The SEAL Next Door (Alpha SEALs Book 5) (7 page)

Brianna raised her eyebrows.  “Me either.  I sent out a ridiculous number of resumes last week; hopefully I’ll be out of here sooner rather than later.”

“I hope you find something, but God, I’ll miss you when you go.”

Brianna scanned the room, grateful that she had tomorrow off.  The bar was nearly filled, mostly with men, and the customers were watching sports on TV, enjoying their beverages, and chowing down on appetizers.  Hearty laughter filled the air, and Brianna had a feeling this would be a long night.  She grabbed the notepad from her frilly apron and said goodbye to Ella, heading over to cover her first table.  Her section wasn’t too crowded yet, but she could see Ella was already swamped with a large group of rowdy college students.  Perfect.

It was only four, and she was on the clock until eleven.  Brianna dreaded Saturday nights here the most, when the crowds seemed to drink even more.  The men would get handsy, the women belligerent, and it was all she could do not to dump their drink orders right over their heads.  How anyone had the patience to be a waitress for any extended period of time was beyond her.  The tips were good, but that was about the only redeeming quality.  She had high hopes that she’d hear back from a couple of prospective employers next week and get the hell out of here.

A young guy smiled at her as she approached the table, his heated gaze sliding down over her breasts, and she resisted the urge to cringe.  This job might not be so bad if they didn’t have to wear such skimpy outfits.  Half the men looked at her like they wanted to bend her over the nearest table and have their wicked way with her.

Her cheeks pinked at the thought.

She could always waitress somewhere else, but then she’d have to sell her car and would barely be able to make her student loan payments.  And she needed a car to get to a job, so…unless a new marketing career landed in her lap, this was it for the moment.

“What can I get for you, gentlemen?” she asked, plastering on a smile. 
Right. As if a real gentleman would openly ogle her like that.

“You in my bed for a start,” another guy at the table said, chuckling.

“Uh-uh,” the first guy protested, reaching over and grabbing her wrist before she could pull away.  His calloused thumb slid across her skin, and she tried not to cringe.  “I saw her first.”

Brianna politely tugged her hand back and poised her pen above the notepad.  “Drinks guys.”

The men placed their orders, the first guy still openly leering at her cleavage, and she turned and walked across the room toward the bar.  If this was the way her entire shift was going to go, it was going to be a long night.  The bar served up drinks, not women, but a few men had been known to get the wrong idea from time-to-time, tugging a pretty waitress into his lap and asking for something more.  Her annoying manager Frank was always quick to put a stop to that sort of thing, but that didn’t make it any more comfortable when it happened.

Loud laughter from another section caught her attention, and her gaze landed on a group of men.  Navy, from the looks of it.  The bar was near Naval Air Station Pensacola, and it wasn’t unusual for a group of men in uniform to come in.   They’d usually flirt with the female customers and pretty waitresses while they enjoyed a few drinks.  Brianna knew a few ladies she worked with who’d go home with one of the sailors for the night.  Not that Brianna did the one-night-stand type thing.  Ever.  But who was she to fault the others if that’s what they were looking for?

Her gaze skimmed over a menacing-looking man with jet black hair, a younger guy who was blond, and finally landed on a muscular guy with brown hair.  A man whose build she’d recognize anywhere. Her face flamed and heart raced as he took a swig from his bottle of beer.

What on Earth was Matthew doing here?

The dark haired guy at his table let out a whistle at a group of women walking by.  Matthew ignored them, continuing to talk to his other friend, as the women approached other guy, laughing.

Shakily, Brianna forced herself to continue walking to the bar to hand over her drink orders.

“Are you okay, hun?” the female bartender asked, eyeing her curiously.

“Oh, uh, great,” Brianna said, turning away.

She felt dizzy and ill at the idea of Matthew spotting her.  Of him thinking less of her for prancing around in a skimpy outfit and serving cocktails to make a living.  Thank God he wasn’t in her section, but how was she going to avoid him the entire night?  It was crowded, yes, but she had drinks to serve and customers to attend to.  She couldn’t be ducking every time she was worried that she’d be in his line of vision.  And it wasn’t like he’d sit there at the table with his buddies forever, ignoring the rest of the bar.  They’d probably work the room, flirting with the women as the night wore on.

