Tempted by a SEAL (14 page)

“Why?” There had been a brief hesitation before his father’s guarded question.

“It looks like I might have to go out of town again.”

“When?”

“Soon.” Ninety or so minutes to wheels up qualified as soon. “I’m not sure for how long. You know they never give us firm dates.”

“Yeah, I know.” His father sighed. “I really wish you’d let me tell at least Laurie. She wouldn’t tell a soul. Son, I swear to you.”

“I’ve been rethinking that and you’re right. Laurie and Lydia should know.”

“Really? Oh, thank God. I’ve hated keeping this secret.”

“I know, Dad, but listen. I’d like to be the one to tell them. I’ll do it as soon as I’m home. I promise. But I’d really like it to come from me.”

His father laughed. “Don’t trust me?”
 

“I trust you. Just let me do it. Hold on a little longer. Please.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Thanks. So I gotta get going but I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

Again, there was an ominous pause. “All right. Stay safe.”

“I’ll do my best. Uh, give my best to Laurie and Lydia for me. K?”

“I will.”

“Thanks.” Mack disconnected the call and sighed.

He didn’t like withholding half the details of his life from everyone except his teammates any more than his father did.

Unfortunately that was the reality of this life. He could only hope Lydia understood when he finally did tell her.

CHAPTER 14

Lydia pushed through the doorway of her apartment barely juggling her overnight bag, her purse and the extra large cup of coffee she’d picked up on the drive.

She had to pee like a racehorse, hence the reason she’d stopped drinking the coffee half way through the drive and had to carry it now.

Dumping the bag on the floor, she glanced up to see Marissa in the kitchen.

“You’re finally home. I was worried you wouldn’t make it back in time for your class.”

“Not too worried. Why didn’t you answer your phone when I called?” Lydia put her purse and the coffee on the counter.

“I was in the shower.”

“For over an hour?” She asked the question as she made a beeline toward the bathroom.

“Well, no. Not the
whole
time.”

Lydia shook her head as she cleared through the bathroom door and flipped up the lid. For once, she had a tale to tell about a man and she wasn’t about to let Marissa’s story get in the way of it.

She leaned forward from her perch on the toilet. “Don’t go anywhere. I want to talk to you.”

“If you think I’d leave before I hear all about this new guy of yours, you’re nuts. Want me to warm up your coffee in the microwave?”

Lydia wasn’t so certain he was
her guy
but she was very sure about the coffee. “Yes, please.”

She was exhausted. Being up half the night will do that to a girl, but it was worth it. She could take a nap later.

Now, she needed to shower and get dressed for class, but more importantly, she needed to talk to Marissa and drink that coffee.

If there was a breakfast of some sort in her future, even better.

“We have anything to eat?” Lydia called as she washed her hands in the bathroom sink.

“Leftover pizza. Want me to reheat it?”

“Sure. Thanks.” It was better than nothing.

By the time Lydia made it back to the kitchen, her coffee was steaming in her favorite mug, and the toaster oven was aglow as it warmed a slice of pizza.

She lifted the mug and took a deep whiff of the brew. “You’re the best roommate ever.”

“Remember that when you see that I might have mistakenly put your sweater I borrowed in the dryer.” Marissa cringed.

 
“That’s all right. It looked better on you.” And it had probably shrunk so small it would no doubt only fit Marissa now and not Lydia anymore anyway.

After taking a bracing swallow of caffeine, Lydia drew in a breath and gathered her thoughts in preparation to begin her story. The one about a man she’d just met, whom she’d spent two nights with, who also happened to be technically related to her now. A man who didn’t own much, but didn’t seem to lack for anything either. A seemingly private man who kept things close to the vest, but also had no problem leaving her completely alone in his apartment.

James MacIntyre was certainly a puzzle, but hopefully if Lydia and Marissa put their heads together, it was one they could solve.

Marissa pulled the pizza out of the toaster oven with two fingertips and dropped it onto a paper towel. She slid it toward Lydia and then reached for a bottle of water. “Okay. Eat and then spill.”

Luckily for them both, Lydia was confident she could multitask and do both—eat and talk.

After chewing and swallowing a bite of pizza she washed it down with a slurp of coffee and launched into the long sordid tale of Mack.

She tried to run quickly through their meeting at the bar, and then the shock of the parental brunch but kept having to stop for Marissa’s comments and questions. Lydia couldn’t blame her roommate for interrupting. It was a pretty insane story.

She skipped over the more intimate details—what had happened in the kitchen being one of them—but didn’t leave out any details about the man himself. He was such a conundrum she needed all the help reading him she could get.

Lydia finally wrapped up the story with how he’d kissed her and left with not much more than a goodbye.

Wide-eyed, Marissa asked, “That’s it? Did you give him your number?”

“No.”

“Did you get his?”

