Troy squeezed her hand. “I feel the same way, Butterfly. If I had my way, I’d be spending every spare moment with you. Preferably in bed,” he added as he ducked lower, his lips at her ear.
She flushed, and Troy chuckled. “Can you stay the night?” she asked as they walked slowly after their friends, Troy nuzzling her ear.
“Only if you don’t mind that I’ll have to sneak out early.”
“You’ll only hear me complaining if you wake me up,” she joked.
Troy squeezed her hand tighter. “What if I promise to make it worth your while?” he asked huskily.
Her heartbeat quickened, but her gaze was drawn to Harper and Logan arguing about something in front of the bar. Logan still looked tense, but it was her friend’s expression that caused her alarm. “Hey! What’s going on?” she asked in surprise as she hurried toward them. “What’s wrong?”
Troy was right at her side, looking equally baffled.
“I’ve got to split,” Logan said. He glanced at Harper again, who still looked mad as hell. “I’ll see you tomorrow, T. Bye Caitlyn.” Without another word, Logan turned and headed the other way, hands shoved in his pockets.
“What was that about?” Caitlyn asked.
Harper rolled her eyes. “I met that asshole six months ago. Turns out, he’s a total dick. It took me a moment to place him when you guys first walked up. Don’t worry, we didn’t sleep together or anything. Not that he didn’t ask. You two enjoy your drinks and dinner. I’ll just head out.”
“Harper, no. You can join us.”
“Absolutely,” Troy said. “I don’t know what happened between you and Logan months ago, but I can talk to him if he needs to apologize.”
“Hey, it’s no big deal. I’m sure you guys want some alone time. Call me tomorrow, all right?” she said, looking at Caitlyn.
She nodded uncertainly. If Harper didn’t want to stick around, she couldn’t make her. It seemed weird she was so mad at Logan considering they hardly seemed to know one another. They watched her walk away for a moment, before Troy’s stomach rumbled. He chuckled. “Want to just head straight to dinner? I’m starving after all those dives we did this afternoon. I know we planned on drinks first, but with those two gone….”
“Yeah. Sure. Let’s eat and then head back to my place.”
“Sure thing, Butterfly.”
He laced his fingers between hers, and they walked down the block toward the restaurant where they’d planned to have dinner. Troy was talking about his day, but she was still a bit distracted thinking about Harper. Hopefully her friend was okay.
***
Troy strode into the bullpen the next morning, ready for their briefing with the CO. He’d had to wake up way too damn early for his liking, but he’d made sure Caitlyn was thoroughly sated before he’d headed off to PT. He softly kissed her to wake her up, moving over those gorgeous breasts. Troy swore he could spend hours feasting on them, but he knew he’d had to get going. He’d ended up burying himself between her legs, slowly making love to her until she orgasmed, crying out as she clung to him. Caitlyn was so soft and sweet beneath him that it had been hell to leave. And damn. He’d been half-hard when he showed up for PT, still thinking about her gorgeous body.
It had only been a matter of days since he’d first spent the night last weekend, but hell. He couldn’t get enough of her.
He grabbed a seat at the table, listening to his teammates banter. Logan glanced over at him, raising his eyebrows. “How’d everything go last night?”
Troy chuckled. “With Caitlyn? Just fine. What was up with you and Harper though? Caitlyn was worried when you both stormed off. She texted her a few times to make sure she was okay.”
Logan lifted a shoulder. “It turns out we’d met before—last summer. I’d gone out with this other girl a few times, but it wasn’t working out. I was ready to break it off the weekend I met Harper.”
“And what? You slept with her?”
The other guys were looking over at them with interest. “Who’s Harper?” Ethan asked.
“No one,” Logan said as Troy answered at the same time.
“She’s friends with Caitlyn.”
Ethan smirked. “And Logan pissed her off?”
“I met her last summer. She was picking up stuff at a damn bridal shower or something. There were all these women around, and I was waiting for my date. Harper came outside carrying all these fancy serving plates and shit. I helped her carry it to her car.”
“And?” Troy asked, waiting for the kicker. No way in hell Caitlyn’s friend was pissed that Logan had helped her.
“I might’ve kissed her.”
Troy raised his eyebrows. “You were there picking up your date and making out with another woman?”
“Something like that. But I was actually getting ready to break up with my date. I was her ride, so I couldn’t just leave her there.”
“Damn,” Grayson said, shaking his head. “You do know how to woo the ladies.”
The rest of the men chuckled, ribbing Logan some more. Blake glanced over at Troy. “Speaking of Caitlyn, you’re bringing her to our BBQ in a couple of weeks, right? Clarissa wants to meet her and introduce her to all the other women.”
“Yep. We’ll be there,” Troy assured him.
A moment later, their CO stormed into the room, looking irritated as hell. “As everyone is aware, there’s been a change in plans today. The drill on the water has been postponed. Admiral Rice received another threat last night. This time someone sent him explicit photos of his daughter.”
“What the hell?” Raptor asked, his eyes narrowing. “They sent the admiral the photos?”
