“You look surprisingly awake for a Sunday. Wait…hold on…” He peered more closely at her. “Did you get laid last night?”
“Riordan!”
“What? You have that look, Ren.”
“Stop. We’re not talking about last night. Are you warmed up?”
“More or less. What’re we doing today?”
“Legs.”
“With any luck, mine’ll hold me up.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “You weren’t the only one who got lucky. Tell me something, was it the flyboy?”
“The flyboy?” She gestured to the squat racks at the far end of the room.
“The guy in the uniform who was staring at you all night. He in the Air Force?”
“Steve?” She shook her head. “No. He’s in the Coast Guard. He served with Mark.”
Riordan halted his stride. “No shit?”
“No shit.” For the first time since Mark’s death, her throat didn’t tighten at the mention of him. “He was with him the night Mark died.” She glanced across the spacious room. Along the far wall, sunlight spilled in through floor to ceiling windows, and the sky was crystalline blue, without a cloud to be found. She would much rather have been out there than in here. Especially today. “They were off the coast of Rhode Island, a sailboat in distress. During Hurricane Erin, remember that?”
“Yeah. I lost power for five days. Damn trees uprooted all over my yard and took out the lines.”
She nodded, moving to slip a forty-five pound plate from its peg to ease onto the bar. “Well, they were in high seas. Anyway, this boat rolled or something, and they went into the water after them. They saved all but one person from that boat.” Pride surged through her. “And Steve did it on a torn-up ankle.”
“Damn.” Riordan shoved a second forty-five pound plate on the bar’s opposite end. “So what happened?”
Her eyes stung, but she shook her head. “I don’t really know. One minute, Mark’s beacon was visible, but the next minute, there was no sign of either him or the guy he was rescuing. They both vanished in the storm. Steve tried to find him, but the weather got too awful, and he had to get back while he still could. They looked for the next two weeks, but they were both just…gone…”
“So your boyfriend’s a hero.”
She pressed her lips together as the stinging in her eyes worsened. “He is, but…he’s not my boyfriend.” She added another forty-five pound plate to her side. “He left for Oregon, and I’m not expecting him to come back any time soon.”
“Really?” Riordan nodded toward the stairs that led to the cardio floor below. “Because that looks an awful lot like him right there.”
Her heart jumped, hard enough that black dots swam before her eyes as she spun about to see Steve standing by the rack of kettle bells. He was in full uniform, cap included, and as she met his gaze, her mouth went dry. His expression was neutral, but something glinted in his dark eyes.
She glanced back at Riordan. “Excuse me a minute.”
“Take your time. I got this.”
Her heart picked up its pace, hammering her ribs as she crossed to where Steve stood. “What’re you doing here?”
“I’ve been asking myself that since I left Hal’s. I’ve never chased a girl down in my life until I met you.” He swept his cap from his head to tuck beneath his arm. “Especially when she walks out on me.”
“I didn’t walk out on you.”
“Honey, that’s exactly what you did. Trust me, I’ve done it enough on my own.” He closed the gap between them. “And I don’t know why I’m here when you made yourself damn clear, but maybe I knocked screws loose when I hit the water wrong that night, because I’ve been thinking about you every second of every day since I kissed you last summer, and it’s only gotten worse because now I know what it’s like to be with you. And the last twenty-four hours are the happiest I’ve been in I don’t know how fucking long.”
“Then why didn’t you answer any of my texts before coming here?”
“Because I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me. You were checking on me out of some sense of duty, some stupid shit, I don’t know. I’m a guy, Ren. I’m fucking clueless about a lot of things.
“But I’m not clueless about last night or this morning or how I feel when I’m with you, and I don’t just mean the sex—although I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was amazing—but being with you… Christ, Ren…I haven’t felt this good about anyone or anything in a really long time.” He caught her face in his hands, his thumbs grazing along her cheeks. “I don’t want to fuck this up. There’s something here, and I want to see what it is. I want to see where it goes.”
His cap slipped from beneath his arm to hit the rubberized floor with a soft thud, but neither of them even looked at it. She couldn’t tear her eyes from him, from the seriousness in his dark eyes. His lips brushed hers, soft and warm, and without thinking, she caught him by the wrists and pushed onto her toes to deepen that kiss.
She forgot there was a gym full of people around them until applause broke out, and she broke away from Steve with a laugh. He smiled, whispering, “Come to North Bend with me, Lauren. Let’s see where this goes, because I’m thinking we’ll both enjoy the trip.”
“I’m thinking you did loosen some screws when you hit that water,” she told him. “Because there’s no way you’re saying this otherwise.”
“Shut up, Ren,” he said, tilting her head back so he could angle in and kiss her this time. She let go of his wrists, sliding her arms about his waist. The buttons of his coat bit into her, but she paid little attention to them, forgetting them altogether as he released her face to wrap his arms about her, his lips parting against hers, his tongue caressing hers. She felt that kiss all the way to the center of her being.
