Page 18 of Andy

Laughter bubbled up. “Really?”

“Yes. Believe me, Mel. I’m telling you the truth. You’re very sexy. I don’t lie, so I’m very serious about this.”

She held his gaze. “I’ve never had anyone say stuff like that to me.”

“Well, I’m not just anyone. I’m different. So believe me when I say it.”

She nodded. “Okay. If you say so, I’ll believe you.”

“Good. Now then, I need to behave, so I’m going to play volleyball so I don’t pop wood right here.”

Heat filled her, and she laughed. He moved closer and brushed a kiss over her lips, then moved away, dunking one of the guys as they started horsing around.

Ava came over, and they sat on a shelf in the water. “He likes you.”

She shrugged. “How do you know?”

“I’ve been with Wild for a while. I’ve seen Andy with other women. He’s not like this. He likes you a lot.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I’m not going to get my hopes up. Men don’t usually stick around.”

Ava nodded. “These guys aren’t most men.”

“So about that. We haven’t talked much and were interrupted. He hasn’t told me what he does for work. Do they all work together?”

“Wait, you don’t know what they do?” Rory asked.

“No, no clue. He told me he was in the Navy. Are they all in the Navy?”

The women laughed, and for a moment, she thought they were laughing at her. But Ava leaned in and bumped her shoulder.

“Andy is so funny. They don’t like to brag,” Ava said.

“They’re SEALs,” Ingrid said.

“You mean Navy SEALs?” Mel asked.

Rory nodded. “Yeah. They’re all Navy SEALs.”

She shook her head. “Shit. I had no idea.”

“They really don’t like to brag. I mean, maybe they did when they were younger, but now that they are older, they like to keep it quiet,” Ava said.

“Why?” Mel asked.

"Some people take advantage of SEALs by expecting them to be a certain way. They want pieces of them now that there are movies and books out there about them," Ava said.

“I imagine they get some interesting people wanting to know them,” Mel said. “I don’t tell strangers or acquaintances I work at a bank. I just tell them I work in an office.”

“I’m sure that’s for your safety,” Ava said.

Mel nodded. “It is.”

“I like your name,” Ingrid said. “What’s it short for?”

Mel rolled her eyes. “Melrose. My parents liked Melrose Place.”

Ava laughed. “Have any of you watched it?”

---