“Yeah, yeah,” Caitlyn muttered, taking a sip of the coffee. It was heavenly. She usually drank iced coffee from mid-morning on but loved a hot cup first thing. Her mind wandered back to the weekend. She liked Troy. It was silly given they’d barely spoken, but the instant chemistry they had was almost scary. She didn’t believe in love at first sight or anything like that, but shoot. She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him.
Maybe she should give him a chance.
Swiping her phone to unlock it, she scrolled through her contacts, frowning. She scrolled again, half listening to Harper talking on the phone in the background as she searched for Troy’s name. She’d send him a quick text to say hi. If he wanted to ask her to dinner again, he could.
If not?
Well, then it just wasn’t meant to be.
Her eyes narrowed as she scanned through the names on her contact list again. This couldn’t be right. She knew she’d keyed in his name and number. Her stomach dropped as she realized his name wasn’t there.
“No, no, no,” Caitlyn said quietly. Harper looked over at her in confusion but continued talking on the phone to her client.
Caitlyn searched under Troy’s name, just in case her phone had done something weird to the contact list and it wasn’t showing up. Everything else was alphabetical, but maybe she’d screwed it up somehow. Or maybe she’d spelled it wrong. She had been a little flustered.
She tried pulling up all the names starting with “T.”
“No,” she said louder, cursing under her breath. It didn’t matter if she wanted to text Troy, ask him out to dinner, or marry the man. She hadn’t saved his number.
“All right, fantastic. I can’t wait to meet with you and your fiancé,” Harper said into the phone. “Confirm that the time works with him, and if so, I’ll see you both Saturday!” She hung up and looked over at Caitlyn. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t save his number,” she muttered. “All that worrying about texting him, and I don’t even have the man’s number!”
“What? Did you write it down or save it on your phone?”
“I saved it on my phone—or thought I did anyway.” She blew out a sigh.
“Well that sucks. We’ll find him though. Maybe we should go hang out around the Navy base,” Harper teased, waggling her eyebrows. “You’ll look for him, I’ll meet another sailor….”
“Yeah, that won’t look suspicious or desperate. Maybe I’ll see him on the beach again sometime. Ugh. I should’ve just given him my number. Now he’ll think I’m blowing him off.”
“What else do you know about him?”
“He’s a SEAL. He has sisters. I don’t even know his last name, so it’s not like I can look him up. Besides, it’s not like Naval Amphibious Base Coronado has a directory of Navy SEAL teams available to the public. Gah. I’m so mad at myself. Here I was stressing about it for the past few days, and it doesn’t even matter.”
“We’ll find him,” Harper assured her. “Just leave it to me.”
“God. No. I wouldn’t leave anything to you,” Caitlyn joked. “You’ll probably find him and embarrass the hell out of me.”
“What did you tell him about yourself? Maybe he’ll look you up.”
Caitlyn frowned, regret washing over her. He might’ve looked her up—if she’d told the man her name. She’d been so freaked about getting hurt again, she hadn’t even given him a chance. “He knows next to nothing about me,” she admitted. “He knows I’m an event planner and that I was at the beach meeting with a bride. But I didn’t even tell him my name.”
“Well damn.”
“He wanted my number. And my name. I just got a little frazzled and didn’t know what to say. I told you that the other night.”
“Well, it looks like we’ll be spending a little time at the beach to find your mystery man,” Harper said with a grin.
“In this cast?” Caitlyn asked doubtfully.
“You’re getting it off next week,” she said smugly. “Problem solved.”
Caitlyn shook her head, taking a sip of her steaming coffee. “That would be my luck. He’s probably a decent guy, and now I’ll never see him again.”
Harper poured herself a cup of coffee as well, sinking down into one of the chairs by Caitlyn’s desk. “At least you don’t usually have to deal with flakey brides. That was my morning meeting. I was supposed to open up my bakery early, and she just called and rescheduled for Saturday. I lost out on all my beauty sleep for nothing.”
