Free SEAL's Promise - Bad Boys of SEAL Team 3, Book 01 by Sharon Hamilton Page B

last few days either. That indicates you’ve had second thoughts, Shannon. Or am I wrong?”
    “You’re right about one thing. Perhaps this was all too fast.” She was studying her hands wringing in her lap. When she looked up at him, he wasn’t sure what he saw in her eyes.
    “What is it, Shannon? What’s changed?”
    She hesitated before starting. “Mom overheard one of the wives say you made a promise to Frankie to take care of me and Courtney.”
    “Yeah, I did. So?” He was getting a very uneasy feeling about her mother’s communication.
    “So, I have to ask you, T.J., would you even be here in the first place if you hadn’t made that promise? Are you doing this for Frankie, or—” she turned and looked away from him.
    “Shannon, honey, no.” He tried to grab her but upturned the hot coffee and it burned his leg. “God dammit!” he shouted.
    They both ran to the kitchen to get towels. The burn on his thigh didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the ache in his chest. Before they returned to the couch, he pulled her to him. “Please, believe me. My promise has nothing to do with this. It got me here, but it’s not what’s keeping me here. Shannon, you have to believe me.”
    “Then why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
    T.J. was starting to lose his patience. He didn’t like his honor questioned. “What the hell lies did your mother pour into you?”
    Shannon reared up. “How dare you say that? These are my questions.”
    “Well, everything was fine until she came down here. What kind of infection did that woman lay on you?”
    “She’s my mother, T.J.” Shannon shouted.
    “Yeah? Well I had a mother too, for all the good it did me.” He wished he could stop, but he couldn’t. Something had become uncorked, something raw and ugly and vile.
    He could see she was staring into that dark pit that was his past, and it scared her.
    “I never had anyone who cared a shit about me until I joined the Navy, until I met Frankie. Family is just—I could never do what my father did to me, abandon my child. I want to be there for you both.”
    “I understand, but I think we should wait until after the baby’s born to make all these permanent decisions.”
    He cursed to himself. He’d jumped the gun and gotten in the sheets with her first, and impulsively asked her to marry him, which was a huge mistake. If he could have just taken his time, been patient, perhaps she wouldn’t be having this reaction.
    And then there was that fuckin’ big knot in his stomach that said perhaps he wasn’t the right man for her after all. He’d made the promise to Frankie, but what if it wasn’t what Shannon wanted?
    “Look, Shannon, I’m sorry. I want only the best for you and for the baby. And yes, I gave my word. You have to understand I’ve never done this before. I fuckin’ made a promise and I’m going to keep it. I’m just not doing it the right way, obviously. And maybe I never will. I’m not Frankie, and I fuckin’ won’t replace him.”
    “Nor could you, T.J.”
    Her steely tone stabbed him. Anger flared again in his belly. She was right. He never could be the kind of husband and father Frankie was. He was a completely different man. Different kind of man. Didn’t matter how much he told himself, the fact remained he would never live up to Frankie’s expectations of him. So why try?
    “T.J., I care for you deeply. But I still want to cool things off a bit, catch my breath and figure out what I want. I don’t want to rush into anything. I need some time.”
    “Of course.” Tired and defeated, he spoke to his shoes. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
    Shannon agreed quickly and slept in the master bedroom. Alone.
    T HE NEXT MORNING, he felt the distance between them growing. He didn’t want to be the one chasing her. The dull ache in his chest was unbearable and he told her he’d give her some space and return to his little apartment. She casually said she’d call him in a