My Bad Boy's Secret: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (138 page)

“Thank you.” She whispered back.

***

“Todd Grosser reporting for SEAL team 10.” He said, handing the guard his paperwork. A week ago he had been awarded the highest honor of his naval career and today he would finally meet his teammates. It was essential that he made a good impression—these men would be more than just his family, they would be his lifeline. The officer at the gate pointed him down the yard to where his team was currently stationed. Todd saluted the man and picked up his bag, heading that way. When he approached the bunk of his team he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Todd looked around the barracks which were going to be his new home for the next year and a half. Everything was clean and tidy—as he expected. What he didn’t expect, was to see about five or six members of the team circled around something in the middle of the common room engaged in some sort of heated argument. Frowning, Todd set his bag down and walked over to the men. 

“No, I’m not going to have a woman on my team. Look at you. You’re so puny I don’t know how you made it past basic let alone training.” One of the men sneered. Todd’s frown deepened and he peered over the shoulders of his new brothers to see what they were all gathered around. Or rather
whom
they were gathered around. He recognized the woman from the ceremony last week and was surprised (and a little impressed) to see nothing but a stoic expression on her beautiful features. Her lips were pressed tightly together and her arms hung slack at her sides with one hand gripping her own bag. Her hazel eyes stared dead ahead and she gave no indication that she heard what the men were saying other than the subtle tightening of the fist holding her bag. A piece of her dark blonde hair fell into her eyes but she didn’t lift a finger to push it back into the pristine bun she had the rest of her hair wrapped in. He looked around and realized these men must have stopped her as she was claiming her bunk assignment.

“Yeah, if one of us falls in combat, how can we rely on
you
to carry us? You’d snap in two if you tried.” Another jeered. Todd remained silent, observing the exchange and feeling out the men in the room. Sarah lifted her chin ever so slightly. She expected this; she had gotten it when she was accepted into the navy, she had gotten it when she began the SEALs training, so why would now be any different?
Because they’re your team,
a little voice in the back of her mind whispered. True, she had to confess that she had
hoped
these men would be different. She had hoped that
these
men would recognize her worth and stop belittling her and doubting her based on her size and gender.
Well, at least it’s only six of them and not all twenty
, she thought to herself.

“The only way you belong here, sweetheart, is if you’re sharing my bed for the night.” The first man said suggestively. Todd’s expression darkened and he pushed through the two men standing in front of him.

“That’s enough!” He shouted, glaring at the men. The first man stepped toward him, only a little shorter than his impressive six-foot height.

“And who the hell are you?” The man asked. Todd faced him straight on, his glare never receding as he stepped in front of the woman.

“Todd Grosser, reporting for duty.” He said, his words laced with indignation. The other man smirked and glanced over Todd’s shoulder at the woman. She still hadn’t moved but she was watching the exchange between them instead of just staring ahead. The man nodded and gave a little chuckle.

“I’m sorry man, I didn’t realize she was spoken for. Since we’re teammates now, maybe you’d like to share.” He teased maliciously. Todd’s glare deepened and he fought the urge to take the other man by the throat.

“She’s on our team too, and she deserves to be treated like your teammate just as much as the rest of us.” Todd growled. Sarah’s eyebrows shot up in shock. No one had ever defended her before, and she wasn’t quite sure she liked it. She remained silent and continued to watch the two men, preparing herself to leap out of the way should it come to blows. The other man laughed acerbically.

“Your chivalry won’t do you good here, she’s such a tight ass I doubt she’d let you stick it to her no matter how pretty your words are.” He spat. That was it. Todd clenched his fist—thumb on the outside so he wouldn’t break it when he crushed this man’s face—and pulled his arm back.

“Men! Front and center.” A commanding voice boomed behind them. Todd let his arm drop to his side, fury still radiating through him. The other man gave him a victorious smirk and walked away. They took their positions in formation, the rest of their team coming in from the other door and falling in rank behind them. The Commander eyed his team, slowly walking up and down in front of them as he took them all in.

“We have two more members to our team today. Ms. Sarah Harper and Mr. Todd Grosser will be rounding us out to twenty. We are pleased to have two high performing individuals join our team. I am your commander, Commander Jering. We will begin professional development at 0600 tomorrow. Until then, get to know your teammates. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together for the rest of your naval careers. It’s in your best interest to find something in common.” Commander Jering said.

“Sir, yes sir.” The team echoed. Commander Jering gave a nod.

“All bunk assignments have been made, if you don’t know yours check the list by the door. If you don’t like where you are assigned, suck it up. There will be no changes made. Dismissed!” He shouted. The Commander turned and left the barrack, walking toward the fellow officer of the team neighboring them. The other men began to disperse—some going outside to do some physical training, others getting a head start of the reading for tomorrow. Todd watched the man from earlier walk past the woman, brushing up against her and forcing her to take a step to the side to maintain her balance.

“Sorry, darlin’. Didn’t see you there.” He jeered and walked away. Todd took a step forward, standing beside the woman. He sneered after the other man and shook his head.

“God, what a dick.” He said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. Sarah turned and looked up at the man who had stood up for her. She recognized him as the same man who had congratulated her at the ceremony and her heart skipped a beat. His brown eyes were warm, like honey, and his dark hair was cropped short per regulations. She looked him up and down, trying to ignore the way her heart sped up. She squared her shoulders and faced him.

“I’m not some damsel, I don’t need you to protect me.” She said. Todd raised his eyebrows, taken aback by her bluntness and the acrid tone in her voice.

