Chapter 1 #2
“Easy, princess. Mason just hasn’t gotten laid in a while.”
Mason chuckled as Emma shushed her boyfriend.
Hell.
Mason had been there at the London pub when Emma and Hunter had first met. The chemistry between them had sizzled right from the start. From the looks of things, it hadn’t fizzled out at all since she’d moved here. If anything, Hunter was even more sickeningly sweet toward her.
Hunter.
One of the biggest, baddest dudes on their SEAL team, brought to his knees by a British chick.
“What’s so funny?” Hunter asked.
“I see who wears the pants in your relationship. Emma looks like she calls all the shots. She’s got you wrapped around her finger.”
“Thank you,” Emma said. “I always knew I liked you, Mason. Handsome and intelligent.”
“Hey,” Hunter said in a low voice, nuzzling her neck as she squirmed. “Don’t make me jealous over here.”
“Over here?” Emma asked with a laugh. “I’m literally on top of you. How could you be jealous?”
Hunter raised his eyebrows. “On top of me? Hell, I like the sound of that.”
Emma blushed furiously as Mason guffawed.
Noah, Jacob, and Ryker walked in together just then, sauntering toward the back. Emma’s gaze fell on Noah, her lips quirking in amusement. “I think your aviators are glued to your head. I’ve never seen you without them.”
The men all chuckled as Noah grinned. “They do seem to attract the ladies. And don’t worry—I make sure to take them off when I have a woman in my bed. Can’t have them falling off during sex.”
Hunter growled from his seat. “She wasn’t worried—and she sure as hell wasn’t thinking about you having sex.”
Noah smirked. “That makes one of us. I’m already hoping to find a beautiful woman to bring home with me for the night. Just have to decide who the lucky lady is.”
“Well, it sure as hell isn’t your looks that draws the ladies in,” Ryker said, grabbing a chair and sinking backwards onto it. “Hunter, Emma,” he said, nodding at the couple.
“Where’s the waitress?” Jacob asked, glancing around. “Is Taylor here tonight?”
Hunter shook his head, his eyes sweeping toward Mason. “I haven’t seen her the last couple of times we’ve been here.”
Mason frowned. “Me either. I was just saying earlier that something seems off with her. She used to be working practically every night, and she’s hardly around anymore.”
A young, blonde waitress walked over to their table, notepad in hand. “What can I get you boys tonight?” she asked, her pink lips shining with some type of lip gloss. Her gaze raked over Ryker, and Mason smirked.
“How about your phone number?” Noah teased.
She batted her heavily made-up eyes at him. “I’m not sure if you’re my type,” she teased him.
“Well, you’re certainly mine,” he quipped.
Hunter’s gaze swept from Noah to their waitress. “A round of beers for everyone. On me. We’re celebrating tonight.”
“Hoorah!” Noah said with a grin.
“Hell,” Ryker said as the blonde waitress walked away. “Colton and Camila aren’t even here yet.”
“So we’ll order them a round when they get here,” Hunter said. “No reason we can’t get started.”
“Hey fellas,” a voice drawled, and Mason glanced over to see Matthew “Gator” Murphy walking over with Brent “Cobra” Rollins.
The two men were on the Alpha SEAL team at Little Creek.
Both the Alpha and Delta teams worked together at times, deploying jointly on missions.
The Delta team had just gotten back from Colombia though while the Alpha team had been in the Middle East.
“Where’s your better halves?” Jacob asked.
Brent smirked at them. “Ella’s busy taking a class. She’s actually going to graduate early in December but wants to get her Master’s Degree after that. She was accepted to a graduate program here.”
“Hell, that’s awesome, man,” Mason said, nodding at the other SEAL. “To transfer schools and finish early is pretty sweet. And grad school, too? Fantastic.”
Brent had met Ella down in Florida. He’d come to her rescue when her sleazy boss at the cocktail lounge where she worked had pawned her off on some men he owed money to. Ella had ended up moving to Virginia Beach to finish college here.
Such was the life of a SEAL. They went where the U.S. Navy sent them—and their wives or girlfriends had to come along, for better or worse.
“Yep. I was looking forward to seeing more of her,” Brent said. “She was planning to get a job after graduating, but it looks like now she’ll be spending more of her nights studying and writing papers. She’s more serious about school than I ever was,” he added with a chuckle.
“Bri’s at home with the baby,” Matthew said. “I did daddy duty the other night while some of the women went out. Now it’s my turn to have a breather. Man, that little fella can scream.”
“Shit,” Hunter said as Emma stood and headed off to the ladies’ room. “You boys could open a goddamn daycare with all the kids you have.”
“Not me,” Brent said. “I don’t know a damn thing about babies. Nor do I want to.”
Hunter chuckled. “And what does Ella say about that?” he asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the chair, his mouth quirked up in a smile.
Brent shrugged. “She’s busy with school now—no time for a kid.”
“But grad school won’t last forever,” Mason needlessly pointed out. “Give it a few years, bro.”
“We’re meeting some of the other guys here,” Matthew drawled.
“Well hell, pull up a chair and join us,” Hunter said. “We’re celebrating our latest successful op.”
“Another time,” Matthew promised. He and Brent headed off to the bar area to wait for the rest of their team, and the blonde waitress sashayed back over, holding a heavy tray of drinks.
Mason’s gaze landed on her name tag. “Emily,” he said, watching as her eyes flicked over to him. “Have you seen Taylor around?”
“She called out again,” Emily said with a wry smile, handing out the bottles of beer to the guys.
“Called out as in she’s sick?” Mason asked, his eyes narrowing.
“I’m not sure,” Emily said. “She’s missed several of her shifts. She was sick a couple of weeks ago, but I’m not sure why she hasn’t been around lately.”
“Is she having car trouble again?” Mason asked.
The last time the team had been in here, she’d told him how she’d paid $400 for a tow.
Mason had wanted to wring the neck of the tow truck driver who’d taken advantage of a single woman.
Hell, he’d have changed her damn tire himself.
Now that he had her number, and vice versa, he’d hoped she’d be in contact with him more.
After a string of flirty texts though, he’d disappeared with his team to Bogota a couple of weeks ago.
And he’d barely gotten a response back from her since.
Emma walked back over, her red hair swishing around her. “Camila just texted me—she and Colton are on their way.”
“About damn time,” Jacob said with a grin. “Why do you think they were running late? Maybe they needed some extra time between the sheets?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
“Hush,” Emma chided him. “She just moved here. Of course they’re going to be enjoying their time alone.”
“Poor old Colt is pussy-whipped,” Noah said, taking a swig of his beer.
Emma reached over and lightly smacked him on the arm as Hunter guffawed in amusement.
“He’s pretty damn happy,” Mason said, taking a pull of his beer.
“Says the guy who’s been hung up on a woman for months,” Noah said.
Mason shrugged. “She knows I’m interested in her. Hell, how many times have I asked her out now? It’s not exactly a state secret. First she said she didn’t date customers, then that she wanted to take it slow. She gave me her number though.”
“You should ring her up,” Emma said in her British accent. “You have her mobile—why keep texting when you could just ask her out on a proper date?”
“I have asked her out,” Mason said. “A couple of times. But you’re right. I’ll give her a call this weekend now that we’re back in town. If she’s not interested, I can take it,” he said with a shrug. “But then I’ll at least have an answer.”
“Bravo,” Emma said, as the men chuckled.
Mason scanned the restaurant out of habit, hoping Taylor would somehow appear out of thin air. The waitresses working tonight were busy, carrying full trays between tables. But as their own waitress had already said, Taylor wasn’t there.
Again.
Mason clenched his jaw, reaching for his cell phone.