by Paige Tyler
It had been a tall order for Felicia and her coworkers, but judging by the excitement in her eyes, it looked like they’d been able to make it happen.
“There’s a big bed and breakfast in St. Helena,” Felicia continued. “They have a huge yard in the back with a deck for dancing, rooms for twenty guests to sleep over, and amazing views of the mountains. Plus, there’s a quaint, little church nearby that is going to make you cry the moment you see it. And we have it all booked three weeks from Saturday.”
Kimber held her breath, her stomach quivering. This was actually happening. “And the rest—the caterer, the priest, the DJ, the flowers, the dress? You’re going to be able to make all of that happen in three weeks?”
Felicia smiled. “It will happen. I’m heading up there tomorrow to start advance planning. It’s all going to come together. I promise.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” Felicia said.
Grinning, Kimber threw her arms around Felicia, hugging her tightly. She couldn’t believe this was real. Or how incredibly lucky she was. Not merely getting a second chance with Dalton but having new friends like Felicia and the other women in the extended SEAL family who could help pull something like this off on such short notice. She was so happy, she wanted to do a Snoopy Dance right there.
She might have done it, too, if Nash hadn’t stuck his head out from the kitchen. “Hey. You’re out of beer in the fridge. Where do you keep your back-up stash?”
Kimber blinked. There was no way they could be out of beer already. She’d just stocked the fridge before everyone got there. She opened her mouth to tell Nash as much, but Dalton took her hand and led her toward the door that led down to the finished basement.
“We’ll go get more,” he said over his shoulder. “Back in a flash.”
“What are you doing?” Kimber asked.
“Going for beer,” he said. “You heard Nash. We’re out.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re not out,” she insisted. “And even if we are, do you really need me to go downstairs with you to get more? You may not have noticed, but I was having a conversation with Felicia.”
“Yeah, I know.” He held open the door to the basement for her. “But I could really use your help carrying the beer.”
She glanced sideways at him, not sure what the heck he was talking about. Since when did he need help carrying stuff?
When they got downstairs, she expected Dalton to head straight for the fridge/freezer unit, but instead, he stopped halfway across the room and turned to look at her, a wicked smile on his sinfully attractive face. That’s when Kimber realized something was going on. They hadn’t been out of beer at all. Dalton and Nash had set this up.
“Okay, what’s really going on?” she asked. “Because I know we didn’t come down here to get beer.”
His grin broadened. “Yeah, you got me there. I asked Nash to help me come up with an excuse to get you down here and beer was the only thing he could come up with. But you have to give him some credit. It worked.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “And why did you want to get me down here?”
He lifted a brow and gave her his best smolder.
“Forget it,” she laughed. “I’m as game for a quickie as the next girl, but we have a whole house full of guests upstairs, not to mention a curious five-year-old who’ll likely be on her way down here before long. You’re going to have to control yourself until later tonight after Emma is asleep. Then, if you still want to, we can sneak down here and do anything your devious mind can think of.”
Kimber could tell from the look in his eyes that her naughty offer had intrigued him.
“Deal. Because this devious mind of mine can think of all kinds of things we can do down here,” he said. “But to be honest, I didn’t actually come down here for a quickie.”
“You didn’t?” Okay, now she was confused…and a little disappointed. “Why did you drag me down here then?”
He slowly brought one hand out from behind his back to reveal a small, velvety black jewelry box. “So I could give you this. I was going to give it to you tonight after everyone left, but now that we have a firm date for the wedding, I thought maybe I should do it now.”
Kimber’s breath caught as he opened the box and an engagement ring with a round, brilliant cut diamond came into view. There were two smaller diamonds on either either of the main stone, all four set into a channel in the white gold band. It was beyond gorgeous.
“I have you. That’s all I’ve ever needed—or wanted,” she whispered, lifting her gaze to his. “I never even thought about an engagement ring. I thought we’d get simple gold bands for the ceremony and I would have been fine with that.”
Dalton carefully took the ring out of the box, then gently took her hand and slipped the beautiful piece of jewelry onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
“I know you would,” he said. “But it’s important to me that I do this right. We messed up the first time we were together and I don’t want that to happen again. I had this ring specially made for you with five diamonds, one for every year we wasted. I want you to be able to look at it and know how precious you are to me and that I’m never going to stop loving you. You and Emma are the world to me now.”
Kimber gazed at her hand, mesmerized as the diamonds caught the light and reflected them a hundredfold. It became kind of difficult to see thanks to the tears filling her eyes, but she decided it was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. It was perfect…like Dalton.
She went up on tiptoes to give him a long, slow kiss that was full of a lifetime of promises.
“And you’re the world to me…and to Emma,” she whispered. “And we’re both going to love you forever.”
She and Dalton probably would have stayed down there making out the rest of the day if it wasn’t for a curious five-year-old who stuck her head down the stairs, asking when they were coming upstairs.
“They’re bringing out the cake,” Emma said.
