Hot SEAL, Taking The Plunge (SEALS IN PARADISE)

by Teresa Reasor

  Rylie looked exhausted when he left. He needed to talk her into letting him give the baby a bottle for one of the feedings so she could sleep. With that thought, he dropped off.

  “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” Ringer’s voice brought him back to the surface.

  The harsh sunlight pierced Eric’s eyes and he squinted and threw up a hand to block it.

  “Late night, Viking?” Cowboy asked.

  “Yeah.” Eric reached for the sunglasses hung on the neckline of his shirt and pushed them in place. He climbed out of the SUV and shut the door. “The baby’s keeping us up at night.”

  He watched two of the guys unload the drone they were going to test.

  “Baby?” Cowboy asked.

  “Yeah, Rylie and I have a baby boy. I just brought them home from the hospital day before yesterday.”

  “Shit!” Cowboy put two fingers in his mouth and produced a piercing whistle that got everyone’s attention. “Sitrep,” he bellowed.

  The team gathered around: Pretty Boy, Ringer, Rooster, Barlow, and the two new guys transferred in since they lost C-note and Hawk to retirement. Tucker’s sudden medical discharge had started the team’s evolution before their last deployment. Max Washington (Mad Max) and Greg Howard (Harvard), the two newest guys, exchanged a look.

  “What’s going on?” Pretty Boy asked.

  “Viking has an announcement to make. And you’re not going to believe…”

  “Can’t be about another vehicle. He’s already bought one,” Barlow cut in.

  Eric had planned to tell them sometime today and invite them out for a drink to celebrate before he went home. With all seven guys focused on him, the humor of the situation hit him and he chuckled and shook his head. “Rylie and I had a baby boy three days ago.”

  Stark silence stretched for a long moment.

  “The day after we got home, you had a baby,” Pretty Boy mused.

  “Yeah. Eight pounds, six ounces, and twenty-one inches long.”

  Silence reigned again for several seconds. “Congratulations, Viking,” Max said, offering his hand.

  That seemed to break the stunned reaction of his teammates, and they gathered around to pump his hand and slap his shoulder.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell us Rylie was expecting?” Pretty Boy asked.

  Shit. He’d gone over dozens of cover stories and thrown every one of them out. “Long story short…I didn’t know.”

  Pretty Boy’s dark brows crashed together in a fierce frown. “You talked to her every week, Viking, and she didn’t tell you?”

  “She thought it might break my concentration or, as she said, dent my edge. For a while I was pissed because she hadn’t told me, but then, because I’ve never had any family…I thought she might be right, and I was glad she didn’t tell me. You know how much more pressure that would have put on me? I’d have been worried something might happen to him, or me, before I got to see him. It actually might have cost me my edge.”

  The tension in Pretty Boy’s body relaxed. “You’re right. It might have. But Jesus, Viking, a baby!”

  “Yeah. It’s been a kind of kick in the gut…and at the same time, the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s been twenty-one years since I’ve had any blood kin. I can’t describe what it feels like. There’s someone in the world who has a connection to me that no one else has.”

  Cowboy slapped his shoulder. “Well, shit, Viking. Show us some pictures.”

  Eric whipped out his phone and found some he’d taken that morning and handed it over to Cowboy to pass around.

  “He looks like you, Viking. Poor little guy,” Ringer said.

  “I’m sure he’ll adjust,” Eric said, in a droll tone. The other guys laughed.

  “How’s Rylie doing?’ Cowboy asked.

  “She’s good. Moving a little slow, but she’s okay.” He mentally braced himself. “Her father, the Admiral, has been a little pissed about this unexpected pregnancy.”

  “The Admiral?” Pretty Boy’s wide-eyed look would have been funny any other time. “Holy fuck! Rylie’s Black Jack Stewart’s daughter?”

  “Yeah. She is.”

  “Damn, son, do you have a death wish, or what?” Cowboy said.

