Chapter 4 #2
“You’ll just have to make do eating somewhere else, I suppose,” she teased.
“I can live with that,” he agreed. “It’s almost one-thirty in the morning; I should get you home.”
“Yeah, probably,” she agreed. “I do need my beauty sleep.”
“I should’ve brought you a sweatshirt or something,” he said as she shivered again in the night air. “I keep extra PT gear in the back of my SUV.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. He took her hand as they walked back toward Anchors.
She flushed as his thumb lightly grazed over her skin, but a beat later he was already releasing it and pulling open the door to his SUV.
Mason helped her climb inside, and then he was shutting the door and rounding the car.
Pulling open the driver’s side door and climbing in.
“You live over by the north end of the beach, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m staying at my best friend’s tonight. Other direction.”
Mason nodded but didn’t ask any questions as he started the engine. He expertly maneuvered his SUV out of the spot on the street and pulled onto Atlantic Avenue, nearly empty at this time of night.
It felt strangely intimate driving alone with him in the dark.
How many times had she waited on their table over the past few months?
Twenty? Thirty? Mason always had a grin on his face and a gleam in his eye when he looked at her, but this one-on-one attention had her heart rate accelerating and nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
And all she was doing was sitting beside him.
Goodness. She’d fall head over heels if she wasn’t careful.
And she’d just gotten out of a relationship.
Even though she knew Mason was nothing like her ex, she still needed to tread carefully.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire and all that.
She didn’t sense Mason would ever be a bigger problem than Eric, but what did she know?
She certainly hadn’t been a very good judge of character before.
Three years with her ex, and she hadn’t even been able to move on because he was still darkening her doorstep.
“Thanks for letting me give you a lift,” Mason said, his voice deep.
Taylor laughed and glanced over at him. “I should be thanking you for the ride, not the other way around.”
He chuckled. “Well, I have to admit I was hoping you’ll let me take you out one night.
I didn’t want to scare you off by asking you out in front of everyone at Anchors tonight.
You already shot me down once in front of the guys, but since you gave me your number and haven’t told me to stop texting, I’m hoping you’ll let me take you on an actual date.
I promise to leave the rest of my SEAL team at home.
” He glanced over at her, and although she couldn’t see his expression in the shadows, she sensed he was smiling.
“I’d like that,” she said.
“Fantastic. And aside from my wanting to take you out, my buddies have been giving me hell ever since you turned me down in front of them.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean—”
“I’m just teasing you, sweetheart,” he said with a low chuckle. “I can handle my SEAL team. Hell, we rib each other all the time. Fight like brothers, sometimes.”
“You guys do seem really close.”
“Yep,” he confirmed. “We train together, work together, fight together—know what each of the other guys is thinking. We have to in our line of work. Lives are at stake—literally.”
“It sounds dangerous,” she said.
He nodded. “It can be, just like any other job in the military. But that’s why we train hard and drill together.
We have to be prepared for anything. And like I mentioned before—sometimes we do have to up and leave at a moment’s notice.
We have hours to be wheels up. So, if you don’t see us around, or you haven’t heard from me for some reason, it’s not because I’m avoiding you. ”
“I understand,” she said softly.
“You haven’t been around Anchors much either though lately. I haven’t seen you there since we got back from our last op aside from tonight. I have to ask, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just...complicated.”
She turned to look at him as they pulled to a stop at a red light, taking in his strong profile. His eyes briefly met hers in the dim light.
“I know we don’t know each other well,” he said, his voice gruff. “Hell, I’d like to get to know you better. I think you know that. But if you’re having trouble of some sort, you can tell me about it. Whatever it is, I’ll do my best to help you.”
He glanced over at her again as he pulled forward, and she sighed. “It’s just kind of a weird situation,” she admitted. “I didn’t really want to drag you into it.”
“Try me,” he said easily. “Can I go with you to pick up your car? If it’s a money issue or something, I can talk to them. You paid way too much for that tow a few weeks ago. If anything, they can take that off the cost of the repairs.”
“No, no, it’s not money,” she said flushing as waves of embarrassment washed over her.
At least it was dark inside Mason’s SUV.
