SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,60

“I love the color of your hair,” he said, his eyes molten as he looked at her. “Actually, I love everything about you.”

Her skin heated under his intense stare, but she tried to lighten the mood. “I hated my hair when I was growing up,” she admitted. “I wanted to be brunette or blonde like every other girl in my class. I kind of like it now that I’m older.”

“Me too,” he said, smiling down at her. “So you’ll swim with me this weekend?” he asked.

“I’ll go in the water. I’m not too sure about swimming yet with my ribs.”

“Damn, you’re right. I’m just excited to hang out on the beach with you.” He shook his head, chuckling. “We’ll take it easy, I promise. I should’ve picked up more sunscreen when we were out today. I’m guessing you might burn easily with your fair skin.”

“You’d be right,” she said honestly. “I do have some with me though, so no worries. I got a few necessities before I flew out here.”

They began walking back toward his apartment, dodging a young child that was running toward the water. His parents chased after him, and Hailey laughed.

“Do you want kids?” Grayson suddenly asked, looking over at her.

“Someday. I’m an only child, so I want at least two.”

“Same here. Only child, and I want at least two kids so they have a sibling to play with.”

“God, that was the worst, wasn’t it?” Hailey asked. “I remember being bored out of my mind sometimes, wanting a brother or sister. I read a lot as a kid and luckily had plenty of friends in the neighborhood. It wasn’t the same though.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

Grayson’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, holding it up to his ear. “What’s up, Raptor?” he asked.

Hailey smiled as he took her hand, and they kept walking. She couldn’t get over how he and his teammates used their nicknames when they talked. She could never bring herself to call Grayson “Ghost.” She knew his friends did, but she couldn’t think of him as anything other than Grayson.

She didn’t catch much from his end of the conversation, but he seemed tense when he got off the short call.

“Everything okay?” she asked, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah. We might get sent out in another week or so. I generally don’t know my schedule ahead of time, and it didn’t matter that much to me in the past. But now that I’ve got you here, I don’t like the idea of up and leaving at the spur of the moment. Raptor doesn’t either since he has Clarissa. We don’t always get advance notice of course, but he wanted to give me a head’s up.”

“Like what happened last week,” she said, remembering his text.

“Yep. It was sudden, and I have to admit, I hated not being able to talk to you before I left.”

They climbed the stairs to his apartment, Grayson’s gaze sweeping the area around them. It was well-lit and seemed pretty safe, but Hailey liked how alert he always was. She was usually fairly cautious but had to admit she let her guard down some when he was around.

“You texted me,” she reminded him. “It’s not like I had no idea you were gone.”

“I know,” he murmured softly, unlocking the door and gesturing for her to go inside. The evening sunlight was streaming in through his balcony doors, and she smiled, already feeling at home here. It would be weird moving into her own apartment when this was over. She’d miss him, which was crazy. She’d only known him for mere weeks, and most of their relationship had been long distance. It’s not like she could just keep living here indefinitely.

She heard Grayson lock the front door, and then his arms were wrapping around her from behind. She giggled, loving how touchy-feely he was. Some guys weren’t really like that, but she had to admit, she loved Grayson’s hands on her.

“I like having you here,” he said huskily, ducking his head so that his lips were at her ear.

“I like being here,” she admitted. She kicked off her sandals so she didn’t get sand everywhere and then shrieked as Grayson playfully scooped her up in his arms. “Grayson!” she squealed.

“I was dying to get my hands on you during our entire walk,” he said, carrying her over to the sofa. He acted like she weighed nothing at all, and with his muscular arms holding her close, she felt safe and