Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor- Cynthia D'Alba Page 0,21

as she reentered her house ready to face her mother and daughter.

She found them sitting at the dining room table, both of their faces wearing guilty expressions.

“You two weren’t spying on me, were you?”

Her mother feigned innocence. “I would never.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Katie said, her gaze firmly on her plate.

Holly chuckled and sat. “Here’s the thing, Katie. My mom is a terrible liar. It’s written all over her face. Following her lead on this probably isn’t your smartest plan.”

Katie looked at her grandmother and back to Holly. She winced slightly. “I might have looked out the front window once, but Grams looked the whole time.”

Pulling a serious face, Holly looked at her mother with raised eyebrows. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Her mother checked the time on her phone. “I say I’d better get home. You father will be worried.”

“But you called him when we got here,” Katie said.

Holly snickered while her mother groaned. “Sometimes, Holly, you are too good of a role model,” her mother said. “But I really do need to go.” Patricia stood. “I’m not sorry to have come by unexpectedly. I got to meet Benjamin and he is quite the looker, don’t you think, Katie?”

Katie frowned. “He’s okay, I guess, for an old guy.”

Holly rolled her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. If Ben thought she was hard on his ego, being called an old guy by her daughter would be a dagger to his heart.

Patricia chuckled. “Perspective, I guess.” She held out her arms. “Come give Grams a hug,” she said to her Katie.

Katie hugged her. “Thanks, Grams. Last night and today were fun.”

“They sure were,” Patricia agreed. “I think we’ll be doing more weekends in the future, right, Holly?”

Holly shook her head. “We’ll see, Mom. Thanks for everything.”

Patricia bussed Holly cheek. “I think he’s handsome, even if he’s old.”

After Patricia left, Holly made Katie eat some dinner before diving into ice cream. Her daughter chattered nonstop about…Well, Holly wasn’t sure exactly what Katie was running on about. Hillary’s new friend, who’d gotten in trouble at school, and the story went on and on. Holly smiled and nodded in what she hoped were all the right places. Frankly, it’d been a long time since she’d been out with girls like last night, and maybe even longer since she’d had dinner with a man. She was a little distracted.

Katie had come home with a new book—which was typical for her—and headed to her bedroom to read. Holly showered and slipped between her sheets with a long sigh. As she reached for her phone to read the latest contemporary romance, it vibrated. Ben was sending her a text. Interesting.

Any issues after I left? I didn’t traumatize your daughter too badly, did I?

She said you were cute.

Aww.

For an old guy. [Laughing emoji]

[Stabbing emoji] Damn. You Maxwell women are deadly to a man’s ego.

I’m still pretty pissed at my brother. Let me pay for your taillight, okay?

Absolutely not. Don’t worry about it. I can change out the cover. You working tomorrow?

I am. Not sure where I’m assigned yet. You?

I wish. I have grocery shopping and laundry duty.

Holly chuckled. You’d rather be shot at than do laundry?

You haven’t seen the pile of laundry.

[Laughing emoji] I don’t mind the washing or transferring it to the dryer. It’s the folding, hanging, and putting away that I don’t like.

Agreed. I know it’s late, but I wanted to tell you thank you again for dinner.

You’re welcome.

Talk later this week?

Absolutely. Night

The next morning, Holly took Katie and a couple of her friends with her to the beach. Even if the girls were turning thirteen during the summer months, Holly still felt that they were too young to go by themselves. Call her a helicopter mom. She didn’t care. Katie’s safety was her number one concern.

Holly made sure she was stationed nearby, even if the girls acted like they had no clue who she was.

Sunday was the kind of day she’d have designed if given the option. Sunny with a breeze, and not one recovery or accident in Holly’s area.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she kept an eye out for a certain silver-haired SEAL surfer. She’d never tell him she’d seen him and his team running last summer, and maybe the summer before that. It’d been impossible to miss his silvery hair sparkling under the California sun, not to mention his firm legs and ass.

Much to her disappointment, apparently Ben did have to do laundry or at least