Matched with a Hot SEAL (Hot SEALs)

by Cat Johnson

  She shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder if we took you home from the hospital by mistake, because it doesn’t make any sense that I, or Amanda for that matter, are from the same gene pool as you.”

  “Sure it makes sense. We all have Gramps’s charming personality.” Will grinned.

  Megan let out a short laugh. “Judging by that, then it’s Mom who doesn’t belong in the family. She’s too nice.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.” Will chuckled before he pivoted to take a step toward the bed. “Okay, so, Amanda.”

  “Yes?” she asked, turning to face him.

  “I have a proposition for you.” He moved forward and reached for his laptop.

  Watching him, Amanda looked suspicious. “Do I have a choice? I’m not sure I trust you. Especially after you two have been over there whispering together.” Amanda shot a glare at Megan.

  “No, you don’t have a choice,” Megan answered, arms folded across her chest.

  He opened his mouth to contradict Megan, but changed his mind. “Actually, she’s right. We can do this with you or without you. So no. You don’t have a choice.”

  Will had access to Amanda’s Facebook account and her friend list. That’s really all he and Megan—and their mom too if she was up for it—needed to test this thing out.

  The only part they’d need Amanda for was to show up for the real life meeting with whomever they chose for her. And if she refused that, then they’d just have to arrange an accidental meeting.

  She really didn’t have any say in the matter.

  He liked this whole thing better and better the more he thought about it. Amanda, on the other hand . . . she wasn’t going to like any part of this. In fact, she was going to hate it.

  Given that, Will turned to Megan. “You can do the honors of explaining it to her.”

  She lifted a brow. “Me? Oh, no. It’s your app.”

  “Yes, but it was your idea to begin with.” The tactic might not work but Will figured it was worth a try.

  Megan screwed up her mouth. “Yeah, well remember whose idea it was when you make a million dollars off this thing.”

  He laughed. “Will do.”

  As Amanda looked confused and suspicious and Megan began to explain their grand plan, Will flipped open the laptop to get ready for the demo—however rough at this stage—and for the firestorm because he could already see Amanda was not happy.

  It turned out he was right. Ten minutes later Amanda was shaking her head, her lips compressed too tightly as she huffed in deep and angry breaths through her nose.

  Will didn’t need all of his extensive body language training to know she was good and pissed, which is why he was extra grateful when the cell in his pocket vibrated.

  Tugging it out, he saw his commander’s name on the display and glanced up. “Sorry. I have to take this.”

  “Go.” Megan, engrossed in lecturing Amanda on her bad choices in men, waved him away.

  Out in the hall, where it was far more peaceful than in that room with his grandfather chuckling and his little sister fuming, Will answered the call. “Commander.”

  “Weber. How’s your grandfather?”

  “Awake, which is a huge step up from how he was when I arrived. He’s still in the hospital but he’s in a regular room now instead of ICU. Thank you for asking.”

  “Good to hear. So, you’re in Maryland, correct?”

  “I am.”

  “Any chance you have a few spare hours I can steal from your leave?”

  Will let out a short laugh. “Is this a request or an order?”

  “Both.”

  “Of course, I’m available. Anything you need, I’m there.” It had to be important for Groenning to call him while on his emergency family leave. “Just me? Or the whole team?”

  “Just you.”

  “Where?”

  “Meade.”

  Fort Meade—the nation's center for Information, Intelligence and Cyber Operations.

  “They want to run something by you,” he continued.

  Things were beginning to become a little more clear to Will as to why they’d requested him in particular without any of the other guys from his unit. It was obviously for his computer skills. But exactly what it was he’d be needed for was still a mystery.

  It could be as simple as them wanting him to teach them more about his social media AI. Or not.

  With Meade servicing over a hundred organizations, including all the branches of government as well as federal agencies including the NSA and US Cyber Command, he could be brought in for almost anything.

  “What are we talking here?”

  “Nothing I can discuss in detail on the phone.”

  Will had asked the question not really expecting an answer. He was on his personal cell phone in a public place. There wouldn’t be much his commander could reveal to him under those circumstances.

  The commander’s inability to give him details confirmed it was something classified. That narrowed it down a bit. He had a feeling it was nothing small like, Hey, good job on the social media AI.

  He also had a bad feeling that the commander’s estimate that this would take only a few hours of his time was likely a gross miscalculation on his part.

  Will had a strong suspicion his leave was about to come to an end.

  Drawing in a breath, he said, “Okay. Gotcha.”

  “I’ll text you your contact’s name and number. You can arrange a time to meet him.”

  “All right.”

  “Thank you, Weber. I appreciate your taking the time away from your family.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll get with the contact ASAP.”

  After disconnecting with his commander Will stepped back into the room. Deciding on what to say, he glanced from one family member to another.

  “Everything all right?” his grandfather asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m afraid my days of leisure are likely coming to an end early.”

  Megan cocked up one brow. “The life of James Bond. Secret phone calls. Mysterious assignments.”