Kimber pulled away from Dalton with a laugh. “Come on. Let’s go before our daughter talks all those big strong SEALs up there into giving her far more cake than she should eat.”
Dalton chuckled and let her lead him upstairs. “You got that right. If anyone’s going to let her eat too much cake, it should be me. I’m her dad.”
Kimber smiled. And she couldn’t have asked for a better one for their daughter.
* * * * *
I hope you enjoyed Dalton and Kimber’s story!
Holden Lockwood is the next SEAL to fall in love.
His story releases August 2018 when he meets FBI agent Kendall Patton. Only he doesn’t know she’s a Fed. Or that she’s there to arrest him and put him in prison.
Here’s a sneak peek at SEAL to the Rescue, Book Six in the SEALs of Coronado Series.
One way or another…
Holden Lockwood never suspected the beautiful woman he saved from her ex-boyfriend during a drunken brawl was all a set-up. But he always was a sucker for damsels in distress, and if that means going the extra mile and letting her stay at his house to protect her…Now he’s falling head over combat boots for her and it seems she feels the same. But Holden has secrets, one in particular that rip their new romance apart like a land mine.
She always gets her man.
Undercover FBI agent, Kendall Patton, has orders to get close to Holden Lockwood—whatever it takes. Suspected of stealing a high-tech decryption device, Holden is considered a threat to national security. Little does Kendall know he’s a threat to her heart. The deeper her investigation gets, the deeper her feelings get. But when she’s kicked off the case and Holden is arrested, it will take a SEAL team, a little theft, and a lot of luck to save him.
Can their relationship be saved? Or has trust been tested beyond its limits?
CHAPTER ONE
San Diego, California
“I told you we’d be back in time,” Holden said as he and Chasen walked into the restaurant. He looked around for
everyone else. Hayley had said something about reserving a back room for the rehearsal dinner. “I don’t why you ever doubted me.”
“Maybe because we made it to the church for the rehearsal with less than five minutes to spare.” Chasen scanned the crowded bar and grill. Obviously, he didn’t know where the party was being held any better than Holden did. “If we’d been any later, the priest would have charged us overtime.”
Holden chuckled. “I’m pretty sure priests don’t have overtime rates. Actually, I don’t think they have base rates. God doesn’t charge fees, so his priests can’t, either.”
Chasen considered that. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Hayley mentioned something about a big donation to the church.”
Holden shrugged. “Can’t help you there. The guy is due whatever donation he can get.”
He glanced around again, hoping to catch sight of someone he knew. It would have been easier if he and Chasen had come there with everyone else after the wedding rehearsal, but the priest had wanted to talk with Chasen about marriage certificates or something so Hayley and the others had headed to the restaurant to make sure they didn’t lose the room she’d reserved.
Holden was about to pull out his phone and shoot a text to Wes asking where the hell they were when he noticed a server disappear down a hallway to the left of the bar with a big tray of drinks.
“I think that’s our party,” he said, motioning in that direction. “Unless there’s another group back there that likes to starts off dinner with Jagerbombs.”
Chasen chuckled and headed that way.
Holden followed, once more thanking God they’d all gotten back in time for the wedding. That asshole of a CIA handler had kept hammering at them for another day and a half nonstop, running scenario after scenario throughout the night until they could barely stand up straight, much less shoot straight. Then, out of the blue early that morning, he’d ended the exercise and told them to be ready for a helicopter extraction within the hour.
That was it. No after-action brief, no breakdown of how well they’d done or why they’d been doing it. Not even a word about what would happen next if that kind of terrorist situation ever showed up for real.
Hell, the friggin’ guy hadn’t even said goodbye.
“I told you I’m not having a drink with you!”
“Okay, so let’s just get out of here then.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, either!”
Holden didn’t make a habit of eavesdropping, but it was hard not to pay attention to the argument the couple at the bar were having, especially since he was standing two feet away. He wasn’t sure why he slowed to glance at them. But one look at the woman and he did a double take.
With long, blond hair and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen, in a word, she was gorgeous. It wasn’t merely her beauty that had made him come to a standstill. It was the mix of emotions on her face. There was anger for sure, along with a healthy dose of worry and embarrassment. All of it focused on the man casually sitting on the bar stool beside her. Holden couldn’t see his face because the guy had his back to him, but judging from her expression, he was from that very well-traveled part of the country known as asshole land.
“I’ll catch up with you in a few,” he said to Chasen.
His chief nodded and disappeared into the crowd.
By the time he turned back to the couple again, the blond beauty was getting to her feet. The guy immediately did the same, using his greater height to try to intimidate her. Holden cursed under his breath. He’d seen that same move dozens of times. And it always pissed him off.
“Why don’t you want to leave with me?” the man demanded.
Now that the a-hole was on his feet, Holden could see the man’s face and he automatically assessed him. The guy was tall and fit, maybe five years older than the woman, with a face that should have put her way out of his league.
“Because I’m meeting someone,” she said.
