Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (2 page)

“Maybe.” There was a lot that could go wrong. Mel had read
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
from cover to cover. That book was terrifying. “Did she say how long they’d be?”

“Not long.”

“Do you know how hard it was for them to make this baby?” Mel asked, her voice wobbling.

“I do. Jared shared some of it. But this is a world-class medical facility. They’re in good hands.”

“How do you know that?” She wrapped her arms around herself to keep her hands from shaking. “I mean, isn’t this a teaching hospital? I don’t want people practicing on Cassie. I want
experts
.”

“They have those, too.” He laughed, a surprisingly gentle sound, and his green eyes crinkled at the corners. “I have a friend who’s an OB/GYN resident here. She’s scary smart and up to date on all the latest research. Trainees aren’t allowed to do anything they aren’t ready for.”

She could just imagine this guy—a Navy SEAL, calm under pressure—dating a doctor. They’d be cool and save the world together. She gave him a weak smile. “I hope that’s true.”

He twisted and glanced over his shoulder into the hall, then stepped out of the way. “Speak of the devil.”

Mel gasped as Cassie was pushed into the room in a wheelchair by a nurse, Jared close behind.

Her best friend rolled her eyes and gave her a broad smile. “Everything’s fine, Mel. They just make me sit in this because of silly hospital rules.”

“Have you seen a doctor yet? What’s going on?”

Jared helped Cassie onto the exam table, then took up a position next to her head, his hand firmly wrapped around his wife’s.

Cassie smoothed her hand over her belly. “My blood pressure was a bit high at our regular appointment at the clinic this morning. So the midwife sent me over here to be checked out a bit more thoroughly, and the first doctor we saw didn’t like something on the bedside ultrasound, so he was talking about admitting me to the antenatal ward.”

“But the baby’s not ready to be born yet!”

Jared made a low, reassuring sound and gave her a look.

Mel realized she’d just shrieked at the pregnant woman. “Sorry. I mean, this is a world-class medical facility and you’re in good hands. Of course.”

From the doorway, Cade chuckled, then swallowed the noise with an amused smile when Mel glared at him. The man put her on edge in a weird way, and today was not a great day for stress.

He straightened up like he knew he should make himself scarce and nodded to Jared. “If you’ve got a minute, can we talk about work?”

Jared kissed Cassie’s forehead. “I’ll be right ouside, okay?”

“Okay,” the blonde whispered, holding her husband’s gaze for a moment. Mel looked away, not wanting to intrude on their privacy.

— —

Cade paced in the hospital corridor, a rapid-deployment to-do list forming in his head.
Get the pretty girl’s number
was at the top of the list, even though it wasn’t operation-specific.

Cassie’s friend had caught his attention in the elevator before he knew she had any connection to his friends. Short, sweet curves poured into a white linen dress. Strappy heels. Glowing brown skin and dark, bouncy curls—she was gorgeous. But she’d had “leave me alone, I’m worried” plastered all over her, and he wasn’t a jerk, so he’d done just that. Plus he’d been on his own mission.

Now that he wasn’t some random creeper in an elevator, maybe—when the time was right—he could get some time alone with her.

But first he needed to go to Seattle for a joint-training exercise with the Canadian special forces. He was actually on two weeks of annual leave, but Jared had texted him, knowing that Cade wasn’t planning on doing anything with his time off.

“Thanks for doing this for me, man,” Jared said as he joined Cade in the hallway. “You’re the only extra body around right now, and I’d like to put forward a solution when I request to stay home.”

“No problem. I’m sure the LT will approve me switching my vacation to after the training exercise. You want to fill me in a bit on what’s gonna happen so I can hit the ground running?” Cade and Jared were on different SEAL teams. Jared’s team had recently returned from overseas, and Cade understood the broad strokes of the exercise—take their boots-on-the-ground operational knowledge and share it with their NATO allies through training exercises.

Cade’s team was currently tasked with shorter-term missions in the Pacific theater. He’d flown home two days earlier from Hawaii, where most of his team had stayed for some post-operation R&R. Trick Novak was planning to propose to his girlfriend. The only other team member who’d come back to the continental US was Nathan Meyers, and he’d headed straight to San Francisco to see
his
girlfriend.

