A Sexy SEAL Novella Anthology (11 page)

Apparently he could, though.

Because he pulled away, reached over to pick
up the box again and thrust it into her hands.

“Open it now.” His tone allowed no
argument.

Reluctantly, she took the package again and
made a major production out of carefully peeling away the bow and
untying the ribbon. Her red polish glinted against the paper as she
unfolded the wrapping.

The paper draped over her hand, Bryanna
flicked open the velvet box.

A sparkling diamond winked back at her.

If he’d punched her in the gut, told her she
had lousy taste in footwear or that she sucked in bed, she couldn’t
have been more shocked.

“It’s a ring,” she said, forcing the words
past the knot in her throat. Her wide-eyed stare kept shifting from
the box to him and back again.

“It’s an engagement ring,” he clarified.

Bryanna tried to piece together what was
happening. He was supposed to be dumping her. She knew Eli was
still in town, and Russell had told her about the strong-arm and
beer get-together their brother had had with Sam.

“Why?” she breathed.

“I want you to marry me. I want us to be
together. I want to know that you’re here when I come back from
missions, that you’re a part of my life forever.”

“But...”

“But SEALs shouldn’t be married?” he said,
correctly guessing what she’d been unable to say. “That’s Eli’s
theory. It’s Noah’s superstition.”

“I thought you believed it. I
thought...”

His brows rose when her words trailed
off.

“Is that why you were so pissed the other
day? Not because I went out drinking and blew off our date like an
ass. It was because you thought I was listening to your brother
preach the speech of freedom.”

“I thought you agreed with him. You took
that vow. I didn’t know if you’d wait until you had your trident or
if you’d do it sooner, before you leave for SQT. But I was sure you
were going to end things between us.”

“You didn’t act like it.”

Oh, hell. Did she have to confess her crazy
actions? How did a guy take hearing that his girl tried to
manipulate him with food and sex? He was saying he wanted to marry
her. Would he change his mind when he heard the truth? Bryanna
glanced at the ring in her hand and wet her lips. She had to risk
it.

“I freaked out about it a lot, actually. So
much that I came up with a crazy plan. I figured that if I made you
see what you had here, with me, that maybe you’d rethink getting
your trident.” She had to stop and take a breath before she could
continue. “I sexed myself up, spent a fortune on food and stuff,
hoping you’d like it so much that you’d drop out of training.”

“Drop out?” Sam looked like she’d just told
him that she thought he wore dresses the third Saturday of each
month to offer table dances to pygmies. “I’d never drop out.”

She bit her lip, but this time couldn’t look
at the ring that suddenly weighed so heavily in her hand.

“But if you graduated, if you got your
trident, you’d leave me.” She blinked hard to clear the burning
tears from her eyes. She’d be damned if she’d have this
conversation while crying. “You took a vow, Sam.”

“I agreed to a concept before I knew what it
really meant. Before I knew better.” He paused, grimaced, then
shrugged. “I wasn’t going to tell you this. But Eli did have me
pretty convinced. He quoted divorce rates, told stories about guys
who were distracted on missions, and threatened to kick my ass for
hurting his little sister.”

“I didn’t think you’d need convincing.”

“I did. I never forgot my dream of being a
SEAL. But until Eli reminded me, I totally forgot about that vow to
be a single SEAL. So yeah, I listened to his reasons. And I bought
into them. For, like, a day.”

“What changed your mind?” She had to know,
because as much as she was reveling in his words, she was
desperately afraid he’d change his mind right back at any time.

“The day you booted me out of here, I talked
to a guy I admire a lot. He showed me pictures of his kids. He’s
been married awhile, he has a cute family and he’s the best SEAL I
know.” He reached out to take her hand that wasn’t holding the box,
lifting it to his lips and watching her over it. “But I’d already
decided to quit the Cadet Club.”

“What?” Her heart was pounding like a bongo
drum, that’s why she must have misheard him.

“I told the guys in the Cadet Club that I
was leaving. So that vow I took before I was legally of age? I quit
it.”

Her heart was dancing and her mind racing.
But Bryanna could only stare as a smile grew wider and wider on her
face. This was it, she realized as she stared into Sam’s dark
eyes.

This was what it felt like to have a dream
come true.

“I love you,” she said softly. “I adore you
and admire you and want to be with you forever.”

“So that means you’ll marry me?” He sounded
like he was holding his breath, his words tight and his expression
hopeful.

“Are you sure? Do you want to wait until you
finish training, until you have your trident? Until it’s easier?”
She wanted to bite the words back, but she’d feel miserable if she
did. So she let it all be said. “Getting married while you’re
starting out as a SEAL will be tough. I can wait. A year or two,
whatever you want. Just until you’re sure.”

“I’m sure now and I don’t want to wait,” Sam
insisted. “I don’t care if it’s tough, or if I have to work harder
to focus when I’m on a mission than a single guy would. I’m willing
to do that. More than willing. Because I’m not about to go through
life without you. Not if I have any say in it.”

She couldn’t stop the tears this time. They
coursed a trail, hot and happy down her cheeks.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” she asked, blinking at his
impatient tone.

“Well, are you going to marry me?”

For the first time, Bryanna saw the nerves
in Sam’s eyes, the worry creasing his brow. He wasn’t sure?

“I love you,” she said, quiet joy bubbling
through her words with the same headiness as champagne. “I’d love
to marry you. If you’re sure.”

“Sure? Bryanna, you are my everything,” he
said as he slid the ring onto her finger. Before she could do more
than sigh at the vision of it there, he pulled her into his
arms.

