Page 16 of Summer with a SEAL

“They do, I think. Ryker said they were getting sent off somewhere—some sort of mission I guess. He couldn’t really tell me any details.” She shrugged, moving toward the fridge to take out her creamer.

“So…that’s it? They’re just leaving?”

Worry churned through her stomach. She’d just met Jacob last night, but certainly he’d say if he was leaving…right? They’d made tentative plans for later in the week, so he’d at least tell her that he’d be gone. “I’ll be right back,” she said, jumping up.

Hurrying down the hall toward her bedroom, she saw that Amy’s door was still shut. She’d have to check on her if she wasn’t up in an hour or so, just to make sure she was okay after yesterday. Getting caught in a riptide like that would probably tire anyone out though.

Pulling the charger from her phone, she swiped the screen and frowned, not seeing any messages.

“Everything okay?” Michelle asked, poking her head in the room.

“Yeah, I just—just wanted to check and see if Jacob had texted,” she said lightly.

“He didn’t tell you he was leaving?” Michelle asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Nope. Not that he needed to. We hung out last night,” she said with a shrug. “We made tentative plans for later this week but didn’t set a date or time or anything. Maybe he’ll be back before then.”

“Yeah, probably. I’m not worried.”

Jessica resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she followed Michelle back to the kitchen. Of course, she wasn’t worried—she’d just slept with Ryker. And showered with him. No doubt he wanted to see Michelle again if the interest in his eyes was any indication. Plus he’d stayed all night, not snuck out after they’d had sex.

But Jacob?

What was he supposed to do—call and say he’d be gone?

A text or something would’ve been nice, but whatever. She’d see him when he got back. Maybe.

“So anyway,” Michelle continued, and Jessica realized she hadn’t been paying attention. “We’ll hit the beach later on and then check out that place for drinks that Bailey was telling us about.”

“Sure, sounds good. Is she even working tonight?”

“I’ll text her and find out,” Michelle said, pouring a ton of creamer into her coffee.

“You got her number, too?” Jessica asked in disbelief.

Michelle paused mid-sip. “Of course. How else can we make sure to go when she’s bartending? Her boyfriend is one of the SEALs. Maybe she can tell us when they’ll be back.”

“Yeah,” Jessica said dryly. “I’m sure they tell her all their Top Secret plans.”

Michelle shrugged. “So stay home then. I figured you’d appreciate some details if you wanted to go out with Jacob. I know I wouldn’t mind getting the dirt on Ryker.”

“Fine, we can go,” Jessica conceded.

“Awesome.”

Jessica glanced out the window at the picture-perfect blue sky and waves crashing on the shore. Funny how their peaceful little summer vacation had suddenly gotten a lot more interesting.

Chapter 6

Jacob frowned, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair in the bullpen. His desert-camo fatigues and combat boots weren’t exactly what he’d planned on wearing this morning. Such was the life of a SEAL. He served God and country first—everything else had to be put on the back burner. One of the SEAL team commanders, Ryan Mitchell, stood at the front of the technology-laden room, pulling up satellite images onto the massive TV screen before the briefing began.

Ryker slid into the seat beside Jacob, smirking.

“Looks like someone got laid last night,” Noah quipped from across the table as the other men chuckled. “Nothing else would put you in such a damn good mood.”

“Did you stay at their place all night?” Jacob asked, raising his eyebrows. Ryker and Michelle had seemed more than happy when he’d said goodnight to Jessica yesterday, letting her walk him to the door. The last he’d seen, Michelle had been leading Ryker down the hallway, presumably to her room.

“Fuck yeah,” Ryker said. “Nearly scared your girl to death this morning though—guess she wasn’t expecting to see me first thing.”