A SEAL's Return

by Grace Alexander

  She didn’t look his way, and in that moment, he knew that sure should be classified the same as fine, and he was in some kind of trouble. Hadn’t he’d done a good thing by offering his bed?

  “Hey.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Nora, look at me.”

  She only glanced up for a moment.

  “I have a secret to tell you,” he admitted.

  Again she looked up, but this time she stayed focused on him. “What?”

  “I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure that I said something I shouldn’t. But I don’t have a clue.”

  She grinned, and he loved it. He loved everything about them, including how she could simply smile and her grin could cause such a seismic reaction in his chest.

  He squeezed her side again. “This, us, I like tonight more than I’m going to share. But,” his voice dropped. “This will be one of the few times I’ll ever admit, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “Seems like you’re doing everything perfect,” she said quietly.

  “Then why the glassy eyed look?” he asked.

  “I have slept in your bed more than you—and I feel guilty because I’m glad you’re here.”

  He stood and scooped her into his arms. “You are too good of a woman, and a friend, to feel bad for where you sleep.” Jake eased them down the hall as Nora gaped.

  He pulled down the covers and laid her down on his bed. Her wide eyes had his heart, and all he could do was say good night. “Good night, Nora. Sweet dreams, sweetheart.”

  Then he left her alone.

  “Jake?”

  He stopped, only a few inches from the door. Jake inhaled and held it for a three-count before turning.

  “You’re not the only one who doesn’t know what to do,” she whispered. “From the first day I met you.”

  He swallowed over the knot in his throat. She’d been there for him since their first seconds on his lawn. And, even on that first day, he’d known how beautiful she was, and within hours, knew her to be a beacon of knowledge. “From the first day. And, each day since that, we’ve turned into more.”

  “We are?”

  He nodded. “Get some sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Morning light flooded the bedroom as Nora stretched. She breathed his scent that clung to his sheets and pillow, and grinned as she recalled how she wore his clothes to bed. Then, Nora remembered his earnest face as he’d said good night. Warm tingles crawled up her neck. Could this be what a fairy tale might feel like? She nestled under the blanket as the door cracked open.

  Jake.

  Her heart skipped a beat.

  “You’re awake?”

  She nodded.

  Jake crossed the room and bent down. His whiskery chin dipped as he placed a chaste kiss to her cheek. “Good morning.”

  Her throat tightened as his lips tickled her skin then pulled away. “Good morning to you too.”

  Jake eased onto the edge of the bed and rested his hand on her knee. His fingers traced a patterns over the covers as dreamy happiness tugged her heart.

  “What do you think our odds are?” he asked.

  She tilted her head to see him better. “For?”

  “Breakfast without a major malfunction.”

  “Ha!” She sat up to face him. “Have you ever thought that maybe you’re a kitchen jinx!”

  “I don’t believe in jinx.”

  Her eyes rolled. “You better start.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because you now live in the land of kids. Jinx exists, and it has rule.” She laughed. “It’s a real thing. Just like magic.”

  He lumbered from the bed. “Having kids ain’t easy.”

  She cracked up. “Says you with less than a month of time clocked.”

  He turned; his expression hurt.

  She immediately realized how her words had sounded. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right.”

  “This isn’t a game to me, Nora.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I wouldn’t do that to Charlotte, Graham, or you.”

  “I know. I didn’t mean that—”

  “And, I’m not your ex-husband.”

  Shocked, the jab made tears slice into her eyes, and she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over. “I know. I didn’t mean what I said like that!”

  His angry face crumbled. “I'm sorry, Nora.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I shouldn’t have said that either.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

  “I know you didn’t.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what came over me. I overreacted.”

  “No. You didn’t. Maybe I did. Or not.” She wiped at her face.

  “Stop. Sorry.” Again, he shook his head. Disappointment seemed to weigh him down. “I took what you said as though you compared me to your ex-husband who left you. Which wasn’t cool. And, I apologize.”

  She dried her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Now we’ve both had our insecurities raise their ugly heads. No more?”

  “No more,” he agreed. “As much as we can help.”

  She loved his hold on reality. “Agreed.”

  Jake held her gaze. “Insecurities or not, I said what I said because I like the possibilities of being your man. I hated that you were ever hurt, and might’ve thought I could leave.”

  Nora’s lips parted. He’d stunned her. There was no coming back from admissions like that. But she didn’t want to. “You are nothing like he ever was.”

  Jake paced in front of her. “However this goes, it will work out for the long term. Do you understand what I mean?”

  She hadn’t the slightest clue, yet a rush of ideas overwhelmed her. Her stomach jumped into her throat. And just yesterday, she’d been wanting to know what he thought the future might look like. “I think so.”

  “When I was training with my SEAL team, I learned the hard way it was impossible to predict the future. We were drilled until we could adapt as the circumstances adjust. It was in that hell they call BUD/S training that I realized something important about myself too.”

  “What’s that?” she asked quietly.

  “I’m destined to be part of a team. Whether it was my SEAL team, Safehouse Security, my family, or you and me. I know that I’m supposed to be with you and Charlotte and Graham.”

