Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor- Cynthia D'Alba Page 0,23

to sleep.”

Katie danced across the room and fell crossways onto the bed on her stomach. “I’ll never sleep.”

Holly walked over. “Come on. Get in the right way.” When Katie did, Holly tucked the top covers around her. “Night, honey.”

After a nice cool shower, Holly dropped into her own bed and picked up the latest contemporary romance on the best-seller list. She checked her cell phone to see if she’d missed any calls or texts, but no. All was quiet on that front.

Wednesday after school, she and her sister-in-law Diana, took the girls out for shopping and dinner, a mother-daughter outing. The entire evening was a raging success. When they got home, Katie went straight to her room to text pictures of her new clothes to the other three girls. On most school nights, Holly would’ve protested Katie being on her phone so much in the evening, but with two days left in the school year, there were no homework assignments or projects left to finish, so Holly ignored the shattering of the house rules. Her daughter was making memories that would last her the rest of her life. Holly wanted them to be happy ones.

Later that evening when Holly crawled into her bed and picked up her book again, her phone vibrated with a text. When Benjamin Blackwell flashed on her screen, her heart did a little happy dance until she shut it down.

Fake boyfriend. Remember that.

It’s late, so I hope I’m not waking you. You up?

[Laughing emoji] It’s nine o’clock. Of course, I’m awake. Heck, Katie is still up. How’s your week going?

Long days. Crappy food.

Sorry about the food. I’m surprised. I’ve heard the base has great food.

Oh, no. Not the base. Food there is excellent. I’m eating at home.

She snorted, then began typing again.

Well, guess who has her first boy-girl party Friday night?

I’m thinking you’ve probably been to one of those, so I’m going with Katie. How’d she break you down?

It’s only five boys and five girls. A kind of sixth grade graduation party. Completely chaperoned by a couple of parents I know well. Better than a dark movie theater, right?

I’m a guy. If I was twelve, I’d be trying to figure how to kiss Katie without my parents seeing me.

Thanks for that image. It’s going to break her heart when I tell her she can’t go.

Kidding. I swear. Besides, sounds safe and a good way to let her dip her toe into that pool. But I’m not a parent.

Hey! I was thinking since she has plans for Friday, maybe you and I could meet for dinner? Continue getting to know each other, so it looks real when we’re around my family???

As she typed the invitation, her fingers shook a little. She didn’t ask guys out. Or at least, she never had in the past. She felt so forward and a little embarrassed. But for this whole fake relationship to fool her friends and family—especially her mother—they had to appear as though they knew each other much better than they did now. With four cops in the house, it was a little hard to pull the wool over eyes.

Sorry. I’ve already got a date for Friday night.

Oh.

Her heart stuttered. She was so glad no one could see her right now. She was dying…of embarrassment and confusion.

Her phone vibrated in her hand with a call. His name flashed. A dichotomy of emotions overwhelmed her. Excitement. Dread. Happiness. Embarrassment.

Still she had to answer. It wasn’t as if she could pretend she hadn’t heard the phone ring.

“Hello?”

“Oh is the wrong answer.”

His deep voice seeped from the phone and into her stomach. Chill bumps sprang up on her arms as a wave of lust rippled through her. She had to swallow against the rising desire.

“Excuse me?”

“When the person you’re dating exclusively tells you he has a date and it’s not you, the correct response is not ‘Oh.’ It’s something along the lines of ‘what the hell do you mean’?”

She shivered and all parts of her got damp. His voice was like smooth bourbon, and she wanted to drink it down. She cleared her throat. “What the hell do you mean you have a date?”

“There,” he said, his voice filled with humor. “Tweak it with a little jealousy to go with the anger.”

She laughed. “So exactly whom do you have a date with on Friday?”

“Oh, your mother.”

Holly’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

He chuckled. “And you, of course. Your mom called and invited me to have dinner with your family on