“You know what we do in the Navy?” Ryan asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He stopped beside Rebecca, towering over her, and even though Sarah was standing across the picnic table from them, she felt his presence as strongly as if he’d bumped right into her.
His clean, masculine scent seemed to fill the air, and even though he was standing several feet away, she could swear she felt the heat coming off his large frame. Her gaze flicked from him to Rebecca, and she tried to ignore the strange undercurrent of electricity surging between them.
“What’s that, Captain Mitchell?” Rebecca asked.
“Ma’am, please call me Ryan.”
Rebecca laughed. “Only if you stop calling me ‘ma’am’ every time we see one another.”
He nodded, a brief hint of a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth. “Roger that.”
Thick biceps bulged from his polo shirt. A broad chest took up her line of vision. And as she looked up, steel gray eyes bore into hers.
Chapter 4
Did Ryan always need to look so intense about everything? They were at a barbeque for Pete’s sake, not conducting some Top Secret military raid. Sarah’s heart unexpectedly began to race, and she resisted the urge to flinch as she stared at him. His short-cropped hair only accentuated his chiseled features—broad forehead, masculine nose, and a jaw that could’ve been carved from granite.
He looked like he could thoroughly command anyone to do what he wanted.
Briefly, images flashed through her mind of his rough hands running over her skin, caressing her intimately. Of his large body covering hers, coaxing her into whatever position he wanted in the bedroom. Unleashing some of that strength and raw masculinity on her.
Which was insane.
Even if Ryan hadn’t been her brother’s commanding officer, she didn’t date men like him.
“Navy SEALs use cold water therapy for muscle recovery,” he said.
His voice was deep. Smooth. Her insides did a funny little flip.
“Cold water?” Rebecca asked, looking confused. “How would that help her back?”
“It pushes the lactic acid out of the muscles,” Sarah said, suddenly snapping back to attention. “And helps reduce swelling. It might be good recovery after a day of vigorous SEAL training, or if you’re a professional athlete, but it’s certainly not appropriate in this instance.”
The CO raised his eyebrows.
“I’m a physical therapist.”
“You don’t think the Navy knows what it’s talking about?”
“Alison’s nine months pregnant,” Sarah said, narrowing her eyes. “She needs some gentle stretching at most. Are you suggesting we tell a full-term pregnant woman to take a dunk in an ice-cold bath? Maybe we could just dump a cooler of ice over her right now.”
A flicker of humor crossed over Ryan’s face, and Sarah blistered.
Good grief. Now the man was laughing at her?
“Oh, excuse me,” Rebecca said, her glance flickering across the yard as they heard children shrieking. “I need to go see what’s happening over there.”
A beat passed, and Sarah was standing there alone with the SEAL Captain. Navy Captain. Whatever the hell he was. He wasn’t eyeing the food on the table, though, just leveling her with a gaze.
“I didn’t know you were a physical therapist.”
“Ever since I earned my DTP degree.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Doctor of Physical Therapy. The program you’re required to complete after college. And then you have to obtain a license in physical therapy.”
“You don’t have to recite your resume to me,” he said in a low voice.
“You seemed to be questioning my judgement.”
“No. Just curious.”
“Why would you think Alison needed cold water for her back?”
“I didn’t. I asked if you wanted to know what we did in the Navy.” He cocked an eyebrow, seemingly waiting for her to disagree with him. Why’d he have to be so damn good-looking anyway? She kept her eyes on his face, refusing to look at all the tanned, toned flesh on his biceps and forearms. Or at how his broad chest narrowed perfectly at his waist. Who showed up for a barbeque in pressed khaki pants anyway? He looked like he belonged in a country club or something. Officer’s club. Whatever they had in the military.
“Here you go,” Patrick said, interrupting them as he handed Sarah a plate. “One tofu burger just for you. On gluten-free bread. Sir, can I get you anything?” he asked Ryan.
“I hope it’s not one of those,” he joked.
