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  KISSED BY A SEAL

  Hot SEALs

  Cat Johnson

  Retired Navy SEAL Chris Cassidy knows the bro code—no messing around with teammates’ sisters. But Chris never was one for following rules. Besides, Rick’s sister Darci is worth breaking the rules for.

  Darci Mann is tired of being alone. Since Zane, the bad boy she had a crush on, fell in love with someone else and her best friend Ali found her own happy ending, Darci’s feeling her single status extra keenly. Though she suspects her brother’s buddy Chris would be willing to change that if she decides to let him.

  When a routine assignment turns deadly and Chris switches from charming joker to capable trained warrior willing to kill or die to save Darci’s life, she might have to reevaluate her feelings about the perpetual bachelor and her own future.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Also by the Author

  About Cat Johnson

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  Chris watched the sway of Darci’s hips as she skirted the stool that stuck out from beneath the kitchen island. She headed toward the fridge and pulled open the door.

  When she bent at the waist to grab a can of coke from the bottom shelf Chris got one hell of a nice view. The fabric of her pants stretched across the ass he’d been itching to get his hands on for many years.

  Good God almighty, that girl could work it.

  A sight like that was enough to make a man’s mouth water. Sometimes it seemed as if the doggone woman put a little extra sashay into her walk just to torture him. But if she was doing it on purpose, Chris knew it wasn’t for his benefit.

  There had only been one guy Darci Mann had her eye on, that Chris knew of.

  Sadly, in spite of what he considered his good looks and unending southern charm—if he did say so himself—that one man in Darci’s sights wasn’t Chris Cassidy.

  For better or worse, that honor belonged to his teammate, Zane Alexander.

  Meanwhile, Zane had always been such a self-centered player he’d never even noticed how Darci couldn’t drag her eyes off him whenever he was in the room.

  Chris had noticed, though.

  Man oh man had he noticed, and it ate a hole in his gut every time he saw the expression on Darci’s face when Zane would hook up with one random woman or another, while not giving Darci more than a passing friendly hello.

  Jealousy was an ugly trait, but Chris couldn’t fight it, any more than he could fight his feelings for Darci.

  Now, Zane was off the market, thanks to his new and surprisingly serious girlfriend, Missy.

  Zane apparently settling down hadn’t helped the situation much. It was like Darci was extra determined to prove to Zane what he’d missed out on.

  It seemed her skirts were shorter, her lips more pouty, her glances sexier . . .

  The results were enough to have Chris walking around like a dog drooling over a bone any time he was near her, and it had him waking up to some pretty steamy thoughts at night.

  He was like a damn schoolboy when it came to Darci. It was as if he was forty going on fourteen, and thanks to circumstances Chris couldn’t have stayed away from Darci even if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t.

  “So what do you guys think?” Jon’s question tore Chris’s attention off Darci, and how hard she was working it, and back to actual work.

  This was supposed to be a team meeting. Since they were at Rick and Darci’s house, it had been easy to forget that.

  He hadn’t been listening, so Chris had no clue what exactly Jon was asking his opinion on, but if he knew one thing it was that Jon put one hundred and ten percent into whatever he did. That had been true when they’d been active duty SEALs, and it was true now in the civilian world as they worked to make their new company a success.

  Chris felt safe in saying, “Good job, bro.”

  Jon accepted the compliment with a nod. “But is there anything else we need to worry about for the presentation?”

  If Chris had paid attention to the sales presentation in the first place, he might know that answer.

  “I don’t know. Rick, you see anything?” Chris deferred Jon’s question to Rick.

  He had no problem throwing his friend in the line of fire. It was Rick’s fault Chris was distracted. Darci was Rick’s sister, after all.

  After Rick had been medically retired from the Navy because of knee issues, he had moved in with Darci and the woman had been a fixture in all of their lives ever since.

  When Chris stopped by to have a beer or to watch a game with Rick, she was here. When Rick invited him over for a barbecue or a party, she was there.

  Not that Chris was complaining about her constant presence. Far from it. Some pretty blonde for scenery was always nice to have around when his life in the military, and even after retirement, had been one big sausage-fest.

  He was happy to have her there as a distraction, but make no mistake, she was exactly that—a distraction.

  Strange that he let himself be sidetracked by her so easily. When he’d been active duty, he had razor sharp focus both during missions and during the prep.

  Today, Chris realized he was lucky if he’d heard even half of what Jon had said.

  He figured he could write his inattention off to the fact he wasn’t the one traveling to the meeting to pitch their company’s services to the potential new client. If he had been the one making the trip and the presentation, he would have been able to focus—hopefully.

  Luckily, he didn’t have to test that theory. For this one, Chris and Rick were just a sounding board for Jon. In fact, in the total scheme of things in the corporate hierarchy, Chris and Rick were basically just the muscle.

