Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker - Cat Johnson Page 0,24
the apartment building.
He glanced up to see Liam, arms folded and looking smug. He needed to consider renting a different apartment.
“What are you doing here?”
“Dropping Jack off,” Liam said.
“From where? What did you guys do tonight?” he asked.
Liam’s brow rose high. “The real question is, what did you do tonight?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not what Jack said. He said you had a date. On Valentine’s Day. At the woman’s sister’s house.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than worry about what I do?”
“Not really, no. Now, back to you and your date. I just got a text from Joker, who happens to be at McP’s right now, where rumor has it you were tonight. With a woman.”
“Yes. And?”
“Living up to your name, I see.” Liam grinned. “You just getting back from her place? Your usual in, out, goodbye to make sure she doesn’t get the wrong idea.”
He felt his blood pressure rising. “I just dropped her off. Yes. But it’s not like that. Things are different with Alicia.”
“Alicia, huh? Wow. She has a name and you remember it. She must have been good.”
“Of course, she has a name.” He was starting to get pissed as he slid his key into the lock. “I’m going inside now.”
“All right. Don’t tell me. That’s fine, you heartbreaker, you.”
“Good night, Liam,” he said as he slammed the door closed.
Obviously his plan was going to require a few more steps to be completely successful. To convince his team she wasn’t a one-night stand.
Alicia had agreed to reciprocate and be his fake date for his teammates if he needed her to. It looked as if he was going to have to take her up on that. He wasn’t upset by the idea of having to see her again. Not at all.
Inside the blissful quiet of his apartment, he took the time to check his messages. He found one from his mother and immediately was hit with a sense of guilt.
While he had been out having a good time with Alicia, his mother had probably been sitting home all alone. He might hate Valentine’s Day, but she loved it.
He glanced at the time on the cell’s display. It was getting late for a phone call to the East Coast, but he also knew his mother. She sat up most nights watching television until well after midnight.
He settled into his favorite chair—the recliner he’d gotten free from a team guy who’d retired and was giving away all his shit. So what if it was used? It was already broken in, which is probably what made it so comfortable.
After hitting the cell phone’s screen to return the call, he waited for his mom to answer. He listened to four rings before she finally picked up. That was usually the minimum it took her to get to her phone so he didn’t worry.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said sounding more cheerful than he’d expected.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too. How was your day?” he asked.
“Good. Very good, in fact.”
He frowned. That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. “What did you do?”
“Oh, not too much. Just dinner out.”
“With whom?” he asked.
“A friend.”
Was she being cagey? Giving him vague answers on purpose to hide something?
He should be grateful she’d had a good day and move on. Instead he was ready to launch a full-fledged investigation into this friend. If only she’d give him enough information to do so.
“Who’s this friend? Do I know them?” he asked.
“No, you don’t know him.”
Him. Him who?
“What did you do today?” she asked, cutting into his thoughts.
Her question took him off guard. He’d been too busy wondering about this strange man his mother was having dinner with on Valentine’s Day.
“I went to a party.”
“A party? That sounds nice.”
“It was. Very nice,” he answered her question as vaguely as she had his.
He was trying to figure out how to bring the conversation back to her and her date when she said, “I’d called because I was wondering if you’d be around next week.”
Next week. Next week. Shit! Her birthday was next week.
“For your birthday.” He sighed. “I’m so sorry, Mom. We just got home and I didn’t think to put in for leave to come visit you—”
“Oh, I know it’s hard for you to visit. That’s why I was wondering if it would be okay if I visited you.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’d love to see you. But, Mom, if I get sent out—”
“I understand. You could get called away. That’s okay.”
“But after you flew all the way across the country, I’d hate