“Well, I’ve got a bunch of calls to make, but you can hang out here if you want.” She winked, since her best friend had already made herself at home.
“Just ignore me,” Harper said, sipping her coffee and pulling a tablet out from her purse.
Caitlyn got to work herself, looking through all the business emails she had—contracts with florists, caterers, clients, and more. She had a zillion things to do, and tracking down a Navy guy wasn’t one of them.
Chapter 4
Troy grunted as he strode down the ramp of the cargo plane a week later, the California breeze soothing his soul. It had been a grueling week in east Africa, hunting down the HVT the Pentagon had sent them after. He was dirty and tired, and he wanted to sleep for about twelve hours straight.
“I bet she called you,” Logan said from behind him, smirking as Troy shot him a look.
Hell. He felt like a teenager waiting for the girl he had a crush on to agree to go out with him. Except he wouldn’t run into her at football practice because he wasn’t in high school. And he couldn’t call her up and ask her out because he didn’t even know the woman’s name or number. “I hope so,” he said. “It’s not like I can look her up unless I start tracking down event planners across San Diego.”
“You’ve got it bad,” Grayson chuckled. He scrubbed a hand across the stubble on his jaw. “It was tough leaving Hailey when we flew home from Germany, but at least I knew her name and that we’d be in touch. I talked to her every night when she got back to Virginia.”
“Thanks Ghost, that’s real helpful.”
“Think she told you her name when she called?” Ethan asked. “That’d be a bummer if you had a garbled voicemail from a random woman and deleted it because you didn’t know it was your mystery girl.”
Logan guffawed. “Hell. It could be that chick that ditched him when his sister had a flat tire. Maybe she got over her bitchy mood and wanted T-Rex to take her out again.”
“Yeah, except I know that woman’s name,” Troy said, rolling his eyes. “Amber. Actually, I deleted her contact info. If I was smart, I would’ve blocked her number as well.”
“No big loss,” Ethan chuckled.
Troy shook his head. Damn, his teammates were exasperating sometimes. Living in close quarters with them for a week wasn’t exactly ideal. They were all tired, dirty, and in need of a hot shower. Not to mention a good meal. The MREs they lived on gave them calories but weren’t exactly gourmet. He was looking forward to showering, sleeping, and then eating a massive meal the next morning. At the moment, he was too tired to fix himself anything decent.
Blake came up next to them, grinning. “The second we get inside, I’m calling Clarissa. She’s got a crazy long winter break since she’s a college professor, which means she doesn’t have a lecture to give this evening.”
“Planning to get lucky tonight?” Logan joked.
“Well, they live together, asshole,” Troy said. “Isn’t that guaranteed?”
Good God. Usually, he didn’t mind joking around with his teammates, but at the moment, his patience was running thin. Probably because he’d been the cause of their ribbing on most of the flight back. They’d been all business in Somalia, moving as one unit to capture the HVT, but the long flight home had involved catching some shut-eye and shooting the shit. Since everyone but Logan and Troy were now in serious relationships, he’d been the one they were kidding around with.
“Too bad you didn’t get the blonde’s number at the beach,” Troy
said.
“Yep. She was gorgeous. The CO called, and I hustled out of there though. If I’d known the redhead hadn’t told you her name, I would’ve found out for you.”
“I know.” Troy swiped his hand across his eyes. Damn, he was exhausted. He’d check his messages and then crash after he got home. If he hadn’t heard from the pretty redhead, he’d figure out a way to get in touch with her. How many event planners could be in San Diego anyway? As it was, they needed to stash their gear and debrief with the commander before heading out.
They dropped off some of their supplies, and then the men walked into the locker room on base, stashing the rest of their gear. “The CO wants to meet with us in thirty minutes,” Blake said. “Shower, change, and be in the bullpen by then.”
Troy nodded, grabbing a clean pair of fatigues and heading toward the showers. He’d check his messages momentarily. He hoped like hell he’d have a text or voicemail, but it could wait another five minutes. He’d shave tomorrow after he slept, but at least he’d be clean. His entire body was exhausted, his muscles aching, and he hoped the debrief would be quick. He loved the exertion of pushing his body on missions with his teammates, but now that the adrenaline had faded and the job had been completed, he was ready to crash.
