SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,36

even stronger by then. Moping around her parents’ house wouldn’t do any good. She’d practically been bored out of her mind for the past week.

And her exhaustion now was probably from the flight, time change, and still-healing injuries.

Groaning as she reached for her phone, she realized she’d bitten off more than she could chew. Her parents had offered to come out to California with her, to help her get settled, but she’d insisted she could do it all alone. Now, she was doubting herself. A long day of travel had left her with a pounding headache, and she gingerly touched her forehead. She was supposed to go into her new office a couple of days this week for training before the current person left. Although she knew having someone show her the ropes would be immensely helpful, at the moment, she also felt like crap.

Picking up her phone, she smiled as she saw Grayson’s message. He really was back. And she was here in San Diego. Instead of talking on the phone every night, she’d actually get to see him soon. Hopefully even within the next few days, as long as she was feeling better. She assumed he was busy on base right now but quickly texted a reply anyway:

Yay! I’m so glad you’re back. Guess what? I’m here, too! I’ve got training in my new office this week. I can’t wait to hear your voice again. xoxo Hailey

She almost deleted the “xoxo” but at the last minute, left it there. What the heck. They’d spent hours on the phone talking. She couldn’t wait to see him. Certainly, he was at least as enthusiastic about her as she felt towards him. A man wouldn’t spend hours talking on the phone with a woman he wasn’t interested in.

Grayson was as different from most men she’d met as night and day. He was macho and buff, sure. He’d literally charged in there and rescued her back in Bagram. But he was sweet, too. He’d brought her flowers in Germany. And she certainly wouldn’t expect a man like him to talk on the phone for hours, taking the time to get to know her. He’d called her every single night when he’d been here.

Goodness, after all this, she was excited and a bit nervous to see him again. She liked him. Really liked him. And oddly enough, they’d connected even more being apart. Would he hug her when she first saw him? Kiss her hello?

They weren’t officially dating or something, but he’d been more than attentive the few times they had been together.

Nervous butterflies filled her stomach. Maybe the first time she saw him would be their date. He’d pick her up and take her to dinner—or she’d meet him somewhere. She didn’t have a car yet, but she could catch a cab.

Somehow she didn’t think Grayson would like that though. He’d seemed protective of her in all their conversations, and she didn’t doubt he’d want to pick her up himself for their date, even if she was just staying in a hotel room for the next week.

She set her phone back down on the nightstand, assuming she wouldn’t hear from him again tonight. If he just got back, no doubt he’d be busy in meetings and probably be totally exhausted.

Looking around the room, she decided to watch TV for a bit before bed. She was still on East Coast time, and it was late, but she wanted her body to adjust sooner rather than later. She flipped through the channels, finally settling on a home decorating show. She loved watching things like that where they updated houses, and she could use some decorating ideas for her new apartment.

She fell asleep with the TV on, dreaming both of decorating her apartment and seeing her handsome Navy SEAL.

***

The next morning, Hailey felt awful. Her ribs still ached, but she was burning up. She thought for sure she’d come down with the flu. Raising a hand to her forehead, she realized how hot it was. Fortunately, she did have some Tylenol with her, but she didn’t have much in the way of provisions.

She stood up and immediately started shivering. Damn. It was hot in San Diego, and she was burning up, but her room still felt freezing at the moment. It was weird to be both hot and cold at the same time, but she managed to stagger across the hotel room into the bathroom. She drank a few sips of water and took some