Fall for a SEAL (2 page)

His first instinct was to call his CO, his commanding officer, and take Annie into work, hand the phone over to the Intel guys and let them figure this out while she had a nap behind the secure gates of a United States naval base. But there was something in her expression, a slight tremor in her pinched brow that gave him pause. “Annie,
are you telling me everything?”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Because you came here for a reason.”

Her big blue eyes searched his face, and he willed her to see whatever she was looking for. After a minute, she dropped her gaze to the floor and sighed. “Kevin always told me that if anything happened to him, I could trust you.”

“You
can
trust me. Kevin trusted me, and I’ll do everything in
my power to honor his memory and protect his family. But I need to know everything that you know.” He ducked his head, grabbing her attention. “No secrets.”

A flutter at the base of her neck gave her away, and she groaned. “I don’t know how anyone could know this, because I’m guessing you don’t, and I wasn’t supposed to, but Kevin...has a child. A secret son, being raised by his mother. And her
husband.”

Drew reared back on his heels, like she’d just tossed ice water in his face. No way.
Dude, what the fuck?
But Kevin didn’t answer, because this time, Drew couldn’t fill in what his best friend would say.
 

“It was a short affair, while he was in Washington ten years ago. Nobody should know. The husband doesn’t know. I was a teenager when it happened...” Annie kept talking, and Drew
sorted through what she was saying, but most of his mind was trapped in a flashback to ten years earlier. Kevin had come back from the capital decidedly cagey about his recreational activities. Uncharacteristically so. All he’d said was that he’d gotten involved with someone he shouldn’t have.

“Do you know the couple’s identity?” Drew’s mind was whirling a mile a minute, sorting out the possible
outcomes. He didn’t like the threat assessments he was coming up with. “Is there anyone else who might, a cousin or something?”

She shook her head. Annie and Kevin’s parents had been killed in a car accident a few years earlier. Drew had been at their funeral. Well attended, but little in the way of extended family.
 

“And you didn’t tell anyone else about this call?”

“No.”

He’d seen a lot
of awful shit over the years, and while this barely scraped the surface of gross human behavior, he couldn’t imagine Annie would share his jaded outlook. Or appreciate it. “Okay. There’s not much we can do before the morning, given that it might just be a prank.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “And then we’ll call the police?”

“Probably start with the Navy, since that’s what I know. They
might punt it to the civilian investigators. I don’t know.” He splayed his hands wide, unsure of what to say next. “Hell, Annie, I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“It’s okay.” She let out a watery laugh. “Probably this time tomorrow I’ll be back at work and some teenager with aspirations of being a hacker will be having an uncomfortable conversation with the LAPD.”

He stepped closer and touched
his knuckle to her chin, lifting her face so she could see the confirmation in his own that she’d done the right thing. “This might be just that. But if it’s not, then I’m glad you reached out to me.”

“Kevin always said...” She bit her lip, her teeth pressing into the plump skin to hold back the rest of the sentiment. A crease formed between her eyes, and he wanted to reach up and rub it smooth,
ease that ache.
 

He wasn’t the only one struggling with loss. He felt like an ass for not acknowledging that sooner. “He was right. It’s good that you came.”

She tilted her head to the side with a wry smile, and he cupped her cheek in his palm for a moment before reluctantly letting go. “Well. Then, I’ll just go find a hotel, and first thing in the morning—”

“No.” He surprised them both by
interjecting. “Stay here.”

“I couldn’t impose, really.”

“This probably isn’t about you, but if it is, you should stay here. I’ll find you some clothes to sleep in and a toothbrush—”
 

Another knock at the door interrupted him, and he cursed. “Okay, so that’s, uhm...That’s a friend. I’m just going to explain to her that my plans have changed for the night—”

“Oh, god. No. I’ll go.”

The knocking
resumed, this time in a playful pattern, and they jockeyed around each other to get to the door first. Drew won, and pressed his hand flat against Annie’s chest. “Seriously, stay.” He took a peek through the peephole.
Shit
. Dana was wearing a trench coat. That could only mean one thing.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. “Dana, before you open that coat, you should know I’ve got a guest.”

