SEAL the Deal (Hot SEALs) Page 2

  Reaching down, he lifted her until her feet left the floor. Her eyes widened as she squeaked with surprise. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you to bed.” He turned toward the bedroom as he answered her.

  “It's only four in the afternoon.”

  He didn't quite get her point. Day and night had ceased to mean all that much to him over a decade ago except in regard to how it could aide in a mission, because for SEALs in night vision goggles, darkness was their best friend.

  But for making love to Missy? That was something he didn't mind shining a little daylight on.

  “Believe me, the time of day has got nothing to do with what I have planned.” Intent on proving that to her he strode through the doorway.

  There would be plenty of time afterward to break it to her that he'd have to travel out of the country for this new job he'd just landed and that he was also going to have to go to Virginia Beach to the GAPS office.

  Sex first. Bad news later. He wasn’t stupid.

  CHAPTER 2

  She'd loved Zane for two thirds of her life.

  Missy hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said that.

  She’d loved Zane Alexander since she'd had braces on her teeth. Since she'd had to beg for a ride to the country club in case he'd be there. Since she'd put together her overflowing scrapbook filled with ideas for the wedding she'd planned for them.

  But now she was an adult and knew what love really was. And she knew what pain was too.

  He’d never hurt her. At least not on purpose. She truly believed that. But she was starting to really believe he'd never marry her either.

  It shouldn't matter.

  Did it matter? Yes. It mattered every time they got another invitation.

  He thought he was the only one who dreaded seeing those envelopes in the mail. He was so wrong.

  Every bridal shower, every wedding reception, someone—usually more than one—would ask when she and Zane were going to tie the knot. And every time she smiled and made some non-committal reply.

  Honestly, if it was just her and Zane as the only two people in the world—or even just in their world—she wouldn't care. She had him. In her life. In her bed. In her heart. And she was in his.

  He loved her. She wouldn't need a paper to prove that if they were the only people in the world. But they weren't. And apparently everyone else wanted them to have that license.

  It was starting to get to her—and to get between them.

  That she wouldn't let happen.

  Other people and their pressure and opinions were making her resent Zane's stubborn streak when it had been the rebellious bad boy she'd fallen in love with all those years ago.

  The teenager who did anything but listen to his father. The graduate who'd joined the Navy rather than work at his father's investment firm. The man who'd gone as far as he could, becoming a SEAL and then went one step further and became a member of SEAL Team 6—what he called DEVGRU.

  The acronym didn't do justice to the reality of the job he and his SEAL teammates performed. She knew that personally from when they'd shot their way into a terrorist camp and taken her out of her waking nightmare.

  They'd survived so much together. Too much to let this break them up.

  She paused, shocked she'd even thought the words break up.

  Nope. Not gonna happen. Haters gonna hate. Relatives gonna push. Smug bitchy sorority sisters gonna flash their diamond engagement rings in her face. She wouldn't let them get to her.

  Zane was hers. And she was going to take advantage of that fact right here. Right now.

  He was turning on the light on the nightstand in the bedroom when she stepped up behind him. Nestling against his back, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight.

  He covered her hands with his, loosening her hold enough he could turn in her grasp.

  Those gold-flecked green eyes focused on her. Studying her. He was too observant. He knew she doubted them, their relationship. All because of these damn wedding invites and the interrogation gauntlet she dreaded facing.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She made up her mind then and there. No more caring about what people thought about her relationship status with Zane. No more worrying about others.

  No more thinking at all.

  She reached between them to slide her hands into the waist of his pants and tug his shirt out. “Mmm-hmm. Very okay.”

  He smiled and let her push his shirt up his body so she could lean in and kiss the warm skin of his stomach. The hard muscles of his chest.

  He kept himself in as good shape as he'd been in while in the SEALs. Maybe better because now that he wasn’t always deploying, he ate healthy, slept well and worked out for as long as he wanted to, sometimes for hours a day.

  Zane was pretty nice to look at naked thanks to all that hard work. She was ready for them both to be naked now.

  She loved the strong hard feel of him.

  He made her feel safe. As if nothing bad would ever happen to her as long as he was around.

  She knew that was true because he'd already proven it. With his gun, with his watchful eyes, and with his own body he'd kept her safe as they escaped from that horror in Nigeria she thought she'd never live through. She had no doubt he'd protect her from anybody and anything.

  The only thing he couldn't do was protect her from herself. Her own self doubt that crept into the dark shadows of her mind. That doubt only she could fight, and she would.

  She let her mind go, ceding control to her body and her heart. Both wanted him.

  “Take these off.” She tugged at the waist of his pants.

  That crooked smile she'd loved since she'd been a tween tipped up the corners of his mouth. The mouth she'd learned to love even more as an adult for the pleasure she knew it could give her.

  “Not a problem.” He reached down and did the hard work, unbuckling the belt, then moved on to the button and the zipper. “Hey, you still have those high heeled boots?”

  Missy cocked up one brow. She remembered exactly what happened the first time she'd worn them on a date with Zane. She'd ended up naked—except for the boots.

  “Yes.”