Being single and without any vacation plans meant that Cade was Jared’s man.

“Okay, so the shit that went down in July. That’s the exercise—taking down that kind of brazen storming of the gates. Read the debrief notes before going into the prep for this exercise and you’ll be golden.” Jared’s team had been caught in the middle of an attack by ISIS insurgents on the front lines in northern Iraq. They’d fought back and reclaimed the checkpoint, but the reliance on allied forces to man the checkpoints needed to be revisited. And all NATO special forces needed to be better prepared for such failures. “Dumbrowski will take over as team leader for the exercise. I’ve already spoken to him.”

“Got it.”

“And if we can find Nash and haul him back, then you won’t be needed. But right now nobody officially knows where that asshole has disappeared to.”

Vince Nash was technically on leave, running up to his retirement. But leave and retirement were funny words in the Navy. Always at the pleasure of a commanding officer, all requests were liable to be rescinded at the first hint of a body being needed somewhere that wasn’t a beach.

Cade laughed because of course Jared knew—he was tight with Nash. “Where did he go?”

“You know Drew Castle?”

Cade did know Drew. He was a retired SEAL, now living in Los Angeles with his wife. “Yep.”

“Between you and me…Vince is going to work for Drew’s friend Rik Amundson. My brother’s on his team and they do good work.”

“The private black-ops guy.” Cade whistled. “Sweet gig for Nash.”

“Yeah. So I imagine he’s on that private Caribbean island right now, drinking mai tais and watching his cell phone wash away in the ocean.”

“Sounds like the right idea.” Cade laughed and bounced back, avoiding Jared’s jab to his shoulder. “Just kidding. I’d rather take down bad guys with you any day of the week.”

“Awesome. I owe you one. Just name your price.”

That was easy. “I want Mel’s number when I get back.”

Jared gave him a surprised look, then shrugged. “Sure, I can do that. But you’re not really her type.”

“Why the heck not?”

“Mel’s not big on guys in uniform.”

“What does that mean?”

Jared just shook his head. “I don’t know. And I’m not going to ask, either. It’s none of my business. But I’ll let her know you asked—”

“No, wait.” Cade’s brain was spinning. “Don’t do that. Not if she’s just going to say no based on some assumption of who I am.”

“Okay. Listen, I gotta get back in there.”

“Sure. I’m gonna get going. But when I get back…invite me over for dinner, okay? And maybe her at the same time?”

Jared scrubbed his hand over his face, clearly not caring about Cade’s interest in Cassie’s friend. “Whatever. Definitely. Thanks again.”

Cade clapped his friend on the shoulder and watched him head back to his wife’s hospital room.

Not big on guys in uniform? He could imagine what she might assume. But once he got back, he was going to do his best to be a complete gentleman and get a date with the prettiest girl he’d seen in a long time.

He was a Navy SEAL. Nothing was impossible.

— —

Once Jared stepped outside to talk to the other SEAL, Cassie raised her arms, and Mel flew across the room to give her friend a great big hug. Gently.

“Really, I think everything is going to be okay. They’ve backed off on the talk about admitting me. It looks like I might just need to take a few months off work and chill at home. Sleep lots, drink heaps of water, and have Jared take me to the ocean each night.”

“The ocean?” Mel wasn’t sure that sounded like sound medical advice.

“Apparently immersion in water is good for the blood pressure. And the soul.”

“Isn’t he supposed to go to Washington for a training thing in a few days?” Mel squeezed her friend tighter. “I’ll fill in. I can take you to the ocean.”

Cassie laughed. “I think that’s why he called Cade. He’s going to see if Cade can help him get out of leaving town. When they were talking about admitting me, he asked where he would sleep. I doubt he’s going to let me out of his sight for long now. Which is crazy, because I did just fine for the last six months, but…”

Mel smiled as her friend trailed off. She got it. They had a special kind of love, that one-of-a-kind connection that most people would never experience. A love strong enough to sustain them through prolonged absences while Jared was away, or through medical challenges. A love that meant he’d only leave her side if he needed to, and when he had a choice, Cassie was always his first priority. Even when he was overseas, Mel knew that Jared had made sure his friends checked in on Cassie, and he’d left her little surprises to remind her of his love.