  He had stolen her thoughts and her heart. She couldn’t find anything to say.

  “And.” He stopped pacing and took her hand. “And, I know that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The garage bays at High Beam were lined with black silhouette cutouts of witches stirring cauldrons and of zombies with outstretched arms who were walking toward tilted graves. Jake’s fingers were scrubbed clean, but pumpkin-orange acrylic paint had stained his close-cut fingernails. Maybe that would be his Halloween costume. Single dad, auto mechanic, artiste.

  An old pickup rolled up and pulled Jake’s attention from what had to be his greatest artistic feat. The door opened, and his old friend Ben Bradford jumped out.

  “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.” He strode forward and stuck out his hand. “You’re in town.”

  Jake did the same, shaking hands and embracing him with slaps on the back. “Good to see you, man.”

  “Not for long, and it’s good to see you too.”

  They turned to survey all that Jake had put together for High Beam.

  “The witches’ legs hanging out of that old charger”—Jake nodded toward the spot—“I think it’s a nice touch. But not too much.”

  Ben cackled. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this. I’m really impressed.”

  Pride filled his chest in a much more distinct way than it had when serving his country. Both kinds brought him satisfaction, yet they met different needs. “What can I do for you? Something wrong with the pickup?”

  Ben headed toward t
he stacked pumpkin-orange-painted tractor tires that overflowed with straw and decorations. Jake would use them as candy towers later, and he held out his hands, showing off fingernails stained the same colors as the tractor tires. “I’m not sure how long I’ll have this orange reminder. But at least it’s a good story.”

  Ben shook his head. “Did you forget how to use a paintbrush?”

  Jake looked at the freshly healed scratches and Band-Aid–wrapped cuts. “Turns out there’s only so much paper I can shred with an X-Acto knife before I get frustrated and start slicing.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  Jake chuckled, motioning for his buddy to follow. “Charlotte had a very specific person she is dressing up as for Halloween. Margaret Hamilton.”

  “Never heard of her.”

  “Yeah, me, either. That’s a whole other conversation, but now I have, and the costume involves a nondescript dress, basic glasses, and…” They rounded the corner into Jake’s office, and he held his arm out. “A couple of dozen reams of paper, hollowed out to reduce the weight and made to look like 1960s coding journals.”

  Jake gave his creation a tap, and the stacked books taller than Charlotte eased from his fingertips on the well-greased wheels attached to a base.

  “You did all that overnight?” Ben asked.

  Jake reached down to pick up the clear, high tensile line he’d attached to the base and secured throughout the tower. “I didn’t realize how long it would take, but yeah, not too bad, if I say so myself.”

  He gave the line a tug and handed it to Ben.

  “Perfect weight distribution. And this is heavy enough that she could bring it along the parade route, but you hollowed it out?”

  Jake nodded, letting a small amount of smugness scratch that. “Solid, right?”

  “Dude, you realize what you’ve done, right?”

  “Yeah, I built a really cool prop for an awesome historical figure that more people should know about.”

  “Tell me who she is in a second, but there will be a slew of mothers, and maybe fathers, who take this costume parade way too seriously and who will have you in their sights next year as a target to take out.”

  “Wouldn’t be my toughest enemy.” Jake snickered at the PTA-type drama that he planned to avoid at all costs. “And Margaret Lord Hamilton wrote the code for NASA that launched the Apollo.”

  “Charlotte came up with that?”

  “Yeah, she did. I suggested a princess or a fairy.”

  Ben shook his head. “Sheesh, I wish you good luck. She’s a lot smarter than you.”

  Pride swelled in Jake’s chest. “She is.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Nora slowed her Subaru into the parking lot at High Beam. By the time she shifted into Park, she could almost feel Graham exploding with energy for the Halloween parade. This year, she had allowed him to choose his own costume, and it ended up being a smorgasbord of all things scary and ghoulish.

  Their plan was to meet Jake and Charlotte at High Beam then walk to the start of the parade. From there, Nora didn’t know if Jake would head back to his shop or stick with them, but either way, her insides warmed at the thought of the community outing with him.

  She and Graham unbuckled, and her son waited impatiently for her to get out. Soon as her hand rested on the door lever, he split.

  “I’ll be with Charlotte.”

  Nora smiled as she caught sight of Charlotte stepping from the office entryway. Her costume was spot-on. The 1960s A-line dress was of period-piece quality, and Nora wondered where Jake had come up with such a pint-sized look.

  Charlotte’s glasses were just like the picture Nora had sent to Jake, but it was the straight-ironed brown hair that Charlotte wore with the dated outfit—including the tights and strapped Mary Janes—that completed her very serious look.

  Graham ran across the parking lot, still in normal clothes, and Nora reached into the backseat for the large bag filled with random Halloween accessories that would become his costume. Then she grabbed her purse and backpack and followed the kids inside, taking in the fantastic job Jake had done with the backlit silhouette scenery and tire towers painted pumpkin orange.

  When she walked inside, she half expected just as much effort put into the over-the-top decorations, but Jake had simply covered the waiting area and hallway with a gauzy spiderweb that reached every corner and worked its way down the hallway and over the front counter.