  “Put them on for me.” He grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Zane. It's June. Those are my fall and winter boots.”

  “Come on. Just for a little while. Please? I'll make it worth your while.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  Rolling her eyes at his persistence, she pretended to give in. “Okay.”

  Little did he know he didn't have to beg or make promises. She'd do anything for this man. But his assurance to make it worth her while didn't hurt.

  CHAPTER 3

  “Zane Alexander. Man, I haven't seen you since . . .”

  When the man in front of him couldn't come up with an answer to his own comment, Zane supplied it. “Graduation. Boarding school.”

  Too long ago to be thinking about now. So long ago Zane had to think a moment to remember this guy's first name.

  Harvey. That was it.

  Harvey Durst, one of the many descendants of the Durst family fortune, because only the elite rich were accepted to that particular boarding school.

  It had been a time in his life he hated and never wanted to think about again. But he was being forced to do just that by the asshole in front of him.

  It was guys like this who'd made boarding school unbearable. Little clones of their billionaire daddies. Selfish, self centered, self important.

  There were maybe a handful of guys he'd grown up with at that school he didn't want to pummel. A mere one or two he'd actually called friend over the years. Harvey was not one of them.

  “That's right.” Harvey tipped his prematurely balding head. “You disappeared after graduation.”

  Zane wished he could disappear right now. Glancing around the wedding reception, he searched for Missy to help get him out of this conversation.

  He didn't see her but he couldn't avoid
seeing the guy in front of him waiting for a response. “I pursued some different interests.”

  “So I heard. Someone said you joined the Navy. Seriously?”

  This guy was asking for a smack down and Zane would be dead serious about giving him one if he had been worth his time. As it was, Zane wasn't risking his reputation or his company's future for this idiot.

  “Well, I couldn't think of anything that would piss off the old man more than that, so . . .” Zane shrugged.

  “You always did have it out for your old man.” Harvey laughed.

  What Zane had said was one hundred percent the truth. Every step of his military career was another nail in the coffin that was his relationship with his father and Zane enjoyed every swing of the hammer.

  But now he was out. Serving his country in the private sector. No less important work and way more money.

  Life, was good.

  As he spotted Missy, life got better.

  “I have to catch up with someone. Good talking to you,” Zane lied and, before he could be waylaid again, strode across the reception hall.

  He hooked his hand into the crook in Missy's elbow and leaned low.

  “How long before we can leave?” He whispered into her ear so the couple standing opposite wouldn't hear.

  She glanced up at him, eyes wide with warning but didn't answer.

  Melissa Greenwood, daughter of Senator Greenwood, might have to be polite and listen to people drone on about topics he couldn't care less about, but he didn’t.

  Just as she had to attend this wedding for a couple they barely knew, because the bride's father was a huge contributor to Senator Greenwood's failed bid for the presidential nomination last year. But Zane didn't have to be here . . . except that he did because he was Missy's date.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz, have you met my boyfriend Zane Alexander?”

  “I don't think we have. We’re friends of the Senator.” The woman spoke while the man extended his hand and pumped Zane's.

  “Nice to meet you,” Zane said about to zone out again until he could drag Missy out of there, when she squeezed his arm.

  “Zane, Mr. Moskowitz was just telling me how he owns commercial buildings in the D.C. area. Aren't you looking for office space for GAPS?”

  That piqued his interest. “I am, actually. Do you have anything currently available?”

  Could this damn wedding he hadn't wanted to attend actually yield something useful?

  He focused his attention on the conversation, hoping to make this wasted afternoon worthwhile. If he could come out of here with a lead on an office rental, it would save him a ton of time searching, and win him some points with the senator for giving the business to one of his associates and supporters. Win-win.

  “Actually I do have a vacancy, available immediately. Nice space on N Street. Walking distance to the Dupont Circle Metro. Street parking. Restaurants nearby. Ground floor. There’s a larger space in the front and then a smaller private office in the back. Plus a closet and bathroom. Forty five dollars a square foot.”

  As Missy continued to chat with the wife, the husband now had Zane's full focus. “That sounds great. When can I see it?”

  The man laughed. “You don't dilly dally, do you?”

  “Not generally, no.” In the SEALs, dilly dallying could get people killed. “But it really sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.”

  “And what is it you do?”

  This is where things could get tricky. Calling his company what it was, a private military contractor, tended to scare people.

  It was easier to say, “Private security consulting.”

  That was true. But it was only part of the story. That explanation left out the whole other part of what GAPS did. Working government contracts, sometimes doing things very much like he'd done while in the SEALs working for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

  Mr. Moskowitz nodded. “Interesting. I'll keep you in mind if anyone asks about security companies. I'd be happy to recommend you.”

  Zane forced a smile. “Great. Thanks.”

  Yeah, great. Now he'd get a bunch of calls from housewives looking to get an alarm system installed on their front door. Or security cameras so they can see if their maids were stealing.

  He should probably come up with another line of what the company did. Maybe scaring them away with the PMC explanation wouldn't be too bad after all.

  But at least one good thing had come of this conversation. He was one step closer to securing that space for the Guardian Angel Protection Services D.C. satellite office.

