Page 21 of Loved by a SEAL

Crying suddenly coming from the back door caught their attention, and Patrick excused himself to go tend to his son, shooting Sarah a look of disbelief.

“I’ll take the blame,” Ryan assured her.

“Very funny. You know he’d never blame you for anything.”

Ryan reached out, his thumb and forefinger lightly brushing over her forearm, causing electricity to shoot straight through her. “He will if I say so,” he added, taking his hand away as she relaxed her stance, letting her arms fall to her sides. “So who do you want to fight against? Blade? Cobra?”

“Ha ha,” she said sarcastically. “How about none of the above?”

“Your call,” he conceded. A hint of humor filled his eyes.

Voices from the back door drifted in, and Sarah looked over to see Evan and Alison walking into the living room. “We’re going to call it a night,” Alison said. “I’ve been on my feet too long as it is.”

Another couple followed them inside. It was hard to keep all the guys on the SEAL team straight sometimes, but she recognized Lexi’s dark hair. Which meant the man beside her was Christopher, the computer whiz. Interestingly enough, Lexi was the only woman who seemed to like Ryan. Not that he’d really talked with her much tonight, either, but apparently they’d worked on a case together way back when. Some kind of hacker scandal or something.

And then Lexi had been kidnapped.

Seriously, this entire group needed a whole new profession. Stalkers, kidnappers—who knew what else?

Alison yawned, drawing Sarah’s attention over to her. “Let me just grab my business card for you before you go. Um, excuse me,” she added.

Ryan turned to let her pass through the doorway, so close that the cotton of his polo shirt brushed against her bare arm. The woodsy scent of his aftershave filled the air between them, and she resisted the urge to shiver—it was that damn air conditioning anyway. She still hadn’t adjusted the thermostat.

No, it had absolutely nothing to do with the arrogant man she’d almost decked earlier.

A man who commanded this entire group of Navy SEALs.

Shit.

Evan was saying goodnight to their CO, but Sarah could swear she felt Ryan’s heated gaze on her as she grabbed her purse from the table. Couldn’t she have tried to punch one of the other guys instead? She rummaged through her hobo bag, turning and handing her business card to Alison.

“No ice baths,” Ryan quipped.

“What?” Alison asked in confusion.

“Never mind him,” Sarah said smoothly. “I already explained earlier that I’m a physical therapist. Seriously, give me a call.”

“Thanks so much, I really appreciate it,” Alison said.

“No problem.” Sarah’s phone buzzed in her handbag, and she pulled it out, seeing a text from Morgan.

She might as well duck out now while some of the others were leaving. She’d meet up with Morgan and get the heck out of here before anyone else asked any specifics about her encounter with Ryan a few minutes ago. The other guys would no doubt get a kick out of her sparring with their CO.

“Bye Captain Mitchell,” Lexi said. “See you on Monday.”

“You work with them, too?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, I’m an IT specialist.”

“More like a hacker,” Christopher said, slinging his arm around Lexi’s shoulders as the three of them headed out the door.

“I didn’t realize you were on base. I thought Patrick said you worked at the Pentagon.”

“I did,” Lexi said, her violet eyes brightening. “But then I ended up down here. Ran into Christopher again after ten years—and the rest is history.”

“And believe it or not, we regularly work together now. Lexi’s the best at what she does—it’s awesome to have her on base with us.”

“Plus your CO loves me.”

“That’s hard to imagine—no offense,” Sarah added.

“None taken,” Lexi laughed. “Trust me—he’s more bark than bite.”

Christopher unlocked the passenger door of his pick-up truck, pulling open the door for Lexi. “Can we drop you off at your car, Sarah?”

“I’ll see her to her car,” a deep voice behind them interrupted.

“Sonofabitch,” Christopher muttered.

Sarah’s face heated as she slowly turned around. Ryan’s eyebrow was cocked. “No punches this time, okay?”

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