With a sigh, she lifted the phone and read the screen. The phone number had a Dallas area code, but she didn’t recognize the number. Probably spam. She sent the call to voicemail.
“Nope. Don’t recognize the number. Probably someone trying to sell me something.”
“Look, I’m not ready to glad-hand for the next hour. Take a walk with me down the beach and back. After all, I’ve shown you my ass. Don’t you want to see my sparkling personality?”
She laughed. “It’s hard for a girl to refuse such a lovely invitation. Besides…” She gestured toward the blue sky. “It is a beautiful night. Let’s walk.”
The party was to the right of the parking lot. Levi turned left, and they walked on the finger of the beach that jutted into Beluga Slough.
Chapter 4
Bailey Brown intrigued him. He could admit that. Seemed like he’d dated most of the females in this town back when he’d lived here. Yeah, okay, dated and slept with a lot of them. But he’d never led any of them on. He’d known he was headed for the SEALs as soon as he graduated high school. He loved Alaska and would probably settle back here one day. Not today, but one day. Joining the SEALs had given him the chance to see the world, or at least that’s what he’d told himself. Mostly, he and the team had been sent to hellholes no one wanted to see.
Today, he was interested in learning a little more about this kick-ass female he’d lucked into meeting. So, as they left the parking lot, he headed them away from the bonfire and the music.
He cleared his throat. “Obviously, I know most of the people at the party. You, however, I don’t know. What’s your story?”
“Texan, born and raised.”
He nodded. “I thought I heard a little southern accent. I wouldn’t think Homer would be the first place a Texan would think of when considering relocation.”
She smiled. His heart tripped over a rib and splatted hard.
“My mom grew up here. We used to come and visit my grandparents when I was growing up. I always loved it here. I was fascinated by a beach town in Alaska.”
“Shhh. Don’t tell everyone. It’s one of our best kept secrets.”
“My lips are sealed.”
At the mention of her lips, his gaze dropped down to her luscious mouth. Full, pouty lips that seemed to beg to be kissed.
Too soon, Dutch. Pull it back.
“Sooo, grandparents. Would I know them?”
“Probably. Christopher and Cherry Ellis. Owned the Beachside Inn for decades.”
“Of course I know them. Gosh, I was gone when Chris died.” He shook his head. “What a loss for the community. They were fixtures in my life growing up.”
“Thank you for saying that about my granddad. I miss him.”
“But Mrs. Ellis is still doing okay?”
“Good, but it’s hard seeing her get old. It hurts, you know?”
“I do. Their daughter, Amanda?”
“Is my mother.”
He laughs. “No kidding. Small world. Mom talks about your mother a lot. Apparently, they were quite the wild girls when they were younger.”
With a scoff, she said, “Mom swears she was just barely south of angel status. Dad howls every time she says that.”
“How did she end up in Texas?”
“Believe it or not, she was on vacation in Hawaii and met my dad there. Fell in love and followed him home to Texas.”
She stumbled over a rock, and he grabbed her arm, not that she would have fallen, but it felt like what an alpha man would do. Mentally, he chuckled. However, now that he was holding her elbow, he guided her arm under his, so her hand rested on his forearm.
“Here, hold on to me,” he said. “You know, so you don’t trip on the rocks again.”
She rolled her eyes. He would have missed the action if he hadn’t been looking directly at her.
And looking at her was all he wanted to do.
“Texas is home, then.”
“Yep.”
“So, why are you here?”
She unwound her arm from his and walked to the edge of the water. She studied the rolling waves as though they contained the answer to every question in life. He followed her and stopped beside her.
“You seem to love Alaska,” she said.
“It’s incredible.”
“Then why did you join the military to be shipped to who knows where?”
The question caught him off guard. They were talking about her, not him.
Deflection much, Doc Bailey?
“There are so many things wrong in the world,” he said. He picked up a stone and rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface. “I thought maybe I could do some good, help in some way.”
She continued to stare off into the distance as she spoke. “Why the SEALs?”