“No.” Every question added another regret to Lydia’s list.

“Oh my God. We talked about this on the phone after the first night with him. That’s like Hooking Up 101. You have to exchange numbers.” Marissa sighed. “I guess it’s not that bad though. I mean you are related to him.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

She laughed. “It is pretty crazy. But it probably explains a lot. Why he trusted you in his place alone. Why he didn’t ask for your number. He figures he can get to you anytime through your parents.”

“I guess.” Lydia wasn’t sure she was on board with Marissa’s assessment.

Not getting her number or giving her his could also be Mack’s way of keeping his distance.

Maybe he figured he’d try to avoid any contact except when they had to run into each other at their parents’ house. Then he’d just grin and bear it.

But he had invited her back to his place last night and he didn’t have to do that.

Men were exhausting. Her limited experience had saved her from that knowledge until today but she was getting a full dose of it now.

 
“So, military, huh? Did he leave this morning in a uniform?”

Lydia frowned. “No. He didn’t. What does that mean? Was he lying?”

“No. Not necessarily. Maybe he keeps his uniform in like a locker or something.” Marissa’s eyes opened wide and she sucked in a breath. “Oh, my God. What if he doesn’t wear a uniform because he’s undercover. You know, like covert operations or something.”

 
Lydia rolled her eyes. “His father said he was in the Navy and Mack himself said he was just a sailor. He’s not some sort of super secret special operations kind of guy.”

“Well, of course he would lie. He can’t go around telling people. Not even his dad. Remember when we binge-watched all five seasons of
Covert Affairs
and the star couldn’t even tell her sister what she really did?”

“That series was about the CIA, not the Navy.”

Her eyes wide as saucers, Marissa sucked in a breath. “What if he’s a Navy SEAL?”

Lydia let out a snort. “As much as I’d love to tell everyone I scooped a SEAL at a bar and spent two nights in bed with him, I really don’t think he is.”

Though he certainly was fit enough to be a SEAL. All those hard, lean muscles. And he’d proven he was pretty fit in the cardiovascular area a couple of times during the weekend, as well.

“I’m telling you, there’s more going on than meets the eye. Mysterious phone calls before dawn. His rushing off to the base and
not
in uniform. The fact his apartment is almost empty of personal stuff. He’s some kind of Black Ops like in the movies. You’ll see.” Marissa wasn’t letting this go but Lydia had to.

She sighed. “Fine. Believe whatever you want, but right now I have to shower and find where I put my books.”

After the eventful weekend she’d had, the last time she’d been to classes seemed like a year ago, rather than just days.

“Your books are under the sofa,” Marissa called after her.

Lydia let out a breath as the memory of shoving them under there before she left for Virginia Beach hit her.

When had Marissa become the roommate who knew where the books were and Lydia be the one who had to shower off the remnants of her wild night of sex with a man who ran off on a moment’s notice?

Perhaps she was in the middle of some crazy dream.

The sad part was, the chances were far greater that this was all real. In that case, Lydia had a phone call to make. Perhaps talking to her mother would give her the information to get to the bottom of this
James
mystery.

CHAPTER 15

“There’s evidence ISIS might be using females as couriers. Possibly even fighters. We’ve known for a long time they’ve been actively recruiting females and using them to recruit males, but them placing females in these other roles is news.” Grant Milton sat opposite Mack in what had become their ad hoc meeting room since the team’s arrival.

Rocky let out a breath. “Them using females as fighters goes against everything we know about them and how they treat their women.”

Brody let out a snort. “Yup.”

Grant nodded. “Correct. But if we know one thing, it’s that they as an organization will adapt if it suits their purposes.”

Thom, seated next to Brody, looked weary. Mack could relate. The team had been guests of their allies for weeks, cooling their heels in Turkey along the Syrian border.

Their efforts still had yet to locate and acquire the target they were after, but in the meantime they’d accomplished their secondary goal. They’d gotten a good look at what was happening in Syria.

Raqqa was a disaster. ISIS had shut down the roads tight, trapping innocents in the wreck of a city, which was being routinely bombed in an attempt to rid the population of ISIS.

Electricity was out. Buildings were abandoned. Work for the population was getting scarce. Luxuries were non-existent.

Still, the population put up with the bombings, for one, because they had no way to stop them. But more, they still had hope of taking back their once liberal city from the extremist group that had already dictated what women could wear, made smoking cigarettes illegal and forced schools to close.

“Well, lucky for you all, it’s not our problem to fix anymore.” Grant tipped his head. “You’re all ready to go home, I assume.”

Thom shook his head. “I still don’t get why they’re sending us home.”

“The defense secretary has approved deploying up to forty additional special operations force members in addition to the support personnel. We, for whatever reason, were not among them.” Grant lifted one shoulder and acted as if he didn’t care, but beneath the surface simmered barely concealed emotion.