by Paige Tyler
Holden was a big guy with dark hair, brown eyes, and a slightly crooked nose thanks to a fight with some asshat in BUD/s who ended up washing out a few days later. He was one of those good old boys from Texas who seemed to have an affinity for mechanical things. At the moment, he was “fixing” the motor from one of the Team’s Zodiacs, claiming it had been running poorly during this morning’s exercise. Chasen thought it had been running fine. He hoped the guy could put it back together and make it work. If not, it would probably fall on him to tell the commander they needed to buy a new one. That wasn’t a something Chasen looked forward to.
Chasen waited to see if one of the other guys wanted to answer this question too, but they all looked at him expectantly.
“Oh, you want me to answer that one,” he said drily. “I thought maybe you guys had someone following us or something.”
That earned him a laugh but at least no one admitted he was right.
“We went to Kitchen on the Bay then took in the movie at Waterfront Park.”
On the far side of the room, the platoon’s lieutenant, Dean Hanley, let out a low whistle. Unlike the rest of the Navy, on a SEAL Team, the OIC—officer in charge—was one of the guys. “That place is pricey. You must have really been trying to impress her.”
“More than I would normally spend for dinner,” Chasen admitted, especially including the bribe he’d slipped the hostess. “But I figured Hayley would be worth it.”
Logan raised a brow. “So you see her as something more than the usual temporary thing?”
Chasen knew what Logan was asking, even if he didn’t say it in so many words. He was politely asking if Hayley might be a SEAL groupie—better known as a frog hog. While there weren’t many women who could handle being in a serious relationship with a SEAL, there was never a shortage of women who simply wanted to bed one.
Chasen had tried that route when he was younger, but these days, that kind of thing didn’t hold any interest for him. He’d never admit it to the guys, but he was getting older and looking for a woman to be more than a bedmate. He wanted someone to be there when he got back from training and missions and long, hard days at work. His gut told him there was a chance Hayley could be that someone. Mostly because she wasn’t looking to bag herself a SEAL for bragging rights. She was a brilliant investigative journalist who was brave as hell and took risks doing what she believed in. She was the kind of woman he could respect, the kind of woman he could see himself with long term.
“No, I’m not thinking temporary here,” he finally confessed. “Hayley’s special.”
The guys fell silent at his announcement. They might rag him about going out and spending a lot of money on a date with a woman he’d just met, but they all knew firsthand what it was like to fall for a girl and have her bail when she realized what being a SEAL truly entailed. If he thought Hayley might be different, that changed everything.
“I get that you like her,” Logan said slowly. “But don’t you think you should be cautious? You saved her life and all. Don’t go mistaking gratitude for something it’s not.”
Chasen had thought that angle through too, that she’d agreed to the date out of a sense of obligation because he’d rescued her in Nigeria. But after last night, it didn’t feel that way between them. He could sense the spark there. She liked him, maybe as much as he liked her.
“I won’t, even though I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.
“You sure?” Dean pressed.
“I’m sure.” He finished cleaning the bolt on his weapon and slid it back into the upper receiver group then glanced up. “Is it so hard to believe a woman could be interested in me simply because she finds me attractive and enjoys the fact I can carry on an intelligent conversation about something other than military tactics?”
Dalton snorted. “Yeah, that is hard to believe. I mean, if it we were talking about me, I could see it. But you? No. There has to be some other rational reason. Maybe you should have one of our medics check her out. She might have sustained a head injury during the rescue and thinks you’re way more attractive than you are.”
Everyone laughed, including Chasen. The guys might appreciate that he was trying for something more than a weekend hook-up, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to rag him about it anyway.
“Why don’t you bring her to the cookout this afternoon? Melissa would love to meet her.” Chief Petty Officer Kurt Travers jerked his head in Dalton’s direction. At forty-five, Kurt was the oldest guy in their platoon and had forgotten more about being a SEAL than any of them would ever know. “If Hayley passes the Melissa gauntlet, maybe these idgets will stop giving you so much grief.”