Tall, Dark, and Ugly didn’t seem to like that. “Oh yeah? Who?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So, text him and tell him you met someone else.” The man gave her a smarmy grin. “Come on. Let’s go back to your place. It’ll be like old times.”
The woman stared at the annoying ass hat in disbelief. “This conversation is over.”
She started to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm.
Holden cursed again, this time out loud. He was done watching this train wreck. Time to put himself in the middle of it and fuck somebody up.
“Honey,” he said, swooping in and pushing the a-hole’s hand aside. He slipped an arm around the woman’s waist at the same time, tugging her close and putting his body between her and the man who’d been pawing at her. Then he flashed her a smile. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic on the 805 was murder.”
She immediately tensed in his arms, probably wondering if she’d gone from the frying pan into the fire, but after moving her gaze back and forth between him and the creep who’d been harassing her, she finally seemed to figure out what was going on. Visibly relaxing, she smiled at him.
Damn. He thought she’d been beautiful before, but when she smiled, he was sure his eyes bulged, his heart beat out of his chest, his mouth fell open and his tongue rolled across the floor like he was in some flipping cartoon. Obviously, none of that must have happened because the gorgeous blond wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. He couldn’t help noticing her body was amazing, that perfect combination of firm and soft that drove him insane. She fit against him like she’d been made for him.
“No problem.” Still smiling, she pulled back to look at him. “Your timing is perfect.”
Holden turned to find Tall, Dark, and Ugly glaring at him, his face twisted up like he’d been sucking on a lemon.
“Mind if I borrow that chair?” Holden said, gesturing at the one the guy had been using. “Since you’re done with it.”
While Holden kept his voice even, he speared the other man with his gaze, imagining twenty different ways he could seriously damage the fool without leaving a single mark on him. The guy tensed as if he knew exactly what Holden was thinking. When Tall, Dark, and Ugly didn’t back down, Holden thought he might actually be stupid enough to start something. Finally, after giving him and the woman a glare, the jerk stormed off, muttering under his breath and heading for the exit.
Holden turned back to the blond to find her smiling at him again. Damn, a smile like that could make a man do some stupid things. Like charging to the rescue of a woman he’d never met before.
“I’m Holden Lockwood,” he said. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong, putting my hands on you like that. Getting grabby wasn’t my intent.”
She nodded. “Kendall Patton. And you didn’t come on too strong. I mean, yeah, putting your arm around me caught me by surprise, but in comparison to Issac, you’re good.”
Before Holden could answer the bartender showed up, asking if they wanted something to drink. Holden gave Kendall a questioning look, at the same time deciding the name suited her.
“A glass of white wine would be great,” she said.
He glanced at the bartender. “Beer for me. Whatever you have on tap.”
The man nodded and disappeared to grab their drinks.
“So…Issac, huh?” Holden murmured. “Seemed like a jackass.”
Kendall snorted, then laughed. “Issac is the kind of ex who makes a woman question her judgment in men.” She shook her head, her long, blond hair swinging around to feather across her lips in a way that made his fingers itch to reach out and brush it aside. “I don’t know why I ever dated him. I honestly can’t think of a single thing I liked about him now.” She fell silent as the bartender set their drinks down in front of them, waiting until he left again before adding, “I have no idea why I just told you all that.”
Holden shrugged. “It’s the face. It makes people want to confide in me. My coworkers are always telling me things they prob
ably don’t intend to.”
“I can believe that,” Kendall said. “I’ve only known you a few minutes and I already feel like I should be telling you my deepest and darkest secrets.”
He chuckled. “You should probably resist the urge. Not that I won’t listen if you feel you have to spill, but I’m generally of the opinion that people should maintain the mystery as long as possible when they first meet.”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised, sipping her wine. He liked watching her purse her lips as she drank. It made him think things he definitely shouldn’t about a woman within the first five minutes of knowing her.
“This is going to sound like the worst pick-up line ever, but do you come here often?” he asked, dragging his gaze away from those perfect, plump lips. “Is that how Issac happened to run into you?”
Kendall fixed her gaze on the mirror behind the bar, eyeing the crowded restaurant in the reflection of the glass as if she was worried about Issac coming back.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever set foot in the place.” She looked at him. “I told Isaac I was meeting someone, but I made that up, hoping to get him to leave me alone. I was heading home from class and decided to stop.”
“Class?”
She nodded. “I’m working on my masters in political science at San Diego State. I’ve practically been living in the campus library for the past three weeks working on a project and came in here to unwind. I needed to hang out with people who aren’t buried up to their eyeballs in textbooks.”
Holden got that. Sometimes, after a particularly sucky deployment he’d go to the park or hang out at the beach simply so he could be around people who weren’t trying to kill each other. It was something he did to get his head back to normal, whatever the hell that was.
“I haven’t spent much time in a college library, but I understand what it’s like to get so deep into your work you forget what it’s like to be around other people.”
