Page 18 of Rescued by a SEAL

He blew out a frustrated sigh.

“True, but I have plenty of friends on base. Guys on another SEAL team even. I’ll get you the number of Ice, their SEAL team leader. If you can’t get a hold of me, I want you to call him.”

“Ice?”

“It’s his nickname. Patrick ‘Ice’ Foster. He’s a good guy—you’d like him. Married with a couple of kids.”

“I can’t drag them into this.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to. But we all look out for one another. Hell, his own wife—girlfriend at the time—was stalked by someone a couple of years ago. All the guys on the Alpha SEAL team watched out for her. The next time your ex comes around, call me. I’m not expecting him to keep coming back after we’re through.”

“I don’t want to get you into some sort of trouble. Oh, take the next right. My best friend lives in the apartments off Juniper.”

“Gotcha,” he said, his voice tight.

Mason followed her directions, pulling into the apartment complex. He shut off the engine and glanced over at her, his face tense in the street lights from the lot. “I’ll help you figure this out, sweetheart. Hell, whether you want to go out with me or not, I’ll help you. No man should be forcing a woman to let him into her apartment, uninvited, and I want this taken care of before the situation escalates. Before I have to leave again and you’re here all alone.”

She nodded, heat coursing through her. Having a man like Mason concerned about her was intimidating in an entirely different way. He was concerned about her. Could protect her. But what about when he was gone? Or got bored and moved on?

She couldn’t let herself fall for a man like him, despite how much she appreciated him being here now. Despite how badly she wanted to be with him.

She was attracted to him and intrigued by him, but then what?

He’d move on, maybe even bring a date into Anchors, and she’d be on the outside looking in. Watching him and his buddies have a good time while she pretended that it didn’t hurt.

“How long did you say you were together?” Mason asked when she hadn’t said anything.

“Three years. He was shocked when I broke up with him, and I—I don’t like that he’s been coming around more and more. Instead of moving on and getting past our breakup, he seems like he’s trying to get back together with me. He keeps showing up, insisting that we talk and he come in. Of course, he’s too drunk to have much of a conversation about anything.”

“Does he know where your friend lives?” Mason asked, nodding toward the building.

“Bailey? Yeah, of course. We dated for several years, so he’s been here plenty of times. He wasn’t always an asshole,” she added. “Things started to sour when he began drinking more. He couldn’t hold down a steady job, and the guys he hangs around with are bad news.”

Mason nodded, seemingly lost in thought. “All right. I’ll walk you to the door,” he said, climbing out of the vehicle.

Taylor was already climbing out of the SUV by the time he rounded the front.

“I would’ve helped you,” he said, his voice deep.

She grabbed her purse from the front seat, stepping back as Mason shut the door. “I’m fine.”

“Maybe I just wanted an excuse to hold you close,” he said, his voice gruff.

His arm draped over her shoulders, and he pulled her toward him like they belonged together. Like they were a couple heading home for the evening, not a man dropping off a waitress he barely even knew.

Okay, so she was slightly more than just his waitress.

He’d gotten her number, they’d texted, he’d asked her out.

That didn’t mean she should make any more out of this than what it was though.

He frowned as they walked toward the apartment building. “I don’t like that you work such late hours—it’s not safe for a single woman to be out alone this late at night. Especially not with a jilted ex following you around.”

“I’ve had this shift for months—you guys should know. You’re in Anchors all the time.”

“Yep,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Guilty as charged. And hell if I didn’t like seeing you there.” His hand rested on the small of her back as they walked up the stairs of the garden style apartment building, the heat from his skin blazing through the tee shirt she had on. It felt like he was leaving an imprint on her skin—branding her with his mark.

And she liked his touch a little too much.

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