  It was perfect.

  High Beam had its own personality already with a clock made out of wrenches and license-plate lampshades. Adding anything else would have been too much. Sometimes, Nora wondered if Jake knew that he had such a killer instinct.

  Jake was dressed as an astronaut in a gray suit, with an American flag and Apollo patch on his sleeve and a helmet over his head. As he walked down the hall, Nora couldn’t wipe away her smile.

  He wasn’t just an astronaut. He was Margaret Hamilton’s astronaut because that was not a modern costume. The helmet looked older and likely matched the late 1960s and early 1970s launches she influenced. Same with the suit. Nora clapped as he came closer.

  “If you two do not win the Halloween costume contest, I call foul.” She walked up to him, and Jake removed his helmet.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and gave as chaste of a kiss as they could manage with the kids nearby. “I love your costume too.”

  “What are you talking about?” She made a face, inspecting the clothes she’d had on all day. The black leggings and Halloween-inspired shirt were in no way a costume. At least, she hoped.

  “I don’t know, it looks like you’re dressed up as a miracle worker or…” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her out, moving her side to side as though inspecting. “I’d say a model, but that doesn’t seem like your type of costume. You’re gorgeous, though. Maybe a—”

  Nora wrapped her arms around him, pulling Jake back for another kiss, wishing that it was less chaste than their chaste kiss before.

  “Mom,” Graham called from the front of the shop. “I need help with my costume.”

  She drew back, letting her hands slide down the front of Jake’s chest. “Halloween duty calls.”

  “Oh, I know what you’re dressed as. That lady they make all those magnets and mugs for.”

  She turned around while walking away. “What lady?”

  “The world’s greatest mom.” He winked then donned his astronaut helmet.

  Nora could’ve used a helmet of her own to mask what had to be the gooeyness that melted across her. If he wasn’t melting her with a kiss, the man was stealing her heart. She had no idea that his complimenting her parenting would be as endearing as it was intoxicating. Nor did she know that the little things, details like his matching costume and antiquated astronaut helmet, would cause her heart to latch onto his.

  It was one thing to swoon over a Navy SEAL who could play with a toddler or hold a baby. An image like that was sure to make anyone’s heart pound.

  But a tough guy like Jake, so far out of his league and doing whatever it took for a young girl who didn’t fit into the category of normal? There were easier ways to do what he was doing, and truthfully, Charlotte wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Nora never would’ve known; the day would’ve gone fine.

  But he really cared. And so did she—about him, for him, and for them. He made it so easy to fall in love.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Graham walked through the empty garage bay, wearing what Jake could only describe as everything. A cape hung down his back, and a panel of lights and gadgets lit up his chest. He had the leg of a werewolf but the shield of a superhero and the baton of a space galaxy defender. His wizard hat rested crookedly on top of a ghoul’s mask.

  “Graham, that is, by far, the most clever costume I’ve seen,” Jake said.

  Charlotte whirled around to inspect her friend then turned to Jake, pulling behind her the stack of books that easily bested her by several
inches. “I thought you said I would be the smartest recreation.”

  He stepped forward and wondered if one day, Charlotte would do something as great as Margaret Hamilton had done. No doubt she would. “There’s a difference between clever and smart, and categorically, the two of you are in vastly different costumes.”

  Charlotte’s head tilted as though she were funneling the definitions of clever and smart through her brain, then Graham bopped her on the head with his glowing baton.

  “Categorically,” she said, “we are different, but the same level of smart and clever.”

  Jake nodded, agreeing because sometimes that was best with a woman, or girl, with arguments he didn’t completely understand and that had no long-term repercussions. At least, that was what he decided on the fly. “Sounds good, snuggle bug.”

  Graham and Charlotte simultaneously cried out that she wasn’t a snuggle bug, as if they’d never heard his nickname for her before. On that note, Jake took his astronaut helmet and put it on his head, having nothing redeeming to offer to the conversation, and Charlotte turned as the bathroom door opened and Nora emerged.

  Her skirt was long and flowing, as was the gauzy white shirt that clung to her figure. Necklaces gathered down the center of her shirt, and slender chain belts wrapped around her waist, dangling off her hips in a way that caught his eye, mesmerizing him with her every step. She clinked and jingled, as though soft bells played as she walked, and her wrists were decorated in bangle bracelets. Nora had tied back her thick hair with a brightly woven scarf, and Jake had no word for her costume except entrancing.

  “Do you like?” Nora spun. Her skirt flared, and the jewelry jangled.

  He loved it far more than he would admit in front of the kids. “Yup, but what are you? A pirate?” He had no idea.

  She pulled out the skirt, and her jewelry clinked. “Hmm. You’re in the right neighborhood.”

  “Spin again,” Charlotte cooed, seemingly enamored with the flowing skirt and colors.

  Nora took a handful of her skirt, held it out, and swayed her hips side to side as they all laughed and enjoyed her costume. “Any guesses? I’m not a pirate, and it might have something to do with work. Or at least people chattering with me at work.”