“And now,” he promised just before his mouth
took hers, “You’ll be my wife.”

—The End—

Glitter, gloss and glam combined with
champagne, music and revelry made for quite a night. Add in dancing
and laughter and a rooftop venue lit bright against the San
Francisco night sky and it was guaranteed to be a night to
remember.

A ballroom filled with people dressed to the
nines, booze flowing like water and unobtrusive waiters circling
the area with trays of hors d’oeuvres made it that much more
special.

Once, this type of party would have been a
novelty, but they had become Gwen Kirkpatrick’s norm thanks to
Russell Spencer, commodities broker extraordinaire. A year ago
she’d been a junior financial analyst for a bank when Russell had
lured her to his investment firm with the promise of excitement,
challenges and, yes, enough events like this one to guarantee she’d
put her evening shoes to good use.

And she had, so much that she’d added to her
collection a pair of silver Prada pumps, two strappy pairs of
Louboutins and the gorgeous pair of Giuseppe Zanotti double-banded
stilettos she’d worn tonight.

Gwen glanced down at her feet and sighed in
appreciation. They were so pretty. And, more importantly,
impossible to run in. An important requirement tonight.

Teetering on the edge of the ballroom
entrance, Gwen took a deep breath, but couldn’t quite make herself
officially join the party.

She loved events like this one.

Be it for work or pleasure, she truly
enjoyed socializing, meeting people and having fun. And that
tonight’s party was an engagement party? That was like those fancy
iced roses on top of a delicious cake.

Or it would have been. If the party were
held on any night but New Year’s Eve.

The one night of the year that Gwen wanted
nothing more than to curl up in her flannel jammies with a gallon
of Chunky Monkey and a
Friends
marathon.

She couldn’t blame the newly engaged couple
for wanting to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. After all, it was a
great time to celebrate beginnings.

But to Gwen it meant endings.

As if reading her mind, her date brushed his
hand over the small of her back. Needing the support, she leaned
into him for a moment, then summoned a smile as bright as the
glittering chandelier overhead.

“Are you up for this?” Russell asked, his
handsome face set in considerate lines. “I know you usually make a
point of staying home on New Year’s Eve.”

Gwen’s smile softened. What a great friend.
Russell was understanding and supportive without being pushy or
pressuring her to get over herself and her past. What made him an
even better friend was that he did all of that without even knowing
what it was about her past that she was hiding from.

Which was just the way she wanted it.

“I’m fine. I appreciate you bringing me,”
she said, rubbing her hand over his forearm. The move sent a
shimmer of light sparkling off the sequins of her halter dress, the
silver vivid against her long black hair. “Besides, I’m thrilled
for Bryanna and Sam. Your sister is a sweetheart and she and Sam
are perfect for each other. New Year’s Eve is a great time to
celebrate their engagement.”

Just because it’d marked the end of Gwen’s
once upon a time didn’t mean she couldn’t be happy for someone
else. Sure, Russell’s younger sister had just gotten engaged to a
Navy SEAL, and Gwen had been dumped by the love of her life because
he’d sworn that SEAL duty and relationships didn’t mix. Or as
Eli—Noah’s best friend and Russell’s brother—had put it, the two
could only succeed if they were mutually exclusive.

The idiots.

And yes, Bryanna’s fiancé was the younger
brother of Gwen’s ex and had always mouthed the same beliefs about
relationships and Navy service as his big, bad heroes, Noah and
Eli. But unlike some people, Sam had gotten over thinking like a
narrow-minded, commitment-phobic weenie. So Bryanna would get her
happy ever after.

It was great. Just great.

Gwen pressed her lips together to keep the
tears at bay. Okay, so she might need to work on that genuine
enthusiasm a little bit. But somewhere underneath her miserable
envy and the reminder of her own loss, she really was happy for the
couple.

“Russell, you’re here!”

Gwen’s stomach clenched as she watched the
bubbly blonde in a glittering red dress head their way with a smile
bright enough to light the city. Gwen figured she had about three
seconds to kick that enthusiasm into gear.

It took Bryanna twice that to hug her
brother. One arm wrapped tight around his waist, she turned to give
Gwen a warm smile.

“Gwen,” the younger woman greeted, slightly
out of breath from her little happy dance. “Thank you so much for
coming.”

“Congratulations on your engagement,” Gwen
said, not having to dig for sincerity when she saw the joy in the
younger woman’s eyes. “I’m so happy for you and Sam.”

“Thank you,” Bryanna said softly, her smile
taking on a worshipful glow as she looked past Russell’s
shoulder.

Unable to help herself, Gwen followed her
gaze.

Thanks to hours of practice her smile didn’t
dim when she saw the groom-to-be across the room. But practice
couldn’t stop the shaft of pain in her chest at the sight of
him.

Because from his dark hair, slashing brow
and hazel eyes to his crooked grin, Sam Morelli was a younger,
huskier version of his brother Noah.

She knew most people—including her friends
and family—didn’t remember that she and Noah had been a thing three
years ago. She wasn’t even sure Russell realized the reason behind
her annual trek into New Year’s Eve hell. After all, Gwen might
have crushed on Noah all through high school, but they’d only dated
for a few months during her summer after college. They’d been the
most overwhelmingly incredible, sexually intense, emotionally
charged months of her life. But she and Noah had spent most of them
in private, huddled together exploring every delicious realm of
pleasure they could find in each other’s bodies. Then he’d dumped
her to live his dream as a Navy SEAL.

Her head spinning from the overload of
memories, Gwen tore her gaze off of Sam to look for the handiest
exit. Before she could find one, Russell ran a friendly hand over
the small of her back again.