Small Town SEALs: The Complete Romance Collection

by Vivian Wood

  Flustered, Colt adjusted his awkward hold on the baby until she was cradled more comfortably in his arms. He looked down at the sleeping Riley, surprised at how tiny she was. Newborn babies always looked bigger in movies, which was the only real frame of reference he had with them.

  “Hmm, Colt looks pretty good holding a baby, doesn’t he?” Shelby said, elbowing Rose and giving her an exaggerated wink.

  If Colt had thought Rose’s face couldn’t get any redder, he was mistaken. She wouldn’t even meet his eyes until he’d passed Riley off to Walker.

  “Hey,” he said to her softly, taking her hand again. “What do you say we get out of here? We can come visit again when they’re back home.”

  Rose bit her lip, but nodded. Colt turned to congratulate his brother and sister-in-law, bending to place a kiss on Remy’s forehead, before returning to collect Rose as she said her own goodbyes. Together they left, finally heading back home.

  39

  As Rose parked beside Colt, once again back at Roman Ranch, she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of longing and envy when she thought about Colt’s family.

  Being an only child with a single mother, Rose hadn’t had any siblings or close relatives growing up. She was beginning to realize what she had been missing out on all these years.

  Colt came around the front of his truck to open her car door.

  “You coming in?”

  She smiled up at him, nodding.

  “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” he asked.

  He closed the door behind her as she stepped out and taking her hand. Rose noticed he was carrying a rolled up piece of paper, like a poster or something.

  “About how much I like your big family,” Rose replied as he led her towards the bunkhouse.

  “Really? That’s good,” he said, seeming pleased. He dropped her hand so that he could unlock the door to his apartment and let them inside.

  “What’s with the paper?” Rose asked.

  She sent a pointed look at the poster in his hand. She walked in to the bedroom, flicking on lights and sitting on the edge of the bed so that she could toe her shoes off.

  Colt came over to join her, kicking off his own boots before sliding back to sit cross-legged on the bed. He patted the spot beside him for her to join him, still holding the roll of paper.

  Rose tilted her head to the side, curious now as she moved to sit by him.

  Colt turned to face her, setting the roll on the bed and taking her hands in his. The seriousness of his expression took Rose aback.

  “Rose, I just want to say that I love you more than you could possibly imagine. I’ve never been happier in my life than I have been in these last couple months, and it’s all because of you.”

  Rose felt her eyes start to mist over at his words. For being so hard-nosed, Colt sure as hell was romantic when he wanted to be.

  “That being said, please don’t freak out if what I’m about to ask you is too much too soon.”

  Okay, now Rose was nervous.

  He’s not going to ask me to marry him, is he?

  Surely not. We’ve only known each other for a couple months; that’s much too soon to get married…

  …right?

  Colt took a deep, fortifying breath. “Rose…”

  Oh god! He is going to ask! I should say no, right?

  Right?!

  “…Will you move in with me?”

  Rose let out a breath.

  “Oh thank god!” she said, feeling a strange combination of relief and…disappointment?

  Did she want Colt to ask her to marry him?

  Colt gave her a peculiar look at her outburst and Rose felt her face heat with a blush.

  “I mean…you want me to live with you?” she stammered, still reeling.

  Colt nodded hesitantly, his eyes turning more cautious the longer he went without an answer.

  Rose thought it over for a moment. What the hell, why not? I’m already practically living here.

  “Okay,” she said out loud, giving him a reassuring smile.

  Colt blinked. “Really?”

  Rose bit her lip, suddenly shy in the face of his earnestness. She nodded as she met his eyes.

  “Sure.”

  Rose started as Colt crowed with delight. His enthusiasm was infectious though. Rose giggled as he took her face between both hands and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

  After a moment, he pulled back far enough so that he could rest his forehead against hers.

  “I’m so happy you said yes,” he said softly, his breath fanning lightly across her face.

  “Of course I said yes,” Rose whispered back.

