Saving the SEAL Baby Daddy

by Knight, Katie

  “Perfect.” He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her over to sit in his lap. Camille giggled from her playpen, kicking her legs and waving her arms as if to cheer them on. “That sounds perfect.”

  “And I love you, Trevor.” She kissed him again, then pulled away, resting her forehead against his. “Does this mean you want to invoke that clause in the contract?”

  “Hell yes.” He grinned. “Consider our agreement dissolved.”

  End of Saving the SEAL Baby Daddy

  Do you love strong, sexy Navy SEALs? Please keep reading for preview from my next book, The Protective SEAL and The SEAL’s Ward.

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  About Katie

  It isn’t a big surprise Katie Knight ended up writing romances about the stellar, studdly men of the Navy SEALs; after all, she was a K-9 trainer for the SEALs and met her own Navy SEAL hero husband while preparing one of their K-9 partners for combat. A few years after their marriage, her and hubby decided to retire with their K-9 partner, Sam, to raise their children in the Midwest. It wasn’t long after that before Katie decided to write her own stories featuring the men of the SEAL teams and the women who love them.

  When not imagining dangerously romantic scenarios for her heroes and their feisty heroines, Katie enjoys hikes with her husband and Sam, spending time with her children, and long runs (on and off the beach).

  To learn more about Katie you can check out all her books on social media and her website.

  About Leslie

  Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.

  Find your next Leslie North book visit www.LeslieNorthBooks.com or choose:

  PS: Want sneak peeks, giveaways, ARC offers, fun extras and plenty of pictures of bad boys? Join my Facebook group, Leslie’s Lovelies!

  BLURB

  Jack Williams has never felt so lost. Since retiring from the Navy SEALS thanks to a career-ending injury, he’s been at loose ends. Suddenly, there’s no one to save, no mission to complete. So when he sees a car in a ditch off the side of the road, he goes into hero mode, only to find out he knows the lady in distress—intimately. So intimately, the baby in her arms is probably his. A little over a year ago, Jack acted as Samantha Engel’s protector right before she’d gone into witness protection to escape from her mob-boss father. Now, here she is in the middle of nowhere, holding a darling little girl, and needing him again. In just a few days, she’s set to testify against her father, but one of the U.S. Marshalls assigned to protect her ended up being on her father’s payroll, and she had to run for her life. With both her and her child in deadly danger, Jack readily agrees to keep her safe. And if keeping her safe means keeping her in his arms, he’s more than willing to do so.

  With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Samantha readily puts her life in Jack’s hands. He’s the only one in her turbulent world who she can count on. As part of the witness protection system, she never thought she’d see him again and isn’t quite ready to feel her heart responding to him so quickly. Sam knows they don’t have a future, but for just a little while, she wants to feel safe, to feel loved. And when she sees how her daughter has quickly become attached to Jack, it’s even more heartbreaking to know that when the trial is over and with the mob still after revenge, they’ll have to say good-bye to Jack again.

  As the mob’s threat escalates, the two face the struggle of their life. Will Jack’s heroics be enough to save a future for them?

  Grab your copy of The Protective SEAL here.

  * * *

  EXCERPT

  Undisclosed safehouse, Costa Rica, fifteen months ago…

  “Get her out of here!”

  The order screeched through his Bluetooth earpiece and Jack Williams didn’t wait for further instructions. Adrenaline flooding his system, he grabbed the young woman’s hand, tugging her along behind him through the poorly lit, pothole-ridden parking lot. It was typical Costa Rican weather—hot, humid, with a slight hint of rain in the air. They were surrounded by rainforest, on the outskirts of the city. A steady wind blew around them, stirring the weeds sticking up through the cracked asphalt and carrying the scent of dirt and sweat and the jungle in the distance. They ducked behind a battered old boat of a car from the 1970s and Jake pulled the woman his SEAL team had been brought in to protect down beside him. She was maybe five-five or five-six, with dark hair in a no-nonsense ponytail. She had a pretty face, but wore no makeup to highlight it. She definitely was not what he’d expected to find in the daughter of one of the most dangerous gangsters in the world.

  Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he leaned in close to whisper, “Ready?”

  She nodded, her dark eyes huge in her pale face.

  Brave despite her fear. He could respect that.

  “Good. Okay. Remember what I said. Stay close. Stay down. Stay safe.”

  The woman swallowed hard, closed her eyes and made the sign of the cross over her chest, then fixed him with a steady stare. “Let’s do it.”

  There was a hint of Chicago in her voice.

  Taking her hand again, he crab-walked toward the bodega, the windows dark since the place was closed. She stuck close behind him, dogging his footsteps. The sudden rat-tat-tat of rapid gunfire split the air. His cue to move. SEAL Team Twelve was laying down cover so they could escape.

