Page 41 of Rescued by a SEAL

A big gust of wind blew her dress, and she shrieked as it billowed around her. “I’ll get the food,” Mason said, quickly gathering everything. He tucked everything into his backpack and grabbed the blanket as he stood, balling it up. He reached over for Taylor’s hand, and then they were hurrying across the sand as the rain began to fall.

They were soaking wet by the time they got back to Mason’s SUV, and Taylor began to laugh. “So much for beating the rain.”

Her dress clung to her like a second skin, and Mason’s gaze heated as it ran over her body. He impulsively ducked down and kissed her, sending a thrill shooting straight through her. He grabbed a towel from the back of his SUV, handing it to her she climbed inside.

“Your seats will be soaked!” she protested.

“It’s fine,” he assured her.

A moment later he was rounding the car and climbing into the driver’s seat, chuckling as the rain pounded down on the windshield. “So much for being suave and pulling off a nice picnic for our first date.”

“Hey, you got a workout in,” she joked. “Running back to your car was the most I’ve run in years.”

“Well whatever you do, it works,” he said. “You always look amazing.”

“Walk,” she said, towel-drying her hair. She dabbed at her chest with the now sopping wet towel. “I walk down the boardwalk. Running isn’t really my thing.”

“No problem there,” he said with a chuckle. “I run because I have to for training. It’s not exactly fun unless you’re running through the rain with a beautiful woman.”

She flushed as Mason started the engine.

“I have some dry clothes you can change into at my place,” he said, glancing over at her. “They’ll be way too big, but at least they’ll be warm. Or I can take you home to get something if you’d prefer.”

“I guess I can change into something of yours if you don’t mind,” she said shyly. Mason had to be a foot taller than her, but something about wearing clothing that was his, that had been flush against his skin, sounded appealing.

“All right. I kind of like the idea of you wearing my clothes,” he said, his voice gruff.

He pulled onto the road, his windshield wipers swishing back and forth. Another loud crash of thunder sent her jumping in her seat. The heavens completely opened then, with rain pounding down on his SUV.

“I’m glad you have a large vehicle,” she said as Mason carefully navigated the wet roads. “With some of these storms we get, I’m worried to drive alone through them in my small car.”

“You’ve probably met some of the guys on the other SEAL team in Anchors,” he said.

“Probably. It’s tough to keep track of everyone, but there’s definitely familiar faces in there every week.”

“One of the guys, Mike, has a girlfriend named Kenley. Actually, I think they’re engaged now. It’s hard to keep track of everyone on their team. But anyway, Kenley’s car ran off the road in a bad storm a year or so ago. Mike ended up finding her when no one else could.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. And horrible,” Taylor added.

“Yeah, amazingly she wasn’t hurt too badly, and her car was in one piece. She was stuck inside though and couldn’t get out.”

“You seem like you’re all ready close,” she observed. She had her best friend Bailey of course but never a large circle of friends like Mason did.

“We are. But you’ll get to know all of them more, too. We all look out for one another.”

A few minutes later, Mason was pulling into the driveway of a townhouse not far from Little Creek. “Are you renting?” she asked, feeling slightly envious of all the space he must have. Her tiny apartment worked for her, but she’d love to have a bigger home someday to decorate with her photos.

“I bought it a few years ago,” he said proudly.

“Consider me impressed.”

He shrugged. “I get hazard duty a lot of the time, and there’s not much I need. I saved up and was ready for my own place.” He looked out the window at the pouring rain. “I guess we can make a run for it. I can go in and grab an umbrella if you want, but seeing as though we’re already both soaking wet….”

“Let’s run,” she agreed.

“All right. I’ll grab the food from the trunk and them come around to get you out.”

Before she could protest, he was already opening the driver side door and circling the car. The hatch to the trunk closed as soon as he grabbed his backpack, and then Mason was opening her door. He helped her step down, the rain pouring down around them, and before she could say a word, he was scooping her up into his arms. He pushed the car door shut with his side as she clung to him, and then Mason was jogging up the front steps.

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