  GAPS had been Jon’s brainchild, funded by Zane’s investment. It made sense that Jon and Zane would be the ones going to the big wig’s offices to pitch the precision security offered by Guardian Angel Protection Services.

  Jon could speak as well as any politician about his corporate baby, and Zane had been raised around rich folks. He could probably talk the money out of the business owners’ wallets as easily as he used to talk females out of their panties back in his single days.

  Speaking of Zane—he’d left ten minutes ago to take a phone call. He was just now slipping back through the sliding glass door that led to the back deck where he’d gone to talk in privacy.

  He wondered who had kept Zane occupied for so long. He figured it was safe to assume it was Missy.

  “Sorry.” Zane sat and looked around the table. “What did I miss?”

  “Pretty much everything. You want Jon to go over it again for you?” Chris heard the dose of judgment in his own tone, but judging by his lack of reaction, Zane hadn’t.

  “Nah. Jon and I went over it last night while he was putting it together. What do you guys think?” Zane glanced from Chris to Rick.

  Rick leaned forward. “It’s good. Hell, I’d hire you.”

  Lucky for Chris, Rick had apparently paid attention and had an opinion, since he didn’t.

  “You really think it’s good? It’s our first presentation to a major corporation. If we land this gig and do a good job, we’ll be set. In fact, if they gave us all their security jobs, we’ll have to hire out some of the work because we won’t be able to handle it all.” Jon’s e
xcitement was palpable.

  He couldn’t blame Jon for being excited or concerned since Jon had taken a huge chance on GAPS.

  When Jon came up with this idea and asked who wanted to join him, Chris had already put in his time in the Navy and was collecting retirement pay. Rick was in a similar situation. He was out of the service after being medically retired.

  They’d both been killing time working as civilians. Rick had a good position working security at the nuclear plant. Chris had a part-time job at a local gun shop to keep him from going insane with boredom.

  But Jon had left active duty with the SEALs to open GAPS. So had Zane, though Zane came from money. His trust fund would make it a lot less painful for him than it would be for Jon if the company failed.

  Jon needed GAPS to succeed and Chris was more than willing to help him—if that damn woman would stop parading around the house . . .

  Darci caught his attention one more time. It never failed that every damn time she entered his line of sight he had to stop what he was doing and watch her sashay by.

  Was that the outline of a thong he could see through the material of her slacks? Damn.

  Chris wrestled his attention back to the conversation.

  Darci had sat down on the sofa and was watching the television with the sound turned low. Now that his favorite asset of hers was being sat upon and he couldn’t see it anymore, he had some hope of paying attention to Jon.

  “I think you hit on all the major selling points. They can’t argue with our collective experience and training. I mean, not every run of the mill security company can boast combat experienced DEVGRU operatives.” Rick leaned back and folded his arms, looking cocky in their credentials.

  Everything Rick had said was true. GAPS didn’t employ just any old Joe who could shoot a gun. They were staffed by the best of the best. Men who had been hand chosen from the ranks of the SEALs to be trained by the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, and sent to fight terrorism around the globe.

  Yet to date, GAPS had yet to land a major contract and they’d been in business for months. Jon had to be getting twitchy.

  They’d had a few small assignments. A security consultation here. A personal protection detail there. But the company could only survive without more work for so long.

  Chris leaned forward. “You know, I’m thinking proving to the client we’re the best at what we do isn’t your problem. I think the hurdle y’all have to get over is proving to the client that they need the best.”

  “I don’t follow.” Rick frowned.

  “I’m saying if I own a shipping company and I’ve run it to date without any major problems, why should I go and spend big money on security?” Chris lifted one shoulder. “I might be willing to take the gamble and save the money.”

  “But I would think any company shipping anything in a hot zone would realize the need for security. Everybody knows about Captain Phillips.” Rick reminded them of the operation where SEALs had been brought in to save the captain taken hostage.

  The cargo ship, Maersk Alabama, had made a stop in Djibouti and was bound for Kenya when she was taken off the coast of Somalia by four pirates in a skiff.

  The world knew one version of the events because of the news reports while it was happening, and a version of the story even further from the truth as portrayed in the Tom Hanks movie. But the men in the room, Chris in particular, knew the truth.

  They’d all been active duty SEALs at the time, and it had been DEVGRU operatives who had been called in to take out the captors.

  Chris nodded. “Yes, everyone knows the story, but that might be working against us.”

  “How?” Jon asked.

  “The Gulf of Aden is a hotbed of pirate activity thanks to Somalia. Yemen’s always been a terrorist hideout and it’s especially a cluster fuck now. But I’m thinking if a company isn’t running ships in that particular area, they might think they’re immune. Out of the hot zone. What you have to do is prove to them that the danger is everywhere.”

  Jon nodded. “All right. So we’ll need to do a little research.”

  “I hate research.” Zane scowled and shot Jon a glance. “That’s your department.”

  Jon turned to Zane. “The company we’re presenting to is through one of your contacts. I can only find out so much online, so do you think you can find out where they’re shipping?”

