SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,44
friends doing?” she asked. “You said you guys just got back—I know you mentioned Blake has a girlfriend, right?”
“Yep, I think they’re going camping this weekend.”
Hailey wrinkled her nose as Grayson laughed. “So no camping trips for the two of us? Noted.”
She laughed. “No way. And I’m sure you don’t have great accommodations on a lot of your missions. Why would you come back only to rough it again?”
“Blake and Clarissa love camping. The rest of the guys probably went out to a bar or something tonight. Our whole team used to hang out at Salty Sunset a lot. Hell, the younger guys still like it at least.”
“I know I met them in Bagram, but tell me about the others.”
Grayson brought two bowls of chili over, stopping to ask what she wanted to drink. After getting them both situated, he sat down again. “Well, Blake’s the team leader. He’s intense but a good guy and totally in love with his girlfriend,” he added with a chuckle. “Troy is probably the most like me—I guess we’re somewhat laid back and easygoing, not exactly wild and crazy like Ethan and Logan.”
“What’s wrong with them?” she asked with a laugh.
“Nothing. They’re just a few years younger than the rest of us and are still always chasing after women.” He lifted a shoulder. “Nothing wrong with that as long as the women they’re with know they’re not looking for something serious.”
“I guess you’re right—plenty of women hanging out at bars are fine with one-night-stands. That’s never been me, but to each their own.”
“Yep. We’re all close. We have to be—we work together, train together, spend days on end living and working together on missions. They’ve saved my life before, just like I’ve saved theirs.”
“So…you, Blake, Troy, Ethan, and Logan. There was another guy right?”
“Yeah, Jackson. He’s quiet, more serious than the rest of us, and the biggest guy on the team, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Just a terrorist or two,” she said with a shiver.
Grayson looked at her carefully. “I trust any of those men with my life. We all fight hard for what we believe in. Hell, that’s why people join the military, right? To fight for their country? We’re sent on ops, we rescue civilians, and yeah—when needed, we take out the bad guys.”
“Even when I was in Afghanistan—it just didn’t feel completely real until the explosions on base. Of course I understood the dangers—you know, the men and women risking their lives each day. But I’m on the civilian side. I don’t train for things like that. Sure, I’ve had security briefings and such, and maybe I’m helping the greater good in some way, but it’s nothing like what people in the military do. That day was scary as hell.”
Her phone buzzed on the table in the living room. “I should see if that’s my mom,” Hailey said, starting to rise.
“I’ll grab it—no worries, I won’t chat with her this time,” he said with a wink.
She flushed, watching Grayson move. He was faster than she’d expect for a guy that tall and muscular. Quiet, too. He moved stealthily, almost like a panther or something. He was silent and deadly. She almost felt sorry for any bad guys at the receiving end of his ops—almost, because they certainly deserved whatever they had coming to them.
“Here you go,” he said, handing it to her a moment later and grabbing his bowl while he was still standing. “I’m going to get a second helping. Would you like any more chili?”
“No, I haven’t even finished this yet,” she said. “It tastes amazing, by the way. I love chili.”
“Yeah, I asked your mom what you liked,” Grayson said, his lips quirking.
“You did not!”
“Yep,” he said with a chuckle. “I knew you must like lasagna from what you tried to order back in the cafeteria. I’m hopeless at making that though. Fortunately, when your mom listed chili as one of your favorites, I knew we were good.”
“How long did you talk to her?” Hailey asked, smiling at him. It probably should freak her out that he’d talked to her mom, but she’d spent hours talking to Grayson herself on the phone. He was charming and polite, always asking about her day, and he had funny stories to share with her about some of the things he and his teammates did. She’d never know everything of course—most of it was highly classified. She had a clearance but it was lower than his, and she didn’t need to