“Thanks again for letting me crash here,” Sarah said the next afternoon in Morgan’s townhouse, touching up her lipgloss.

She dropped it into her hobo purse, alongside her wallet and smart phone.  Rummaging through her bag, she finally produced her bronzer, and dusted a bit across her face, eyeing the tiny little mirror that came in the compact.

“Looking awfully fancy for a barbeque with your brother,” Morgan teased.

“Give me a break.  I had no idea Ryan was going to be there.  He never comes to things like that—and trust me, I’ve been to plenty.  I get to visit and check out the eye candy.”

“Who said anything about Ryan?”

“Very funny,” Sarah said, tossing a throw pillow at Morgan from across the room.  She collapsed onto the sofa, moving her bag to the floor.  “I think I got too much sun today,” she said, glancing down at her forearms.

“How could you possibly have?  I think you used SPF 1000.”

“There’s no such thing and you know it.  Besides, I don’t want all the damaging free radicals from the sun ruining my skin.  Do you know how quickly that ages you?”

Morgan shook her head.  “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

“Scientists came up with it—not me.  You’ll be sorry when you’re 50 and covered in wrinkles.”

Morgan shrugged.  “I’m the only redhead on Earth who can get any semblance of a tan—I plan on using that to my advantage.  And when I’m 50, I won’t care if I’m wrinkled because I’ll be old.  It goes hand in hand.”

“Uh-huh.  Trust me.  You’ll be sorry.”

Morgan sank into a comfy chair across from Sarah, eyeing her outfit.  “Cute dress.”

“That was all I packed for the weekend—bikinis and sundresses.”

“I’m sure Mr. Hottie wouldn’t mind seeing you prancing around in a bikini.”

Sarah smirked.  “He wishes.  Or not.  I’ve never even seen him with a woman.  Some of the other men on Patrick’s SEAL team used to bring dates when I came along to their parties or beach bonfires.  I never saw Ryan with anyone.  Not that he usually showed up.”

Morgan shrugged.  “It was work, right?  Unless he had a girlfriend, I can see why he wouldn’t.  Isn’t he in charge of the whole team?”

“I guess.  Maybe even a few SEAL teams.  Don’t know, don’t care.  So what are you up to tonight?  You could come with.”

“No can do.  While you were busy showering and primping for the barbeque, one of the guys from last night texted me.”

“You gave him your number?”

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s not like I gave him a blowjob or something.”

Sarah snorted.  “Fair enough. So you’re going out?”

“Yep. Mike and I are meeting for drinks at a different bar down by the beach.  Maybe dinner; we’ll see.  You should meet up with us later on.  A lot of the bars have live music on Saturday nights.  We can dance, have fun.  And it’ll give me a chance to ditch him if things go south.”

“I might.  I’ll text you from Patrick’s and see how things are going—maybe you and Romeo will need a little alone time and won’t want me there.  And hey, if I don’t hear from you, just tie something to the doorknob so I know not to disturb you later on,” she added, waggling her eyebrows.

“Ha ha.  I’m not having hot and heavy sex with a guy I just met.”

“Never say never.”

“Umm-hmm.  Been there, done that.”

Sarah jumped up, grabbing her purse from the floor. “Hey, we were all young and foolish in college.  I don’t generally sleep with a man I just met either.”

“Generally?” Morgan asked.

“There are exceptions to every rule.  See you later, hun,” she added, blowing Morgan a kiss.  “I gotta swing by the store and pick up something to bring.  At the rate I’m going, I’m going to be late.”  She glanced at the clock on the wall.  “Yep, already am.  And Atlantic Avenue on a gorgeous Saturday like this is always crazy.”

“So take another road.”

“The point of coming to the beach for the weekend is enjoying the beach.  What’s the fun of driving around if I don’t have the ocean breeze blowing in through the windows?”

“You’ve got me there,” Morgan said.  “Have fun.”

