Never Surrender(6)

"Sounds like there's a party going on," he said. They were supposed to meet Ruby for a quiet drink before dinner.

"Yeah, it does," Candace agreed with a frown.

A lineup of people waited at the lounge entrance, all wearing sport jackets and cocktail dresses. Ryan angled to the side and craned his neck to see what was going on in there. Once he did, he did a double-take. But no, his bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Grinning, he turned to the others. "You won't freaking believe this. Or maybe you will."

"What?" Candace pushed past him as the others maneuvered for a better look.

Two people at the head of the lineup entered the lounge, clearing a line of sight just as a raucous round of applause and whistles broke out. When Ace saw why, she gasped, both hands flying to her mouth. "Oh my God, Grandma … "

"Grandma?" Maya shoved past him to see.

And yep, there was Candace's eighty-something grandma, wearing a glittery gold evening gown-sprawled out on her side atop the piano in what Ryan guessed was supposed to be her attempt at a pinup pose.

Her short blue-white hair was curled tightly against her head, and she had a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. She raised her glass in a toast to her approving, captive audience, then signaled the pianist and launched into the next song, her slightly off-key voice ringing off the wooden beams in the ceiling. 

The audience seemed to be loving the hell out of the spectacle, and so did everyone in their group, except Candace. She groaned and hid her face against Ryan's shoulder. He patted her back in sympathy even as he chuckled and pulled out his phone to record the show. This was too freaking awesome.

"Hey, what's going on?" a familiar female voice said from behind them.

Ryan looked over his shoulder and smiled at Devon and her husband, Cam, as they walked up. "Hey, good to see you." He shook Cam's hand and slapped his buddy's shoulder.

"Wow, Dev, you look fantastic!" Candace exclaimed, throwing her arms around the former army Blackhawk pilot.

"Civilian life," Dev said with a shrug, her black hair now grown out to shoulder length. "What can I say, it agrees with me."

"I'll say it does." There was something wistful in Candace's expression as she said it.

Ryan nodded at the Seattle Seahawk scarf artfully wrapped around Devon's neck. "Nice scarf. Guess you're looking forward to watching their first home game on Sunday?"

"I can't wait," Dev said, her gray eyes sparkling. "You can dress me up in a fancy outfit and put me in high heels, but I'm still a tomboy at heart."

"A crazy hot one," Cam told her, his arm around her waist.

"Please, I don't believe her," Candace said to him. "I know she misses flying the 60s. Tell me the truth."

Cam gave his wife a gentle smile. "You totally miss it."

Devon smiled back at him. "Maybe sometimes. But my pay and benefits now as a private pilot are a helluva lot better than what I made in the army. It just sucks that you and I are so far apart all the time now."

Yeah, Ryan knew exactly what that felt like. Deployments were damn hard on relationships. Which was why the time together as a couple when they were stateside was so precious.

"We're gonna make up for lost time this week," Cam promised, giving her a squeeze.

"Us too," Ryan said, hoping to start that right after he pried whatever was bugging Candace out of her once they got back to the room. "And to answer your earlier question," he said to Devon, "payback is what's going on in there." He tipped his head toward the off-key singing.

"Is that your … grandma?" Dev asked Candace, eyes widening as she peered into the crowded room.

She made a strangled sound. "Unfortunately, yes."

Cam chuckled and shoved his hands into his pockets, blue eyes twinkling. "That's awesome."

Ryan nodded and returned to filming, intent on capturing every moment of this. "For real. Especially once it hits YouTube."

Candace gasped and swatted his arm, trying to grab the phone from him. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, baby, you know I would." Damn, this was fun, and he was glad the mood had lightened between them.

"Ryan … "

He stopped recording and turned to capture her chin in his hand, leaning down to smother her protests with a smacking kiss. "I love it when you say my name like that, all stern and bossy."

She swatted his arm. "Behave." But he caught the flash of hurt in her eyes when she turned away to talk to Erin.

He smothered a disappointed sigh. Okay, he was definitely not off the hook then.

Looked like they were going to have to hash things out after all. And rather than being impatient to get her alone in their room again, he suddenly found himself hoping this dinner would go on all night.





Chapter Four




       
         
       
        


"You look so hot in a cowboy hat." Candace looped her arms around his neck and lifted up onto her toes to drop a light kiss on his mouth.

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. And your beard makes you look the part even more."

She liked it when he grew a beard, which was pretty often for his job, and he loved rubbing it all over her naked body.

Grasping her hips, he pulled her into his body. "Mmm, maybe I should skip the hunting trip and stay here with you."

Things seemed better between them today, and that was a relief. He'd expected her to say the dreaded words "we need to talk" as soon as they'd come back to the room late last night, but she hadn't.

Instead she'd curled into him when he'd pulled her onto the bed and taken everything off her but those sexy red heels, and she'd been anything but cool with him after that. Afterward, holding her in the darkness as they drifted off to sleep, he hadn't brought up the issue, because hey, he wasn't stupid.

She laughed, the husky sound going straight to his groin. "You'd rather get a facial and pedicure?"

"I'd rather tie you to the bed again and make you come over and over."

She raised an eyebrow. "Like you've been sex-deprived since you got here."

"I just can't get enough of you." His sincerity behind the words must have registered with her because her deep brown eyes softened.

"I'm glad," she murmured, and kissed him gently once more before pulling back.

She was pretending like nothing was wrong, but something was definitely still off. She'd been gone again when he'd woken up this morning, and had only come back a few minutes ago, right before he had to leave to meet the others. She was going out of her way to avoid talking about the issue between them.

That bugged him. He was getting to the point where he just wanted to confront her and get the damn conversation over with. Now wasn't a good time, though, not when he was about to go away for the better part of two days. Because if things got heated, he didn't want to leave things worse between them.

"We'd better get a move on so you can get acquainted with your horse," she said, and moved to the door like she couldn't get out of the room fast enough. Like she couldn't wait to be rid of him.

His patience snapped.

He stopped her with a hand on the shoulder and spun her around. "All right," he said, staring down into her face. They'd avoided this long enough. "What's the matter?"

Her expression shuttered and she broke eye contact. "I don't want to do this right now. Not right before you're about to head off and we won't see each other for a couple days." 

Normally he would leave it, but it was driving him nuts that she was holding back. It also surprised him, since Candace had never been one to mince words when she had something on her mind. "No. Tell me what the problem is."

Her dark eyes flashed up to meet his, and a spark of resentment burned there. "Pretty sure you already know what the problem is."

Nope. "If this is because I snapped at you on the phone that time, I already apologized."

Her lips thinned, outrage flashing in her eyes. "You seriously think that's what's been bothering me all this time? That you snapped at me?"

Releasing her, he took a step back and folded his arms. "Okay, fine. Then tell me what is bothering you, so we can deal with it." They would resolve whatever it was, move past it, and make the most of their time here together.

"I'm not doing this right now; we don't have time," she muttered, and turned back for the door.

Her response pushed his frustration even higher. "When are we going to talk about it then? Tomorrow night after the big dinner with Erin's and Wade's families? Between the wedding and the reception? Or were you planning to wait until we were on the way to the airport on Sunday morning to talk about this?" Because as far as he could see, basically there was no good time for this discussion, and they couldn't leave things the way they were.

Her spine stiffened. She spun around to face him, her jaw set. "I don't need or appreciate the attitude. I've been biting my tongue since you got here, trying to keep things peaceful."

"Is that what you call it? Avoiding me whenever you can is keeping things peaceful?" He raised an eyebrow. "For who? You, or everyone else?"

Anger sparked in her eyes. "For everyone. And you know exactly what's wrong, so don't stand there and pretend you don't."