Patrick smirked. “Negative. We’ve got plenty of hamburgers and hotdogs fresh off the grill. Sarah’s a vegetarian.”
“No, thank you. I’ll help myself in a few minutes.”
“Wise choice,” Patrick said as he walked away, calling out to the rest of the group that more food was on the table.
“Don’t say it,” Sarah said as she saw Ryan eyeing her plate.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to. More people should be vegetarians. Aside from the fact that meat comes from innocent animals, if everyone in the U.S. didn’t eat meat for one day, we’d save 70 million gallons of gasoline.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows. “It’d be damn near impossible to convince the entire country to do that. And I’ll admit, after years of eating MREs deployed with the Navy, I enjoy a juicy steak or burger.”
“Everyone can make small changes,” Sarah said with a shrug. “People just choose not to.” She took a bite of her tofu burger and grimaced at the overly dry taste, forcing herself to swallow.
“That good, huh?”
Sarah nodded, choking down another bite. “Wow, Patrick really overcooked this.”
“I’ll get you a drink,” Ryan said, turning toward the cooler and grabbing two bottles of beer. He popped the cap off each of the beers and handed her one. She took a long pull, enjoying the cold summer brew. Usually she wasn’t much of a beer drinker, but after the way Patrick had turned her tofu burger to cardboard, it tasted pretty damn spectacular.
“You want me to toss that out?” Ryan asked, skeptically eyeing her plate. “I hate to say it, but some of the MREs I’ve eaten look more appetizing.”
She grimaced. “Yeah. Remind me never to let Patrick cook for me again.”
Ryan took the plate from her, dumping the entire contents in the trash. “The rest of the food looks decent,” he said.
“No thanks.”
“You don’t ever eat meat?”
“Never. And don’t even try to talk me into it.”
Ryan cleared his throat. “I wasn’t about to, I just thought you might be hungry.”
“Nope,” she said, drawing another pull of beer. Ryan’s eyes were drawn to her mouth around the longneck of the bottle, and she innocently took another sip as he watched her. “I already had some ice cream with my nephew. And I brought a huge platter of veggies and hummus.”
“Sounds like a balanced diet,” he quipped.
“I didn’t realize you’d be so concerned about my eating habits.”
“Just like I didn’t realize you’d been keeping such close tabs on my whereabouts.”
Sarah smirked. “I know all the men on the team. I’ve probably met more of their ex-girlfriends than you have—and I’ll tell you what, you’re lucky you didn’t suffer through conversations with some of those women.”
Ryan pressed his lips together, looking amused.
“Thankfully all the women they’re with now are great. I’m convinced my IQ dropped a couple of points after talking with some of their past flings.”
“Then I’m glad to have been spared.”
“Seriously. I’ve spent more than enough time with the guys on the team and the random women they were always with. It’s like having six brothers instead of one.”
“So you never dated any of them?”
“Have you met my brother?” she asked sarcastically.
“My bad,” he comm
ented dryly. “I’d probably be overprotective if I had a sister, too. A lot of men out there are jerks—case in point, the group you were with last night.”
“Interesting that you’d notice such a thing.”
“I noticed you left alone with your friend.”
Sarah’s heartbeat increased, but she smiled, not willing to let him ever know the effect he had on her. “Is that a SEAL motto or something? Always be vigilant? Because I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can,” he said.
“Yet you still watched me leave last night.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“On that note, I need to go grab something for Alison. I didn’t mean to get sidetracked into yet another lengthy debate. Try not to throw her in any ice baths while I’m gone.”
“I’m not sure Evan would allow that,” Ryan said coolly.
Sarah called out across the yard to Alison, telling her she’d be right back with her business card. Her nephew raced over at that moment, asking her to play hide-and-seek with him. By the time she turned back around, planning to taunt Ryan into joining them, he was gone.