Chasen grinned. “Already invited her, Chief.”
“Good deal,” Nash said. “I’ll make sure to give her my number. That way, once she wises up and realizes you’re not all that, I can be there to console her.”
Chasen chucked along with the other guys and threw a cleaning rag at Nash. The other man was a teammate and a friend, but at the same time, he had no desire to let Nash or anyone else anywhere near Hayley. Maybe that meant this thing with her was a real as he thought.
* * * * *
There were almost a dozen cars parked along the street by the time Hayley and Chasen got to Kurt and Melissa Travers’ Clairemont Mesa home that afternoon. Hayley picked up the container of brownies she’d made that morning from the seat beside her. She hadn’t wanted to come to the cookout empty-handed and brownies were one of the few things she knew how to make. Opening her door, Chasen took her free hand and helped her out. Following the sound of voices and laughter, they walked across the lawn and around to the back of the cute ranch-style house.
Hayley spotted Nash and Dalton immediately. Nash was with a petite redhead while Dalton had a leggy blonde at his side. Both men grinned, nodding at her and Chasen.
“Come on,” Chasen said. “Let’s drop off the brownies, then I’ll introduce you around.”
The rest of the guys on SEAL Team 5—or at least the other five who were there from Chasen’s sixteen-man platoon—were as nice as Nash and Dalton. They were also equally good looking and buff. Maybe it was a prerequisite for being a member of America’s most elite fighting forces. While two of the other guys—Holden and Dean—had their respective girlfriends with them, Hayley was surprised that Kurt—the senior most guy on the team—and Melissa were the only married couple. They had a son who was currently in BUD/s training to become a SEAL like his father, as well as twin fifteen-year-old boys and a fourteen-year-old daughter.
Within twenty minutes of walking in, Hayley could see why Chasen had told her his Team was like a family. They truly were like brothers, right down to the playful way they ribbed each other. She quickly discovered they liked to tell outrageous stories too, something they managed to do without ever dropping a single detail about where the story had taken place, or even when. Her inner journalist wanted to ask for more details, but she told it to behave. She was Chasen’s date, not some newsie looking for a scoop. But God, she bet he had some stories to tell.
They were finishing up a story about carrying Nash for twenty miles through the jungles of some Indonesian island after the other SEAL had broken his leg in a parachuting accident when the twins stopped tossing the football in the yard and asked if Chasen and the rest of the guys wanted to play a game of touch. They eagerly agreed and a few minutes later Chasen was throwing a perfect pass to Logan for a touchdown.
Hayley had never been much of a football fan, but she had to admit she could watch Chasen play it all day long. Gaze still on his bulging biceps, she reached for her glass of iced tea and just about jumped when Poppy, the tall, leggy blonde who’d come to cookout with Dalton let out a high-pitched squeal.
“Oh my God! You’re that reporter!”
Hayley paused, her glass halfway to her mouth. She and Poppy were sitting around the umbrella table on the back deck along with Melissa and the other guys’ girlfriends. Poppy had been looking at
her kind of funny since she and Chasen had gotten there more than two hours ago.
Based on a few hints Poppy had dropped during the last few minutes of conversation, Hayley was pretty sure she was a stripper, or maybe a waitress at a strip joint. That was cool with Hayley—everyone had to pay the bills—but she couldn’t help thinking dear, sweet Poppy was a little bit of an airhead. Some of the things the woman said simply didn’t make a lot of sense. Like when she’d said she only ate hot dogs made from free range chickens. Considering how many different meats were probably in hot dogs, the pedigree of its chicken content—if any—was the least of her concerns.