Sarah strolled down the steps of Morgan’s townhouse and crossed to the visitor spaces in the lot.  It would be great to catch up with Patrick and her nephew.  She wouldn’t have minded spending the day with him, but they were doing some kind of father/son fishing trip that had been scheduled months in advance.  With Patrick’s crazy schedule with the Navy, constantly deploying to God knows where, she didn’t blame him for wanting to spend time with his son while he was actually stateside.

She rolled down the windows of her mini cruiser and stopped by the closest grocery store a couple of blocks away.  If she’d been at home, she’d loved to have made some kick-ass homemade hummus and a huge veggie platter, but she settled for the store bought version.  Her brother would probably grumble about it either way, preferring whatever meat he’d thrown on the grill. His girlfriend Rebecca enjoyed eating healthy, though.

Sarah paid for her purchase and then walked out to her car, tossing her purse onto the seat.  Her phone beeped with a text, and she grabbed it from her bag, noticing it was from her brother.  She rolled her eyes as she saw his message asking where she was.  Twenty minutes late was practically on time.

So what if she still had to drive another twenty to his house. Give or take.

Forty-five minutes later, she pulled onto his street.  Cars filled the driveway and curb space in front of his house.  Naturally there was no parking close by since she was, oh, already an hour late.  She drove to the end of the block and climbed out of her mini cruiser, popping open the trunk.  Slinging her hobo bag over her shoulder, she lifted the ginormous veggie tray, shut the trunk, and walked down the sidewalk toward Patrick’s house.

She’d put on another strappy sundress earlier this afternoon, this one in muted tie-dye tones that hit at mid-thigh.  It swung in the breeze, and she still felt sexy and pretty in it.  Her gladiator sandals wound up her calves, and with the thin braid she’d pulled a small section of her hair back in, she was ready for a barbeque full of cute, unavailable Navy SEALs.

She blew out a sigh.

Maybe those guys had some single Navy friends that didn’t know her brother?  Ha.

Dropping her purse off in Patrick’s living room, she went out the back door where the party was already underway.  Music blasted from a stereo on the patio, the scent of charcoal wafted through the air, and the sounds of animated conversations drifted toward her.  She called out hello to a few people before adding her food to the mix on one of the overflowing picnic tables.

“Aunt Sarah!” her nephew Logan shrieked, darting toward her.

She scooped him up in a big hug, amazed at how much he seemed to have grown in the month or so.

‘When did you get so big, Loganator?”

He squealed with delight. “I just ate a hot dog,” he said.  “I finished the whole thing!”

“Well, you know what that means?  Time for ice cream!”

She grabbed a couple of ice cream bars from the cooler, handing one to her nephew and enjoying the second one herself.  It was no doubt loaded with sugar and artificial colors and additives that she didn’t usually eat, but you only lived once.

“Wait for me!” Logan shouted, racing after Rebecca’s daughter Abby a moment later, ice cream smeared all over his face.  He darted away from where Sarah was standing, around the lawn chairs, and made a beeline for the corner of the yard.  Ducking between the legs of the Navy SEAL team members and their girlfriends, he left a path of amused faces in his wake.

One of the women rubbed her extremely pregnant belly, the boyish-looking SEAL at her side grinning from ear-to-ear as he ducked lower and whispered something to her.

Sarah’s brother Patrick “Ice” Foster smirked as he tipped back his long-neck and drew a long pull.  “Rebecca’s going to kill you for getting the kids so riled up this late at night.”

“I’ll just blame you,” Sarah said good-naturedly.  “I’m pretty sure it’s all the ice cream.”

“Which you gave them,” Patrick commented dryly.

“They’re kids. Besides, that’s what aunts are for.”

She tossed her own ice cream wrapper in the trash, the white wrapper contrasting with the dark blue polish on her fingertips.  She’d painted her toes a trendy shade of green earlier today, and Morgan had teased her, claiming Sarah had turned preppy with her choice of blue and green.

Sure.  And next she’d be wearing polo shirts and shorts emblazoned with Maine lobsters or something.