  Will laughed. “Yup, you know how it is. Now, if only I got as many women as Bond, my life would be perfect.”

  “You can if you use your own app you think is supposedly so wonderful. Then you’d have all the women you could want if it’s so great.” Amanda screwed up her mouth unhappily.

  She was definitely not pleased and that was just too bad. If anyone needed his app, it was her.

  “Oh, it’s great all right. And no need to worry that I might be heading back to base early. It won’t affect our testing at all. I’ll wrap up the build and send it to Megan.”

  “Yeah, because I was so worried.” Amanda rolled her eyes as Will smiled. This was going to be fun.

  The quick vibration of his cell indicated the text with his contact’s info had arrived.

  His sister, and his fun, would have to wait. Fort Meade needed him and he could only assume it was for something a little more important than his little sister’s dating life.

  CHAPTER 13

  Deciding to cut his leave short after his visit to Fort Meade was one thing, but promising to be on base in Virginia by zero-eight-hundred the following day was another, but that part was his own fault. Will had decided on his own to head back as soon as possible.

  What else could he do? After what he’d seen at Meade, he needed to move on it.

  As he drove the highway between Maryland and Virginia, Will’s mind spun with it all. A Trojan Horse had been put in place by some very talented hackers, giving them access to everything within the computer network of a major governmental agency—that kind of shit was serious.

  It was insane. The potential security breech, if the hackers had had time to exploit it, was staggering. But they’d discovered it in time, before it had been used.

  At least that’s what they all hoped.

  With the size of the network they’d tapped into, the perpetrators could have accomplished almost anything. Taken down the pow
er grid, crashed sites all over the country, locked down important information for ransom within any number of organizations—governmental, military, or civilian.

  What could have happened but didn’t wasn’t even the most frightening part. That the hackers had access and hadn’t used it, was. It appeared that the Trojan Horse was lying in wait, a preliminary preparation for a major attack in the future.

  As far as Will could tell, they’d had access for two months. Yet they’d waited, biding their time. Why?

  Will could only guess it was because they had something huge planned. Something that required time and coordination.

  They should all thank God, and the night tech guy who’d accidentally discovered the malware, that whatever was planned hadn’t come to fruition.

  As far as they could determine, the attack originated in North Korea, a frightening concept.

  One question remained. Were the hackers rogue or working for the government? Will had his suspicions about that.

  Either way, now, control of the game ball was in the good guys’ hands.

  On Will’s recommendation, they were going to leave the Trojan Horse there and keep knowledge of its discovery limited to a few higher ups and the handful of people at Meade who already knew about it.

  Of course, safeguards had already been put in place so the hackers couldn’t actually use it, but they wouldn’t realize that. Unaware of the discovery, they’d proceed as planned—all while the US watched and learned.

  Then they’d have them. They’d know what the plan was. Anything the hackers tried to send down what amounted to an open highway into the organization’s network would be immediately blocked and identified.

  Even better, it was a two way street. The US could use the same vulnerability in the reverse direction. The bad guys should have thought of that before leaving their own back door open when they’d broken in.

  And speaking of break-ins—Will had been so busy for his final hours in Maryland, between his meeting and then saying goodbye to his family, he’d forgotten he had a house guest. One who was likely sleeping.

  Now, as he pulled up to his apartment and saw Jessa’s car, he remembered and realized he was about to scare the hell out of her by walking in unannounced.

  He could drive right to base, but he really wanted to shower and he had to grab the computer he used for work. The first he could have gotten away with doing on base but the second really required he go inside.

  Oh well. She’d just have to understand.

  Will was well trained in silent entry. But it felt strange creeping into his own home.

  He didn’t turn on the lights. He didn’t need to. He knew the layout like the back of his hand. Knew exactly where to skirt to the left to avoid the armchair that stuck out too far into the path from the front door.

  He also knew the computer he needed would be in the bedroom, which was probably—no, most likely—where Jessa would be.

  Maybe it would be wiser to go back, slam the front door and turn on all the lights to wake her. Then he could get into the bedroom to get what he needed.

  He was just considering that plan when a primal scream and a full body hit from behind knocked him off balance.

  Instinct and training took over as he spun, grabbed the assailant, and disabled any further attack.

  As his mind caught up with his reflexes he knew it was Jessa he had in a chokehold against him—and he’d probably scared the hell out of her.

  “Jessa. It’s me. It’s Will.”

  He felt her chest heave against his arms as she gasped for breath. Afraid to let her go until he knew she’d understood and wouldn’t try to hit him again, he loosened his grip but didn’t release her.

  “Jessa. Did you hear me?”

  “Will?” When she stopped struggling, he dropped his hold. She spun to face him and smacked his chest with two balls fists. “What the hell? You scared me to death!”

  He grabbed her hands in both of his and held them against him. “I know. I’m sorry. I had to come home. I needed something. I really am sorry I scared you. You’ve been through too much already at your own place.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “It’s okay. I should have looked to see if it was you before I panicked.”

