Page 109 of SEAL Summer Escape

That wasn’t exactly how she’d planned to start the day, but holy wow.

The man certainly knew his way around a woman’s body.She’d been with her fair share of guys, so it’s not like she could fault him for that.And in many ways, it worked to her advantage.Noah wasn’t the guy that needed to stop and ask for directions on the way to o-town.

He delivered exactly what he’d promised—having her cry out for him, coming at his expert touch.

She tugged her shorts back on, lamenting that she didn’t have any shoes.Walking around on the beach wasn’t exactly a problem, but she wasn’t sure how far the waterfall was that he’d discovered.Then again, maybe they should just stay right here.What if the rescuers spotted the bonfire and she and Noah were off frolicking through the woods?

She walked over toward him, tucking his sweatshirt back into his backpack.

Noah was poking at the pile of driftwood, frowning.“It’s soaking wet,” he muttered.“Not surprising since it rained all night, but disappointing.”

“They should be out looking for us soon though, right?”

“Absolutely.We still don’t know what happened with Mason and Taylor yesterday, but if they didn’t return the boat, his buddy would’ve notified the Coast Guard.They knew we were out fishing just for the morning.Hopefully they got back safe and sound, and the storm just held up the rescue.”

“So what do we do about the fire?”she asked.

“Hunt for more wood I guess.Or give it a couple of hours to dry out.If we see or hear a helicopter, I can shoot off a flare.”

“Let’s make a sign on the beach,” she said.“You know—like they do in the movies.We can find some seaweed or driftwood and spell out the word ‘help’ in huge letters.”

“Good idea, but I’m worried it might not be big enough to spot from the air.”

“We’ll make it huge,” she said, growing excited.“We can gather the driftwood together.It can be in massive letters right across the sand, taking up a huge portion of the beach.”

“Sunshine, this is low tide,” Noah said gently.“I had to build the bonfire back here so it didn’t get washed away by the incoming tide.Anything we spell out in the open area of beach will be washed away by the ocean.”

“But—” she broke off, her eyes watering.It was silly to cry over something like that.They were already stranded here for goodness sakes.But her idea was so simple and would work if they just had a spot to execute it.

“Hey, don’t cry,” he said, roughly pulling her to him.His muscular arms wrapped around her, and Bailey rested her head against his cotton tee shirt, sniffling for a moment.His large hand ran down her hair, and she felt his lips lightly brush against the top of her head.“We’ll be okay,” he murmured.“They’ll be out looking for us today.We’ll get that fire lit later on.Someone’s bound to fly by eventually.”

“I know,” she said, pulling back and swiping at her tears.He gazed down at her, and her eyes roamed over the dark whiskers of his jaw.The slight bump of his nose.He looked sexy as hell with a slight beard starting, and she probably looked like a raggedy mess.

Not that he’d complained when he’d spread her out before him like a feast he couldn’t wait to devour.

His whiskered jaw brushing up against her bare sex had been exhilarating.He’d been careful with her, gentle, but there was something totally erotic about his very male hands and face up against her most feminine parts.

“What do you know?”he asked gently.

“If we can’t spell out the word ‘help’, let’s put one of those emergency blankets out.The reflective material will show up from the air, right?They’ll know that we’re down here!”

Noah reached down, wiping away a stray tear rolling down her cheek.“Yes, they will, sunshine.That’s a great idea.”

A few minutes later, they’d secured one of the blankets with some soggy pieces of driftwood.Stretched out on the sand near the tree line, it would be visible if a helicopter flew over.“Do you really think someone will see it?”Bailey asked, hope rising within her.

“They will if they fly close enough,” he said.

“Oh.”

“They might come this way, sunshine.They’ll be doing a grid search from where the boat was yesterday, starting close to the coordinates and then spreading out.We’ll build a fire in a couple of hours.They’ll definitely see the smoke from miles away once we get that lit.And the good news is the sky is clear today.There shouldn’t be any more rainstorms to put out a fire.We’ll find enough driftwood and debris to keep it burning all day.”

“Okay,” she said, a feeling of calm washing over her.Her idea of the blanket was a little silly now that she thought about it.That would only work if someone was directly above them.Still, she felt like they had to do something.They had to leave something on the beach in case they fell asleep or were at the waterfall.

It would just kill her if someone did come and assume it was just another small deserted island.

They sat down on the beach under the palm trees, Noah pulling a few protein bars from his backpack.He tossed her one, and she ripped it open and took a bite, frowning.“This tastes awful.”

He chuckled.“It’s loaded with calories, sunshine.”

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