And if he spotted her in this outfit?  Game over.  Not only would she utterly die of embarrassment, but she’d never hear the end of it.  From him or Beckett.

Ella approached the bar, pushing her hair out of her face.  “I got stuck with a table of twelve college guys.  Can we say lousy tippers?”  She glanced over at Brianna.  “Hey, are you feeling okay?  You’re white as a ghost.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.  “Just felt dizzy for a second there.”

“Maybe you should go home.  You look kind of pale,” Ella said, eyeing her skeptically.

Brianna shook her head, plastering a smile on her face.  “It’s nothing I can’t handle.  I should get to my other tables.”  She quickly turned and walked off, leaving Ella standing there, looking bewildered.  She purposefully looked away from Matthew’s table as she made her way back across the room in case he glanced over.  This was absurd.  She couldn’t hide from him all evening.  She really was going to have to leave early—faking illness, pretending she was injured, anything.  After this next table, she was out of here.

***

Matthew laughed as he took a pull from his longneck.  The cold, hoppy brew slid down his throat, and he found himself relaxing for the first time all day.  The bar he and his buddies had popped into was crowded for late Saturday afternoon, but he could easily see why.  Pretty waitresses in sexy little dresses made the rounds, serving up plenty of beers and strong cocktails. Giant flat-screen TVs had the games on, and the appetizers and burgers they served were pretty damn good.  Men and women alike were trickling in through the front door, and he had a feeling that had he been looking, this was easily the type of place where he could pick up a woman to bring home for the night.

Instantly, his mind flashed back to Brianna.  Hell, she was exactly the woman he wanted to take home for a night.  Maybe take home forever.  But that was never going to happen in this lifetime.  He’d enjoy a few beers with his buddies, see his best friend tomorrow, and then move the hell on with his life.  The trouble was, his little apartment back in Little Creek was seeming a lot lonelier now after spending an evening with Bri yesterday.  After running into her down by the beach this morning.  Hell, it had taken everything in him not to duck down and kiss her as they’d sat at the bar yesterday.  Just to see how she tasted—to watch how she’d react.  Beckett would no doubt kill him for moving in on Brianna, but he had a feeling it would be well worth the hell he’d have to pay.

Too bad chasing after her wasn’t a damn option.

“Sorry, but I’m taken,” Evan said to a group of giggling women who were currently flirting with Brent.

“Aw, but so you’re so cute,” one of them purred.

“I’ll be sure to tell my girlfriend that,” Evan joked.

Matthew had picked up Evan from his hotel and Brent from base an hour ago.  Their CO had been good to allow the three of them to head down here for the weekend, but the military was a tight-knit group, especially amongst the men who called themselves Navy SEALs.  Hell, it would be good to have some of his team there tomorrow to give his buddy a proper welcome home.  Beckett certainly needed to see how many people were rooting for his recovery.

Their waitress came over and asked if they wanted another round.  “Hell yeah,” Brent said.  “Keep ‘em coming.”

“Sure thing, sailor,” she said with a wink.  “Are you guys from base?”

“I’m only down here twenty-four hours, gorgeous. Know anywhere I can spend the night?  I prefer not to sleep alone,” he added with a wicked grin.

She cocked her head to the side, appraising him.  “Something tells me you wouldn’t have trouble finding a woman to spend the night with.  What happened to the group of ladies that was just over here?”

“Bachelorette party,” he explained.  “But I don’t want just any woman, princess.  What time does your shift end?”

She laughed but bent over, thrusting her cleavage right into Brent’s face as she whispered something in his ear.  His smile grew a mile wide, and Matthew shook his head in disbelief.

“Be right back with your drinks, boys,” she said with a sultry smile as she sashayed away.

Evan raised an eyebrow.  “What the hell was that about?”

“Sorry, Flip, you’re on your own back at the hotel tonight.  I’m crashing over at Brittany’s place.  Hell, what cup size do you think those babies were?  DD at least.  They looked fucking spectacular.”