After putting on a fresh pair of fatigues, he went back to the locker room and turned on his cell phone. It felt like it took forever for his phone to turn on. Jackson glanced over at him, hair damp from his own shower. “Any word?”
“Still turning on my phone,” Troy muttered.
“Well good luck. I’m going to give Taryn a quick call before the debrief.”
Troy nodded, watching as his teammate left the room, presumably for some privacy. Hell, everyone but Logan was quickly calling their girl. Hopefully the meeting with the CO would be quick, but who the hell knew. He’d probably want to update them on the situation with the admiral as well.
Troy swiped through the text messages on his phone, seeing several from one of his sisters. Brooklyn was young, only twenty-two, and was about to graduate from college in a few months. He hoped she’d move here to San Diego. He scrolled down and saw that he had a spam text and one from his neighbor, who’d picked up a package off his front porch. None from the mysterious redhead though.
Frowning, he dialed into his voicemail. Maybe she’d called him. He hoped like hell she had at least left him a message to say hi. Then he’d have her number and could call her back tomorrow and ask her out on a proper date.
There were two voicemails from his mom, another spam message, and that was it. Nothing else. Trying not to feel disappointed, he put his phone back into his locker. Maybe the redhead had changed her mind. Maybe she’d met another guy. Maybe he had a missed call that wouldn’t show up because his phone had been turned off.
Shaking his head, he closed his locker a little more forcefully than he’d intended. Damn. It was silly to be hung up on a woman he’d spent less than thirty minutes with. He’d felt the crazy chemistry between them, but was that part of the allure?
He’d only gotten a taste. A metaphorical taste that is—wouldn’t he have loved to kiss those pink lips.
But if he had taken her out, it could’ve ended like all his other dates. This girl might just be appealing because it was the thrill of the chase. There was a bit of mystery surrounding her, and hell if he didn’t love that. Grunting, he pushed open the locker room door and skulked out. “No luck?” Logan asked with a chuckle.
“Negative.”
So much for avoiding his teammates for the next twenty minutes.
“Well, the blonde told me her sister was getting married Columbus Day weekend. So, if all else fails, just show up there next fall. I assume an event planner would be at the actual event.”
“Next fall? Damn, I’m not waiting months to see her again,” Troy said. “I’ll find her before then.”
“Maybe you’ll meet another woman this weekend and forget all about the redhead.”
“Nah. She’s been on my mind all week. One way or another I’m going to track her down.”
Logan chuckled. “I can’t say she looked too upset to be in your arms.”
Warmth filled his chest at the memory. “There was a definite spark of interest in her eyes. She had all that long, red hair. Damn, she was beautiful.”
“Then what would she be doing with your sorry ass?” Logan ribbed him.
“There’s the commander,” Troy said, ignoring his teammate’s comment. “Guess we’ll be early for the debrief.” He shifted focus as they moved down the hallway, preparing to talk about the mission and any urgent updates that had come up while they were gone. Everything else—including the mysterious redhead from the beach—would have to wait.
Chapter 5
Two weeks later, Caitlyn squealed in delight as she listened to her voicemail. Harper looked up from where she was sitting in Caitlyn’s office. “What is it? Did your Navy SEAL find you?”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “No, he didn’t find me. I think that ship has sailed. You know how I was bummed out because that big corporate conference was cancelled next month?”
“Yep. You cleared your calendar for that weekend and had to turn down several other potential events. Why?”
“I’ve got a new lead for an event that Saturday. Some bigwig from the Navy base is having an anniversary party on a huge yacht. The woman they’d hired to plan the entire thing had to bail out because of a family emergency, and they need a new event planner to take over. The wife wants to meet with me this afternoon.”
“What’s the turnaround time?”