  Let’s be real, she thought to herself. I probably would have said yes to anything you asked.

  Colt pressed a kiss to her lips once more, before releasing her face and turning to unroll the poster that she had already forgotten about.

  Not a poster, Rose corrected herself as her eyes took in the document spread out before them. A blueprint.

  She hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken her thoughts aloud until Colt started nodding.

  “A blueprint of our future house, to be more exact,” he said, watching her face closely for her reaction.

  What could Rose possibly say?

  “You want to…build me a house?” she asked incredulously.

  Colt nodded, serious again.

  When Rose didn’t speak for a moment, he started pointing at things on the blueprint, filling the silence with explanations of the schematics.

  “I plan to build this on Roman Ranch, of course. But we would be up the valley ridge, away from the tourists.” His eyes flicked up, trying to gauge whether or not she was still with him on this.

  “Here, on the second story,” he said, pointing to a square on the blueprint, “is the master bedroom. There’ll be two extra rooms down the hall.” His finger traced the lines as he spoke. “A kitchen directly below here. Living room, dining room, laundry room. And over here,” his finger indicated a room adjacent to the kitchen, “Is what I’ve been referring to as ‘the pet room’. The dogs’ kennels—”

  Colt broke off as Rose interrupted him with a kiss.

  She pulled back before he even had a chance to reciprocate it.

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” she said breathlessly, her eyes locking with his.

  “I try,” he replied, giving her a cheeky grin. Rose laughed, but his expression sobered slightly. “So you like it?”

  The tentativeness of his voice made Rose smile.

  “I love it, Colt,” she said honestly. “Almost as much as I love you.”

  With that, they reached for each other once more, ready to begin their new life together.

  SEAL’s Touch

  1

  Walker Roman cocked a dark eyebrow, his deep hazel eyes gliding over the dingy strip joint. It was his fellow ex-SEAL Carter’s bachelor party, and so he'd allowed himself to be dragged here.

  Still, that was no reason not to scope the place out, figure out where the exits were. Old habits died hard, apparently. He was always acutely aware of what was happening around him.

  He sighed, not as excited about the strip club as his friends seemed. Despite the pounding music and cheers of the bachelor party, Walker couldn't help but hear Sawyer’s voice rattling around in his head.

  ‘Come on, Walker. Just take Shelby out for dinner. You two would be so good together.’ He took a long sip of his beer, draining the last of it in the one gulp. ‘It’s been five years, Shorty.’

  Walker rolled his eyes. Sawyer liked to tease him about being a year younger, so his brother called him 'Shorty.' It figured that even in Walker's memory, Sawyer was a pain in the ass.

  He watched the blonde on stage, swaying on her platform heels. She wore nothing but a gold bikini, but it did nothing for him. These kinds of places never had anything that interested Walker.

  As though playing a tape, Colt’s voice echoed in Walker's head next.


  ‘Man, if someone had told me a year ago you’d be the last single Roman standing, I’d have laughed them all the way to the next county. It’s been long enough, Walker. Just give Shelby a go, you know she’s up for it!’

  Colt's eyes, nearly identical to Walker’s own, had twinkled playfully as he’d said it. Go figure. The kid was always up to something in that chaotic head of his. Though, at twenty-eight, calling him ‘kid’ always gave him pause nowadays.

  Walker sighed and ran his callused hand over the short spikes of his brown hair. He knew that there were more memories to come. There always were.

  The next, most commanding, voice rang through his head.

  ‘It’s time to settle down, son. You’re nearly thirty god damn years old!’

  Well, that was the kindest thing his father had to say on the topic. Walker didn’t have any intention of dwelling on the rest of it.

  He and his brothers had taken to referring to their father as The Colonel back when they were kids. The Colonel had been pressuring him for much longer than his brothers had been. Hell, he was pretty sure The Colonel had pressured his brothers into giving him shit about it.

