by Jaime Lewis
Long story short, Tenley’s ex-boyfriend and the arms dealer were using Tenley to blackmail her biological father to get their hands on his heroin business. Tenley had never met her father until she went to Ecuador the day after Christmas on a humanitarian aid trip. When she met her father, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with his identity. He knew Sanchez, along with her ex-boyfriend, would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, including putting Tenley in danger. When Tenley finally found out who her father was, it had been too late. Her ex was apprehended by the FBI and currently serving time behind bars, but Sanchez had escaped and gone after Tenley. Tenley had been kidnapped on Frost’s watch, which bothered him, although he couldn’t do much with a bullet hole in his leg.
After Tenley was rescued, she got checked out at the hospital, and that was when they found out they had a baby on the way. He couldn’t be happier for Potter and Tenley. With everything they’d both been through in the past year, they deserved a happy ending. It didn’t hurt that Tenley was loaded since her father’s entire estate had been left entirely to her.
Ace nodded his head and smiled. “I know. Potter’s ecstatic, but it’s only been two days since they found out, and he’s already treating Tenley like she’s a piece of glass. Alex said Tenley’s already giving him shit about it.” He chuckled.
A light knock on the door, followed by a woman’s soft but husky voice had Frost glancing at the doorway.
“Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but I’m looking for Chief Petty Officer Rhoades?”
Frost rolled his eyes. Great, another nurse coming to “check-up on him,” though he didn’t recognize the voice of this one. She probably worked on another floor and heard he was here from her co-workers.
He took a deep breath and got ready to say something sarcastic, but then the woman emerged from behind Ace and Irish. Not only was he left speechless, but he about tumbled out of the bed as he found himself leaning towards her to get a better look. He shook his head to refocus as the most beautiful woman he’d laid eyes on walked towards him. And, that was saying something because he’d seen his fair share of women in his thirty-one years.
Frost closed his mouth when he realized it was gaping open as he looked her over. She was petite, with a shapely figure – plump pink lips, little pixie nose, and large, almond-shaped eyes the color of shamrocks. He was speechless by her beauty. He took note of her tits and ass; they were perfect. He liked a woman with a shape to her. But what had his heart racing was her long, wavy red hair that fell below her shoulders, framing her face beautifully. Even in what he assumed was her hospital attire, a purple polo shirt, and black khaki pants, she was a fucking knock-out.
As she walked closer to the bed, her bold green eyes twinkled under the fluorescent lighting. “Since you are the one sitting in the bed, I’m assuming you’re CPO Rhoades?” She asked again, grinning at him as if she knew her looks alone were tormenting him. He noticed the guys checking her out, and he couldn’t blame them a damn bit.
He cleared his throat. Jesus, he was staring at her like a teenage boy. It was like he’d become brain fried as all the blood left his brain and flowed straight to his cock. Thankfully, the blanket was pulled up to his waist and covered any evidence of his arousal. Just to be sure, he placed his hands in his lap and adjusted himself slightly to make sure his manhood wasn’t creating a pop tent. That would surely send her running unless she were like the nurses before her.
“I am CPO Rhoades,” he said in a gruff voice, which made some of the guys snicker. Assholes. They knew how she had affected him, and he was so going to beat their asses for it too. Once he recovered from his injury, of course.
Flashing him a bright smile, she held out her hand, “I’m Autumn. I’m one of the physical therapists here at the hospital and the one responsible for getting you back on your feet as quickly as possible. Well, at least while you’re here, that is.”
When their hands touched, an electrifying feeling coursed through his veins. He felt alive. Her hand felt tiny and delicate compared to his much larger one, and her skin felt so soft against his calloused fingers that he couldn’t help but hold on to it a little longer than a normal handshake. When she gasped and pulled her hand away quickly, looking away, he realized she felt something too.
Well, hell…so it wasn’t just me. The Irish beauty felt the connection too.
She started fiddling with his IV pole, trying to avoid eye contact with him when she started talking. He couldn’t hide his smile at her cuteness as she wrinkled her nose and looked down at her watch.