Chapter 5
Ryan walked over to a group of his men standing by the grill, shaking his head. Good God, that woman was going to be the death of him. Half the time he didn’t know if up was up or down was down when he was talking to her. Not with the way his head spun.
He didn’t know whether to give her what she dished up right back or to duck down and kiss those pink lips of hers. Because that would be one way to end their constant bickering.
Sarah looked sexy as sin again today in another flirty sundress and those goddamn sandals. You’d think he’d never been around a woman before with the way his body reacted around her. The second she was in his line of vision, it was all systems go.
And Jesus Christ.
Even things he’d never considered attractive before were enticing on her. Her silky hair had blown in the wind as they’d been talking, revealing the three piercings she had in each ear. Small, subtle. Nothing over the top. Just a hint of defiance in her look.
Briefly, he wondered if she had piercings anywhere else on her body. He wasn’t really into that kind of thing, but on Sarah, it could be sexy as hell. He wanted to explore her entire body and see what else he discovered—see how she reacted to his touch. To his kisses and caresses, to his tongue tracing over her skin.
Hell.
If she wasn’t Patrick’s sister, he might be tempted to cross the yard to stand beside her now. See if she smelled as feminine and sweet as she looked. Ask her out to dinner. Steal a goodnight kiss. He knew the rest of the men were always bedding random woman they took home with from Anchors—or they had been, prior to meeting their girlfriends. But he was old-fashioned enough to at least want to take a woman out on a proper date first.
Wasn’t opposed to bringing a woman home with him after that though.
Or to making love to a woman all night long. Until they knew each other intimately. Thoroughly. Until he’d memorized every line on her body and she was thoroughly sated.
Even in his wildest fantasies, that wasn’t about to happen with Sarah.
“Captain Mitchell, glad you could make it,” Matthew drawled, grinning as he stood beside his girlfriend Brianna.
Ryan’s gaze flicked over the happy couple, amazed that every man on his goddamn team had somehow ended up with a woman over the past year. Wonders never ceased.
“I was beginning to doubt it with the craziness on base today,” he admitted. “Barely had time to go home and change before making it here.”
“Sir,” Matthew nodded. Ryan wordlessly exchanged a glance with Matthew and Brent. They couldn’t address the hostage situation in the company of all the others, but all the men on the team had been briefed on the possibility they’d be sent out on an op in the imminent future. U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan were doing their best to locate the missing American. Until then, there wasn’t much Ryan or his men could do. But the minute they got word, his men would be on a transport plane, flying halfway around the world.
Just like any other mission—only not. This time an American woman’s life was in danger. The stakes were even higher.
“Do you have any other plans for the weekend?” Brianna asked, interrupting his train of thought. If he understood right, she’d grown up next to Matthew and they’d only recently gotten together. Then she’d moved up from Florida to be with him.
It was hard to imagine a woman following him around the world with his career, but now that he was based out of Little Creek, he supposed it could work. If he hadn’t been too busy to have a girlfriend.
Good God. He was forty-one years old and single. Some men thrived on that. He was single more due to his circumstances. He served God and country, and there was little room for a relationship when working his way up the ranks in the Navy. When he’d been a SEAL himself, it was the last thing on his mind.
And now? Who the hell knew.
“Probably just more work,” Ryan said. “I’m up at 0500 every morning for a run but then need to be back on base.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a day off,” Brianna admitted.
“Ma’am,” he said, nodding in agreement. “I shouldn’t need the team tomorrow. Spend some time with Gator,” he said, referring to Matthew by his nickname. “You never know when the men will be otherwise occupied.”
Brianna worriedly looked to Matthew, who ducked down and brushed a chaste kiss across her forehead. They’d gotten together so recently, he doubted they’d ever had to deal with a deployment yet. What would it be like having a woman worry about him like that? When he’d been on a SEAL team, he’d made damn certain never to get seriously involved with a woman. And now? There was always too much at stake. Too many hours that needed to be logged in on base. Too many situations to handle.
