Wanted by the Warrant Officer

My head jerked back, my brow wrinkling in confusion. “What for?”

He flashed me a cocky grin. “So you can move in with me.”

I loved how comfortable he was talking about our future together as though nothing was in doubt, but this was taking it a step too far. Dropping my arms from around his neck to plant my hands on my hips, I glared up at him through my lashes. “You’re making some pretty big assumptions there, buddy. Even if I was ready to move in with you, it’s not as simple as me packing up and moving to the other side of the city. Your home is in San Diego, and I live in LA. My job, which I worked darn hard to get, is here.”

“San Diego has plenty of hospitals. I bet one of them would snap you up in a heartbeat if given the chance.”

“Right.” I huffed in disbelief and snapped my fingers. “I’m sure it’ll be that easy for me to find another job of my dreams.”

He dropped his forehead against mine, his blue eyes filled with regret. “I’m sorry you’re the one who’ll have to make this sacrifice, baby. If I could move here now, I would. But between the ranch and my commitment to the Navy, that’s just not possible at the moment. But I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy in San Diego, and if I can’t, then I won’t re-up again and I’ll hire someone to manage the ranch so we can move somewhere else when I’ve completed my current enlistment obligation.”

“Well, dang,” I sighed, those butterflies swarming in my belly again. “When you make an offer like that, I can’t stay angry about your high-handedness in telling me to pack.”

He kissed me until I was breathless before asking, “Does that mean you’re going to pack and put out some feelers for a job in San Diego?”

I wasn’t normally an impulsive person, but I could give him only one answer. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means.”

6

Deacon

Huntley was waiting for me when I arrived on base. I sighed when I saw the way too big smile on his face and glint in his eyes.

“Merrick told you?” I guessed grumpily.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You think we gossip about your love life, sailor? Nah, Audrey called Cora.”

“Figures,” I muttered. I should have known Merrick’s wife would spread the gossip to Huntley’s wife.

Truthfully, he had every right to give me shit after the teasing I’d doled out when he fell for Cora. But I was pissed as fuck to be away from Piper, and for the first time since I’d enlisted, I was not looking forward to being deployed.

“You get a ring on her finger yet?” he asked as he fell in step beside me, heading to the training facilities. “Or are you slacking?”

I threw him a dirty look. “I asked my mom to leave it at the ranch the day after I met Piper. But I wasn’t about to waste time on a five-hour round trip in the car.”

As we approached the entrance to the building, the door swung open, and one of our other team members, Cash, stepped out into the sunshine. “Four hours,” he grunted before going back inside.

A man of few words, Cash was a scary motherfucker if you didn’t know him. But he and Huntley had met back at the Naval Academy, and we’d been teammates since I became a SEAL.

“Shit.” Huntley stopped in his tracks. He pulled out his cell phone and stepped away to call his wife, I assumed. He couldn’t tell her when we were deployed, so I wasn’t surprised by the frustrated look on his face while he waited for her to pick up. They must have had plans he’d have to cancel. It was none of my business, though, so I followed Cash inside the building.

I was happy we wouldn’t be waiting around for an assignment. The sooner we got our mission done, the faster I’d have Piper back in my arms.

After PT, I showered and headed to the mess for lunch because I’d chosen to make Piper my breakfast. Stirling, another buddy and team member, waved me down, and I lifted my chin in greeting. He was sitting with Huntley, Cash, and a few of our other cohorts, but he jumped up and joined me in line.

“You too, huh?” he asked slyly.

I shot a glare at Huntley, who’d walked over to stand with us and was currently brooding silently. “You two pussies braid each other’s hair while you dish about stuff you know shit about?”

Huntley didn’t rebut my accusation; he just returned my look with his own dark scowl.

“Something crawl up your ass, Lieutenant?” Stirling inquired.

“Cora has an OB appointment tomorrow. I was hoping they wouldn’t call us up for another couple of days at least.”