“No, you don’t. But as my teammate you deserve it.” He answered. He stared down at her a moment, not sure what she was thinking because her features were so guarded. When she failed to say anything more he just shrugged and turned away to go pick up his bag and find his bunk placement. Sarah watched him leave, her mind running in circles mulling over his reply. She picked up her bag and left the common room for her bunk. She pushed open the door to her assigned room and let out a sigh. She looked around the small room and was pleased to notice that her roommate was at least tidy, like her. She set her bag on the untouched bed on the wall opposite the one her roommate had clearly claimed. She started unpacking her belongings, hoping that her roommate wasn’t one of the men who had cornered her—or the man who had stood up for her. No one had ever done that for her before, at least not since she’d joined the navy. She was in new territory now, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. She had learned to be stoic and impassive when it came to the taunting and cruel remarks. If she expressed any emotion at all: fear, sadness, loathing, anger—it only made things worse. But now that she had an ally, she’s not sure it would make matters better. With all his good intentions, this Todd could just end up adding fuel to the flames.

Sarah sat down on her bed and rested her head in her hands. The man’s comment implying that Todd was her lover was case and point of the type of trouble his good intentions could cause. It didn’t help matters that she was extremely attracted to him, or that it would be nice to have at least one friend. Sarah fell backwards on the mattress and exhaled a long breath. Well, a few introductions down: fifteen to go.

***

“Yeah, man, she’s hot!”

“I can’t rely on a woman to have by back out there.”

“It’ll be nice to have a girl with us when we’re so far from home, if you know what I’m sayin’.” Todd sat on the couch in the common room, listening to the varying comments from the other men about their new team member. He shook his head to himself and remained silent—along with a few other team members. A large man took the seat next to him, plopping down with a loud grunt. He stroked his shaved head and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Man, they talk about her as if she was a piece of meat or a deviant or something. If I heard anyone talk about my little girl the way they are, I’d punch them clean in the nose.” The man said, chuckling. Todd smiled at him and held out his hand.

“Todd Grosser, pleased to meet a fellow teammate who believes in respect.” He said. The large man took his hand and shook it.

“Michael Bolder. Not everyone on the team is like Grant and his goons over there. We’re all very proud to have the first female SEAL on our team. He just likes to pick fights, he’ll be over it in a few days once the novelty has worn off.” Michael said, gesturing with his chin toward the man Todd had confronted earlier in the day.

“I hope you’re right. So you have a little girl?” Todd asked, looking away from Grant and back to Michael. He was glad to finally have a conversation with one of his new teammates about something other than their fairer addition. He couldn’t deny that what some of the men said was true; she was beautiful. Not only that, but she had an air about her that consisted of confidence, determination, and perseverance—and he respected the hell out of that.

“I sure do! I have three, here, let me show you.” He said, pulling out his phone and flipping through pictures of three nearly identical little girls with the same black, curly hair, big brown eyes, and wide cheerful grins.

“They’re beautiful, congratulations.” He said. Michael smiled proudly and nodded.

“Thanks! They take after their mom, thank god! Oh hey, here comes our other new addition to the team.” Michael said, drawing Todd’s attention to the woman who walked into the common room. His breath hitched in his throat and he tried not to draw attention to his suddenly dry mouth by speaking. Sarah looked around the room as a hush came over the nineteen other team members. She bit her lip nervously and then realized what she was doing and immediately released it. She tilted her head up and took in the men around her. Most of them were staring at her curiously without any animosity or arousal, then there were the five men who cornered her earlier who were staring at her with a mixture of disgust, hate, and lust. She felt a shiver go down her spine and took a step away from them.

“Hey! Sarah, right? Come sit over here.” A large man sitting on the couch said, waving her over enthusiastically. She was a little apprehensive, but he seemed no more dangerous than a teddy bear—for a navy SEAL any way. Her eyes flicked to the man seated beside him and her heart jumped at the sight of her protector. She felt tingles running through her at the intensity of his gaze but she shook it off and smiled.

“Okay, thank you.” She said, taking the seat offered to her. The large man held out his hand and introduced himself.

“Michael Bolder, pleased to meet you. I believe you are my new roommate! This will be great, a woman always smells better and after spending the last two years with Reggie over there I’m looking forward to a nice smelling room.” Michael said with a playful wink.

“Hey! It wasn’t just me you big oaf. Just to warn you, Sarah, his feet smell like death itself. Don’t ever let him take his socks off.” The man identified as Reggie warned her. Sarah laughed and looked back at Michael. Michael scowled at Reggie and shook his head.

“That’s only because you had the bright idea to put onions in all my socks! They reeked for weeks.” Michael accused. Todd chuckled, trying to distract himself from the loveliness of Sarah’s laugh. Reggie shook his head vehemently and pointed to a man sitting across from him at the table.

“That wasn’t me! It was Felix!” He accused. The thin man with dark circles under his eyes looked alarmed at the accusation. He glanced back and forth between the two men, seemingly debating on what to say as his mouth gapped open and closed.

“M-me? How’d… why would… yeah alright it was me.” He admitted, grinning widely and leaning back in his chair proudly.

“You?!” Michael shouted, throwing one of the couch pillows at his face. Felix laughed and caught the pillow.

“Yup! It was hilarious, you should have heard them going at it all that week. Yelling and tossing socks out the windows. It was ridiculous!” Felix laughed. Reggie scowled and shook his head slowly. He turned back to Sarah who was laughing so hard tears were leaking out of her eyes.

“See,
he’s
the one you really have to look out for.” Reggie said. Michael glared at Felix and nodded.

“We will come up with a strategy plan later for hiding our socks.” He muttered out of the corner of his mouth to her. Sarah nodded and gasped for a breath. She wiped her eyes, relief flooding through her. This was better than she could ever have hoped for. She opened her eyes and saw her protector staring at her from the opposite side of the couch. She cleared her throat and quickly looked away. He was going to be a problem… one she would do best to keep away from.