The applause started up again, soft at first, but then quickly spread and grew into a thunderous roar.
Steve broke the kiss slowly, grazing her cheek, then her ear, with his lips as he murmured, “I think everyone approves.”
The applause died down as she drew back to smile up at him. “Well, there is something about a man in uniform, you know.”
He grinned as he crouched to pluck his cap from the floor and set it atop her head. “I should let you get back to work, huh?”
“Well, tell me something.” She tipped the cap back so she could see. “What time is your flight, and can we get another ticket?”
He winked. “We have a nine o’clock flight out of Newark.”
“We?”
“I risked it after talking to Hal. He seemed pretty sure it was a safe bet.”
“He did, huh?”
“Yeah, but I was doing it anyway.”
“Cocky.”
“Hardly. Stupidly optimistic.” He winked again. “Honey, do you know what the Guard’s motto is?”
She shook her head. “Not off the top of my head, no.”
“Semper Paratus.”
“You say that like it’s supposed to mean something to me.”
“Woman, you’re killing me.” He slid his arm about her waist and pulled her against him once more. “It means Always Ready. And I am. So you should probably hand off your client, because we have a few hours to kill before we have to leave for the airport, and I know exactly how I want to spend them.”
Lauren glanced around at the people now going back to their workouts. She’d trained at CrunchZone since she graduated from college and had worked with some of her fellow trainers since day one. She would miss them, would miss the clients she trained.
But as she turned back to Steve and saw what her future could hold, her decision was the easiest one she’d ever made, and she smiled over his shoulder at Danny, who stood behind the front desk. “Danny? I quit.”
Chapter Five
Lauren trembled as she sank against Steve, her head coming to rest on his chest. Her eyes slid shut on their own, her heart slamming against her ribs as she fought to catch her breath. Her heart wasn’t the only one racing.
“I’ll never tell.”
His laugh rumbled from the depths of his chest. “Just keep doing it, okay?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” She lifted her head to smile up at him. “What’s Oregon like?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
She eased off him, curving against him, draping her arm over his stomach. “Why’d you pick it?”
“I needed to get away from the East Coast, and I’ve always wanted to see the Pacific Northwest.” He slid from the bed to go into the bathroom. She smiled at the soft slap of his bare feet on the tile and stretched as a delicious drowsiness set in. Nothing ever felt so right as this. Nothing ever could feel so right as this. This was where she belonged, no matter what.
Steve emerged to slide back beneath the covers, grasping the sheet in one hand as he carefully shifted to pin her beneath him. “I can’t stay here, Ren.”
“I understand.” She loved the way he felt against her, the way it felt to be surrounded by such utter maleness. She felt safe there, protected and cared for, and she didn’t care where they were as long as she was with him. “But you aren’t at fault for what happened to Mark. You aren’t. It was awful, and I miss him every day, but it wasn’t your fault.”
His eyes closed, and he didn’t say anything but let his head fall forward until it came to rest against her forehead. “I would have gone back if I could.”
“I know.” She trailed her fingernails along his back. “So live now. Live every day like it’s your last, just like you and Mark did before he died.”
“He kept nagging me to ask you out. He wasn’t real good at being the protective older brother.”
“Why didn’t you take advantage of it?” She reached up to brush his hair away from his forehead. “There were so many things I wanted to do to you last summer.”
“I like how that sounds.” He shifted his weight on one arm and pulled the other one free to peer at his watch. “But we’re going have to get ready to leave for the airport soon, so we should think about getting dressed.”
“I don’t want to leave yet.” She pulled him back against her, winding her arms about his neck. As she gazed up at him, she bit back a sigh. No one ever looked at her the way he did right then, his eyes soft and tender.
“What is it, Steve?” she murmured. “You look serious all of the sudden.”
“I’m trying to figure out how to tell you I love you without sounding like a total tool.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“I love you.” He smiled. “And I’ve wanted to tell you that since August, but I didn’t have the balls to do it, and then Mark got killed, and I figured you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near me. When I saw you at the bar, Christ… I don’t want to say it was a sign or something like that, but…damn…I just knew… I had to figure out how to tell you, and I know I’m babbling like a fucking moron, but damn, Ren… I’m happy. This is where I belong. Here, with you. Oregon, with you. I don’t give a damn where it is, as long as I’m with you.”
She smiled up at him, flowery words and phrases ricocheting through her head like pinballs against bumpers, but she shoved them all aside to whisper, “I love you, too.”
He dipped toward her, his kiss slow and teasing and delicious, and she tightened her arms about him and held on as she lost herself in him once more.
Acknowledgments
I’m eternally grateful to Thomas Kramin, BM3 for answering all of my questions about the US Coast Guard and just what rescue swimmers do. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me with my questions both great and small.
I also want to thank June Kramin for volunteering her husband (after asking him, of course.) Without either one of you, this story would never have been possible.
