Page 21 of SEAL's Sky
“No, thank you. I feel a lot better knowing that Jen has you watching her back. If you two are okay in here, I’m going to check on the bar.”
“Go ahead, Mom. I’m a lot better now and you can tell Tony this is excellent,” Jen answered as she swallowed her first bite of the burger. It tasted even better than she remembered or maybe she was just famished.
“Okay. I’ll be back shortly,” her mom said as she closed the office door behind her.
“Finish your burger, then we can talk some more.”
“Thank you. I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“I’m not surprised with all the shit hitting the fan this evening. You were about to eat then weren’t you?”
Nodding, since her mouth was full, she finished off the burger a lot faster than she should have. But so far it wasn’t bothering her stomach. She rarely threw up, but stress, hunger, and fear did a number on her.
Murph asked a few more questions once she’d eaten. Then he told her a little about his team, each of their names and the women they were dating. She figured it was his way to try to make her comfortable around them.
As she listened to him talk, memories of him returned. He’d been a lot younger then but so had she. The first time she’d seen him in the bar, he’d just finished BUD/S and was celebrating. He’d aged well, and it made her wonder why he wasn’t dating anyone. He’d told her all about Meghan, Chrissy, and Miranda, three of the five of them.
Her mom got back about a half-hour later. “Sandie and Tony are going to handle closing tonight. I told them since I had a visitor and you’d had a long day that I wanted you to be able to get some rest.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to mess up your schedule.”
“Hey, it’s my bar I can do what I want. Oh shit.” Her mom realized Murph was still there. “You can just forget you heard that.”
“Are you kidding? We’ve had bets going for years about who really owned this place.”
“Well, you still don’t know. Do you hear me? I like things the way they are and if it gets out that I own the Ready Room…well, let’s just say I don’t need that headache.”
“Yes, ma’am. Well except for the team but I’ll swear them to secrecy,” Murph said with a glint in his eye.
Jen chuckled. It was funny seeing him give her mom a hard time. And it proved how much they liked each other.
“They better or you’ll all be banned, and I’m not kidding,” her mom threatened. “It really needs to stay a secret.”
“Yes, ma’am. I promise. Your secret is safe with us. I’ll see you tomorrow after work. I’m not sure if the whole team will be here but if you need us, here are our numbers. Put them on your phone, both of you.” Murph handed her mom a piece of paper he’d gotten from her desk with the SEAL’s phone numbers.
“Thanks, Murph. Thank the rest of the team for me too, okay?”
“Me too. Although, I’m mortified that they had to hear all of that.”
“Don’t be, trust me, we’ve heard and seen a lot worse. Get some rest.”
“You ready to get some rest?” Her mom asked as she grabbed Jen’s plate and the empty beer bottle to take to the kitchen.
“Yup, let’s go.” Jen didn’t realize how thoroughly exhausted she was until she stood up from the chair and wobbled. Just thinking about sleeping in her old bed made her sigh with relief. For the first time in months, she’d be able to go to bed and be safe.
Chapter 9
Murph’s eyes popped open at four-thirty as they did every day since he’d joined the Black Eagle Team. His first thoughts were usually about coffee though, but today they were all about Sky, and he had to fight off the urge to text her. The team agreed to call her by her alias until they knew more, but the name seemed to fit her perfectly. Not everyone got up at zero dark thirty, he reminded himself. He’d have to wait a few hours until normal people got up.
As he got ready for PT, he went over what she’d told them the night before. She’d been through hell but so had many others they’d rescued over the years, so why did he feel differently about her situation? There were too many innocent women and children to count and he’d cared about all of them. But Sky triggered emotions he’d never experienced and the need to protect her was almost overwhelming.
By the time he’d gotten home last evening, he’d forgotten all about his promise to call Jake. But his boss didn’t forget anything and called about an hour after he’d gotten back from the Ready Room.
When he saw the caller ID, Murph winced. “Hey boss, sorry I forgot to call.”
“I figured. How is Pam’s daughter?”
“She’s scared the douchebag will show up and drag her back. But she was calmer when I left.”