That and he hadn’t met a woman who’d seemed worth the trouble. He’d go out on a date or two, bring a woman home…but the whole wining and dining and wooing? That wasn’t his game. He had no time for frivolities, let alone the mind games so many women seemed to play.
Maybe that was all the more reason he enjoyed when Sarah stood up to him. That and the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous.
His gaze swept the yard, finally spotting her near her nephew. She was covering her eyes and counting aloud. He smirked as he saw Logan hiding in plain sight behind a small tree. But Sarah. Seeing her standing there, her sexy little dress blowing in the breeze so that it clung to her breasts, hips, and thighs was arousing as hell. She was playing a child’s game for fuck’s sake.
“I have more in the house,” Rebecca called out. Ryan’s gaze swept to the puddle of lemonade on the picnic table and broken pitcher beside it.
“What do you need?” he asked, watching as Patrick swept the broken glass into a large trash can.
“Paper towels,” Rebecca said. “There are plenty in the kitchen.”
“I’ll grab them,” Ryan said, turning and heading toward the house.
Voices from the other couples drifted across the yard. Christopher “Blade” Walters was playfully arguing with his girlfriend Lexi about some new computer hackers overseas. Ryan had thought Blade could hack into anything until he met Lexi. If anyone gave him a run for his money, it was her. Brent was trying to convince his girlfriend to go for a drive up to the secluded north end of the beach tonight.
He shook his head. Who would’ve believed those guys would all end up with a woman of their own? Hell. Some of them were engaged. Had a kid on the way. He ground his jaw and pulled open the back door.
***
Sarah headed toward Patrick’s house, calling out to Logan that she’d play with him more later. Right. Patrick was about to haul that kid off to bed at any second.
Maybe she didn’t want to be where any of them were right at this moment anyway—pregnancy didn’t sound fun, kids were cute but a boatload of work, and she enjoyed her freedom. Heck, she was meeting up with Morgan
later at a bar down by the beach.
Drinks with her bestie two nights in a row?
All in all, a perfect weekend.
The house was completely dark as she entered, which wasn’t entirely surprising since everyone was out in the backyard. Still, it felt a little eerie to be inside all alone, surrounded by nothing but silence. She knew it was perfectly safe—Patrick kept all his doors locked, and everyone knew he was a Navy SEAL. It’s not like someone would go breaking into a house with a group of rough and tumble alpha males out back. There were cars parked in his driveway and up and down the street.
Nevertheless, a small niggle of worry crossed the back of her mind, and she shrugged it off.
The air conditioning chilled her bare arms, and she absentmindedly rubbed them as she walked through the darkening living room, lit only by a few beams of the setting sun. Her cute, strappy sundress was perfect outside in the balmy weather, but the contrast in temperature inside the home was more than a little noticeable.
Give her some warm weather any day.
And leave it to her brother to crank up the AC to Arctic-like levels. How did Rebecca and the kids put up with that? She should do them all a favor and turn the thermostat up a few degrees.
Ha.
Like Patrick wouldn’t notice that in a second.
A sudden noise in the kitchen startled her from her thoughts, and she paused in the hallway. A beat passed, but there was nothing but absolute silence. Wrinkling her brow in confusion, she silently crept forward, thankful she had on her flat sandals. Still…it had to be nothing, right? Everyone was outside having fun. Enjoying the last of the burgers and beer. But anyone coming in to use the bathroom or grab something from the fridge would have walked in and turned on the light. Maybe even called out hello. Not prowled around in near-darkness.
She was being silly, she rationalized. She was used to living alone. Hearing things go bump in the night. Why should she be worried in Patrick’s own home?
She rounded the corner, ready to flip on the light switch and tell herself she was letting her nerves get the best of her, when a large figure appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Her blood-curdling scream was probably load enough to wake the dead, but before she could run away, a large hand landed on her bare shoulder.
Loved by a SEAL (Alpha SEALs Book 7) Page 4