  “I’ll try. Give me a few.” Zane stood and fished his phone out of his pocket again as he moved toward the back door.

  Darci swiveled her head to follow Zane’s path, before she forced her eyes back to the television.

  Just the thought of her wasting her time on a man who had never cared about her pissed Chris off. Before he let his feelings get in the way of this meeting, and the functioning of this team, Chris decided to get back to the task at hand.

  He tipped a chin toward the closed laptop on the table in front of Rick. “Can I use that for a second?”

  “Sure thing.” Rick pushed it toward him. “Password is DEVGRU, all uppercase.”

  Chris let out a snort. “Yeah, ’cause nobody who knows you could guess that.”

  A deep furrow creased Rick’s brow. “So what? Who the hell would be trying to hack into my laptop?”

  “You never know. That’s the point.” Chris opened a new browser and punched in a search for major shipping routes worldwide. “Looky here. One search and I already found a list of the oil chokepoints most crucial to the world economy. There are seven of ’em.”

  “Okay. Where are they?” Jon sat poised with a pad of paper in front of him and a pen in hand. It had become his usual stance since this company had been not much more than the gleam of an idea and a logo sketched on a cocktail napkin at the bar.

  Chris had to wonder if Jon had realized when he first thought of opening GAPS that he’d be handling a pen a hell of a lot more often than a weapon.

  Then again, maybe that had been Jon’s goal—to exchange blood for ink.

  Since Jon had gotten serious with Darci’s friend Ali last year, deployments and ops had probably lost their appeal for the man. Chris knew he wouldn’t have been so hyped to go on assignments when he’d been active if he had a sweet thing waiting at home . . . if he’d had Darci at home.

  Chris focused on the task at hand and read over what was on the screen so he could pass it on to his friends. “Number one on the list is the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran that connects the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Next is Malacca off the coast of Singapore. After that is the Suez Canal.”

  “What the hell? What about the Horn of Africa? I would have thought that would have been in the top three. No?” Rick frowned.

  Chris scrolled farther down the page. “Here you go. It’s listed as number four, the passageway between Djibouti and Yemen.”

  When Rick nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer, Chris continued, “Okay, number five—“

  “How about you sum up the rest and then just email that link to me?” Jon leveled a stare on Chris and put down his pen. He must have gotten tired of taking notes.

  “Sure thing, boss.” Chris skimmed the rest of the article, looking for any surprises. “Five is the Turkish strait. Only half a mile wide. Damn, that’s narrow. Number six is the Panama Canal. It’s so low on the list because modern tankers are generally too big to pass through. And lucky number seven, the Danish Straits, because of the Scandinavian oil market.”

  “So given that these are the seven places that an attack or a bottleneck would most affect world markets, that makes any ships passing through the region targets and a concern for the corporations that own them.” Jon recapped Chris’s point.

  “Yup. Exactly.” Chris nodded. “And as y’all can see, it’s not just the war zone that’s a problem. These target areas range from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea.”

  “So all we have to do is wait to see what Zane comes back with and if our potential client is shipping in any of those areas, we can—”

&n
bsp; “Scare the hell out of ’em.” Grinning, Chris interrupted Rick.

  “Persuade them there’s a need.” Jon’s description did sound nicer than Chris’s plan had.

  Chris grinned. “See. That’s why you’re the front man and I’m the muscle.”

  “Speaking of muscle—we working out later?” Rick asked Chris.

  “Sure. Here or at my place?” Chris was torn as to which answer he was hoping for.

  Working out here meant Darci would be around as both an inspiration and a distraction. But at his place there’d be nothing but men for company—him, Rick and Brody, if Chris’s brother and roommate was home from the base.

  Not too inspiring, but also not distracting.

  Chris never had been the kind to be conflicted. This bullshit was new.

  When not at work, he had always been a go-with-the-flow, easygoing type of guy. At home, if there was cold beer in the fridge and his favorite team won, he was a happy man. Hell, when he’d been in the teams, if all the guys came home fairly unscathed, it was a win and he was happy.

  It wasn’t until one blonde with legs long enough to be considered a sin came into his world that he started to be conflicted.

  One reason for that was that she happened to be his teammate’s sister. There was an unwritten code of conduct against that kind of thing. He shouldn’t be having the kind of thoughts he had about Darci given that she was Rick’s sister.

  Maybe that’s why Zane had never given Darci the time of day—the very bro code Chris was so tempted to break for her.

  If that was the reason Zane had steered clear of Darci then Chris was more than grateful for it, because until recently Zane had his head up his ass when it came to women. The more notches in his belt the better. Quantity over quality—that had been Zane’s credo.

  Zane never kept one of his conquests around long enough to risk her getting too attached to him. Darci wasn’t one of those kinds of girls. She wasn’t the one-night stand type, and Zane was, but that didn’t stop her from crushing on him.