Page 11 of Summer with a SEAL

“Sounds good,” she said.

They left the others at the bonfire and headed toward the things the women had left earlier. Jacob’s arm brushed lightly against hers as they walked, and she felt shivers racing down her spine. It was a warm summer night, but goodness if she didn’t feel chills when he was near.

The sundress she had on ruffled in the ocean breeze, and she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

Between the adrenaline of the guys rescuing Amy and the butterflies in her stomach just from being near Jacob, she felt like she’d jumped off a cliff or something.

It was exhilarating and exciting and also scary as hell.

A guy like him could shatter her heart into a million pieces. She’d fall head over heels, perhaps, and he’d check one more girl off his list. He was funny and flirtatious—she didn’t doubt for a second that he’d been with a lot of women.

She wasn’t built that way—and as flattering as his attention was, and as much as she appreciated his help tonight, it wasn’t like anything would come of it.

“How about one date,” Jacob said as she began stuffing their belongings into a bag. He glanced up, flashing her a grin, and she tried not to stare at his muscular physique. Jacob shirtless was hot as hell, and she didn’t need to let herself become smitten with a man she didn’t even know. “We’ll go to dinner later this week, and if you’re not happy for whatever reason, I’ll bring you right back home. No pressure.”

“I can’t meet you there?” she hedged.

“You can if you want, but that wouldn’t be a real date then. Besides, if things go well on our date, I’m hoping to drive you back home and kiss you goodnight.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe I can kiss you?” he teased, his eyes sparking with interest as she blushed.

“Maybe we can go to dinner.”

He chuckled, lifting the cooler tote and beach bags up as if they weighed nothing at all. “I can work with that, angel. And just so you know—I’d never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. If you want to go home or have second thoughts or something, just say the word. I’ll bring you back home, no questions asked.”

She slung her own tote bag over her shoulder and pointed to a house, barely visible now in the near-darkness. “That’s us right there.”

“You’ve got a sweet place for the summer.”

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore helped to calm her frayed nerves. “Yeah, it’s so dark and peaceful down this way, too. We were on the boardwalk the other night—you can see pretty well with all the lights. But down here? I like to sit out on our deck at night and just listen to the waves. Look at the stars.”

“I’ll admit I love being around the water, too. Of course, I joined the Navy, so that’s somewhat of a requirement,” he added with a low chuckle.

The soft sand shifted beneath her feet as they walked, and then they were at their beach house. “I know you weren’t planning on being away from the house so long, but you should really lock up,” he said as she opened the sliding glass door on the ground level.

“We will next time for sure,” she said, dropping her bag down onto the tiled floor. Jacob followed suit, setting the rest of the stuff down. “So, there’s an extra bathroom right there if you want to change. Feel free to shower or whatever, too, if you want. I’m going to go upstairs and change real quick before we head to the hospital.”

“Sounds good.” He pulled his cell phone from the dry shorts he was carrying. “Ryker said they’re in the emergency room now.”

“Oh good, okay. Michelle’s phone is here with her stuff, so I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get any updates.”

Jacob quickly scanned the next text. “They’re both being examined right now. Ryker thinks they’ll leave pretty soon.”

“Wow. That would be amazing. I broke my arm once and waited for over an hour just to be seen.”

“When you arrive by ambulance, I’m sure you get priority. Plus drowning victims aren’t really something they want to wait around with. The ER probably needed to make sure they didn’t have water in their lungs or anything. A broken arm is painful, sure, but if it wasn’t bleeding, you weren’t in danger.”

“You’re right. Well, I guess we could wait here for them…. I mean, you don’t have to wait of course. But I can wait for them to get back.”

“We can hang out on that deck of yours,” he said, flashing her his crooked grin. “Ryker’s bringing them back, so I might as well stick around. I’ll shoot him a text after I change and see what the status is.”

She nodded, feeling nervous all over again. She wasn’t planning on hanging out here alone with Jacob tonight. That was a date of sorts, wasn’t it? The two of them, all by themselves. “All right. Just, um, come on upstairs after you’ve changed or whatever.”

She flushed, suddenly imaging Jacob stripping off his wet shorts and boxers. He probably was a boxer guy, she figured. But she shouldn’t be picturing him standing around in his underwear. This was crazy.

And how could he act so blasé about hanging out together in her beach house? He probably went home with random women all the time, she realized. She didn’t have guys over here. But to him? This was probably just another night.

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