“I apologize for stopping by so late in the day, but I just received your chart. Since your doctor wants to start your therapy tomorrow, I wanted to come by to introduce myself and see if you had any questions, but since you have company, we can wait until tomorrow. I’ll adjust my morning schedule so we have some extra time to go over any questions or concerns you may have before we get started.”
He didn’t have any questions about his rehabilitation process, but he definitely had some personal questions he wanted to ask her. For starters, was she single?
He needed to keep it together, so he didn’t scare her off, so he flashed her a flirtatious smile—the one he knew that women ate up. “That sounds good, sugar. Tomorrow morning would be perfect, but can I ask a favor?”
Her lips parted, and her breath hitched slightly when he called her ‘sugar,’ which aroused him even more. She quickly recovered and narrowed her eyes slightly and placed her hands on her hips as she gave him a staredown. He wanted to laugh at the sight, but he knew better. If she were anything like Alex and Tenley, there was a lioness under her beautiful exterior.
“And what would that be, sailor?”
He smiled, already liking her sass. “Promise me you’ll go easy on me?”
She let out a husky laugh and damn if his cock didn’t harden even more at the sound. And, the way her red locks shook at the shake of her head had his fingers itching to run them through her silky tresses.
“Not gonna happen. Listen, I’m going to be upfront with you before we get started. I’m a ‘tell it like it is gal.’ I don’t take shit from my patients, especially hard-headed ones like yourself. My job is to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible so that you can return to active duty. I take my job seriously. I’ll push you so hard you’ll probably want to kill me, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that because then you’ll be assigned another therapist who most likely don’t know their ass from their head and won’t give you the effort and care that I guarantee you will get from me. I will respect you, and I ask the same in return. I don’t work with quitters. If you’re not ready to give me a hundred percent, tell me right now, and I’ll make other arrangements for you.” She stood at the foot of his bed with her arms crossed in front of her chest, giving him a serious look, waiting for an answer.
Frost didn’t know if he should laugh or be a little scared. Not only was this woman a total knock-out, but she was a total bad-ass. She was one of those women who kicked ass and took names later—a woman with attitude and a sense of humor. In a matter of minutes, she had made his body come alive.
“Damn, sweetness. Are you single? Because if so, I’d love to take you out.”
Leave it to Irish to open his mouth. Everyone laughed but not Frost. He gave Irish an annoyed look, and Irish just shrugged his shoulders and winked at him. He’d be lying if he didn’t want to know the answer. She didn’t answer; instead, she smiled and shook her head. But if the blush that painted her cheeks was any indication, he believed he had his answer. Thanks, Irish, now fuck off.
He smiled. “Please excuse my ignorant friend over there. He’s just jealous he doesn’t get a beautiful therapist to spend time with.”
She lowered her head, and he swore her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. She was gorgeous, and he found himself wanting to know more about her.
◆◆◆
After meeting with the CPO, Autumn left the room feeling flushed; that room had enough t
estosterone for ten men, and damn were they gorgeous. Christ on a crutch, Nancy wasn’t lying to her when she said the patient was good looking. She hadn’t wanted to stare, but it was hard not to. The man was gorgeous, especially when he grinned, and a slight dimple on his right cheek appeared, adding to his appeal. But he was also very intimidating, not to mention he was a total flirt. His friends were just as easy on the eyes. Her male patients over the last couple of months had mainly been older, married men. If the chart was correct, this guy was a year older than her.
After dropping the chart off at the nurse’s station, she walked to the employee lounge. She needed to pick up Cody at his friend’s house, then drop him off at his Naval Sea Cadets meeting. The Sea Cadets organization had been great for Cody. The organization is a leadership program and lets kids, both boys and girls, get a look and feel of what the military can offer them should they choose to go that route after graduating high school. It teaches discipline, keeps them out of trouble, and makes them maintain good grades in school. Cody didn’t need those things, but he really enjoyed being in the program. They usually only met once or twice a month on a Saturday for a couple of hours, but they were planning a trip to Washington, D.C. next month right after school got out for the summer, and Cody was going. She was nervous because she wouldn’t be accompanying him. It was only for two days, but he’d never been that far away from her before, but the Commanding Officer in charge of their unit assured her he would be in good hands. The best part was the unit covered all of the travel costs. All she had to provide was some spending money.
