Page 77 of SEAL Summer Escape

“Sounds good to me.I was off last night—Mason said some of his buddies were there, but we went out to dinner alone.He would’ve gone with them if I was working.”

“It’s cute that he still shows up there all the time.”

Taylor shrugged.“The guys hung out there long before they knew me.It’s some kind of tradition with the SEAL teams.”

“Are you and Mason still trying to plan a trip together soon?I know his schedule is super iffy.”

“That’s the understatement of the millennium,” Taylor said.“Nature of the job, I suppose.They go when and where the military tells them.”

“I was at the grocery store the other night and saw one of the guys from the other SEAL team.Patrick, I think?He had a few kids with him.”

Taylor nodded.“He’s the Alpha SEAL team leader.Hunter leads Mason’s team.”

“Yeah, I met them both at the bonfire a few weeks ago.I remember distinctly because they both have wives or girlfriends and weren’t trying to hit on me all night long.”

Taylor laughed.“You’re single, some of them are single.What’s the problem?You should go out with one of the guys sometime.”

“Oh please,” Bailey said.“They were flirting with all the women there.And no one asked me out.Besides, I wouldn’t spend the night with one of Mason’s friends anyway.”

“Who said it had to be just one night?”Taylor asked.

“Uh-uh.No way.”

“Anyway,” Taylor said, rolling her eyes.“Speaking of the other guys—Noah wants to tag along on our Florida trip for the fishing and boating.”

“Oh, I ran into him last night.His friend was having drinks at the bar.Noah stopped by to see him and have a beer.”

“He came into your bar?”

“Yeah, to meet his friend.It took me a second to recognize him—he wasn’t at that bonfire I went to.I know I’ve seen him around though.”

“You’re right, he wasn’t there that night.He must’ve had something else going on.But he heard Mason and me planning our trip.He wanted to come along but wouldn’t if he was going to be the third wheel, so....”

“So you want me to go and keep him occupied?”

“Please!Mason and I are dying to get away for a long weekend.Mason racked up frequent flyer miles going to see his family or something, and this is the perfect time for us to go.”

“Too bad the military doesn’t give them frequent flyer miles for deployments,” Bailey said dryly.“They’d be taking a vacation every couple of weeks.”

“Right?We could take a few trips around the world with all the deployments Mason’s been on.”

A shriek from the beach drew Bailey’s gaze down toward the water, but she saw a group of men and women around their age goofing off.A guy was running down toward the surf, carrying a woman in a dress, who clung to him, laughing hysterically.

The water splashed his legs, but he held her high above the incoming water, grinning as their group of friends howled with laughter.

“Goodness, that looks like Noah right now,” Taylor said, leaning closer.“I think he’s with Jacob and one of the other guys.”

“Doesn’t it though?”Bailey asked.“Like I said, all those guys are major flirts.”

“I wonder if Mason knew his friends were here.”

“Probably not, because Mason is attached at the hip to you.The rest of those guys still like to go out and have a good time.”

“Hey!”Taylor said, playfully sticking her tongue out.

“Oh, you know what I mean.They wouldn’t call up Mason to go chase after women on the beach because he has you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.So anyway, what do you think?Are you in for a long weekend in Florida?We’ll get you a plane ticket with Mason’s frequent flyer miles.And you said you had over a week’s vacation saved up—you’d just need a day or two off.”