“The best and baddest,” he said, hoping she’d grin or look at him.
She didn’t. She nodded. “And you’re coming home to Alaska?”
“Eventually. Not this trip. This is R, R, and R.”
“Rest, relaxation and…?”
“Recovery.”
“Right. How’s your hip and leg feeling now?”
He startled. “Hadn’t given them a thought in the last twenty minutes or so.” He paused and focused on his wounds. “Nope. Not hurting.”
This time she looked at him with a smile. “Magic M&Ms. Ready to start back?”
“Not yet. I’m enjoying the walk.”
“Me, too.”
He held out his arm, and she took it again. They walked further down the beach away from the party.
“You do realize you’re off in the dark with a stranger?” he joked. “What if I tried some moves on you?”
“First, it’s eight o’clock and not dark. Second, if I didn’t want those moves, I’d slap the wound on your ass, and that’d be the end of that.”
He shook his head. “You are an interesting woman, Bailey.”
“Thank you, I think. Is interesting good?”
“Very.”
She swiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Whew. I was afraid it was like someone saying ‘but she has a great personality’ when what they really mean is the girl is as ugly as homemade soap.”
He frowned. “How ugly is homemade soap?”
“What?” She laughed. “Good lord. I have no idea.” She leaned toward him and whispered as though telling him a big secret. “My parents have always bought our soap at the store. I have no idea how one makes soap nor how it looks when they are done.”
He sniffed. “Your soap. Is that what I smell?”
“Probably. I don’t use perfume. Too many of my patients are either sensitive to the smell or, even worse, they coat themselves in perfume and the clashing scents can be overwhelming. Bless their hearts. My older patients always dress up to see me, and part of that dressing up is what they think is a touch of cologne. Unfortunately, they can’t smell the perfume because of age and loss of the sense of smell, or they’ve long grown accustomed to the scent, so they add more because they think it’s not working.” She waved a hand in front of her nose. “Whew. Sometimes, it can get quite aromatic in those small exam rooms.”
“Hmm. All I have to deal with is my sweaty team.”
“Why am I thinking it must smell like a boys’ locker room?”
“How do you know how a boys’ locker room smells?”
She arched an eyebrow. “That is none of your business.”
He laughed and pulled her closer to him. “I think I’m going to make one of those moves I warned you about.”
A small smile curved her lips. “Oh yeah? Am I going to like it?”
He lifted his cane from the sand and wrapped the hand holding it around her waist and pulled her flush to his chest. Leaning forward, he pressed his mouth to hers. Her lips were as soft as he’d thought they’d be, but so much sweeter. He pulled away and looked into her eyes. They were glazed and dark with desire.
Changing the tilt in his head, he went back in for a longer kiss
, opening his lips and running the tip of his tongue along the seam of hers. Her lips parted, and his tongue swept in. Her lips closed over his tongue, and she gently sucked.
He pulled her tighter to his body. Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck. Her fingers slipped into his short hair, and she scratched his scalp with her nails. He groaned his approval.
In his shorts, his cock, already at half-mast since he’d first laid eyes on her, was hard and straining against his zipper.
His cane fell to the rocky beach as he flattened both hands on her back. His left hand glided down to her waist and to the top of her rear.
She broke the kiss and stepped back.
“Did you like it?” he asked. “My moves.”
Before she could answer, he heard someone call for Doc Bailey. Apparently, she heard also because she turned toward the bonfire as a couple of guys jogged up.
“Bailey, we need you at the party. Joe Bob was drunk, stumbled into the fire, and got burned.”
“Let’s go.”
The guys turned and started back the way they’d come.
She took a couple of steps to follow and turned back to Levi. “You okay to walk back alone?”
He waved her off. “Get going. I’m fine.”
She took off at a jog.
Damn Joe Bob.
By the time he got back to the party, Joe Bob and Bailey were nowhere to be seen. He looked toward the parking area where her truck had been, but it was gone.