Money was tight for them. The money she got from her husband’s death benefit only amounted to $1,200 a month, which went toward Cody’s school tuition. Her salary from the hospital barely covered all their living expenses. The rent for the duplex she rented was outrageous for the size of the place, and the area was sketchy. Plus, she had the utilities to pay, along with groceries and gas for the car. She also wanted to make sure Cody got to do fun things, so she needed money for that as well, though she was really good about finding great deals and discounts for places and activities for them to go and do on the weekends. Nancy knew she had been looking for a part-time job to earn some extra money, and when she mentioned to Autumn about the hospital needing someone to do some transcribing work, Autumn had been quick to jump on it. The extra income helped tremendously, and the plus side was she could do all the work from home after Cody went to bed.
As she approached her car, she noticed a piece of paper stuck under one of her windshield wipers. As she got closer, she realized it was some sort of a flyer. She felt relieved. Last week, she had walked out to her car, and there had been a note taped to the driver’s side window. In big red letters, it said, STAY AWAY FROM HIM. That had freaked her out because she had no interest in any man, and no man had been interested in her. Well, except for a few of her patients that flirted with her, but again, they were old enough to be her father and weren’t serious. She assumed that whoever left the note got her vehicle mixed up with someone else’s.
She pulled the flyer out and looked at it. It was for the new café that just opened down the street. She and one of the other nurses had made plans to go there for lunch tomorrow. She stuck it in her bag and hit the button on her key fob to pop the trunk to her car. She threw her gym bag in and shut it. As she walked to the driver’s side of the car, she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She looked around, but nothing seemed out of sorts. Just some other employees were walking to their cars.
Chapter Two
“Jack Rhoades, you are one stubborn son of a bitch!”
Frost laid in the hospital bed and glared at Alex.
Day three since he had taken a bullet in his thigh, and he was so over all bullshit hospital stuff and ready to climb the walls. He was tired, sore, and just full of piss and vinegar.
While his injury was only considered a flesh wound, it had hurt like fucking hell. The doctors wanted to keep him in the hospital for a few days longer because some redness had started to appear around the wound, indicating a possible infection.
But, the truth of it all was he was starting to get depressed. He hated being laid up, and he missed his team, although they’d come to see him every day. A couple of them would come by in the morning and the others after work, but it wasn’t the same. Ace told him yesterday that there was some chatter about the team getting sent out. He hoped like hell they wouldn’t deploy until after he was back on active duty, which was still weeks away. He looked down at the white bandage wrapped around his thigh. He was glad that the piece of shit responsible for that whole fiasco with Tenley was rotting in hell.
He watched as Alex reached into her large black designer purse. He always wondered how in the hell she ever found anything in that suitcase she called a purse.
She pulled out a black case similar to a square necklace case. “Here,” she said, shoving the case into his hands.
He knew immediately what it was when he saw the SEAL logo and motto ‘The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday’ embossed on the top. He scrunched his eyebrows together and looked at her.
“Where and when did you get this?” He asked, sounding annoyed. He was a hard person to begin with. It’s why his call-sign was Frost. As in Jack Frost. He could be one cold son of a bitch when he wanted to. Plus, he didn’t like people snooping through his shit but considering it was Alex, he’d forgive her, as she was like a sister to him. At least this time.
“I had Stitch get it for me last night. I stopped by the base this morning and picked it up from him.”
Frost opened the hinged case revealing his gold Trident Pin. He’d endured a lot of sweat and tears to earn that piece of metal.