“You’re the one who got kidnapped in Argentina. Or was it Antarctica? Someplace like that,” Poppy continued. “It didn’t hit me when you and Chasen first got here, but only because I don’t watch a lot of news. That must mean Dalton’s team was the one that got you out.” She waved her hand at Melissa when the other woman frowned. “I know, I know. The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club, yada, yada, yada. But it’s not like I’m running through the streets naked shouting it, sheesh. Even you gotta admit getting rescued by a Navy SEAL is pretty freaking romantic.” She looked at Hayley. “Am I right?”
“Well, I could have done without the part where I got captured by terrorists who were likely planning to behead me,” Hayley said then smiled. “But other than that, yeah it was kind of romantic.”
Poppy leaned forward eagerly, her eyes bright with anticipation. “Tell us about it.”
That earned her another scowl from Melissa. Hayley had learned earlier that Kurt’s wife was a middle school teacher in the San Diego area, and with her glasses and black hair pulled up in a twist, she looked every bit of one. In fact, she was giving Poppy a look she likely used on her more recalcitrant students.
“Remember when I mentioned we don’t talk shop here, Poppy?” Melissa said. “There’s a reason for that.”
Poppy rolled her eyes. “Okay, so don’t tell us all the classified stuff, Hayley. Just the part where Chasen swept in and cut the leather cords holding your naked body down to the silk-draped bed.”
Hayley stared at her, sure the woman was going to crack up and say she was joking. Nobody on the planet could actually be that naive and still breathing, right?
But apparently, Poppy could be, because she sat there with an expectant look on her face. Well, it wasn’t like Hayley had wanted to get into any specific details of her time in captivity anyway. It still upset her too much to even think about, much less talk about openly. If Hayley hadn’t told her best friend Jillian yet, she sure as heck wasn’t going to tell a complete stranger like Poppy.
So she spun a complete BS tale of Chasen riding in on a camel to save her from a crazy sheik after her virtue. Hayley even slipped in a sword fighting scene. She had no idea if Poppy actually bought the story—no one else at the table did for sure—but the tall blonde with legs up to her ears listened with rapt attention.
“That was so awesome,” Poppy said when Hayley finished. “I hope this doesn’t freak you out or anything, but Dalton and I are so going to role-play that whole scene when we get back to my place tonight.”
Hayley was pretty certain most of the women considered the comment to be in the TMI category, but she just shrugged. She’d heard weirder confessions in her time. “Sure. Have at it.”
“Oh look. Someone scored another touchdown,” Nash’s girlfriend said suddenly in a blatant effort to hijack the conversation and move it in another direction.
Hayley glanced over and saw Chasen had tossed another touchdown, this one with Wes on the receiving end. On the sideline, Melissa’s daughter and her two friends alternated between cheering and refereeing the game. They were all clearly having a blast and Hayley was glad the teen girls hadn’t been around to hear her story—or Poppy’s response.
On the other side of the table, Melissa got to her feet. “The game looks like it’s about to wrap up soon. I’m going to start bringing some of the stuff out.”
Hayley quickly pushed back her chair. “I’ll give you a hand.”
She was relieved Poppy didn’t offer to help. The woman was precious, but she was one of those people you could only take in small doses.
Melissa smiled over her shoulder at Hayley as she followed the woman through the back door and into the sunny kitchen. “Considering we’ve got enough food for an army—or I suppose navy would be more appropriate—I definitely won’t turn down the help, but you could have hung out with the other girls.”
Hayley closed the door behind her. She didn’t know what was in the Crock-Pot on the counter, but the aroma made her mouth water. “I don’t mind. Tell me what you need me to do.”
Melissa opened the fridge and took out a big bowl of potato salad and set it on the counter. “It’s nice to see Chasen finally bring a date to one of these cookouts.”
Hayley did a double take. “I would have thought a guy like him would have to beat the women off with a stick.”