  He had no doubt that his brothers wanted him to be happy. They’d been telling him it was time to move on for years now. Recently, though, they’d been almost as pushy as The Colonel himself.

  They always joked that he was ‘the smart one’ out of the three. As the smart one, it didn’t take much to make the leap that their father was leading the proverbial charge. The Colonel was turning up the pressure on Colt and Sawyer to do the same.

  “Roman! Man, come get a dance!”

  A drunken Carter sank into the seat beside him. Walker looked over at him. Carter was nodding toward where the rest of his old unit and others at the bachelor party were currently being treated to lap dances. The dancers were jaded-looking girls, grinding their spandex-clad bodies against them.

  “Nah, thanks man.” His Southern Louisiana twang was evident from the very first syllable that he spoke. “Maybe later though, okay?”

  Carter shrugged, heaved himself out of his seat and staggered back over to his party. Walker watched him go, wondering what it would take to get his mojo back on track.

  Sawyer was right; it had been years.

  A couple of weeks ago, Colonel Arlo Montgomery Roman had taken another run at him. The encounter between them had blown up in spectacular fashion. As always, Walker had sat there stoically and taken his father’s attempt of control and manipulation without a word.

  He’d learned early on that the only way to get the old man to shut up was not to engage him. Let him rant, let him rave. Get it out and leave. The more you tried to argue, the longer you had to be in his wretched company. Unfortunately, this approach also brought out the worst in dear old dad. Somehow though, that only made it so much more gratifying.

  His strong jaw twitched as his last encounter with The Colonel flashed in his mind. There’d been the usual bout of abuse slung at him. Then his father had dug into the pocket of his starched jeans and dropped Walker’s mother’s ring into his lap. Walker had stared at The Colonel in surprise. The Colonel had told him that the point was to use it -- and soon -- or else.

  Walker didn’t take shit from anyone, not even his brothers. He’d been forced to retire from active duty as a SEAL because of some bullshit politics he didn’t care to think about. Since then, he didn't have patience for nonsense anymore.

  At twenty-nine, with a successful career in satellite recruiting for the Navy, there wasn’t much The Colonel could do to Walker. Still, he knew better than to take the barely veiled threat idly.

  He’d considered taking his brothers’ advice. He'd thought about calling up Shelby. They were right, she was hot. A blonde girl with cornflower blue eyes and a big personality whom he had known forever. What was the downside?

  Shelby had been coming onto him for years. The rumors around town had them seconds away from getting hitched.

  Walker frowned to himself. The thought of eventually offering his mother’s ring to Shelby just didn’t feel right. He had no idea why, he just wasn’t into it.

  Movement from the corner caught Walker’s eye. He watched a girl shimmying up to him, a pale redhead.

  He looked at her, head to toe. She was fucking hot.

  Strippers weren’t usually his thing, he’d never needed to pay for it when he wanted it. But this one? You’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind for her not to be your thing.

  She was sexy as sin. Her fiery red hair swung across her back as she approached him. Her petite hips, encased in supple black leather, rolled in time to the seductive rhythm of the music thumping in the club.

  “Well hey there, sugar,” she purred in a silky Southern drawl. “What’s a handsome man like yourself doing all by your lonesome in a corner?”

  He wasn't sure what to say. Her full red lips curled up in an alluring smile as she sat down beside him. She wore a little black dress, not a strap in sight. Their bodies pressed close together, the tops of her creamy breasts inches away from his face.

  “Well?” she asked as she continued rocking her hips, not grinding like the others, but just sort of swaying.

  “I’m enjoying my beer and watching my friends make fools of themselves.”

  He shrugged, noticing the bouncer over her narrow shoulder. He was standing in a darkened corner, but he was watching them closely.

  Her emerald eyes, visible now that she was literally on top of him, widened at his answer.

  “Making fools of themselves? How is that?” Something flashed behind her bright eyes, and she smiled.

