    Except she'd already agreed, and it was her own fault she didn't know who'd she be working with before she said yes. She shouldn't have been daydreaming at the meeting, and now she'd have to pay the price.
    Besides, then she'd be leaving Cable to Darcy's devices. That wouldn't be fair to him. Maybe Ken and Darcy would hook up, she mused. That would solve a lot of problems at once.
    "Which way?” Cable asked at the end of their street. She directed him to Darcy's old condo, which she'd apparently moved back into. She must have been renting it while she was gone. It only took them a few minutes to get there, and Brianna climbed the steps to the front door with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
    "Brianna!” When Darcy opened the door she welcomed Brie like a long-lost friend, hugging her and making her gag on the woman's perfume. Or disgust, it didn't really matter which. She choked it back and introduced Cable.
    "Ken here yet?” she asked, moving into the elaborately decorated living room. Darcy had pads of paper and pencils stacked on a coffee table next to catalogs and a few scattered sheets that looked like someone had been sketching the ballroom.
    "Not yet.” Darcy kept her wide smile as she accepted their coats and offered them drinks. Cable asked for a beer, but Brianna declined, knowing she was punishing herself for no good reason. The heat was on the high side in here, the air dry, but she couldn't