Alex rested her hand over Frost’s, and she looked him in the eye. “Frost, let this serve as a reminder of everything you worked for to earn that pin. Just because you are down and out of commission right now doesn’t mean that you won’t be back out on the battlefield. Hell, think about all the men and women who have sustained career-ending injuries. Yours is just a minor setback. Consider these next couple of weeks as somewhat of a vacation.
“Every time you start feeling down and crabby, I want you to look at that pin and think about everything you endured to earn that priceless piece of metal. You are one of the few who have conquered the grueling training. You are a goddamn Navy SEAL. So, start acting like one. Use that as your motivation to get your ass back in fighting shape instead of moping around and feeling sorry for yourself.”
He lowered his head and stared at the pin again. Mentally, he berated himself. She was absolutely right. He was being an asshole and had been moping for the last two days. The only thing keeping him somewhat grounded was his friends and family. Plus, he had a little motivation now, the feisty Irish beauty. He glanced down at his watch and smiled, seeing she was due here shortly for his appointment. At least her presence would perk him up a bit. She was a firecracker. Her personality matched her fiery red hair.
“Well, I’m glad something got your hard-ass to smile.” He glanced up to see Alex grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Care to share what just went through that big head yours?” She asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Before he could answer, the sound of a shoe squeaking on the tile floor had Frost looking toward the door. There she stood dressed in a pair of tan khaki pants and a short sleeve, black-collared golf shirt. Today, her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, making the little diamond stud earrings she wore in her ears stand out.
She looked surprised as she looked at Alex, then to him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company. Just ring the nurse’s station when you’re ready, and I’ll come back,” she said in a hurry and turned to head back out the door.
“No!” Frost shouted as he struggled to sit up quickly. He cringed as he felt the ache in his leg, but he noticed his hard, abrupt tone had stopped her in her tracks. She stared at him, probably waiting for him to say something else. Fuck! She got him all twisted up in
side. Never, not once in his life had a woman gotten him all tongue-tied. Something about her had piqued his interest; he found himself wanting to get to know her more than wanting to fuck her.
He dismissed the thought as Alex smiled and leaned down to hug him. She kissed him on the cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Now, I understand what that smile was all about. She’s gorgeous.” She righted herself and straightened her shirt. She pointed at him and then directed her finger to the case in his hand. “Remember what I said. Oh, and your mom and dad called. They were getting back on the cruise ship. I filled them in. They were worried, but I assured them you were fine and already back to your ornery self.”
“Geeze…thanks.”
She smiled. “Anyways, they’ll be home in four days. You should be discharged by then. I’ll make plans to get you home.”
He grinned and then gave her a mock salute. “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She laughed and turned to walk out. As she walked toward the door, Frost heard her say hello to Autumn.
◆◆◆
Autumn watched the beautiful brunette interact with the CPO. She wondered if that was his girlfriend. Why that made her stomach churn, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like he belonged to her. He was just a patient.
Yep, keep reminding yourself that.
She walked towards him and set her papers down on the chair next to the bed. Today, she would be going over his physical therapy schedule and then start with some light exercises.
When she read his medical chart yesterday, she’d admit that the injury had brought back memories of her husband and how he died. Kevin was dedicated to the Corps. With him deployed for most of their marriage, they didn’t have the most romantic relationship, but even so, she still loved him. After losing him, she vowed she would never put herself in that position again. She didn’t want to have to worry every day.
So why then was she experiencing these small flutters in her belly being near this SEAL? She couldn’t be attracted to him. Could she? Their line of work was even more dangerous than her husband’s had been. She didn’t know what her husband’s job had entailed as he never spoke about his work, but she preferred not to know either. She could only imagine what type of situations SEALs are put in. Not that she knew exactly what they did since everyone knows that their missions are classified. Well, at least those missions where the details aren’t leaked to the media. There is a reason why their identities and missions are kept under wraps. Leaking the teams’ whereabouts and what they did just paints a bigger bullseye on all the troops who are out there trying to make the world a better place for all human beings.