“Two weeks. They already lined up a caterer, waitstaff, etc. They do need an anniversary cake, so I’ll give her your info. This could be great for potential new clients as well. For both of us.”
“A Navy guy, huh? Maybe you can ask him about your mystery man.”
“Yeah right,” Caitlyn said with a laugh. “This guy is an admiral. I don’t know much about the military, but I doubt an admiral is in charge of a Navy SEAL team. Usually there’s an entire chain of command. And I don’t think officers mingle with the regular enlisted guys anyway.”
“So ask the wife,” Harper teased. “She probably knows a lot of people over there.”
Caitlyn pressed her lips together, shaking her head. “No can do. I figure if I run into Troy again somewhere, it’s fate. I’ll give him my number then. Shoot, I’ll ask him out myself. But I’m not going to drive myself crazy looking for a man I spent half an hour with.”
“Suit yourself,” Harper said with a wink.
“No. You are not going to track him down either. No way, no how.”
“Hun, you’ve been pining over this guy for weeks. I’ve never seen you so hung up on a man you barely know. If that’s not fate, what is?”
“Not losing his number? Running into him somewhere around town? Having him walk in the front door?” Caitlyn brushed her red waves back behind her ear. “It’s silly, really. He could be a total jerk. Maybe he was just acting nice before, trying to get me to tell him my number. Anyway, my cast is off, I can finally catch up on the zillion and one things I need to do, and I’ve got a huge new event to plan. Men will just have to wait.”
“Not for me,” Harper said. “I met a guy down the block from the bakery who’s a personal trainer. I’m going to sign up for some up close and personal training sessions.”
Caitlyn shook her head. Maybe it was because of all the wedding cakes she’d been baking lately, but she swore Harper had a one-track mind sometimes.
“Shoot, I need to get going anyway,” Harper said. “We should do lunch again soon.”
“Absolutely. I’ll catch up with you later!”
An hour later, Caitlyn was alone in the office when the admiral’s wife came walking in at the arranged time. She was escorted by two men who, although not in uniform, looked both military and all business in the dark suits they had on.
“Ms. Rice? Hi, I’m Caitlyn Thomas,” she said, standing up fr
om her desk and walking over.
“Caitlyn, hi,” the woman said, walking over and shaking her hand. “I’m Evelyn Rice. I hope you don’t mind, I had to bring two federal agents who work with my husband along with me.”
Caitlyn nodded, looking uncertainly over at the two men. One went back outside, waiting near the front door, and the other sat down on the plush sofa in the small lobby area of her business. “Of course, it’s fine. Is everything okay? I’d expected you to come alone or possibly with your husband.”
The older woman frowned for a moment but nodded. She looked to be nearing fifty, and Caitlyn noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Even though she appeared polished and put together, the woman also looked tired. “Everything is all right. They’re just here as a precaution because of some security issues we’ve had lately. It’s nothing you’ll need to be concerned about as far as planning our anniversary party, but they are with me for most of the day.”
“I see,” Caitlyn said uncertainly. “Why don’t you have a seat and we can discuss your vision for the party and what else needs to be taken care of. I know your original event planner already made arrangements for certain items.” She escorted the woman over to one of the stylish chairs in front of her desk. She’d had fun decorating her office when she’d first set it up. It was tasteful and sophisticated, with a few touches of trendy mirrored surfaces and plush seating. The wide-plank wooden floors warmed up the space with their rich color, and the large coffee table in the lobby had catalogs and photo albums showcasing some of her events.
“Can I get you a coffee?” Caitlyn asked.
“Oh, that would be wonderful. My youngest is a toddler and not sleeping well at night.”
Caitlyn nodded, slightly surprised. Apparently, she hadn’t been able to conceal the expression on her face, because Evelyn laughed. “Our oldest is in college. The little guy was a surprise. He’s in daycare right now and won’t be at the anniversary party, of course. It’ll be an upscale affair with military officers and their spouses, some of our family, and a few of our closest friends. I’d love to keep it small, but duty calls. When you’re an officer’s wife, you get used to being married to the military.”
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