Page 15 of Summer with a SEAL

Jessica padded down the hall toward the kitchen that morning, her mind filled with memories of sitting with Jacob out on the deck last night. He’d flirted with her and let her know he was interested but had remained a perfect gentleman.

They’d each sat in an Adirondack chair, beer in hand, and chatted for over an hour.

She’d almost been sorry when Ryker had come through the door with her friends. Not that she wasn’t happy Amy was okay. It was just that the hour had flown by, and she hadn’t had nearly enough time with Jacob.

Heat coursed through her just thinking about him. He’d told her he wanted to take her out and kiss her goodnight—part of her was almost disappointed he hadn’t tried it last night.

But there’d be time for that, she supposed. And they’d been waiting for Amy to get back from the ER, not been out on an official date or something. She was here all summer long, and maybe they’d go out a few times. It was nothing more than that, obviously, but—

She shrieked as she turned the corner and nearly bumped into a tall, shirtless man standing there.

“Whoa,” Ryker said, holding up both hands. “Easy there.”

“Sorry, Jess,” Michelle giggled, walking out from the kitchen in a skimpy camisole and sleep shorts. Ryker’s eyes heated appreciatively as he glanced at her, and then they both looked over at Jessica.

Ryker was ripped, with lean muscles across his abdomen leading down toward his boxer shorts. He had stubble across his jaw, and though he looked intimidating as hell at the moment, she knew that he wasn’t any sort of threat to them.

“It’s fine,” she said, taking a step back. “I didn’t realize you’d stayed over.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear us,” Ryker said with a wink.

She blushed, gesturing frantically at Michelle as Ryker turned to grab his phone buzzing on the coffee table. “A little warning, perhaps?” she hissed at Michelle.

“Well, I didn’t know he’d stay the whole night. We started fooling around after you went to bed, and one thing led to another.” The women glanced over at Ryker as he spoke in a low voice on the phone, not at all fazed to be standing there in the middle of their beach house wearing nothing but boxers. “So, Jacob’s not here?” Michelle asked.

“No, he’s not. I sent him on his way last night.”

“He was into you,” Michelle said.

Jessica shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. That doesn’t mean I wanted to sleep with him a couple of hours after we met. We’re planning to go out later this week. I gave him my number.”

“A date, huh? Maybe we can double date!”

Jessica shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “Is Ryker the dating type?”

“Only one way to find out. He was spectacular in bed though,” Michelle said, her eyes lighting up.

“Oh hush.”

“No worries. I’ll tell Amy about it later.” Jessica choked on her laughter as Ryker came back over, frowning. He glanced down at Michelle. “That was my commander—I’m needed on base ASAP.”

“You have to leave now?”

“Shortly,” he said, reaching out to briefly tousle her hair. “Something came up that’s urgent.”

“Well, I’ll let you two say your goodbyes,” Jessica said, excusing herself as she headed toward the kitchen. She heard Michelle shriek with laughter a moment later and resisted the urge to turn around and see what was going on.

Last night was good. Jacob was unexpected, but also…a good thing. He seemed like a nice guy, had a ton of friends, and had rushed off to rescue her friend at a moment’s notice. The fact that he was hot as hell didn’t hurt matters, either.

She started the coffee maker, glancing out the window while her coffee brewed. Ten minutes later, Michelle reappeared in the kitchen. Jessica looked up, her mug halfway to her mouth. “Why’s your hair all wet?”

“We showered together before Ryker headed out—and let me just say, that man can do amazing things with his tongue.”

Jessica nearly choked on her coffee.

“I hope you made the coffee extra strong this morning,” Michelle said with a wink. “We were up for hours.”

“Why’d he have to go into base today? I thought they had off on the weekends.”

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