“Apparently, she’d sent some nude photos to an ex-boyfriend. He was picked up but is clean. He wasn’t involved in any of it. It appears someone hacked into her cloud account to obtain the illicit photos. They made copies and sent them in a letter to the admiral and are threatening to post them online.”
“God damn,” Troy said. “That’s all kinds of messed up. But what’s up with teenagers these days? She kept nude photos of herself? I need to talk to my sisters and make sure they’re not doing shit like that.”
Grayson frowned. “Teenagers don’t realize that what they post online is forever. She probably assumed no one could access her photos or files.”
“So what are they demanding?” Raptor asked. “He already gave them bad codes.”
The CO frowned. “Same thing. The codes to the nuclear warheads. They figured out the other system was bogus—a dummy system set up to ferret them out. The assumption is they waited a few weeks after the incident for things to settle down.”
“And they think the Navy will just give those up? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Logan muttered.
Ethan crossed his arms, looking around at the others. “Where’s the sub located?”
“It’s still in Kings Bay,” their CO said, referring to the naval submarine base in Georgia. “Even if the admiral had given them real information, we all know the codes would be changed in a heartbeat.”
“Which is why they stormed the yacht. They thought it would all work in their favor if the admiral, his wife, and their friends were all held hostage.”
“What about all the missing IDs from the admiral and other officers?” Troy asked. “That’s tied into this somehow.”
“They still haven’t turned up. We thought the missing gunman had them, but according to the timeline, he boarded a small vessel near the beginning of the incident. Ms. Rice is the only witness who spotted it, but it doesn’t add up to when the wallets and personal belongings were taken. The men were frisked and tied up as the yacht was sailing into the Pacific. None of the other women saw a small boat.”
“They were scared,” Jackson said.
The CO nodded. “They were. It’s possible they missed it if they were lying on the deck, in fear of their lives. According to Evelyn’s account, however, it sounds like he left before they took the identification
from any of the men.”
“What the hell did he leave for then?” Blake asked.
“It’s a good question. The investigators believe he was supposed to take the admiral. Although one NCIS agent was shot immediately, others whisked Admiral Rice and Evelyn off to temporary safety. It’s possible the driver of the boat got spooked and left. The Coast Guard was immediately going after the yacht.”
“So it was a botched kidnapping,” Troy said.
“That’s a possibility. One of the gunmen jumped overboard after your team breached the ship. It’s possible he was holding onto the IDs or that they stashed them somewhere—or on someone—and they haven’t been found.”
“You think one of the hostages has the IDs and doesn’t know it?” Troy asked with a frown.
“They could potentially use them to get on base,” Jackson said, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Someone could change their appearance to look like one of the naval officers or they could attempt to alter the identification cards.”
“Affirmative. They could try to breach our base security or another military installation. We don’t know if they have the IDs though. Admiral Rice is furious that this incident continues to drag on. Of course, he’s mortified for his daughter, but that is secondary to national security. She’s not in physical danger.”
“Just a hell of a lot of embarrassment,” Troy said.
“They could claim the photos were photoshopped,” Jackson said.
“Exactly. Nowadays, you can’t always believe what’s online. Although she admitted they were hers, the family is dealing with that in their own way. They can make a statement if they get leaked. It’s a separate matter. In the meantime, security will be stepped up on base.”
“What a clusterfuck,” Troy muttered.
“And on that happy note, we’ve got some other issues that have sprung up.” The CO began to brief them on several other incidents that were unfolding, and Troy tried to keep his focus. He couldn’t help but think Caitlyn was somehow in danger because of this, which was nuts. The yacht hijacking had been nearly a month ago. She hadn’t noticed anything suspicious at her office. They’d been spending their weekends together, and he’d talked to her on the phone every night.
Troy still felt uneasy though. What if she was in danger and they didn’t even know it?
Chapter 17
Caitlyn frowned as she looked through all the missed calls on her office phone that morning. It was normal to get a couple wrong numbers, but it looked like someone had been calling her office every thirty minutes for hours. Yet she had no messages.
Shaking her head, she logged in to her computer and looked through her emails. There were no unusual messages. Her coffee finished brewing, and she stood, walking over to pour herself a cup. Troy had been amused that she liked hot coffee first thing, but what could she say? She liked what she liked.
Her gaze tracked to her door as she took a sip, making sure she’d locked it. All those missed calls were making her feel jumpy for some reason. She hadn’t spoken to any of the investigators in weeks, and aside from Troy telling her about the missing identification cards yesterday, she hadn’t even heard any updates.
Crossing back to her desk, she sank down in her chair. She’d gotten in later than usual today—no thanks to Troy waking her up at five a.m. He’d kissed her softly all over, slowly waking her up before he made slow, sweet love to her. It was different than their frantic joining over the weekend. After she’d ridden him to ecstasy Saturday night, he’d woken her the following morning and made love to her twice more. Followed by another round in the shower. She’d been sore after not being with a man in so long, and he’d been extra gentle with her last night and this morning.
Goodness. Her cheeks heated just thinking about all the times she’d cried out his name. Troy wasn’t shy in the least, but he was always careful to make sure she liked whatever they were doing.