Patrick raised his eyebrows.  “Just remember what goes around comes around.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Someday when you have kids I’m going to load them up on sugar before bedtime.”

She laughed, holding up her left hand.  Thin gold bracelets dangled from her wrist, but her all-important ring finger was decidedly empty.  “Do you see a ring on this finger?”

“You didn’t see me planning to date ever again, and look around you,” Patrick said with a grin.

“Nope I sure didn’t.”

Sarah eyed Patrick’s girlfriend Rebecca moving around the yard, offering their guests brownies from a large tray.  Her young daughter was chasing after Patrick’s son, and Rebecca glanced over at Sarah and Patrick and smiled, her face flushing as she met Patrick’s gaze.  Rebecca was some hotshot divorce attorney, but seriously, the woman practically melted around Patrick.

“Do you need any help with the food?” she called from across the yard.

“It’s under control.”

“Maybe just help eating it,” Sarah chimed in.  “Patrick made enough food to feed all of Little Creek.”

Patrick smirked, but his gaze flicked toward Rebecca again, and Sarah resisted the urge to rib her brother.

No, Patrick was certainly the last man she ever expected to settle down again.  After a nasty divorce and losing his ex-wife to cancer, he’d been through a lot.  More so than many other men his age.

Then again, he led a team of Navy SEALs into battles and on secret missions all over the world.  Trained hard every day on base.  She wasn’t even sure exactly what those guys did when they deployed, because they couldn’t say.  They frequently left without even being able to tell their girlfriends where they were headed.  Or when they’d return.

She shuddered.

Patrick raised his eyebrows.  “You okay?”

“Yeah.  I just don’t like the idea of you going away on dangerous missions all the time.”

“That’s my job.  Always has been.”

“I know.  I just have a bad feeling.” 

Patrick raised his eyebrows.  His icy blue eyes and the cool, calm demeanor that earned him the nickname “Ice” did little to dissuade her, though, from pressing the issue further.

“What?  Can’t I worry about my own brother?”

“There’s nothing to be worried about.  We’re well-trained.  The best at what we do.”

“And so modest,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

Patrick smirked and set his beer down before grabbing a large platter.  He flipped the last of the burgers from the grill onto it, the scent of charcoal and freshly grilled meat filling the air.  “Last round!” he called out.

Conversations drifted across the yard, and Sarah glanced over at the rest of the men on Patrick’s SEAL team.  Even though a year or so ago every man had been single, they each had a girlfriend or fiancée now.

Imagine that.

Who’d have thought they’d all settle down before she did?

Even Brent “Cobra” Rollins, the man with dark black hair and piercing eyes, who’d never even been with the same woman twice, had recently moved in with his new girlfriend Ella.

Brent.

With a girlfriend.

Wonders never ceased.

Matthew “Gator” Murphy laughed from where he stood across the yard beside Brent, Ella, and his own newfound love, Brianna.  His southern twang drifted across the lawn as she heard the word, “darlin’” interspersed in the conversation.  He was a southern gentleman through and through, but the accent seemed to only come out when he was embellishing a story.

Matthew was a good guy though.  Just like all of the men on Patrick’s team.  They might be big, tough guys, but they fought hard for what they believed in—including the women in their lives.  And despite their brash, sometimes arrogant ways, they were a fun group to be around.

Save for the imposing figure standing off to the side.

Ryan stood alone, jaw taut, his muscular arms crossed.  Thick biceps gave way to corded forearms and muscular hands.  His broad chest narrowed at the waist.  He had pounds of muscle beneath all that toned flesh.  Her girly parts unexpectedly did flips, not that she was really into brusque authority figures.

He’d looked somewhat annoyed earlier when the kids running around the yard had bumped into him.

Kids.  At a backyard barbeque.

He probably was the type of man to complain about crying babies on airplanes, too.

Besides, this was a party. Everyone else looked rather content.  Happy to have a beer in their hand and friends at their side.

That couldn’t exactly be said about Ryan.

