Page 25 of My Grumpy SEAL

“I’m yet to get a reply on the report I dropped off for you two days ago.” She raisesher brow at me.

I had forgotten about that. It must be somewhere in my office, buried under other files.

“Go ahead with it,” I tell her.

She looks stunned. “Just like that?” Her brown eyes narrow in suspicion and her lips squeeze together. I can tell what she is thinking already.

“Go ahead and do your job, Miss Ortiz, or would you rather I act like I have a vendetta against you?I remember you had a lot of words to say to me the last time you were in my office.”

She goes red at the memory of that night and I curse under my breath. I quickly shoulder past her and walk out of the resort. Harry is waiting for meinthe car park.

“My man,” he clasps my hand. “Let’s get right into it.”

He is here to check on the progressofthe wedding plans.

“Few weeksleft to my wedding day, man,” he exhales. “Do the jitters come in now or later?”

“You’ll get over it,” I tell him dismissively.

We walk through the beach and I map out how the event will look.

“Shouldn’t Bella be here?” he asks me.

“She is unavailable,” I tell him dismissively. He throws me a curious look, but I ignore him.

“Did you guys fight? Wait, you don’t fight with your employees,you aggravate them till they explode. So did you fire heror did she quit?” He strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Damn, you lost a good one there.”

“Can we talk about something else,” I snap at him and he gives me an incredulous look.

“Fine, let’s talk about love.” I groan and he smiles. “Come on, humor me. You’ve got to find love, man or you will be an uptight asshole for life.”

“I was fortunate to findlove as you know.” He places his hand on his chest withpride;“Cecilia and I just clicked. The first time I met her in that infirmary it was love at first sight and now here we are.” He gestures at the beach.

Harry and Cecilia met in the Navy. She had been working as a nurse in the infirmary and was the hot topic among the guys then.Yet Harrysomehowmanagedto outshine every guy and won Cecilia’s heart. Even I was shocked.

“How did you know it was love though? Not some infatuation or disaster about to happen,” I ask and he smiles. He is enjoying this.

“I remember I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I noticed every little thing she did, even how her dimple deepens when she smiles or laughs.” He touches his hand. “I remember the first time she touched me I had shivers. It was beautiful, man. Everything she did was beautiful. She held a syringe and it looked amazing.”

“You have it bad, man. Borderline deranged love actually.” I tap his shoulder.

“Wait till you get there,” he tells me.

I was there. Two years ago I had let myself get fooled into believing in the façade of love. Stephanie shattered me more than anyone ever had.

“What if being with this person means crossingaboundary?” I ask again.

He strokes his chin. “Ever heard of YOLO? You Only Live Once.”

“Your point?” Even though I already know.

“If we all lived within the lines mapped out for us in life, we would never soar. We would all be birdswith clipped wings.”

“Very smart,” I say sarcastically.

“If I had stayed within my lane, Cecilia and I would have never fallen in love. Think of it, she was a full ten. She had bigger; better options but she chose me.”

“I wonder why,” I say dryly.

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