Her office phone rang, and looking at the time, she realized it was exactly thirty minutes from the last missed call. “Caitlyn’s Event Planning,” she said as she answered. “How may I help you?”
“Hi, what are your hours?” a man asked.
“Um, nine to five. Would you like to set up an appointment?”
“How late are you there today?” he asked impatiently.
Caitlyn wanted to roll her eyes. She’d literally just told the caller her business hours. “Until five. What type of event are you interested in planning? We can schedule something and see if I can be of assistance.”
“A party. Let’s set something up for tomorrow. I’ll call you then to make arrangements.”
He disconnected the call, and she resisted the urge to groan. Flaky people like that were the worst. She supposed any business probably got calls with people asking random questions or not understanding the concept of setting up an appointment ahead of time. Hadn’t Harper dealt with demanding brides like that? They didn’t want to schedule an appointment; they wanted help immediately. As if their wedding was the most important thing in the world.
Grabbing her cell phone, she called Harper. She still hadn’t found out what the deal with Harper and Logan had been yesterday. Although she’d texted her best friend to make sure she was okay, Harper had simply responded that they’d talk later and to enjoy her night with Troy.
Harper answered on the third ring. “Tell me you had a good night with that gorgeous man of yours,” she said.
Caitlyn laughed despite herself. “I did, aside from you ditching us at dinner. Want to tell me what that was about? You and Logan talked for two point three seconds before looking like you wanted to kill each other.”
“Like I said last night; I’ve met him before,” Harper confided.
“When?” Caitlyn asked in confusion.
“Last summer. It was like six months ago, and I was delivering cupcakes to a bridal shower.”
“Aren’t those usually for women? What was Logan doing there?”
“Picking up his date, apparently. But not before he flirted like crazy with me. He was cute, and I thought he was one of the bride’s relatives. They all showed up afterwards to help bring home the gifts. They’d rented some display pieces from me, so I’d come back as well to pick everything up. He helped me load my car, and we sort of made out in the parking lot. I was about to give Logan my number when his girlfriend came outside! I just about died.”
“Yikes. And you’re sure it was his girlfriend?”
“His date at any rate. She kissed him hello, so it definitely wasn’t a relative. And we’d literally just been standing there kissing. He’s a pig.”
“Damn. I’m sorry about trying to introduce you then. Troy said he was a decent guy, so we thought you’d hit it off. I never really spent time with him before. If I’d known he was a total asshole, I would never have tried to introduce you two.”
“No worries. I gave him a piece of my mind last summer and then told him off again last night. Frankly, I’m not surprised you didn’t notice the daggers I was shooting at him when they first walked up. You and Troy only have googly eyes for each other. Not that I’m complaining, girl. He seems smitten with you.”
“He spent the night again last night but had to leave early for training. He told me that ahead of time, and it’s always amazing when we’re together. I’m just worried I’ll somehow get burned.”
“Why? Is he acting weird or something?”
“No, not at all. Just my bad luck in the past with men I guess. Troy’s been nothing but sweet and attentive around me.”
Her phone buzzed just then with a text, and she pulled it away from her ear, glancing down at the screen.
Miss you already, Butterfly.
Busy day at work. I’ll call you tonight.
“Are you still there?” Harper asked.
“Yep. Troy just texted to say he missed me.”
“And he just spent the night?” Harper asked with a chuckle. “Marry the man, hun. If he just got lucky and already misses you, that’s a
damn good sign.”
Caitlyn giggled. “Well, it’s only the second time he’s stayed over. What if it’s just the ‘newness’ of the relationship? Six months from now, it won’t be exactly the same.”
“It won’t—it’ll be better. Yeah, it’s fun at first to fall hard for someone—the butterflies in your stomach and all that. But afterwards? When you know you can count on him and still can’t wait to jump his bones every night? That’s the dream, girlfriend.”
“Geez,” Caitlyn teased. “I thought you were the one more into playing the field. You sound like you’re ready to settle down with the next guy you meet.”
“What can I say? It must be all those wedding cakes I’m baking lately. I’m around lovey-dovey couples nonstop. Not that I’d settle just to get married. No chance in hell. But if I met the right man, that’s a different story. Your guy literally swooped in and saved your life.”
“Yeah, that was scary and amazing all at once. It’s part of my problem, I guess. I hope I’m not just caught up in that aspect of it, you know? The rush of new love. The adrenaline rush from Troy literally sweeping me off my feet.”
“So…what? You want to date other people?”
“No!”
“And do you want him to see other women?”
“God, no. That would destroy me. We’ve already agreed that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, as cliché as that sounds. Neither of us are interested in dating anyone else.”
“You’ve fallen for him,” Harper said dryly. “Maybe you didn’t plan on it, but don’t miss out on a good thing just because you’re scared. Or because you basically met in some crazy, Hollywood type manner. Oh, I gotta go. I’ve got a meeting with a client in a few minutes. Let’s talk more later, okay? And text the man back. I can tell he’s one of the good ones.”
The women said their goodbyes, and Caitlyn quickly texted Troy. She didn’t hear from him again, but she knew he was busy with training. Plus, after the new threats to the admiral, he’d been somewhat tense last night. Until he’d taken her to bed at least.
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