In a nutshell, they were so in love it was nauseating. Mel couldn’t be happier for them, even if she didn’t understand that level of devotion.

“Speaking of Jared and his unwavering plans to glue himself to me now—I’m not sure he’s going to want to go to Hawaii with you.” Cassie grimaced.

“Sweetie, of course not! I would have preferred to do the race with someone I know, but the organizers will put single registrants on teams. It’s fine.” She was pretty sure it was fine. “And besides, I might not go this year. Not if you’re sick.”

“I’m not…
sick
. Not exactly. They’re just worried I might get sick before the baby is due.”

“Well, let’s focus on that not happening. Nothing else matters.”

That she’d been secretly training for the race for a year? Well, that’s why she’d done it in secret. That it was also her last chance to run up the same mountain as her mother? That was the price she paid for being a secret-keeper.

If she told Cassie why she had to go, her friend would understand.

She might even convince Jared to go with Mel. The trip could be done in as few as four days and Oahu was a direct flight.

But Mel didn’t tell people her deepest, darkest desires. She was easy and breezy. So Cassie had no clue how important the race was. Now, with Cassie needing extra care, Mel’s reasons for needing to do this would stay a secret.

At least that way the only person who could let her down was herself.

I’ll find a way to do the race
.

When Cade landed back in Coronado two weeks later, a voice mail message was waiting for him—Jared, inviting him to dinner that night. “Mel’s coming over. We’re going to grill. You should stop by.”

He went home and showered, then swung by the store to grab a six-pack of beer and some organic lemonade for Cassie. He pulled up at the Sutter house just in time to see Mel Vincent getting out of a cab.

He slowed to a stop, appreciating the bright pink skirt and teal high-heeled pumps she was wearing today. Color suited her just as much as white had the first time he’d seen her.

“Hey there,” he drawled, giving her a big, easy grin.

“Cade…hi. I didn’t know you’d be here,” she said, returning the smile.

“Last-minute invite. I just got back to town.”

“How was the training thing?” Mel lifted her hand as they walked up to the house together. “Wait, forget I asked. I know you can’t say much.”

“It was good. Productive.” He knocked twice on the screen door, then opened it, holding it wide so she could enter first.

“That’s great.” Another smile. “You’re back for a bit now?”

“Yep. My team is currently tasked with shorter missions. We’re here most of the time.”
So if you wanna hang out sometime…

“That sounds like fun.” She wasn’t talking about hanging out, though. And he wasn’t even convinced she thought his job sounded like fun.

Melissa Vincent was a master at being polite when she wasn’t frazzled beyond measure. When she gave him the third identical smile, he realized he needed to pay more attention. She was a complicated puzzle.

And that’s how it went through small talk and dinner. Pleasant exchanges and practiced smiles.

But despite being friendly and almost flirty at times, Mel never actually gave him an opening to ask her out. By the time dinner was over, he realized she was doing it deliberately—she had walls around her, six feet thick.

He seized an opportunity to be alone with her when she started to clear the table. He carried the leftover potato salad into the kitchen, setting the bowl on the island. “So it looks like everything has settled down with Cassie. That’s good.”

She gave him a genuine smile. “I know. I’m so relieved.”

“Do you have any nieces or nephews?”

“Nope.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. Her curls were different today than two weeks earlier. Looser. Totally sexy. “Only child, and Cassie’s my first friend to have a baby.”

“So you’ll be the doting aunt.” Cade grinned. “Lucky kid.”

“This one?” Cassie asked as she waddled in, her hand stroking her belly. “I know. We’re so blessed. Mel’s been there for me with everything. Way more than my own family. Number one aunt, for sure.”

“Maybe you could help me buy the little guy a present,” Cade said, sliding his gaze over Mel’s face. A test balloon.

She didn’t grab it. “Actually, I convinced Cass to set up a baby registry, so you can just pick out a gift online.”

All right. “And if I run into any trouble?”

She lifted one eyebrow. The Navy SEAL couldn’t handle the Babies R Us website? She had a point. He was being stupid.

“I’m sure I won’t.”

Her lips split into an unexpected smile, like she just figured out what he’d been doing. “You could email me.”