Chapter 4

Jay’s alarm rang. He rolled over, groaning. His dreams had been filled with thoughts of Nichole, and now he was hard as a rock. Jerking off in the shower was the only solution so he didn’t embarrass himself at work.

Before he pulled on his clothes, he heated up a breakfast sandwich and poured a travel mug of coffee. He was out the door in less than fifteen minutes. Thoughts of Nichole still warmed him, but the lust was mostly under control. He couldn’t wait to see her. Not that they’d made plans, but they were in contact now, or would be as soon as he replied to the note he would write today. Eventually, they would get together for another week of fun. This time, he wouldn’t let her walk away without promising to get together again later.

Thoughts of his parents hit. Eventually, he would have to see them, but they could travel to California if they really wanted to visit. Disappointment wound through him. He would never be enough for them unless he gave up everything that mattered and followed their path.

He pushed away the thoughts and concentrated on driving to work. By the time he made it into the building with their offices, he’d finished his sandwich and coffee. He would eat more later, but at least he had enough fuel for the workout this morning.

“Hey, meeting in five,” Griz said as Jay stepped in.

“What, I didn’t get a—” Just then, his phone pinged with a notification about the meeting.

“Good thing I’m on time.”

Jay took his seat, wishing he’d had time to grab another cup of coffee. Usually, these meetings were informational, but sometimes they produced action. Today he wasn’t sure if he wanted this to be an action meeting or just information.

Going out on missions was their jam, but he wanted to see Nichole. Going out on a mission would push his reply even later. Maybe she wouldn’t like that he hadn’t responded in a reasonable time. He should have written out a reply last night, but he hadn’t wanted to say the wrong thing.

When he’d first read her email, he thought about replying automatically, but he’d wanted to sit with it and prove he wasn’t some out-of-control lust fiend who only wanted her for her body. He wanted her body, but he wanted more than just another fling. She was offering up a fun weekend or week, which he knew they would end up in bed again, but he wanted to at least appear to be deeper than just a dude full of cum.

He had leave, and he wanted to spend it with her, wrapped in her arms, sitting on the beach beside her, or just enjoying good food and laughs.

That she wanted to see him again amazed him. Now that he had her email address, he had a way to contact her. He should have tried before, but he’d always felt lame searching for her contact info after reading one of her articles. Nichole was smart and interesting, and he was just some military geek who barely had a life of his own.

“Okay, settle down. We have a lot to discuss. A medical group operating in the Middle East was taken captive. The group claiming responsibility has released a video of one of the doctors reading their message.They also showed the two people they killed. They have made demands and currently are holding ten people. They are making threats, but we’re not sure how serious they are.”

The guys mumbled, expressing their dislike for terrorists who took hostages. Anger flared, and Jay wove his fingers together on the table in front of him, taking deep breaths to stay calm. This was where their skills were most useful. Some people may describe them as killing machines, but they are more nuanced than machines. They used their humanity to determine force. Killing doctors who were helping civilians survive was beyond monstrous. There was no coming back from that. They would have to respond now.

The lieutenant giving the briefing pulled up another screen on the computer. “Petty Officer Williamson, your team will be heading over. I’m not sure what you’ll find once you get there, but we’ll keep gathering intel while you’re in the air. Two hours and the plane leaves.”

Sharp pressed his lips together. Jay wondered how hard it was for Sharp to leave Danika behind. There were plenty of SEALs who were able to deal with relationships, but he knew of a few who’d lost families because of the missions that popped up and took them away from important family events. It was just a part of being in a relationship with a SEAL. It was probably good that he didn’t have someone. What would Nichole think of his job? Would she be the type of woman who stuck around, or would she leave once she realized the demands of his job?

“Dismissed. We’ll see you in less than two hours.”

“Hold on,” someone said as they shuffled to the front of the room. “Sorry, sir, they released another video moments ago.”

Jay groaned as he lowered to the chair. He had a go bag here on base, so he didn’t have to head home to get his things, but it would be nice to eat something and grab more coffee. The video came up on the large screen at the front of the room. He sat back, ready to listen to the terrorists’ bullshit, but he wasn’t prepared for what he saw.