  After a quick scan of the area, Jack spotted an old pickup parked around the corner of the brick building. Wasn’t that just a godsend? He happened to know this model was notoriously easy to jumpstart. The hunk of junk couldn’t have appeared at a better time. Careful to shield the woman behind him with his body, they sprinted for the truck, enemy fire pinging off the ground around their feet, sending tiny tornados of dust into the air. With a mighty tug, Jack wrenched open the truck’s rusty driver’s side door, then shoved her inside first. She had to scramble over the stick shift to get to the passenger side, but they were both still upright and breathing, if a bit disheveled. He considered that a win. Now all they had to do was get out of here in the same condition and they’d be all set. He reached inside the truck and released the emergency brake, then slowly pushed the truck forward, his muscles straining, sweat rolling down his back as he used the door as meager protection against the gunfire raining down around them. Thankfully, the bodega sat atop a small hill, so they had gravity on their side. Once the truck was moving downward at a decent clip, he hopped in behind the wheel and pumped the clutch, saying a silent prayer himself that the old beast would start. Reaching under the dusty dashboard, he fiddled with the ignition wires.

  “Take the wheel,” he said to the woman before ducking down to see what he was doing.

  She gave him a startled glance.

  “Want to end up in the jungle and break your neck?” he asked, his tone harsher than he’d intended but needing to break her out of the obvious shock that was setting in. She was even more pale than she’d been before, a grayish tint lurking behind her olive skin. Finally, she reached a shaking hand over to take the steering wheel. “Good. It won’t take me long, but I can’t do this and see where we’re going.”

  He yanked the wires out, then grabbed the two he needed. Using his teeth to fray the ends, he touched them together as they careened down the hillside toward the rainforest below. Pulse pounding and chest tight, he squeezed his eyes shut.

  C’mon, baby. C’mon.

  At last, the wires sparked and the engine sputtered then caught, chugging to life.

  Grinning wide, Jack dropped th
e wires and straightened, taking the wheel as he spoke into his Bluetooth headset. “Alpha, this is Romeo, come in.”

  “Alpha here.” The response crackled over the wireless connection, as sweet as any sound Jack had ever heard.

  He glanced over at his passenger, her big dark eyes staring back at him with hope and more than a tad of admiration. He couldn’t help patting her knee in reassurance. “Package has been acquired. Awaiting further instructions.”

  “Sit tight, Romeo,” his team leader said. “Pickup location has been compromised. Keep package safe and await new instructions.”

  “Understood, Alpha.” He scowled, weaving their vehicle around a hairpin turn in the road, narrowly avoiding a palm tree. More time in this country meant more chances for something to go wrong. He wasn’t happy about the situation. And it was a helluva way to spend New Year’s Eve. Still, he was a SEAL and SEALs followed orders. “Over and out.”

  The vehicle slowed to a more reasonable speed and Jack turned his attention to the woman beside him. “You okay, Ms. Engel? We’re almost out of here.”

  “Was that your team you were talking to just now?” she asked, her voice tremulous. Rescuing civilians was always more difficult. They never understood the protocols, which meant they needed to have everything explained and required constant reassurance. Still, he imagined she might have more experience with that than most, given her father’s line of work. That seemed borne out by the way she had faced a firefight without flinching. “Is everything okay? You don’t look happy.”

  “Everything’s fine.” Jack stared out the windshield again, lightly applying the brakes for fear he’d lose the engine if they slowed too much. “Unfortunately, we’re going to be here longer than I anticipated. If you’d like to go get cleaned up, I’ll find us a safe place to hide out in while we wait. Get you some clean clothes too.”

  Samantha Engel looked down at herself, frowning, as if just then realizing how dirty she was after their run through the gauntlet back at the bodega. “Oh, um, yes, please. I’d appreciate that…”

  “Jack,” he said when she gave him an inquiring look.

  “Right. Jack.” She nodded, her small smile growing. “Pleased to meet you, Jack. And please, call me Sam. After all you’ve done for me. Thank you.”

  He gave a curt nod and turned down a side street into the small village at the base of the hill, heading toward one of the safe houses his SEAL team kept in the area. Moonlight bathed the area in shadows. A few minutes later they pulled up in front of a nondescript white cottage. Wasn’t much to look at from the outside, but it had indoor plumbing, plenty of hot water, and was well-stocked with food. He fiddled with the wires under the dashboard again to shut off the engine, then glanced over at Sam. “Stay here while I check the area, then we’ll go inside. We’ll be safe here until we can get out of the country.”

  After he’d walked the perimeter of the property and done all the security checks, they walked into the sparsely decorated home and Jack secured the door behind them, then gave her a quick tour of the place—one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, small living room with a couch and a TV—securing the area as he went. “If you want to take a shower, I’ll see what I can find around here to fit you and leave it outside the door.”

  “Thank you,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

  The sound of water running soon echoed around him, and Jack grabbed a soda from the fridge, gulping down half before setting it aside. The water here was fine for bathing and washing clothes and cooking, but not so much for drinking. Besides, he needed the caffeine to take the edge off a bit.