“She’s gone, dude,” Mark said. “Took Joe Bob to the ER.”
“Burn must have been bad.”
“Who knows? He has so many scars from fishing, I’m surprised he felt anything at all. Get you a beer?”
“I’m standing here empty-handed. What do you think?”
He drank and flirted the rest of the evening, but his heart wasn’t in it. Hell, his mind wasn’t in it. At one point, he almost flirted with Mark. That’s when he knew he’d been distracted by thoughts of Ms. Bailey Brown, and he wasn’t finished exploring all she was...not by a long shot.
He hung out hoping she would return, but when midnight rolled around and there was no sign of her, he bid his farewells and headed home.
Like the good old days of high school, his mother was waiting up for him when he strolled into the living room. Not that she would ever admit she’d done such a thing. She claimed she always had something that just had to be done before she went to bed. Funny how that important task was completed within five minutes of his arrival home.
“Waiting up?” he asked with a grin.
His mother scoffed. “Of course not. I was doing some laundry, and I guess the time got away from me.”
“Uh huh. Well, I think I’ll head to bed.”
“How was your evening?” she asked and remained sitting.
He could take the hint. He sat in the rocker. “It was fun. Met Bailey Brown. You didn’t tell me that your old friend’s daughter was in town.”
She threw up her hands. “When would I have? You barely had dinner before you were out the door with your friends.”
“You’re right. Sorry, Mom. I promise to spend more time at home.”
His mother’s gaze locked with his. “So, what did you think of Bailey?”
“You’ve met her then?”
“Of course. With Doc Braverman aging so, we were hoping she’d stay.”
He frowned. “What do you mean? Where is she going? Didn’t she just get here? Why would she be leaving?”
“She’s only here for six months. Doc had a knee replacement last month, so he’s out of commission for a while. Nurse Practitioners can practice just like a doctor up here. Did you know that? Why, she could set up her own practice here and everything.”
“Sounded to me like she’s a Texan through and through. I wouldn’t go making curtains for her exam rooms just yet.”
His mother scoffed. “Exam rooms don’t have curtains.”
“You know what I mean. You get all wrapped up in an idea like her setting up a practice here, then when she goes home, you’re all deflated.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” She stood. “It’s late. I’m going to bed.”
He chuckled to himself. His mom didn’t like to have her shortcomings pointed out to her, but he was right. Bailey was a short timer. Come fall, she’d be gone. Hell, in less than sixteen days or so, he’d be gone too.
Still, with both of them short timers to Homer and both headed in totally different directions and neither of them probably interested in getting serious with a long-term Homer resident, she might be the perfect woman for him…at least for the next couple of weeks.
“Bed sounds wonderful,” he said and stood. He kissed his mom’s cheek. “Night, Mom.”
“Good night, honey. Sleep well.”
Sleep didn’t come quickly, nor easily, and when it finally covered him, his dreams were replays of their last mission—the bullets, the firefight, the pain of a bullet tearing his flesh as it carved a path through him.
When sunup came at a little before five a.m., he’d been awake for a couple of hours. He was bone tired. He needed to sleep, but shuteye was as elusive as an Alaskan lynx.
He headed down for coffee at five. His dad sat at the breakfast table, a cup of coffee in one hand and his tablet in the other. On the screen was the day’s Wall Street Journal.
“Morning,” he greeted Levi. “Sleep well?”
“Not particularly.”
“Hurting?”
“Not used to such a comfortable bed,” Levi joked.
“I can probably round up a rickety Army cot if you’d rather….”
Levi laughed as he poured himself coffee. “I’ll rough it in Mom’s thousand thread-count sheets, but thanks. Anything in the Journal?”
His dad set his electronic tablet on the table. “Not really. Paper’s too conservative for my tastes.”
“So, why do you read it?”
“Need to always know what the opposition is thinking.”