  “I don’t think he’ll go so far as to kill me.” Though he probably hoped for that outcome during this last deployment, something Eric thought about of late. And still didn’t know how to feel about it. “But I’m sure we’re going to have some tense moments when we meet face-to-face.”

  “Shit, Viking. You could have given us a heads-up,” Barlow said.

  He had time to stew about a lot of things in the last four days. Mostly the very things Rylie was concerned about. “She refused to tell her father who I was. He stayed on her constantly, demanding to know who the father was, and she wouldn’t tell him.” Surely her intentions counted, even though it hadn’t worked.

  “I called him from the hospital after the baby was born. If she could keep my identity a secret for seven months, what are you afraid she’ll do? Run to Daddy and tattle? About what? That you drank beer at a fish fry? Or that you hang out at McP’s and drink beer and party sometimes? That you slept with some woman she doesn’t know? You think the head shed doesn’t already know the shit we get up to?”

  “Well, when you put it like that…” Barlow shrugged one muscle-bound shoulder.

  “Since I hang with you guys, anything you do, I do. Think she’ll turn her baby’s daddy and possible future fiancé in to Big Daddy Stewart?”

  “Fiancé’?” Cowboy murmured.

  “You’re going to take the plunge?” Harvard blinked.

  “Well, the baby complicates things.”

  “No shit,” Ringer muttered.

  “I don’t want her to think I’m just offering to do the right thing because of the baby, because he isn’t the only reason.”

  He looked around at the faces of the men he’d served with during the last six-month tour. “Anyone have a beef with me or Rylie?”

  Silence fell for several seconds. Pretty Boy spoke, “I have one.”

  Damn it. “What is it?”

  “Not a beef. A suggestion about convincing her to marry you. Rewind. Start from the beginning and romance her, just like you did at the beginning.”

  Relief released his taut shoulder muscles.

  Cowboy spoke up, “And be helpful as hell when you’re home. We may be gone again soon, so you need to make every moment count.”

  Eric nodded. “Roger that.”

  He just leapt a major hurdle. But if it came to light that Admiral Stewart had been responsible for their last deployment, things would get dicey really fast. Stewart hadn’t just taken him away from Rylie, he’d taken the rest of them away from their families as well. Fucker.

  He tugged open one of his camouflage pants pockets and pulled out a fistful of cigars. Each had It’s A Boy stamped on the band. “For later, guys, when we’ve finished today.” He passed them out.

  “Congratulations on the baby.” Harvard rarely said much, and his sincerity made the words carry more weight.

  “Thanks. Let’s go fly this new toy they’ve given us,” Eric said as he brushed a hand over his sweaty brow and wiped it on his pants. “It’s hot as Hell and I want to get under some cover.”

  “Roger that,” Harvard said. They all moved toward the drone.

  CHAPTER 21

  ‡

  Rylie woke to the sound of footsteps somewhere in the apartment. She ran a hand across the bed next to her and encountered empty space. Her eyes flew open, and she sat up to look inside the bassinette. It was empty.

  She scrambled out of bed and went to the door. Eric’s voice came from his bedroom, and her heart-skipping concern eased. When she peeked in, she saw Reed lying on the bed on a changing mat while Eric pulled open the diaper.

  “Whoa, little man.” Eric wrinkled his nose and turned away his head. “Did you save all that up for me?”

  Rylie giggled.

  Eric fl
ashed her a smile. “He’s had a blowout here.” He pulled several diaper wipes from a box and wiped the baby’s behind with them. “It’s everywhere. He’s going to need a new gown.”

  “I’ll get it.”

  She went into her bedroom and brought back a gown from her dresser.

  By the time she returned, Eric had the baby partially cleaned. He finished the job and fastened the diaper on him. “You smell much better.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Reed’s head.

  “I’m sorry. It seems like you always end up changing him.”

  “You’re doing the heavy lifting, Rylie. I don’t mind doing what I can to help.” He rolled up the soiled gown in the stained changing pad.