  Why had he even noticed that? Snap out of it, Roman. She doesn’t care what you think. You don’t care what she thinks. She’s a waitress trying to earn her living. She isn’t worried about you.

  “Drooling all over strange women when they’ve got perfectly fine wives and fiancées and girlfriends at home. That's all.”

  He found himself talking anyway, trying to ignore the strawberry scent he got a whiff of when she shook her head.

  “Aw, they’re just trying to show your friends a good time, honey. You can call me Doll. I'll take care of drinks and get you guys some more dancers, if you want."

  Walker looked at her. He really did want her company, which surprised him.

  "Sure," he said, trying not to stare at her tits.

  "Don’t worry about it! Relax a little. Have a good time!”

  “Oh, I’m not worried, honey,” he smirked. “And I’m going to have a good time jibing their horny asses about it tomorrow when they’re hungover as all hell.”

  She shot him a smile, a real smile, he thought. “And why would you do that? It’s a bachelor party, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like it’s our first time on Bourbon Street. Not even our first bachelor party.”

  His father’s words jumped into his head unbidden. ‘You’re nearly thirty god damn years old, grow the fuck up. She’s not coming back, Walker. Be a man and move on! You didn’t see me moping around for more than a couple of months when your mother died! And I had three sons with the woman.’

  He winced at the memory, and a puzzled look settled in her eyes as she stopped leaning in.

  “Did I hurt you?” she gasped. “I’m so sor--"

  “No!” He cut her off quickly. “It’s not you. I, uh, just remembered something unpleasant that I have to do tomorrow.”

  Well, it was half true. He had remembered something unpleasant.

  A relieved look replaced the puzzled one as she started moving once more, the smile back on her face.

  “Hey, why’d you get the hottest one?” George, one of Carter’s friends, bellowed as he stumbled over to them. He pulled her off of her seat in Walker's lap and roughly crashed her small body to his flabby frame.

  Walker was on his feet in an instant. The veins in his neck bulged, and his strong arms swept her gently away from George. In the same moment he pinned George’s bulky body against
the wall, his free hand pushing tightly against George’s throat.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing treating a lady that way?” he growled.

  George’s cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, his eyes glazed and unfocused. He tried to fight against Walker's grip, but quickly realized that he wasn’t going to escape. He threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender instead.

  “She’s a fucking stripper, man, chill out! It’s what they’re here for, it’s what they do, bro!”

  Yeah... No. Wrong move, Walker thought as barely controlled rage unfurled in his stomach. No one harmed a woman while he was watching, and got away with it.

  He quickly considered his options. He was ready to knock George out in a punch that would have him seeing cartoon stars for a week, when suddenly Ace and Ronan were on him.

  “Hey now,” he heard Ace’s low voice behind him. “He’s drunk, Roman. Leave him be.”

  Ace and Ronan had also been in his unit back in Afghanistan. They knew him well enough to know that he did not take women being mistreated lightly. Any woman. It was the one thing that made his usually stoic veneer not just crack, but burst open in a ball of flames.

  “Enough!” a gravelly, wheezy voice insisted from behind them. “Get them out of here! Now!”

  A pudgy, red-faced man with mottled skin and an ill-fitted suit walked into Walker’s field of vision, wagging a finger at the bouncer.

  “I never want to see any of your faces in here again!” His voice grew shrill as he stomped his foot.

  Since when do adult men stomp their feet? Walker thought as he shook Ace and Ronan off and pushed through the crowd toward the exit.

  Hoots of laughter filled the air as the rest of the party stumbled onto the sidewalk to wait for the bus that was carting them around for the evening. George huffed as the guys complimented Walker on ‘not having lost his edge’ and slapped him on the back.

  “You know,” Ronan interjected. “You should go give that girl your number. Maybe you can give her something else later!”

  He made rude gestures as he winked at Walker.

  “Yeah, Roman,” Ace joked. “You defended her honor and shit!”