Seriously.  Why come to a party if you were barely going to talk to anyone there?

Patrick probably felt obligated to invite his CO to the barbeque since the entire SEAL team was there, but he was as different from the rest of them as night and day.

Patrick and the other guys were a tight-knit group that trained and fought together.  Drilled on base every day and went off to war together.  They used to hang out at Anchors every weekend, chasing after the pretty college co-eds around Virginia Beach.  Flirting with more than their fair share of beautiful women.  Sarah had even babysat her nephew a couple of times so Patrick could go out with his team when they got back from missions.  The guys needed to decompress when they were finally stateside after some of their longer deployments.  And she’d been more than happy to help.

Although the men had each settled down to a certain extent after having found their significant others, Ryan seemed content to be alone.

Almost as if he knew Sarah was watching him, his dark eyes swept her way.  His face was expressionless, but he held her gaze.

Full lips.

Chiseled jaw.

A poker face like no other.

What on Earth was he even thinking about standing there all alone?  She schooled her expression and turned back to Patrick, suddenly feeling foolish for at least not waving hello.  Despite her ability to chat up anyone, make new friends everywhere, something about him always gave her pause.  He was always watching her too closely.  Almost like he could see right inside her.

Which was crazy, because he didn’t know the first thing about her.

She looked over again and was surprised to find him still watching her.  Even out of uniform, he managed to look commanding and ready to go at a moment’s notice—a dark polo shirt contrasted against his perfectly creased khakis.  Which fell at the perfect spot over his polished shoes.  The silver watch on his wrist glinted in the waning evening sunlight.  He looked like he could roll right onto base for an impromptu meeting or something.  Simply give the word and send the team on another dangerous mission.

He gave a brief nod in her direction before turning away toward Brent and Matthew.

“I’m amazed you got him to acknowledge you,” Patrick commented, setting the tray of steaming burgers down on the full table.

“What do you mean?”

“The CO usually keeps to himself.”

Sarah laughed.  “So I noticed.  He’s standing there by himself.  At a party.  Where he knows everyone.”

“I was surprised he came, to be honest.  I’ve invited him over in the past, but he generally turns down the invitations.”

“Maybe he was hungry.”

Patrick smirked.

The youngest man on the team, Evan “Flip” Jenkins ambled over, a grin on his face. With his blond hair and boyish good looks, he could pass for a college kid.  “The food smells awesome.  I’m always up for another burger.  Ali and I need to have you guys over sometime, Ice.”

Patrick nodded.  “I’m sure you’ll have your hands full for a while.  And I doubt you’ll want our kids tearing around your townhouse with a new baby.”

Evan’s fiancé Alison groaned as she walked to his side, one hand still on her stomach.  “If this baby is anything like his father, he’s going to eat us out of house and home.”

“You love it, Ali,” Evan joked, putting his plate down on the table and wrapping his arms around her from behind.  Evan towered over Alison’s petite frame, still willowy despite the burgeoning bump, as she leaned back against him, her eyes closing for a moment.

Sarah felt a brief pang of regret as she watched the two of them for not having gone down that path in her own life, then brushed it aside. She was thirty years old, not fifty. If she wanted to, she could still settle down.  Have kids.

Eventually.

But it was too much fun to flirt with all the men out there without committing to anything serious.  She was happy with the middle ground—having a little fun for a couple of months with a new guy before moving on.

“In a few years, that’ll be you two,” she said.  “Chasing after your kids at barbeques.”

“I can’t wait,” Evan grinned.

“I agree—anything to not be pregnant anymore,” Alison said.

“Are you still having morning sickness?”

“That’s finally better.  Now my back has been killing me.  This kid needs to get out.  The sooner the better.”

“A few more weeks, baby, then we’ll be home free,” Evan murmured.

