SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,6

until later tonight, too. First his team would help at the gate, possibly brief again with the general—and then it sounded like they’d be eating those damn MREs after all.

Chapter 2

Hailey looked around in confusion at the chaos in the cafeteria. The fire alarm blaring was unnerving, even if they weren’t in immediate danger right here. People were standing back up, brushing the spilled food off themselves, and starting to move to the exits. She noticed one woman had a cut on her forehead and wondered if she’d somehow hit her head when ducking for cover.

Grayson stood at her side, his hand lightly on her shoulder as he readied to walk her back.

His touch was comforting, and she knew he didn’t want to lose her in the crowd of people. When she’d heard the siren earlier, she’d been terrified and frozen in place. Grayson had practically tackled her to the ground, somehow not injuring her in the process, and had shielded her with his body.

He was huge, at least a foot taller than her, and nothing but pure muscle. She’d felt his broad chest and strong arms as he’d covered her, and while she’d been terrified of the alarm, she’d felt safe with him. He hadn’t thought anything of shielding her with his body, and although she’d been scared out of her mind, he’d immediately sprang into action.

She briefly glanced up at him, taking in his chiseled features. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and a shortly trimmed beard, similar to many of the other men here. She knew men grew out their facial hair to blend in more in the Middle East. She’d never dated a guy with a beard before, and somehow it looked rugged and sexy on him. She wondered if he was clean shaven back home or if he preferred this.

Although she hadn’t asked, she assumed he and his teammates were probably some sort of Special Forces team. The Army and Navy both wore the same desert camo on base, so she wasn’t sure what branch of the military he was with. A Navy SEAL? Delta Force? They hadn’t had any special identifying insignia.

Groups of men had frequently come in to meet the general during her tenure here, and as an administrative assistant, she saw it all. The meetings were all above her clearance level, and she of course knew not to ask any details. The fact that his teammates were all ready to spring into action spoke volumes though. And while some units here were rather large, the fact that there were now six imposing-looking men standing around her said something.

They were clearly a tight-knit, specialized team.

She probably should’ve felt alarmed that a man she didn’t even know would be walking her back to her housing, but at the moment, she was rattled over the suicide bomber. She’d been briefed on security when she’d arrived in country, but Bagram Airfield itself was heavily fortified and relatively low risk as far as dangerous places in the world.

Of course the military men and women were in danger when they patrolled or conducted their missions, but she sat at a desk all day. Her building housed the general. If she was working in the middle of a war zone, this was as safe as you could get.

Had someone else snuck into base during the chaos? It was possible there was another suicide bomber in their midst. Would the enemy shoot RPGs at them? Attack while confusion was ensuing? The base might indeed be heavily fortified, but the incident tonight had just proved that anything could happen.

She shivered slightly, stepping closer to Grayson without even thinking about it. His hand tightened on her shoulder, but he wasn’t hurting her. He was reassuring her that he was there.

Grayson briefly conferred with his team, and then they were moving to the door. “We never did get to have dinner together,” he quipped, clearly trying to get her mind off of the bombing.

“Yeah. Maybe another time,” she said.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” he joked, holding the door for her with one hand and moving his other to her back as he guided her out. Maybe she should’ve been annoyed at the way he was practically manhandling her as he ushered her out the door, but he was so large, he kept her from otherwise being jostled in the crowd.

And at the moment, she was terrified out of her mind.

There were shouts all around them as they moved out