His dad was a lawyer and had become more liberal with age. Levi wasn’t sure where he stood on a lot of issues, but he believed in the military and its chain of command. His parents hadn’t been thrilled when Levi had joined the SEALs. His dad hadn’t hesitated to let Levi know of his displeasure. It wasn’t that his dad didn’t appreciate Levi’s work and his commitment, but he’d been hoping Levi would follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer, too. Fortunately, some of the go-to-law-school pressure had eased when his sister Macy joined their father in his practice.
“You going into the office today?” Levi asked.
“I’m not. Thought I’d do some salmon fishing. Want to come along?”
“Isn’t it a little early for salmon?”
His dad shrugged. “Hank Johnson caught a nice sockeye this week. He’s taking me to his secret spot.”
“I’ll pass this time. Maybe later. I think I want to get out and see what’s changed since I’ve been gone. Thought I’d stop by and see the bros. Know where they’re working?”
“New house construction. On Marsha Way, off Sterling Highway.”
“Okay, then.”
The two men sat in silence, sipping coffee and letting the day start in quiet. Levi shifted in his chair, rolling his weight onto his right buttocks.
“Hurting?” his dad asked.
“A little. Not much. I’ll be fine.”
Levi was well aware of his tendency to bitch about things, and if he hadn’t been aware, his SEAL team brothers made sure he knew. But this was his dad. He feared his parents stayed in a constant state of concern about his well-being the entire time he was away. He refused to add more to their plate with bullshit complaints.
“How bad was it over there? The rescue mission,” he clarified.
Levi hesitated. Technically, their missions were top secret, but this one, with the Army Ranger rescue, had leaked to the news.
Levi shrugged. “Not Christmas morning by any stretch of the imagination, but let’s l
eave it at that. Mom worries enough. She doesn’t need to know how bad it can get.”
His dad nodded. “Got it. Mom tells me you met Amanda Ellis’s daughter yesterday.”
He scoffed. “She wasted no time with gossip. I’m only here for a couple of weeks. Not looking for a long-time girl,” he said, gesturing with his coffee mug.
“Like that will stop your mom from matchmaking. You do know her, right?”
With a snort, Levi nodded. “I’ll keep it in mind. Speaking of Bailey, have you met her?”
“I have. She and Cherry were in the office last month. Since Chris died, Cherry is determined to get all her affairs in order. Of course, she’s in her eighties, so it makes sense.”
Levi hesitated to ask many questions about Bailey. He didn’t want to appear too interested, but he respected his dad’s opinion. “What’d you think of her?”
“Bailey? Smart lady. Got her head together.” His dad took a sip of coffee, and then shook his head and blew out what sounded to Levi like a breath of disgust.
“What? You look, I don’t know, like there’s more to the story?”
His dad stood, walked to the coffee pot to refill his mug, and returned to the table. Knowing him as well as he did, Levi recognized a delaying tactic when he saw it.
“What?” he repeated.
With a frown, his dad said, “I probably shouldn’t say anything, but apparently Bailey had a long-time relationship that turned…”
Levi saw his dad’s cheek harden as he gritted his teeth.
“What? Spit it out. She married? Divorced? Engaged? What?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. Seems her boyfriend was kind of possessive of her. Cherry told me that he got jealous and irrational any time Bailey was out of his sight.” He sighed. “Then his words and threats became action, and he hit her.”
Levi’s hands fisted. “Are you kidding me?”
“That’s what Cherry told me. When Bailey mentioned doing some traveling with her job, he went nuts and beat her up rather severely. Put her in the hospital for a couple of days, but Cherry suspects that the hospital stay was her son-in-law’s way to keep his daughter away from the guy. The guy was arrested and charged. He made a plea bargain that’d practically let him off the hook. As soon as the judgment came down, her parents put her on a plane to here, which has actually worked out great. She’d already been talking to Braverman about doing some work in his clinic, and with him needing time off, well, it was divine intervention. Knowing Cherry’s ability to strong-arm to get what she wants…let’s just say, I see her fingerprints all over this.”
Hot SEAL, Alaskan Nights (SEALs in Paradise) Page 4