“I’m a physical therapist,” Sarah said.  “Maybe I could show you a few stretches to help.  Unless your pregnancy is high risk, it’s safe to exercise.  You should give me a call.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Alison said.  “I’m a nurse, but I’ve had to change my shifts around for this last month.  Twelve hours standing in the ER was too hard.  Plus I can’t even help all of the patients with this huge baby bump.”

“I’d imagine.  Let me give you my card.”  She glanced around, her gaze falling on the empty lawn chairs. “Actually, my purse is in the house.  Be right back.”

“I can get it from you later,” Alison said.

“It’s no trouble!” Sarah called out over her shoulder.  Evan was already piling his plate high with food while Alison protested the platter of burgers that Patrick was offering her.  Funny seeing her brother so damn domestic all of a sudden.  Ever since he’d met Rebecca, he seemed content to play house.

Maybe he’d leave the SEALs.  Eventually.  Find some safe office job where the Navy didn’t send him out on dangerous missions all over the world.  Their parents had recently retired to Florida, so they weren’t around to watch Patrick’s son anymore when he was gone.  Then again, he and Rebecca were looking more serious every time she saw them.  Sarah wouldn’t be surprised if one day her brother, who swore he’d never marry again, got down on one knee.

Huh.

Wouldn’t that be something.

Sarah made a detour toward the picnic table before heading to the house and grabbed a brownie from the platter.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Rebecca said, tossing some empty plates in the trash.  “Norfolk is so close and so far at the same time.”

“I agree, we don’t see each other nearly as often as we should.  The bridge traffic’s the worst,” Sarah said.

Rebecca nodded, her face dropping, and Sarah cringed at her mistake.  Rebecca was a widow whose husband had been tragically killed in an accident on the bridge a few years prior.  According to Patrick, she still had a little fear of being over water.

And yet she’d ended up with a Navy SEAL.  Huh.

“I’m so sorry,” Sarah said. “I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

Rebecca smiled.  “No need to apologize.  It’s in the past, and I’m happy now.  For a long time I didn’t think I would be.  I love your dress,” she added, clearly trying to change the subject.  “It’s so cute.”

“Thanks. I found it at this little shop in Norfolk.  You should come over one weekend—we can have lunch and go shopping.”

“Yeah, that’d be fun.  Hey, is Alison okay?  She looked like she might be in pain a few minutes ago.  I was going to go check on her.”

“She said her back’s been bothering her.”

“Poor thing.  I’ve hardly gotten a chance to talk to her all evening, I’ve been so busy with all the party stuff and chasing after the kids.”

“That’s right, I keep forgetting that you two were already friends before you each ended up dating a SEAL guy.”

Rebecca laughed.  “Yep.  I swore I’d never date again, but that was before I ran into your brother.”

“He can be rather persuasive,” Sarah agreed.  “Probably his best and worst quality.”

Rebecca laughed, and Sarah resisted the urge to glance over at Patrick.  Her brother would certainly know they were talking about him.  That SEAL intuition and situational awareness was the real deal.

“I told Alison that I’d teach her a few stretches to help relieve some of the pain in her back.”

“That’s so nice of you to help.”

“It should help a little.  Some of her pain likely won’t go away until the baby is born.”

“I’m sure she’d appreciate anything at this point.  Back pain is the worst.”

“You know what we do in the Navy?” Ryan asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.  He stopped beside Rebecca, towering over her, and even though Sarah was standing across the picnic table from them, she felt his presence as strongly as if he’d bumped right into her.

His clean, masculine scent seemed to fill the air, and even though he was standing several feet away, she could swear she felt the heat coming off his large frame.  Her gaze flicked from him to Rebecca, and she tried to ignore the strange undercurrent of electricity surging between them.

“What’s that, Captain Mitchell?” Rebecca asked.

“Ma’am, please call me Ryan.”

Rebecca laughed.  “Only if you stop calling me ‘ma’am’ every time we see one another.”

He nodded, a brief hint of a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth.  “Roger that.”

Thick biceps bulged from his polo shirt.  A broad chest took up her line of vision.  And as she looked up, steel gray eyes bore into hers.