The bouncy blonde grinned and sashayed in. “Isn’t that the kind of thing you should ask a girl if she’s into first?”

“It’s not like that. We’ll—”

Annie cleared her throat and stepped into the open doorway. “I’ll head out so you can continue with your plans.”

Dana looked Annie up and down and spun back to Drew. “What’s going on here?”

Drew sighed. “It’s a long story. Annie, please don’t leave.”
He braced his arm across the doorway, blocking her exit. “Dana, this is Annie, the sister of an old friend, and she’s going to be staying with me for a few days. Maybe I’ll call you next week.”

Dana pursed her lips. “Maybe?”

What the hell? Yes, maybe. That was their deal. In the three months they’d known each other, they’d hooked up seven or eight times. There was no guarantee of more sex. No
dating. Just...easy. And if it wasn’t easy, he didn’t need any drama. “Or not. Up to you, okay?”

She hitched her shoulders and tightened her belt. “Or not sounds about right. Have fun on your sleepover, Drew.”

Annie stepped out of the way and Drew lifted his arm, and as quickly as Dana had swirled into their conversation she was gone again. He pressed the door shut and threw the deadbolt and
safety latch. “Okay, so I’ll get you—”

“No.” Annie shook her head. She’d crossed her arms at some point, and from the firm set of her shoulders, wasn’t planning to uncross them any time soon.
Shit
. Was this a girl code thing?

“That was just a misunderstanding.”

“Like, where you misunderstood how to be a human being?”

Jesus Christ. “Pardon?”

“You really hurt her feelings!”

“So? Feelings weren’t
supposed to enter into it! Not my problem she saw you and got catty. Maybe she was jealous.” Drew tamped down his annoyance. They had bigger things to worry about than Dana and her temper tantrum.
 

“That’s ridiculous. She didn’t get upset until you said,” Annie cleared her throat and dropped her voice a register. “
Or not. Up to you, babe.
”

“I didn’t say babe. She’s not my babe.” He rolled his
eyes and stalked off to his bedroom. He yanked open his top drawer and pulled out a black t-shirt and the smallest, lightest pair of running shorts he owned. She’d still be swimming in them, but they had a drawstring waist. He’d changed his sheets earlier, in anticipation of the ill-fated hookup, so he tossed the clothes on the bed and stalked back to the living room.

Annie had shrugged out of
her blazer and was laying her jewelry carefully on the raised kitchen counter. Chunky necklace, matching bracelet, sparkly earrings. It all looked good, but without it she looked nice in a different way. Pretty. Young. He searched his memory. She was ten years younger than Kevin, who was a year Drew’s junior. Twenty-five, and she dressed like a school principal. Acted like one, too.
 

She was
going to make some guy’s life hell. Drew chuckled to himself. With good sparring might come angry sex, though, and that would be fun.

Dude, that’s my fucking sister.

He took a step back into the hallway and scrubbed his palm against his jaw. Shit. Where had that thought come from?
 

I don’t know, asshole, but lock it down.
 

Consider it locked, bro.
Drew cleared his throat and moved forward
to try again. “The bedroom is yours for the night, I’ll take the couch.”

She swung past him, avoiding his gaze. When she reached the doorway to his room, she paused, then glanced up. “I’m sorry about commenting on your private life. It’s none of my business.”

He shrugged. “Sort of was, given it played out like that in front of you.”

“If you want me to talk to her, tell her there’s nothing to
be jealous about...” She waved her hand. “Once all of this is sorted out, if you want her to be your babe after all. She seemed...” Annie cleared her throat. The obvious choice there would be
nice
, but Dana wasn’t really that. “Fun.”

Yeah, she was fun.
 

But as he turned off his PlayStation and grabbed a blanket from the hall closet, it wasn’t images of Dana sliding all over his body that he
had to push away. And when he woke up to screams in the middle of the night, it wasn’t worry about Dana that made his heart leap into his throat.

