Page 39 of Rescued by a SEAL

“It looks perfect,” she said.

Mason spread the blanket down on the sand and watched as Taylor elegantly fold her legs beneath her and sat down. Her dress hugged her breasts even more in that position, and he resisted the urge to groan.

He set his backpack down on one corner of the blanket to help weight it down, sinking to the ground beside her.

“All right—I’ve got sandwiches, fruit, cheese, crackers, water, pretzels.”

“Wow, you must be hungry,” she said.

“I worked up an appetite this morning,” he quipped. “Actually, I really did. I played basketball with Hunter on base after I left your place.”

She opened a bottle of water and took a long sip, setting it beside her on the blanket. “Basketball, huh? You’re a busy guy.”

“Hell, I could’ve stayed with you all morning, but I wanted to give you some space.”

“Yeah, uh, this morning—wow.”

Mason chuckled, loving the hint of rosiness that spread across her cheeks. Hell, he’d thought of little else since then. Driving away from her apartment, he’d imagined all the ways he could pleasure her. All the nights and mornings they’d spend making love.

Although he hadn’t exactly planned on spending the night at her place, he hoped for a hell of a lot more of that in their future.

“I could go for some fruit and a sandwich,” Taylor said, changing the subject.

“Sure thing. I confess that I made none of this,” he said with a grin as he started pulling plastic containers from his backpack.

“You didn’t make it and then package it like they do at the grocery store? Seriously, Mason, this is perfect. I mean, why do you think I work at Anchors? I love being by the water. And I think its sweet that you packed a picnic for his.

Mason chuckled. “Sweet, huh? Do me a favor and don’t tell the rest of my SEAL team.”

Taylor smiled at him, the ocean breeze rustling the loose tendrils of her hair. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Next time I’ll bring a bottle of wine. I wish I thought of it earlier—I kind of just grabbed what I could at the grocery store.”

“But you’re a beer drinker,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

He chuckled. “That I am. I’d probably bring a couple of beers for myself. But, when I bring you to that bonfire I was telling you about, there’s always several coolers full of drinks. Most of the guys are beer drinkers, as you know. But the women are more into wine.”

“It looks like a storm in the distance,” Taylor said, squinting at the horizon.

Mason gazed out at the dark clouds over the ocean. They were several miles away and would probably blow right up the coast. “I think it’ll stay offshore. It was supposed to be great weather on the beach today. There are plenty of times there are storms at sea that never come onto the land.”

“Have you been caught in any?”

Mason nodded, taking a bite of his own sandwich. “Hell, we train in them sometimes. Mother Nature doesn’t care when we get called up, so we have to be prepared for all kinds of scenarios.”

“I guess you can’t really talk about the work you do—the missions you go on and stuff.”

“That’s a negative, sweetheart. And it’s not because I’m ever trying to keep something from you. The missions themselves require operational security—we can’t risk having word get out as to where we’re deploying to, what we’re doing, when we’ll be back. And even when we return, no one else is privy to the details.”

“I understand,” she said softly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You look a little sad.”

She shrugged. “I’ll just worry about you when you’re gone. I mean—I know we’re not exactly dating or something. This is just one date,” she hurriedly rambled on.

Mason’s chest tightened. She looked so flustered at the moment, but damn. To have someone worry about him back at home when he went out on an op?

It hadn’t exactly been something he’d wanted until right at this moment.

And now?

He couldn’t imagine leaving without rushing right back to her side when he returned.

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