Page 61 of Married to a SEAL

“I know,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I’m fine. It’s just part of the job.”

“Nightmares are part of the job?”

“Hell, sweetheart, I jump out of airplanes for a living. Shoot up the bad guys. It’s not like I’m going to dream of cotton candy and sunshine.”

Rebecca smiled despite herself, recalling their day at the beach a week ago with their two kids. Salty water, sand, the scorching hot sun—and plenty of cotton candy for the kids.

She walked up behind Patrick and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his back. He was so tall, her head was right between his shoulder blades. She could feel the tension and stress rippling off of him—the tightness in his muscles. The stiffness of his posture.

He was a man that never showed any signs of weakness. Never flinched.

And he’d never admit if something was bothering him either.

She kissed him softly, her lips brushing against the warm skin on his back, and ran her hands over his shoulders and bulging biceps. She enjoyed the feeling of his skin over all those hardened muscles. Loved the feeling of his strength and warmth surrounding her.

He turned around, gazing down at her with those cool blue eyes as he let his hands rest on her waist.

“I’ll probably be deploying again soon.” He cocked his head slightly, assessing her. “The CO mentioned he’ll have significant updates for us on Monday morning.”

“I figured—nature of the job, right? I can’t say I’ll ever like having you gone, but I’m used to it by now. Sort of.”

Patrick smirked, his eyes warming as he looked down at her. He raised one large hand to her face, letting his fingertips caress her cheek as his thumb grazed over her lips.

Butterflies fluttered inside her—the same feeling she got whenever Patrick touched her. Kissed her. Caressed her. This touch was more comforting than sexual though. Loving. He let his hands fall to his sides.

“It’ll be good for me to get back to work after the accident—to get back into a routine and training. Sitting around the house isn’t helping me improve.”

“I know for a fact that all the physical therapy you were doing was hardly ‘sitting around,’” she said with a wry smile. “I was tired just hearing about all the grueling exercises you had.”

“Let’s not forget the extra work my sister dreamed up,” he said with a chuckle.

“She’s just doing her job—literally.”

“She’s tougher than some of those Navy docs. The timing of my going back is crappy though. We never even got to take a honeymoon,” Patrick said, his voice gruff. “I was hoping I wouldn’t be in recovery for so long.”

“Well, we weren’t exactly planning on a wedding this summer. Or a baby. In a way, your accident kind of hurried things along.”

“The baby was already on the way,” he said, looking rather proud of himself as his eyes glinted with amusement.

“That he or she was—I still think it’s a little girl.”

“Then she won’t be allowed to date until she’s thirty—at least. Abby either.”

Rebecca laughed. “I don’t think anyone will be brave enough to ever ask Abby out with you around. Thankfully we have years and years before we need to worry about that.”

“Thank God for small miracles. But I don’t want you to worry, because nothing’s going to happen to me. Nothing else,” he amended. “Hell, half the guys on the team have been injured before.”

“And out of commission for two months?”

“Evan was. And the other guys have had injuries, too. We’re the best at what we do. So yes, maybe my injury this summer sped up the timeline a bit.”

“You think?” she asked, pointedly looking at the wedding ring on his hand.

Patrick smirked. “I can’t complain. We could’ve waited if you wanted a big, fancy wedding.”

Rebecca looked up at him. “Our wedding was absolutely perfect—you, me, the kids, the beach. I never would’ve wanted anything else.”

“Me either. I love you,” he said, his voice gruff.

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