  She sat down on the bed and worked the fresh gown over the baby’s head and fed the sleeves over his arms. Once his hand was free, Reed clumsily aimed his fist toward his mouth in an attempt to suck his thumb.

  “He’s gearing up to cry for something to eat,” Eric said.

  “I know.”

  The trickle of her milk coming in was becoming a familiar sensation.

  “Did you go somewhere today?” he asked as he sat down next to her.

  “No. My dad came to see the baby. I wanted him to think I was more together than I really am. So, while Abby was here to watch the baby, I took a shower, put on makeup, and pulled on this dress.”

  He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and her heart leaped, since he’d avoided touching her since holding her in the delivery room. Then the baby started to fuss, and she unbuttoned the dress, unfastened one side of the nursing bra, and got him settled.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  She thought about telling him the whole story, but just hadn’t the heart to do it. “He thought the baby was beautiful.”

  He slipped an arm around her, and she leaned into him by degrees.

  “I hope he’ll want to come here and meet you soon.” And if he never did…she’d learn to live with it. “My father can be very stubborn.”

  “As stubborn as his daughter?”

  She glanced up at him. “I think it might be a draw.”

  His mouth quirked. “I can vouch for that. You really didn’t tell your father who I was.” It was a statement not a question.

  Her heart plummeted again. “No. But he already knew. He admitted that today. When he picked up our jackets off the floor that first morning, he found your wallet in your pocket.”

  He showed no surprise or concern. “I brought home Chinese. I got half a dozen of those egg rolls you like. Chicken and snow peas, General Tso, and beef and peppers.”

  “It all sounds good.”

  “I hope you’re hungry.”

  The baby gave a brief cry of protest as she detached him from her breast and raised him to her shoulder. His little head bobbed as she patted and rubbed his back, encouraging the burp that finally came. “I’ll finish feeding Reed and join you in a minute.”

  “I’m not in any hurry. I like to watch you with him.”

  Oh, God, the way he made her feel was too much. Her face heated as she maneuvered the baby back into feeding position. They sat in silence while the baby nursed.

  In the kitchen, she strapped Reed into his high chair infant seat so he could stay at the table with them. He stretched, making the most adorable noises while he waved his little fists, then responded to Eric’s deep voice with a squint in his direction.

  For this moment, her world was perfect.

  *

  With the baby in bed, Eric found a movie on TV he thought Rylie might like and waited for her to finish getting ready for bed. Her evasions and outright subterfuge had preyed on all the issues he had from past relationships, but he’d been holding back as well.

  They needed to talk, because if they didn’t, the wall that had gone up between them would end up being permanent, and things would go to hell from there. They both owed Reed better than that.

  Rylie appeared in a long gown and her robe.

  “Come sit down and rest. Squeaker will be up again in a couple of hours,” he urged.

  She came to the couch and claimed the opposite end.

  Hell, he might as well own up to everything. “I’ve had three what I thought were serious relationships since being in the SEALs, Rylie. One when I was twenty-two. Katlyn was a court reporter who worked in the district court. She cheated on me while I was deployed and sent me a Dear John while I was out of the country. When I was twenty-four, I met Jessica at McP’s. She was twenty-five. A legal secretary. We made it through one deployment, but not the next. When I got home from the second, she was shacked up with a hotel owner she met on the job. He had a whole lot more money than I ever will, and a lot less hair. The fact that he was on CONUS most of the time had a lot to do with it.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “I’ve been over it for a while now. I’m telling you this so you’ll understand why it still stings that you held things back from me. It burns worse because you didn’t trust me.

  “I’m not talking about the baby. You probably made the right call there. I’d have been so hyped it really might have messed with my head.

  “What pisses me off the most, though, is that you believed I’d be so intimidated by your dad, I’d walk away with my tail between my legs. And that your being his daughter would have made any difference in the way things went down between us.”

