Page 25 of SEAL's Providence
“Yes, definitely after that. I’d like to kiss you, but if you want to wait, that’s fine.”
Instead of answering, she leaned toward him, her lips so close they almost touched. When her eyes slid closed, Tony cupped the side of her face and gently kissed her. It was short, but perfect. His senses flooded with her peachy scent, and his skin prickled with need.
Providence looked surprised when he pulled back. But this was him showing her he wouldn’t push her too hard, even if he’d wanted to slide his tongue into her mouth and taste her.
“G’night Tony.”
“Drive safely, sweetheart.”
He waited until her taillights disappeared around the corner before climbing into his car and driving home. Her soft fragrance surrounded him when he climbed back in, and he hoped it wouldn’t fade too soon. Now, more than ever, he knew she was it for him.
CHAPTER 7
PROVIDENCE
Silence. Blissfully quiet. Providence sighed. It was possibly the first moment of peace she’d had in her office in days. The week was a shit show—literally. A steady stream of patients had been in her waiting room from the time she’d reported for duty on Monday morning. A nasty stomach bug was making the rounds. She’d swear half the base was shitting or vomiting, and too often it was in the garbage cans in her waiting room.
Conspiracy theorists would think the base was under a biological attack, but it was just bad luck. All it took was one unlucky sailor to spread it to everyone else.
Providence closed her eyes and rested her head against her office chair. It had to be close to lunchtime, and the tension headache continued tothrob. Not even the two acetaminophen pills had helped. If she had time, she’d schedule a massage. Or maybe a bottle of bourbon—either would be welcome right now.
There was a mountain of patient files waiting for her to update. Headaches sucked. At least she wasn’t worshipping the porcelain god in the bathroom. Grabbing her glasses from the desk, she opened the first patient file, grabbed her microphone, and started dictating.
“Hey, you got a minute?” Tempest knocked on the door as she leaned in the doorway.
“Sure. Unless you’re going to puke on me.” Providence lifted an eyebrow. She closed the patient file and leaned back in her chair.
“Nope, at least not yet. I’ve been working from home all week and I told Josh if he’s around anyone who catches that nasty shit, he needs to get a room somewhere.” Her smile had evil written all over it.
“You’re not a very sympathetic partner, are you?”
“No, probably not. Right now, all I can think about is saving the flowers. The last thing any of us needs is to get sick. We’ll need to be ready when the shit hits the fan. "
"I know. Should I mess up my nails and go foranother manicure? Then at least I’d be able to check on her.”
“I understand why you want to, but you need to be careful. Stick to your usual behavior or that asshole will get even more suspicious. You know he’ll take it out on them.”
Providence sighed and rubbed her temples. “This is a nightmare.”
Tempest sat in a chair across from Providence. “We’ll get them out. Did you get the GPS tracking set up okay from the instructions I emailed?”
“Yes. It’s working, I think. They don’t move around a lot. I’m not good at figuring this out, but I put the app on my tablet, too.” Providence pulled her iPad from her tote, turned it on, and pulled up the GPS tracking app. “Here, take a look. They’re at the salon now, but the phone isn’t with her. It’s been pinging at this location since I started the app. Do you think she hid it where they’re staying?”
Tempest looked at the tablet and enlarged the screen. “I’m not sure. We’ll give it a few days and see if it moves. She might have had to ditch it if she thought they’d find it. Or she didn’t charge it and the battery died. We’ll need to check out this location.”
“Shit on a shingle. I didn’t think of that.”
“It’s not like we had a lot of options. I’ll drive bythere on my way home. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a white van at or near the property. It’s not the best part of town either, but that would make it easier to hide them.”
“I guess driving my baby there wouldn’t be a good idea?” Providence asked.
“Oh, fuck no. That bright red car would be like a neon sign calling all the dirtbags.”
“Who’s calling dirtbags?”
Tony’s voice startled them. Providence exchanged a glance with Tempest, who quickly shutdown the tablet.
Tempest stood and saluted. “No one, just telling Providence to watch herself driving around in her hot little car. How are you, Commander Knox?”