— TWO —

Annie clawed her way to full consciousness, desperate to escape the awful noises in her dream. As she blinked awake, she realized she was the source, moaning and groaning under her breath. Drenched in sweat and shaking like a leaf, she gulped for air and took what little she could see in the strange room around her. Clean sheets, big bed.
That belonged to Drew Castle
. Douchebag extraordinaire
and real-life hero.
 

And then he was in the doorway, his large body tense and at the ready. “Annie?” Light flooded into the room from the hall behind him, and instead of moving directly to her, he looped the long way around the bed and flicked on a lamp.
 

She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Fear squeezed around her neck and across her chest, and she couldn’t prevent tears from welling
up and spilling down her cheeks.
 

“Jesus, Annie.” He came around to her side and crouched, his gaze darting from her face to her phone, which sat untouched on the bedside table, then back to her face and finally down her body. “Nightmare?”

Must have been, she thought silently.
Holy fuck
.
 

“You didn’t get another call? You aren’t hurt?”

She shook her head.
 

He glanced at the alarm clock next
to the lamp. “It’s the middle of the night. Any chance you’re going to get more sleep?”

Another shake. Not a chance in hell. She cleared her throat, tentatively testing her vocal cords. “Is—” Her voice cracked. “Is there anything we could do about the message right now?”

“Most of the Intel guys won’t be in until 0800, but I think we should go grab some breakfast and then head to the base. If
only to help you feel safe.” He hung his head. “We shouldn’t have stayed here last night.”

His regret was palpable, and she scrambled onto her knees, shaking her head. “I do feel safe with you.” The simple truth of the words made her feel better. She shook her head again, ridding herself of the creepy feeling she’d woken up with. “No, I wasn’t scared last night. I’m not sure what my dream was
about, it was too abstract to explain, but that’s all I’m freaked out about.”

He lifted his head and cocked one eyebrow. “Would diner breakfast make it better?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. He was a grown man, but crouched beside the bed he looked like an eager kid, and his smile warmed her from the inside out. “Absolutely.”

It didn’t take her long to wash up and get dressed in yesterday’s
clothes. What had she been thinking, hopping in her car and driving south from L.A. without a bag of stuff?
 

She hadn’t been thinking. Driven by adrenaline and fear, she’d tunnel-visioned on the fact that Drew Castle was the only person in the world she could trust when it came to her brother’s memory. And even now, knowing that he was an overgrown teenager, that didn’t change anything. Kevin
had been the same way, chasing anything in a skirt and kicking back with boy toys at every opportunity.

And it didn’t matter what or who Drew did in his spare time if he could help her. A tremor of something suspiciously pride-like niggled at the back of mind as she reflected on the fact that he’d dropped both his video game and his booty call to help her, and she pushed that thought away. She
wasn’t a teenager anymore, in awe of the sex-on-a-stick SEAL lounging in her family room after a big Easter dinner.

Ten years ago she’d have given anything for Kevin and Drew to look at her as more than a kid. But as it got dark, they’d gone out without a backwards glance, and Annie had drifted off to sleep wondering what it would be like to be sexy enough to capture the attention of a grown
man.
 

Ha
, she snickered. They were barely older than she was now. How much her perspective had changed in that near decade.

But her big brother had taken his job seriously, and his family as well. More than one holiday had been spent perfecting “What to do in a Zombie Apocalypse” plans. Annie understood Kevin was making sure she knew how to protect herself. He’d taught her to shoot, to fight
dirty, what to yell at the top of her lungs to grab maximum attention and how to be stealthy.

The last tips came in very handy in her last year of high school.
 

The first time she got drunk with Kevin, on the Christmas Eve of her twentieth year, she shared how helpful he’d been to her teenage social life. And he told her about some epic drives down the Eastern Seaboard with Drew for crazy weekend
leaves. It had been a rare moment of sibling bonding, almost as equals. The following year, their parents were gone, killed in a head-on collision with a minivan. No more Christmas Eves with her brother.
 

He’d offered to come home, but she had friends with large families. With no shortage of holiday feasts for her to attend, it didn’t make sense for him to travel at peak time when it was just
the two of them. They’d have time for that in the future when they had families of their own.