And so many thanks to my editor, Alethea Spiridon, for offering me this opportunity. I have a whole new admiration for those who write novellas. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
About the Author
Kim fell in love with historical romance when she was sixteen, and blames it on Kathleen Woodiwiss, since it was her The Flame and the Flower that got her hooked. Not long after finishing it, she sat down to write one herself and now, many moons later, she’s still writing them.
A native of New Jersey, Kim still lives there with her husband, their two children, and their dumb but lovable boxer/lab mix, Roxy. When she’s not writing, she’s a gym rat who weight trains, does cardio grudgingly, and like a true Jersey girl, is obsessed with Bruce Springsteen, the New York Giants, the New York Rangers, and the New York Yankees. She’s also strangely fond of tattoos, American history, Tom Hiddleston, John Lennon, Queen, the Rolling Stones, and reading, but not necessarily in that order.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. References to actual persons, living or dead, is not intended or inferred.
Copyright © 2019 by Kimberly Nee. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
2614 South Timberline Road
Suite 105, PMB 159
Fort Collins, CO 80525
[email protected]
www.entangledpublishing.com
Edited by Alethea Spiridon
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition March 2019
THE NAVY SEAL’S SECRET BABY
KAT BAXTER
Chapter One
Kevin Jessup took a swig of his beer and glanced back to the brunette a few stools over.
They’d been exchanging glances for the last twenty minutes. She’d tripped when she’d first entered the bar, caught him watching, and flashed him an adorably goofy grin that went straight to his dick. Awkward or not, the girl was hot. Petite and curvy in all the right places, like some sort of pinup girl you’d find leaning against a muscle car.
In between her occasional gaze and smile, she divided her time between staring at her phone and watching the door. She was clearly waiting for someone. His phone buzzed, and he glanced down.
Cade: Met w/funeral dir. Sucked. See you tomorrow.
Damn. Kevin had come to Texas for Lieutenant Cade Wilson from SEAL Team Seven. They’d been best friends since Kevin was in BUD/S training. When it came down to it, there was no question for Kevin to come help the man bury his mother. No one ever needed to do that alone. Kevin might not know what it was like to have a family, in the traditional sense of the word, but his team was all the family he needed. And this—using his weekend leave to support Cade—it’s what he’d do for any of his brothers.
He knew how to support his team in the field. He knew he was prepared to take a bullet for any and all of them. What he did not know was how to support someone through the loss of a loved one. He’d never had anyone, and therefore he’d never lost anyone. It kept his life tidy, at least in the emotional sense.
When he looked up from his phone, the cute girl he’d been eyeing had disappeared. Evidently, whomever she’d been waiting for had finally arrived. Damn, he’d been hoping for some company tonight. It’d been too long since he’d gotten laid, and her heart-shaped ass and nice rack had seemed just what he needed.
He spun on his barstool to face the darkened room behind him. There were no neon signs hung advertising the variety of beers. Nor were there any pool tables. This wasn’t the type of bar he’d normally pick. Hell, he didn’t even know what kind of music was pumping out of the speakers, but considering it was across the street from the hotel, it was convenient. He hadn’t even bothered to change into nicer clothes, still wearing the jeans and T-shirt he’d traveled in. He reached up to make s
ure his dog tags were still tucked inside his shirt.
A new group of people entered the bar and shuffled up to order drinks. All the guys were wearing skinny jeans and beanies. Bunch of damned hipsters.
He should have known this was a hipster bar when it had taken the bartender fifteen minutes to list all the craft beers. Maybe he should head back to his hotel and order room service. He took another swallow of his Shiner then set the bottle on the bar behind him.
Then sexy-awkward girl stepped out of the bathroom, and her eyes moved to the new group of customers. Something in her features wilted, then she bit down on her lip. She was expressive. Yeah, she was definitely working for him.
As if he’d called to her, her attention slid to him. Determination set her features, and she started toward him. There was nothing inherently sexy in her no-nonsense walk, nor her clothes—basic jeans and a shirt with black Converse tennis shoes—still there was something about her that he could not tear his eyes away from.
Hell yeah, baby.
Uncertainty flickered across her face once she reached him.
He waited for her to speak.
But she only glanced over at the new group at the bar, then she positioned herself between his legs, crushed herself to him, and kissed him as if her life depended on it.
Her full tits pressed into his chest, and he lowered his hands to her hips, gripping her tightly, holding her to him. After a moment of shock, he tilted his head and took control of the kiss, sliding his tongue against hers. They tasted and teased one another. She moaned into his mouth, and he hardened. He groaned, frustrated that they were in a bar and she was wearing clothes.
She leaned back and gave him a shy smile. She fingered the chain around his neck. “I’m hoping that your ball chain and buzz cut mean you’re not a terrible person.” Her voice was lower than he expected, sultry and husky and sexy as fuck. “I mean, people who join the army can’t be total creepers, right?” she continued. “Anyway, would you please go along with this and I’ll explain later?”
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