Page 45 of Loved by a SEAL

Ryan stared ahead at the water. A lone seagull swooped down near the cresting wave, the summer sun gleaming on the water. “I’d love to tell you everything, but I can’t. I can’t tell you anything.” He clenched a fist. “Operational security.”

“Right. I understand.”

He glanced her way but seemed to accept her answer.

“Rebecca said she needed to be with Alison today. I guess her pre-term labor stopped, but Rebecca didn’t want her to be all alone. I didn’t feel like driving home to Norfolk and already had cancelled my morning clients, so I ended up here. Just needed some time to think about everything going on.”

He nodded. “I almost didn’t recognize you with your hair pulled back like that.”

“Oh? I guess I usually wear it down.”

“I like it both ways.” He turned toward her, running his thumb over the earrings in her left ear. Despite the heat, she practically shivered under his touch. The moment felt strangely intimate, and her lips parted as his fingers slid along her jawline and his thumb lightly brushed over her lips.

“You are so damn beautiful.”

Heat bloomed across her face, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the summer weather. “That’s literally the last thing on Earth I expected you to say.”

The corner of his mouth tugged up in a hint of a smile, the harsh features on his face softening. “The very last thing?”

“Yeah. You could’ve told me you ate bugs for breakfast or something, and I would’ve been less surprised.”

“I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”

“Me either. I was too worried and sick to eat a single thing.”

“I was worried, too. And although I was concerned Ice was injured, I knew he was in good hands. Knew that he’s a fighter. But it just about killed me to leave you there crying this morning.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated, in complete disbelief.

“We don’t agree on anything,” Sarah protested. “Every time we talk, you just look completely amused, like you don’t agree with a damn word that I say. I want to go dancing; you want to sit and watch. I chase my nephew around the yard; you stand there looking annoyed.”

“You need to be more observant,” he said dryly.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I was watching you,” he said, nailing her with a look. “And I like how you argue with me. Challenge me. Most of the people on base say ‘Yes, Sir’ all day long. Most of the women I meet can’t string two coherent sentences together.”

Sarah smirked. “Where are you meeting these women? Because they sound exactly like the type of women some of the other guys on the team used to date. Not to name names, but Brent? Holy hell, he had some doozies. Floozies, really.”

Ryan chuckled, tiny lines crinkling around the edges of his eyes.

“Come home with me.”

“What? Now?”

“I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours. It fucking killed me to leave you this morning, all tucked in your blanket when I just wanted to hold you.”

“So you want to sleep with me?” she joked.

“Yes.” His lips quirked. Ryan ran a hand over her bare arm, sending shivers racing down her spine. “There are a lot of things I want to do with you. Anything. Everything. But right now? I want to literally fall asleep with you. Hold you in my arms since I couldn’t earlier. Forget about this clusterfuck of a day.”

“Do I get to drive?”

“Hell no. There’s no way I’m ever getting in that mini cruiser of yours.”

“Never?”

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