Page 71 of SEAL Summer Escape

She lined up another row of shot glasses, filling them up, and watching as each of the men picked up their shot.

“To Owen!”Noah said, raising his shot glass up in the air.

“To Owen!”the other men repeated, and then they were downing their third shot, whooping and hollering.

“Can I get you anything else?”Bailey asked, watching them in amusement.

“I guess your phone number is out of the question,” Noah said, his green eyes landing on her.Their eyes locked for a moment, and she felt frozen in place.A beat passed before she recovered her composure.

“That it is,” she agreed.“I don’t date customers.”

“You’re friends with Taylor.”

It wasn’t a question.Had he known who she was all along?She tried not to shift in place under his intense gaze.Part of her felt like he could see right through her, which was crazy.She didn’t even know the man.

“Bailey Franklin,” she said, resisting the urge to flinch as she held out her hand.

His large, warm hand encompassed hers.His skin was slightly rough, but despite how strong he clearly was, he held her hand carefully, not crushing it in his.“Noah Miller.”

“I thought the guys called you Viper?”

He chuckled, holding her hand a beat too long.She immediately missed the warmth when he released her.“Who told you that?Riptide?”he asked, referring to Mason.

Every man on the Delta SEAL team had a nickname, and Mason and Taylor had told her them one night over drinks.

“Yeah, aren’t you afraid of snakes or something?”she asked innocently.

Noah chuffed out a laugh, looking amused.“That’s what he told you?”

She smiled, feeling shivers race down her spine as he stared intently at her.She tried to keep focused on his face and not let her eyes wander down to those broad shoulder and impressive biceps.How much could a guy like that bench press?He could probably pick her up with no problem.

Something about his strength and masculinity was appealing as hell.Not that anything was going to ever happen between them.

“No, I’m just messing with you,” she said with a laugh.

His eyes lit up.“Damn straight.Mason is the one afraid of snakes.I even saved his sorry ass once.”

“I can’t see it,” she said, shaking her head.Her low ponytail moved across her back, and she saw Noah’s gaze drop to her chest.She wasn’t huge, but the tank top she had on hugged her breasts nicely.A customer gestured to her from across the bar, and she excused herself, Noah protesting that she hadn’t even let him tell her the story.

She felt his eyes on her ass as she moved away, and she smiled.God, he was such a flirt.Taylor had told her he always had a new woman with him.Which was exactly why she’d never date a guy like him.Not that she minded a little harmless flirtation.

He wasn’t exactly hard to look at, either.

If she knew he wouldn’t be around all the time thanks to the fact that they had mutual friends in Mason and Taylor, she wouldn’t have minded a little hot and heavy make-out session with him.Feeling all those hard muscles pressed up against her sounded delicious.

But she definitely wasn’t having a one-night-stand with one of Mason’s friends.

She took drink orders from a few women who’d sat down, and then moved around making drinks for other patrons.Half an hour later, she’d been pouring beers nonstop, mixing mojitos and other specialty cocktails, and even popping open a bottle of champagne for an older couple out celebrating their anniversary.

By the time she got back to Noah’s group, he was MIA.

Maybe he’d already left to go meet up with his SEAL team friends.Hadn’t he told that guy Owen he’d just be there for a little while?

She let the other bartender take over while she took her break, and she slipped out onto the deck out back, planning to go down to the boardwalk and enjoy a few minutes of relative quiet before she had to be back on duty.

She shivered in the night air but jogged down the steps of the restaurant’s deck, heading toward a bench down on the boardwalk.Lampposts dotted the strand up and down the boardwalk, and with the sun nearly setting, the lamps perfectly lit the entire path up and down the beach.

“Hey,” a male voice said, causing her to jump and squeal in surprise.“Sorry, it’s me,” Noah said, reaching out to calm her.“Noah.”

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