He was a Navy SEAL for goodness sake. He probably got hazard duty or some kind of bonus every time he was sent out on a mission.
She was just a waitress—granted, she loved her job and the freedom the evening shift gave her.
She had free time to pursue her passions like photography and just enjoy life by the beach.
It wouldn’t be the first time someone thought she couldn’t afford something though.
“So, there’s a problem with your apartment?” he hedged. “You’re staying with a friend....”
“It’s my ex,” she said, nervously wringing her hands together. “He’s at my apartment right now.”
“He lives with you?” Mason asked, his voice tight.
A beat passed.
“No, no, nothing like that. We broke up a month ago, but he keeps showing up. He came over earlier, completely wasted, and wanted to crash there. I called out from work at first because I didn’t think I should leave.”
“What do you mean?” Mason asked. His voice sounded dark. Dangerous. She was used to him flirting with her, but this was a new side of him. Suddenly he was all business, and he didn’t sound happy about what she’d said.
“He showed up drunk earlier. It’s not the first time,” she admitted. “I just—”
“Does he have a key?”
“No, and if he did, I’d change the locks. I don’t want him around at all, actually, but he’s been coming over more and more. I just didn’t want to make him angry and refuse to let him inside.”
Mason didn’t say anything, and Taylor glanced over in his direction. She couldn’t fully see his profile in the moonlight, but his jaw was clenched, his fists gripping the steering wheel. He took a deep breath, and for a beat, she worried that maybe she shouldn’t have told him.
That he was mad at her.
“Are you...upset?”
“At you? Hell no. Taylor, sweetheart, if he shows up when you don’t want him around, you do not have to let him in.
You broke up, and he needs to accept that.
No matter what he says or what he tells you, you have the right to tell him no.
Call me next time, and I’ll be there immediately.
I don’t care what I’m doing, who I’m with—I’ll drop it and come. ”
Taylor blinked, slightly flustered as a feeling of warmth spread through her. Mason wasn’t angry at her, he was angry on her behalf. Because of her asshole ex.
Just like her best friend had been.
She had to admit that Mason was a lot more intimidating than Bailey though. If Bailey had mouthed off to Eric, he’d probably just laugh in his drunken stupor and push past her.
But Mason?
She didn’t doubt that he could handle Eric.
The trouble was, Mason was gone a lot of the time.
She helplessly shrugged. “I don’t know when he’ll come, and you’re not always around.
Not that you have to be,” she hastily added, “I just mean sometimes you guys disappear for a while, so I figure you’re out of the country or something. ...”
Her voice trailed off. Mason hadn’t explicitly told her what they did when he left, but she could put two and two together just like anyone else. He didn’t just disappear—his entire team did. And then a few days or few weeks later, they’d be back as if nothing had happened.
He didn’t have to say that they were traveling overseas on missions for her to figure that one out.
He blew out a frustrated sigh.
“True, but I have plenty of friends on base. Guys on another SEAL team even. I’ll get you the number of Ice, their SEAL team leader. If you can’t get a hold of me, I want you to call him.”
“Ice?”
“It’s his nickname. Patrick ‘Ice’ Foster. He’s a good guy—you’d like him. Married with a couple of kids.”
“I can’t drag them into this.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to. But we all look out for one another.
Hell, his own wife—girlfriend at the time—was stalked by someone a couple of years ago.
All the guys on the Alpha SEAL team watched out for her.
The next time your ex comes around, call me.
I’m not expecting him to keep coming back after we’re through. ”
“I don’t want to get you into some sort of trouble. Oh, take the next right. My best friend lives in the apartments off Juniper.”
“Gotcha,” he said, his voice tight.
Mason followed her directions, pulling into the apartment complex.
He shut off the engine and glanced over at her, his face tense in the street lights from the lot.
“I’ll help you figure this out, sweetheart.
Hell, whether you want to go out with me or not, I’ll help you.
No man should be forcing a woman to let him into her apartment, uninvited, and I want this taken care of before the situation escalates.
Before I have to leave again and you’re here all alone. ”
She nodded, heat coursing through her. Having a man like Mason concerned about her was intimidating in an entirely different way. He was concerned about her. Could protect her. But what about when he was gone? Or got bored and moved on?