Page 50 of Tempted by a SEAL

Chapter 10

Hunter crossed his arms as he leaned against a desk in the bullpen on base, watching news footage on a massive TV screen in front of them. Mason and Noah stood to his left, Noah ribbing Mason about the women he’d left with earlier.

“Hey, she told me to give her a call when I was back,” Mason laughed. “Who am I to ignore a woman’s wishes?”

“Yeah, the minute your plane lands?” Noah said. “Have some dignity.”

Mason shrugged, grinning. “I needed a ride and a quick lay. Nothing wrong with that.”

Hunter muttered a curse as he strode across the room, taking a long pull from his water bottle. His CO was busy talking with two other members of his SEAL team, and he was ready to wrap this entire day up.

Only problem was, what was he supposed to do with Emma when he got home?

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, frowning at the message from Patrick on the screen.

Emma’s gone.

Gone? How they hell could she be gone? They’d just gotten here for fuck’s sake. As far as he knew, she was soaking her married self in his bathtub back home.

That’s what he got for caring about a woman for a change.

Had he slept with a married woman before? Who the hell knew? That wouldn’t have been his choice, but usually after a round between the sheets he was on his merry way.

He turned slightly away from the others and gave Patrick a call.

“What do you mean Emma’s gone?”

“Rebecca was just over there. She brought some clothes and things for Emma. I guess she accidentally left her cell phone inside, so she turned around and drove back. Emma was getting into a cab—apparently she was telling Rebecca that coming here with you was a mistake.”

“Damn right it was a mistake. Did she tell Rebecca she’s married?” he asked, his voice rising.

Mason and Noah looked over at him, Mason’s eyebrows raised. Hunter shook his head and walked out of the bullpen.

“She’s not married,” Patrick said. “She has a fake wedding band for when she travels—so assholes don’t hit on her. I can’t blame her with some of the places she goes. It’s not safe for a single woman to be there alone. And otherwise? Some men are assholes.”

“Damn it,” Hunter muttered. “Well what does she mean that coming here was a mistake? I never even talked to her about it, I just left.”

Patrick chuckled. “That was the mistake. She heard you slam the door and leave, and when she saw her backpack had been knocked over and the ring on the ground, she put two and two together.”

“I’ll go find her,” Hunter said. “I’ll call the cab company or something,” he grumbled. “I mean—God damn it.”

He poked his head back into the bullpen. “There’s an emergency with Emma,” he said. “I have to go.”

His CO nodded, and then Hunter was turning. Walking out the door.

He was just worried about her safety, he reasoned. She was alone in a foreign country. And then there was the whole terrorists after her bit. Perhaps they didn’t know she was here in the States, but hell. He was worried because he needed to protect her, not because of the tightening her felt in his chest.

He grumbled, jogging out to the parking lot. Hopping into his vehicle.

He pounded his fist on the steering wheel in frustration.

***

Emma peered around the cab driver, watching the traffic ahead on the bridge. Cars creeped along, barely moving at all, and then when the cab she was riding in was finally over the glistening blue water, traffic came to an abrupt standstill.

She sighed in frustration as she saw a lone sailboat out on the water. The cars dotting the bridge stretched on as far as the eye could see—an endless stream of red brake lights.

Unfortunately for her, the closest decent-sized airport was all the way in Richmond—several hours away. A cab ride there was going to cost her a small fortune, but what was she supposed to do? Hunter’s military connections had allowed them to fly in near Little Creek on a military jet from an air force base outside Washington, DC, but as for her?

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