  This whole mission had been a cluster from the start. When his SEAL team was called in to rescue an American woman hiding in a village in Costa Rica, he hadn’t anticipated getting cut off from his team and forced to flee with the woman in tow. But at least she was calm and cooperative. When he’d read her dossier and saw she was the only daughter of notorious and wealthy mob boss Stefan Engel, he’d worried she’d be spoiled. So far though, Sam had been quiet and unassuming, like she preferred to blend into the background instead of shine like a star.

  He took another swig of soda and rubbed his eyes, taking the time now to notice her big dark eyes, her soft pink lips, her smooth skin that seemed to beg for his touch…

  Whoa. Wait a minute there, cowboy.

  Yeah, he wasn’t going there. Things with their current situation were screwed up enough as it was. Sleeping with a target wouldn’t help any of that, no matter how attractive he found her. There was something about the quiet ones that always got him right in the feels.

  Shaking off his unwanted attraction, Jack walked into the living room, setting his soda down on the coffee table before walking into the bedroom and searching the drawers for something she could put on after her shower. Unexpected images of Sam—wet and warm and covered in nothing but soap bubbles, floated through his head. Shit. It had been too long since he’d gotten laid. That had to be it. After pulling out an Army green T-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants, he carried them to the bathroom door and laid them on the floor for her, as he’d promised. They’d be way too big on her petite frame, but at least she’d be covered in something clean.

  God. Stefan Engel’s daughter. He slumped down on the couch and scrubbed a hand over his buzz-cut dark hair. As a young kid growing up in Nebraska, he’d sure as hell never pictured himself ending up with a gangster’s daughter under his protection. As he stared at the wall across from him, Jack couldn’t help remembering her father’s ever-growing list of supposed crimes—tied to more than two dozen murders and disappearances, none of which could be proven until his daughter stepped forward. She was supposed to be on a research vessel two hundred miles up the coast studying plankton or whatever it is biology researchers do, not in a village hiding from gunmen.

  Grab your copy of The Protective SEAL here.

  BLURB

  Former Navy SEAL Jed Tremayne knows discipline, hard work, and how to carry a rifle. So when his two best friends die suddenly and leave their daughter, Nala, in his care, Jed’s a little out of his element. Though he wants desperately to connect with her, Nala has withdrawn further and further into her books. Jed just needs a little help, and decides to hire a nanny, and who better than someone who loves to read as much as Nala does? Sure, Tess Frederick is a bit too intriguing, a little too sexy in an adorably unconscious way, but she instantly connects with Nala so Jeb gives her the job.

  Tess likes things ordered. But lately, her well-planned life has descended into a bit of chaos. Haunted by the suicide death of her former lover, and recovering from her bookstore going out of business, an open position for a private tutor seems like the perfect job to take while she figures out the rest of her life. Nala is an adorable and intelligent little girl and the two have an instant connection. Her guardian, Jed, is another matter altogether. Too good-looking. Too intense. And too sexy by far. If Tess can just get through the next few weeks with her heart intact, all will be well. The thing with hearts, though, no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to turn hers off.

  But as Jed and Tess begin to fall for each other, an unknown danger threatens their burgeoning love, a danger that blindsides them both and threatens their very lives—and the life of the little girl they both love. Can two broken souls find the strength to conquer this dark menace or will they be lost in the fight to survive?

  Grab your copy of THE SEAL’s Ward here.

  * * *

  EXTRACT

  “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that, please?”

  Jed Tremayne, retired Navy SEAL and current private security for hire, had faced down enemy snipers and charged directly in the line of fire to defend life, liberty, and honor. Yet, at this moment, he’d never felt more incompetent in his life—all because of the eleven-year-old girl currently sitting at his kitchen table with her nose stuck in a book, as usual.

  The snooty administrator from the private school gave an aggrieved
sigh. “I’m sorry, sir, but your daughter is just not making adequate progress in her classes, nor does she socialize with the other children. She is not assimilating into the student body sufficiently to meet her needs or ours.”

  Nose wrinkled, Jed held his phone away from his ear and scowled down at it, taking a calming breath before responding. “First of all, she’s not my daughter.” He flinched slightly at the words. The girl glanced over at him before returning to her story. Cursing under his breath, Jed walked from the kitchen into a little alcove near the pantry for privacy. “I mean, she is my daughter, sort of. She’s my ward and she lives with me.” He left unsaid that their living situation was because Nala’s parents were killed in a car accident not long ago. Surely, the administrator already knew—and he didn’t want to say it aloud so that Nala might overhear. Her parents’ deaths had hit her incredibly hard. She didn’t need additional reminders. “All of this should be in your files.” He exhaled slow and scrubbed a hand over his close-cropped brown hair. “Listen, we’re both doing the best we can here. Can’t you give us a break?”

  Asking for help wasn’t a skill Jed excelled at. It wasn’t in his nature. He’d been raised to prize independence, to trust only himself, to live by a strict moral compass and remain in control at all times. All things that had made him a huge success as a Navy SEAL.