  “Here's my card.” The older gentleman handed Zane a business card. “Call my office and my secretary will arrange a time for you to get in and see it.”

  “How about Monday?” Zane asked. He had to get to Virginia Beach to meet with Jon in the near future and he wanted to be able to tell him this part of setting up the office was settled.

  The man laughed. “Monday should be fine. It's unoccupied.”

  “Perfect. Thank you.”

  “You're welcome. Pleasure talking business with you.” The man leaned in conspiratorially. “I hate these things usually.”

  A kindred spirit. Zane smiled but knew better than to voice his agreement aloud. “I'll call your office Monday.”

  The man nodded and after a quick word to Missy, Zane made his escape to the bar.

  One hurdle crossed. Now all he needed to do was hire staff. And furnish the place. And get the internet and phone hooked up.

  Shit, he'd forgotten about all that setting up an office entailed. Jon had done the leg work setting up the Virginia Beach office. But this D.C. branch had been Zane's idea so he'd have to deal with it.

  Though, there were people he could hire to do most, if not all the work for him. Zane liked that idea. Things were looking brighter.

  Hell, even being at this wedding he hadn't wanted to be at didn't seem so bad anymore. And he was about to go get another glass of some very fine and very old whisky courtesy of the bride and groom.

  There was no doubt that the sheer number of weddings they'd have to attend this month alone sucked. He wouldn't change his mind about that. But open bar? That helped ease the pain and it was exactly where he was headed now.

  When he turned back to the room, fresh glass in his hand, Missy was next to him. “You look less miserable.”

  He lifted a brow at her choice of words.

  “Far less miserable. Almost giddy, in fact.” He used his free arm to wrap around her, hauling Missy against him. “You know what would make me even happier?”

  “No, we can't leave before they serve dinner.”

  He twisted his mouth at her accurate guess. “Can't blame a man for trying.”

  She cocked up one pretty brow. “Actually, I can.”

  Zane sighed. “I don't know why everyone doesn't just elope. So much easier for all involved. Hell, I'll still send them a gift. Happily, as long as I don't have to sit through another one of these things.”

  Missy rolled her eyes. “It's four hours out of your life. You'll deal.”

  “Four hours I'll never get back,” he mumbled, quickly pasting on a smile as the senator and his wife, Missy's parents, walked up to them. “Senator. Mrs. Greenwood. Enjoying yourselves?”

  “It was such a beautiful ceremony.” Mrs. Greenwood turned to her daughter. “Didn't you just love her dress? And the bridesmaids looked beautiful.”

  Missy nodded. “Yes, everything was lovely.”

  “I liked the different dresses in the same color for the attendants. That's something to keep in mind for . . . whenever.” Mrs. Greenwood's gaze skipped to Zane and back again so quickly he almost missed it. Almost.

  He raised his glass to his lips and swallowed the hard liquor. He needed to keep his mouth busy because there was no way he was touching that hint.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Another?” The waiter paused with the tray of champagne and orange juice-filled fluted glasses balanced skillfully
on his hand.

  It wasn’t quite noon yet, but next to Missy, Zane blew out a short laugh. “Sure. Why not.”

  She could see he was obviously as miserable at this morning’s poorly timed Jack and Jill bridal shower brunch, as he’d been at last night’s wedding.

  The one thing she and Zane could agree upon at this point was that more alcohol couldn't hurt.

  “Thank you.” She reached for a glass for herself on the waiter's tray. When the server had moved on, Missy cut her gaze to Zane.

  He caught her glance. “What's wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Her answer was loaded with the unspoken words she held back.

  Raising the glass to his lips, Zane had apparently decided the best course of action was to accept her answer at face value.

  Good idea. As a former military man he should know when a battle wasn't worth fighting.

  This was a no win situation. He didn't want to be there. She knew that and whether she was happy about it or not, she was going to have to accept how Zane chose to get through the morning's event. Even if it was by guzzling mimosas like they were water.

  “Missy!”

  Turning, she saw the speaker was a woman she hadn't seen in a couple of years. About her own age, Tanya was the daughter of one of her father's cronies.

  “Tanya. Good to see you again.” After the usual air kiss greeting, Missy brought Zane into the conversation. He'd hate it, but she didn't see any way to avoid it. “I don't think you've met my—uh—Zane Alexander.”

  She'd stepped right into that sticky situation and she had no one to blame but herself. Calling him her boyfriend seemed ridiculous at this point, even if that was exactly what he was since he'd never taken the step to make them more than boyfriend and girlfriend.

  “We've never met, no, but I've certainly heard about you two. You've been dating for a while now. No?”

  “A couple of years.” Gritting her teeth Missy nodded, glancing sideways at Zane.

  He kept his lips firmly closed on the subject and instead said, “Nice to meet you.”

  She knew he was lying. Luckily he was good at it. The greeting even sounded sincere.

  “So any wedding bells in your future?” Tanya should have been more interested in sending off the bride and groom into wedded bliss. But nope. Apparently the designer-clad woman was more interested in Missy and Zane's relationship.