“Good God,” Matthew muttered.  Brent was known for his insatiable appetite for women.  Although Matthew hadn’t exactly been opposed to it in the past, spending weekends with his buddies hitting on pretty ladies, lately the one-night-stands he’d enjoyed hadn’t seemed as fulfilling.  Sexually, maybe, but he couldn’t wait to get out of there afterward.  Spending the entire night taking pleasure in a woman was turning into a thing of the past, and he was earning a reputation as more of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am type.  Which wasn’t exactly his intention, but hell.  He wasn’t looking to marry the woman he went home with either.

“Looks like they’ll have an empty room back at the hotel,” Brent said, a gleam in his eye.  “You find someone to take home tonight, Gator, and it’s yours.”

Matthew laughed as Brent called him by his nickname.  “The ladies here are attractive; I won’t fault you that.  But I’m home for the weekend staying with my folks, not for a booty call.”

“There are some damn fine booties here,” Brent taunted, his eyes flicking around the crowded bar.

“Not tonight,” Matthew said.

“Buzz kill,” Brent muttered.

Evan’s phone vibrated on the table, and he glanced down at the screen, concern etching across his face.  “Shit.  Ali’s sick again.”

Matthew raised his eyebrows.  Although Evan had confided in him about the pregnancy, he wasn’t sure if the rest of the team knew.

Brent caught the look that passed between them.  “Everything okay, man?”

“Yeah.  Ali’s pregnant,” Evan confessed.

Brent howled with laughter.  “Pregnant?  Shit!  You, my man, are whipped.  Pussy whipped.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Evan muttered.

Matthew chuckled and looked over at Brent.  “They live together, asshole.  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Apparently some people want all that happily-ever-after shit.”

“Hell, you and I are the only single men left on the team,” Brent said in disbelief.  “You sure as shit better not go deserting me, turning all soft over some woman.”

Matthew took another swig of his beer and grinned.  “No chance of that.”

Brent guffawed.  “What about the woman from last night?”

“My next-door neighbor?”

“The very one,” Brent agreed.  “It’s not like you to crash and burn after a night out.  Did she shoot you down or something?”

Matthew felt his gut clenching, wishing he’d never filled them in on his first night back in town.  “Nah, nothing like that,” he said, trying to keep his cool.  “She Beckett’s kid sister.  A grown woman now, perhaps, but off-limits.”  He met Brent’s gaze, ensuring that Brent knew she was off limits to him, too.  That’s all needed, Brent hitting on Brianna tomorrow.  And he would, too, no matter who he spent the night with tonight.  The woman was completely gorgeous.

“What’s she look like anyway?” Brent asked, evidently having similar thoughts.

“None of your damn business,” Matthew snapped.

Good God.  Why was he getting himself so worked up over what Brent said?  Brianna could date whoever the hell she wanted.  Because it would never be him.

Brent began chatting with a pretty redhead that walked over to their table, and Evan was texting Ali back.  Matthew drained the rest of his beer and scanned the restaurant, his eyes falling on a pretty blonde waitress working her way between the tables.  Her hair was almost the same as Brianna’s, but it fell in pretty waves down past her shoulders.  The way she moved in that sexy-as-fuck dress was a sight to behold, and he let his eyes wander over her gorgeous figure.  She turned and bent over to retrieve some plates from one table, and although her face was blocked from his view, his mouth watered at the tempting sight off all that ample cleavage put on display.  Hell.  He’d promised himself he’d be good for the weekend, but this woman was making him regret that.  If he couldn’t have Brianna, maybe he could spend a couple of hours taking his pleasure in another woman—and sending her soaring as well.

He was the type of man that prided himself in giving a woman pleasure.  He loved hearing the woman he was with moan out his name as he made her come.  Hell, to have Brianna’s soft curves beneath him, to have his name on her lips, to have his cock buried so deep inside her tight—wait, what the hell was wrong with him?  That chick wasn’t Brianna, just some smoking hot waitress that worked here.  And looked a bit like her.  She probably had men hitting on her left and right with that gorgeous body.