Melissa came out with another bowl, this one filled with macaroni salad. “Lots of women think they want to date a SEAL, but most of them bail when they realize it’s not what romance books and Hollywood makes it out to be.” She reached into the fridge again for ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and relish, placing them on a wooden tray. “SEALs deploy—a lot. The first time their hot new boyfriend gets a call in the middle of a date and tells them he has to leave on a mission and that he has no idea when he’ll see her again, it gets real—fast. And when they’re not deployed, they’re away doing training. The kind of training that frequently leaves them so exhausted and sore they barely want to get off the couch when they get back, much less go anywhere. Not everyone can handle that kind of life.”
Maybe Melissa hadn’t meant it like that, but it sounded like she was warning Hayley off Chasen. Or protecting him. Yeah, that made more sense. After seeing Melissa with him and his teammates, Hayley got the feeling Kurt’s wife was kind of like the mama bear around them. Her job was to protect the cubs. It was hard to imagine Chasen and the other big, buff guys on his team as cubs, but the concept still applied.
“You and Kurt seem to make it work,” Hayley observed.
Melissa’s lips curved in a small smile. “I knew what I was getting into when I married him because I came from a Navy family. My dad wasn’t a SEAL, but he was gone on float a lot more than he was home.”
Hayley nodded. “I know it’s not quite the same thing, but I have an idea of what it’s like. I’ve done field assignments to a lot of bad places, most of them with little or no notice. I’ve had guys I was dating break up with me when they realized I’m that kind of journalist.”
Melissa regarded her thoughtfully. “I guess the shoe fits on both feet. Maybe you two are meant for each other.”
Hayley laughed. “Whoa! Chasen and I have been on a total of one date. Well two, if you count today. Let’s hold off on the fairytale wedding until we figure out if we even like each other first.”
Melissa picked up the bowls of potato and macaroni salad with a small smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. I saw the way he looks at you. And the way you look at him. Trust me, it’s going to happen between the two of you, and when it does, you’d better be holding on to your socks or he’s going to knock them off.”
Hayley was all about getting her socks knocked off, but she wasn’t rushing into any kind of serious relationship even if Melissa was right, no matter how great a catch Chasen was. But Melissa was already out the door with her bowls of food. Hayley picked up the tray of condiments and followed.
As Melissa predicted, the football game was finishing up. Chasen jogged up the steps to the deck as Hayley set the tray down on the table. He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a quick kiss. The mere touch of his lips on hers sent tingles racing through her, and it took her a moment to catch her breath.
“Who won the game?” she asked.
Chasen grinned. “We did. Smoked ’em.”
&nbs
p; “That’s only because we let you win,” Nash said as he came up behind them and punched Chasen in the arm. “We wanted you to look good in front of your new girlfriend because we figured it’s the only way you’re ever going to impress her.”
Chasen spun around and aimed a slap at the back of the other guy’s head, but Nash was too fast for him, dancing away and heading for the far side of the deck.
Hayley couldn’t help laughing. These guys really were like brothers.
When they finally all sat down to eat, the conversation drifted from movies to food and then football as the guys discussed how much longer they thought the Chargers would be staying in San Diego. But it wasn’t long before the guys were telling their Navy SEAL stories again. Yes, they stayed away from anything remotely sounding like mission details, but the list of countries they described were like a road map of every war-torn country in the world to Hayley.
While Poppy was clearly enthralled by the stories, Hayley noticed neither Holden’s nor Dean’s girlfriends looked like they shared the other woman’s enthusiasm for the life the two men had chosen. If she came back to a cookout like this in a year from now, would either girlfriend be there? Heck, if she came back in a month, they might be gone.
Hayley looked at Chasen to find him regarding her with an unreadable expression on his handsome face that made her wonder if he was thinking the same thing about her.
Chapter Five
“YOU SURE YOU don’t mind stopping by my place so I can change before we go out?” Chasen asked as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex.
Beside him, Hayley shook her head. “No, of course not.”
She wouldn’t have minded if Chasen wanted to stay all hot and sweaty from his football game either, but for some reason he was of the opinion the smell would bother people trying to have dinner at the restaurant he was planning to take her. She supposed that was possible, though unlikely. He smelled like a slice of heaven to her.
