Page 8 of SEAL'S Secret Vows

“No.” She shakes her head furiously. “Not another mission. I thought you were giving me two weeks off!”

“Yes, I was.” I say simply, a wide grin on my face as I fish a tablet out of my office bag. She’s glaring at me, but there’s no real heat in it. I place the tablet on the table and push it towards her.

“This will keep you busy, and you can work from home. This way, you can return to work after the mission is complete since the news about your wedding will have completely died down by then. You don’t want to waste the vacation time, do you?”

“You do have a point, but if I were married, I'd be on my honeymoon, you know,” she mutters, slowly picking the tablet up.

“Exactly.If!Besides, we both know there’s no way you would have lasted two whole weeks with that guy.”

She lets out a disbelieving but amused laugh. “Really?!”

“Yes, now thank your lucky stars that you ran away, and get to work.”

“Pretty flippant for my heartbreak,” she mutters.

I give her a quick glance, trying to ascertain if she’s actually upset. She’s not. I’m sure of it. So I shrug. “It was for the best. Plus, I never really liked that fiancé of yours.” A puzzled look appears on her face, and I quickly add. “He was always so... you know... cocky.” I make quotes in the air for emphasis.

She raises one brow and smirks. That's one look that hardly ever crosses her face.

“Now, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?” she teases, her grin widening.

“Hey! I’m nothing like that wannabe politician.” I retort.

She laughs and then adds, “except you're more gentlemanly, of course.”

“Of course, I am.” I turn around without waiting for another word, and I can see her shaking her head at my words.

“I'll be in my hobby room if you need more information. I’ll check on you later. Titan.” I motion to him to join me, and he jumps after me immediately. “Come on, boy, let's go work on a new mission.”

“What mission is this anyway?”

She asks without taking her eyes off the tablet, the light already reflecting in her eyes. I knew this would get her.

“Well, it's an infiltration and extraction mission. I'm going undercover so I can't disclose much about it, but just work on translating the encrypted messages and let me know if you find anything. Also on the tablet are mission briefings and other related intelligence data that you might find useful.”

“Great. Wait!”

I stop, turning to her with a raised brow.

“I need to go by my apartment tomorrow,” she says nervously.

I look her over. “Do you want me to go for you?”

She grins, giving in immediately. “Do you think you can get me some of my clothes tomorrow? You’ll find a bag you can use in my room. I keep a spare key under my flower vase, not thesmartest idea but it’s helpful in situations like this. Just grab anything you can find. I can’t go myself for obvious reasons. Just grab some work clothes and casuals, you’ll easily find them in my wardrobe.”

“No problem. I’ll get them tomorrow morning. Ciao. Nora.”

I glance back to see her rolling her eyes in annoyance before looking at the information on the tablet she's holding, and I nod in accomplishment.

That should keep her here for a little longer. I jog up the stairs and grab my headphones before making my way to my hobby room.

As I settle down, my mind keeps trailing to the music challenge and I smile. I can't help but feel grateful for Nora's presence these past few days; it's uplifting.

I don’t know the details about her and her ex, but I do know one thing. I’m glad she’s here.

Chapter three

Nora

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