Page 63 of Stealthy Seduction
Alyssa blew on her own freshly painted nails, and her exhale turned into a snort. “Not true, Sophie. You’relovely. Besides, natural brows are in.”
Even with the laughter and easy camaraderie, Izzy found her attention drifting toward the door every few minutes. The house did feel different when the men were in the war room—like the very walls were waiting for whatever decision or plan would be made.
Kennedy caught the direction of Izzy’s glances. “You’re worried about Hudson,” she said softly.
It wasn’t really a question, so Izzy didn’t bother denying it. “I just…I want to see with my own eyes that he’s okay. I know that’s probably silly—”
“It’s not silly at all,” Sophie interrupted in her calm, gentle manner. “When people matter to us, we worry. It’s human nature.”
“Plus,” Alyssa added with a knowing smile, “Hudson’s probably doing the exact same thing right now. These guys might be tough as nails, but they’re watchdogs when it comes to the people they care about.”
The observation made Izzy’s chest warm in a way that was both comforting and terrifying. The idea that Hudson might be sitting in that war room thinking about her, worrying about her emotional state the same way she was worried about his safety—it suggested a level of mutual investment that she hadn’t quite let herself acknowledge before.
May added a second coat to her burgundy nails. “We all know that our alpha males brood a lot when they think we’re not looking.”
Kennedy snorted with laughter. “Then they claim they’re evaluating threats.”
The absurdity of their situation—five women painting their nails while their Navy SEAL boyfriends planned tactical operations in another room—struck Izzy as both ridiculous and somehow perfect.
This was what normal looked like for them now, and despite everything, she found herself not wanting to change it.
“I think I’m in trouble.” The words escaped from Izzy before she could stop them.
“What kind of trouble?” Alyssa’s tone suggested she already knew.
“The kind where you start planning your whole life around someone else’s presence in it.” She watched the paint, called Forged Desire, dry on her nails. “The kind where you realize that all those therapy retreats and healing workshops only taught you how to be okay alone, but they never prepared you for wanting to be okay with someone else.”
The room went quiet for a moment, but it was the comfortable kind of silence that came from shared understanding rather than awkwardness.
“Welcome to the club,” Kennedy said finally, raising her gold-polished hand in a mock salute. “Population: all of us.”
Before Izzy could respond, the thud of boots on the marble floors made all of them look toward the door. But instead of the serious, post-meeting energy she’d been expecting, what emerged was something entirely different.
Hudson appeared in the doorway first, his face lit up with the kind of boyish excitement she’d never seen from him before. With the oxygen punched from her chest, she watched as one by one, the rest of the team crowded into view, all of them wearing expressions that seemed to hover between pride and barely contained enthusiasm.
“Ladies,” Con announced with the formal tone she’d heard him use for mission briefings, “you’ve been summoned.”
“Summoned?” May raised an eyebrow even as a suspicious expression stole over her pretty features.
Chase stepped forward, scooping Alyssa up from the sectional before she could protest.
She squealed. “My nails aren’t done!”
“They are now. To the theater room. We’ve got a surprise for you.”
Izzy looked up into Hudson’s eyes, then down at her own nails. They were close in color, but his eyes weresomuch better.
When he moved toward her, that familiar warmth spread through her chest, but this time it was accompanied by something else—a startling moment of absolute clarity.
She…
She was…
Definitely in love with him.
The realization should have been terrifying. But as he lifted her effortlessly into his arms, his eyes bright thanks to whatever plan they’d concocted, all she felt was a sense of rightness settling deep inside her.
When they entered the theater room, he turned his lips against her ear. “Family movie night. Complete with all your favorite snacks and a movie you mentioned wanting to see.”
