Page 18 of Saved By the SEAL

“Oh, my God, is this nice?” I ask my confused reflection in the mirror. “I don’t know if it looks as good as it did before.”

I’m wearing the dress,thedress that Jordan liked so much in the shop because what the hell else would I wear? But I’m not quite as confident as I was before when I was in it. I don’t know what it is, but I feel a little weird now. I don’t know if it’s the dress or if it’s the nerves, half about being outside and half about being on a date with Jordan. My God, a date is on another level. It amps things up between us, which is freaking crazy. It’s nerve-racking but a lot of fun too.

It’s going tobefun too, I just know it. Every moment I spend with him is awesome, but this is going to be… new.

“Come on, it’s time to go.” I glance toward the bedroom door with my heart pounding in my throat. “Let’s do this.”

I step anxiously toward the door, already knowing that Jordan will be waiting for me behind it. He is, of course, but he doesn’t look exactly like the Jordan I’ve been spending my days with. He’s really dressed up for me, and it makes me all squishy inside. I go all coy and hot. I know I probably look silly, but Jordan looks at me as if I’m stunning.

“Oh, wow, that dress.” He smiles and shakes his head happily. “It always looks amazing. It looks lovely with the hair, too.”

“You think so?” I run my fingers through my locks. “I’m glad. I don’t know if it looks so great now.”

He takes a couple of giant strides, closing the gap between us. “You look incredible, Michelle, don’t you doubt it.”

He practically scoops me up in his arms and dips me down into a kiss. His lips connect deeply with mine, and I’m immediatelytransported to heaven with him. I don’t know why I was nervous before because weknowone another. We’re so in touch with one another that getting anxious is silly. Jordan feels like… home. Like we belong to one another.

“Are you ready to go?” Jordan asks me with a small smile as he pulls back. “I have a private place where we can go, where no one will be able to see us. I’m sure it’s going to be the perfect night out. So, are you still excited to go?”

I nod eagerly, feeling like I’m on top of the world. Dating and eating out in public is something that I haven’t considered in a very long time because I assumed that it was going to be scary, but now it feels like the obvious next step for me and Jordan. A date will take things further and solidify what’s going on between us. Whatever that might be…

15

JORDAN

“This place is amazing,” Michelle gasps as we take a seat in our little personal booth which I booked especially for us. “I love it. And there aren’t really any other people here, which is awesome. I can actually relax and enjoy myself. Oh, I need that.”

I love seeing her shoulders roll back and her chin jut out. I can see her confidence shining out once more. It makes me yearn for the day when she can be like this full-time, when the danger has passed for good. I really hope that happens because although it might cause a separation for the two of us, she deserves to feel like she can live as everyone else does.

Since I haven’t had any sign of Russian danger, no matter how hard I’ve been looking for it, it feels like things really are going to be good for Michelle, for which I’m so happy. Of course, I’ll be terribly sad if things don’t work out for us, but instead of wallowing in that, I want to enjoy the moments we do have together. We need to create the best memories ever.

“I’m glad.” I reach across the table and hold her hand. “I want you to enjoy our date, and this place is perfect, right?”

“Sure.” She nods, but I do spot her eyes darting around everywhere. She can’t let herself fully let go just in case. “Definitely.”

A candle flickers between us, making her look even more beautiful than normal. I don’t know if she can have self-doubt at all. She’s utterly perfect to me, especially in that dress, but she feels it, anyway. I can see it rolling off her in waves.

“So the job…” I decide to talk about her positive day, to remind her of what brought us here. Particularly since we didn’t talk about it enough beforehand. I was far too preoccupied with the weird woman then. “Tell me more about it. What’s the office like? What are the other people like? I want to hear all about it. You must be so excited to get started on Monday.”

“Everyone seems amazing,” she begins, glowing with happiness. “Obviously, I didn’t get to speak to anyone in particular, but people were really friendly to me, so I think I’m going to do really well there. I might even make friends.” I give her a look, which she interprets immediately. “Don’t worry, I already know not to tell them too much. I get it. I’ll always have to keep a bit of a barrier up so no one knows where I’ve come from and what I’ve done. But friends… I want friends.”

I can see her desperate for those connections, for that life, and it has me wondering how I ever doubted her at all. I can clearly see now what Max saw in Michelle. I’ll definitely trust him more in the future, that’s for sure. He knows what he’s doing.

“Well, I believe that you’ll get the life you wanted. The life that you talked about when we first met. The American Dream. The apartment, which you already have, the job, which you’re starting on Monday, friends, dating…” My words trail off as Iland on that one. Thinking about Michelle dating around and exploring that side of her life is too much for me.

“Which I’m doing right now,” she jumps in, sensing my discomfort at the idea of her hanging out with lots of other guys, not that I have any right to tell her not to. “And I’m very happy with it. You’ve helped me to overcome my fear of being out. I mean, I don’t think it’s something I’ll do all the time. I wouldn’t be able to do that withoutyou. But I’m still grateful.”

I allow myself to smile once more, and we continue to hold hands across the table. We lock ourselves in a delightful little bubble where I’m pretty sure we’ll stay all night long. Just me and her, loving one another’s company. Even when the waiter comes over to our table, he isn’t quite as close to us as we are one another. He’s on the outside looking in.

We order food. I barely even know what I ask for. It doesn’t matter. I’m not here for the food, but for the company. I also ask for a bottle of champagne since we’re celebrating and I want to spoil Michelle, which makes her gasp with delight.

“You don’t need to do that for me,” she gushes with her hands clapped to her lips. “It isn’t that exciting news.”

“Don’t treat it as just a job,” I insist seriously, knowing she needs to hear this. “This is a huge deal. It’s a step into your new life. Think back to a while ago when it seemed like this wasn’t possible. Always remember how awesome your progress is. This is also our first proper date, so I think we both deserve a treat, don’t you? Champagne is a treat for the pair of us.”

She nods eagerly, accepting this now, which is awesome. I don’t want her to question anything about tonight. I just want the bothof us to enjoy it for everything that it is. I need this night to be magical, the best memory ever, just in case…

“To us!” I declare once we both have a drink in our hands. We clink our glasses together and beam happily over the candlelight. “To everything we have been through and everything we will keep on achieving.”

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