  “By the way, did Jon Rudnick get in touch with you? I didn’t have time to call him.” As he spoke, Will realized he could have let her go but for some reason he hadn’t.

  Finally, Jessa took a step back and he released his hold on her.

  “He emailed that he’s away for a few days. He offered to send somebody else but I told him I could wait.”

  Forcing his mind off the memory of having Jessa pressed against him, and the feel of his hands on her, Will focused on the security situation.

  He’d rather have Jon oversee this personally. He trusted the other guys in the company, he knew both Chris Cassidy and Zane Alexander to be skilled operators, but it was Jon who was the best in this particular arena. An artist when it came to security.

  Why go to the apprentice when you could have the master? But because of that, Jon was a busy man. Sometimes a person had to wait for the best.

  “Good call.” Will nodded, taking that opportunity to head to the lamp and finally turn on the light.

  “Now that you’re home, though, I’m gonna move back to my own place.”

  Turning back, Will got his first look of Jessa fresh from sleep.

  She looked adorable in baggy pajamas that were just a bit too long as they pooled around her bare feet. Her hair was a mess, probably from their little tussle, but it didn’t look bad. Far from it. It looked sexy as hell. As if she’d just had an energetic tumble in bed.

  He yanked his mind away from that thought and somehow focused back on her statement. “You will not move home. You’re perfectly welcome to stay here until Jon can get something set up for you. In fact, I insist.”

  “Will—”

  He held up one hand to stop her protest and checked the time. “Can I hop in the shower quick and finish this discussion in five minutes? And could you do me a huge favor and throw on a pot of coffee?”

  “Of course. But there’s nothing to discuss.”

  He was already on the way to the bathroom, smiling as he said, “We’ll see.”

  The woman did seem to like to argue. The question was, why did he enjoy it so much?

  CHAPTER 14

  Jessa could still feel Will’s hold on her long after he’d left the room and disappeared into the bathroom.

  It was like the heat of his hand on her arm had seared her flesh forever. It was definitely seared into her memory.

  That fact alone reinforced her prior realization—she couldn’t be here alone with him, for oh so many reasons.

  The attraction was too strong. His ties to her sister still too fresh.

  Never mind about all the other issues swirling through her brain, just the combination of those two things made for an impossible situation as far as she was concerned.

  Whether he felt it too or not didn’t matter. She knew what she had to do. Get out and get out now, preferably before he got out of the shower, all wet and naked and smelling good.

  Jeez. Just the image took her breath away.

  She’d be fine in her own apartment. She’d lived there for years without an incident. Just one robbery didn’t mean it wasn’t safe.

  And maybe the scary-looking guys she’d noticed had seen the cops driving through the parking lot and decided to move on and hang out looking menacing somewhere else.

  Even she didn’t know whether she believed her own bullshit.

  The only thing she did believe—that she knew with completely certainty—was that her heart would definitely be much safer at her place than it was here.

  The sound of the bathroom door opening had her looking up.

  Towel in one hand as he rubbed it against his wet head, he emerged from the bathroom looking like some ancient god, shirtless and damp.

  Jessa averted her eyes. Even if he
did have on shorts, and thank God for that, it felt inappropriate for her to be looking.

  Lord help her.

  “So I have to get to the base. But when I get home tonight I want you and I to sit down together.”

  Her eyes widened. “For what?”

  “I figure we’ll get in touch with Jon together. Did he say how long he’d be tied up?”

  Her heart fell. For one brief crazy moment she’d imagined he might have wanted to talk about them. Together.

  “Um, I don’t remember. I’d have to look at the email.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t bother now. I just want to pin him down on his schedule and see when he can get to your place to meet with you. Okay?”

  Apparently Will was anxious for her to get out of his place too. This was good. Perfect. They were on the same page as far as their relationship—make that friendship.

  No relationship here. Nope.

  Ignoring the lead weight that had settled in her stomach she nodded. “Okay.”

  He glanced toward the kitchen. “Coffee ready?”

  “Shit.” Jumping up, she scrambled around the chair and toward the kitchen doorway. “I forgot. I’m so sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. It’s fine.”

  “No, it’s not. You asked me to do one thing for you after all you’ve done for me and I forgot. I’m such a dunce.”

  No wonder he wasn’t interested in her.

  Will caught up with her in a few long strides. As she reached for the coffee pot, he laid his hand on her arm. “It’s fine. I can grab a cup on base.”

  Her gaze dropped to where he touched her. There was that heat again.

  It made her think of things she shouldn’t be thinking of. Like him grabbing her in both of those big strong hands of his, lifting her up, setting her on the kitchen counter and kissing her breathless.

  Had he ever done that with Sara?

  That image cut through her like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, sending a cold shiver down her spine. “I’ll make it real quick now. It’ll be done by the time you get dressed.”

  He nodded, dropping his hand away from her. “Okay. Thank you.”