  Rylie focused on a decorative candle on the coffee table for a long moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. But I was concerned about the guys you’re teamed with.”

  “I told them about your father today and about the baby. They’re good with it.”

  Her eyes got very big. “They are?”

  “Yeah.” As long as it wasn’t her father’s idea to deploy the whole team to get rid of him.

  “I’m relieved. I didn’t want to mess things up for you with your team.” She looked away. “You must have done some fast talking to smooth things over with them.”

  It appeared she knew more about team guys than he’d given her credit for. He let the silence stretch between them. “Do you ever wonder what things might be like right now if you’d just been straight with me from the beginning?”

  “Yes, but I can’t change what I did, Eric.” She stood. “I didn’t do it to hurt you. I’m really sorry. And I know even though I agonized about it, it doesn’t excuse what I did.”

  Her phone rang, and she snatched it off the coffee table. “Hmmmm.”

  He listened to her end of the conversation, and looked up when she said, “Just one minute.”

  “My father wants to speak to you.” She handed him the phone.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “My daughter has asked me to meet with you. I thought we could both be more candid if it was just the two of us. Will Tuesday fit your schedule?”

  “I’ll be on maneuvers during the day, but yes, I can be available Tuesday evening.”

  “Six-thirty be okay?”

  “I think I can make that, sir.”

  The line clicked in his ear. Asshole. This was going to be just great.

  He closed the call and set aside the phone. “I’ll be meeting your father at six-thirty on Tuesday. So I’ll be a little late coming home.”

  “Okay. Oh, I meant to tell you, he’s dating Melissa Bryant. I was working on her house when you deployed.”

  “The Spanish Colonial.”

  “Yes. That’s the one.”

  “Didn’t you say she’s a little…” he looked for the right word.

  “Bitchy? Her nickname at the office is The Contessa.”

  “And you fixed your father up with her?”

  She bit her lip and gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look. “I thought he might enjoy a challenge.”

  He laughed at her expression. “If they’re still together, it may be working.”

  “She was very good to me while I was at Dad’s house. The few times she was there. I think they spent time at her house, and she flew t
o Washington with him a few times. You may have more in common with my father than you realize. He has very little faith in women, including me.”

  He mulled that over while they watched the movie, while the physical and emotional distance between them persisted. He’d been right to clear the air between them, but it seemed he ended up wedging something more painful between them.

  When the baby cried, Rylie slipped away and didn’t return.

  The scenes on the screen played out, but his thoughts were miles away, in a desert country, searching for terrorists and waiting each week for the sound of Rylie’s voice over the SAT phone. She’d been there every week, up until that last month, keeping him grounded, keeping him connected to home by telling him about her life and her projects. Taking him away from the heat and stench and the missions.

  He wished the Admiral had kept the letters—even read them, just as long as he gave them back. Maybe what he’d written in those letters would have been enough to break down the barriers between them.

  And why was it so damn hard to say those same words face-to-face?

  One minute he was angry with her, the next hurt, the next he wanted to hold her—so much.

  And why was he holding on to the hurt? She said she just wanted to be Rylie, and to be with him.

  Her efforts to protect him from her father stung his male pride, plain and simple. Like he needed a hundred-and-ten-pound woman to stand between him and anything. If the Admiral had a hand in his team’s recent movements and was hanging up his promotion, then that would have to be between him and Black Jack. Maybe they’d clear the air on Tuesday.

  He gripped the remote and turned off the television.

  In Rylie’s guest room, he stripped off his cargo shorts and T-shirt and slipped on pajama pants, then strode back down the hall and, without knocking, cracked the door to look in.

  Rylie lay on her side, the baby in the center of the bed beside her wearing a onesie and waving a balled fist while he kicked his feet. Rylie looked up and met his eyes as he slipped into the room.

  He stretched out on the opposite side of the bed and offered the baby a finger to grip. His heart seemed to lurch inside him with love and tenderness every time he looked at the little guy.