Chapter Thirteen #2
She didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, she leaned just slightly into his hand, so subtle it almost felt like she hadn’t meant to do it at all. That tiny movement damn near undid him.
“Willow.”
Her eyes remained on his.
“Yeah?”
He lowered his voice.
“Tell me if you don’t want this.”
Understanding crossed her face, her cheeks turning pink, but she still didn’t move away.
“I want it.”
That was all he needed. Jay Bird leaned down slowly. His lips touched hers. It was barely more than a brush at first.
Willow inhaled against his mouth, and Jay Bird forced himself to stay right there. No pushing. No deepening it just because every instinct he had suddenly wanted more. This wasn’t about wanting more. It was about her choosing him.
Willow’s hand curled lightly into the front of his shirt.
Jay Bird kissed her again, still gentle and still slow, but this time she kissed him back, and damn, for something so innocent, it hit him harder than kisses that had gone a hell of a lot further.
Her lips were soft and warm against his. When he finally pulled away, he kept his forehead against hers.
Willow kept her eyes closed for another second, as if she needed a moment to steady herself, and when she finally opened them, a shy smile had already found its way onto her face.
“Wow.”
Jay Bird grinned. “Good wow?”
She nodded.
Then a horrified little voice came from several feet away.
“NO!”
Both of them jerked apart and turned to find Lily standing near the water, staring down at the sand.
“What’s wrong, Peanut?” Jay Bird asked, crouching down next to her.
Lily pointed dramatically at her foot.
“Sand!”
He didn’t understand. Of course there was sand on her feet. They were at the beach.
“That’s generally how beaches work, Peanut.”
“Bitch!”
Willow immediately started laughing again.
Jay Bird groaned. “We’re definitely working on that word.”
Lily lifted both arms. “Jay up!”
Jay Bird scooped her up while Willow followed, still laughing.
Lily wrapped one arm around his neck and reached the other toward Willow.
“Momma.”
Willow stepped closer.
For a moment, the three of them stood there together in the fading evening light, Lily between them while the waves rolled gently onto shore.
Jay Bird looked at Willow. She was smiling, Lily was too, and somehow, so was he.
Well, shit. Maybe Derek had been right.
Maybe nothing needed figuring out tonight.
Jay Bird kissed the top of Lily’s head, then caught Willow’s hand with his free one as they started back toward Bayside.
They had agreed on slow. Jay Bird could do slow.
Especially if it meant he got more nights like this along the way.
Derek remained at the railing long after Jay Bird headed down to the beach.
From where he stood, he had a clear view of Willow and Lily near the water. Lily was racing across the sand while Willow chased after her, and Jay Bird was closing the distance between them.
Derek shook his head and took a drink of his beer.
Jay Bird was his last bachelor. Between Alpha and Bravo Teams, every one of the bastards had finally fallen.
Derek wasn’t sure whether he should celebrate or start checking the water supply around Virginia Beach for whatever the hell had gotten into them.
Still, as he watched Jay Bird scoop Lily into his arms, he couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at his mouth.
He was happy for him.
Derek knew more than most about what Jay Bird had lost twelve years ago.
He had seen what Amanda’s death had done to him and how learning she had been pregnant had delivered a second blow before he had even recovered from the first. Jay Bird had eventually moved forward, but he had never really opened that part of himself again—until now.
Willow and Lily weren’t replacing what he had lost because nobody could. But somehow, they were bringing warmth back into a part of his life he had convinced himself he no longer needed.
This was fast, sure, but Derek had stopped questioning timelines a long time ago.
After all, he’d watched relationships develop within his teams under the most unlikely circumstances.
Half these men had met the women they loved while bullets were flying, someone was being kidnapped, or an enemy was actively trying to kill them.
Compared to that, this barely seemed unusual.
Apparently normal dating wasn’t covered in SEAL training.
The deck door opened behind him, and Bear stepped outside to join him at the railing.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then Bear nodded toward the beach. “That’s a whole new side of Jay Bird.”
Derek chuckled. “You’re telling me.”
“I’ve seen him with the kids before. He’s good with them, but...” Bear watched Jay Bird set Lily down before the little girl immediately took off again. “That’s different.”
“It is,” Derek agreed.
Bear smiled. “Good for him.”
They watched quietly for another moment.
Derek could see Willow and Jay Bird talking now. Even from this distance, there was an ease between them that hadn’t existed a week ago.
“Thank God you all finally settling down,” Derek muttered.
Bear glanced at him. “Why’s that?”
“Because I signed up to command two SEAL teams. Somehow I ended up becoming a fucking relationship therapist.”
Bear laughed. “I don’t remember seeing that billet listed anywhere.”
“Neither do I.”
“Maybe it comes with the rank.”
“Then I’m requesting a demotion.”
Bear laughed harder before lifting his beer. “So should we start calling you Commander Cupid?”
Derek slowly turned his head.
Bear was grinning.
“Don’t ever fucking call me that again.”
That only made Bear laugh harder.
Derek tried holding the glare for another second before giving up and laughing with him.
“Asshole.”
“I was just trying out your new call sign, Commander.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll find something really unpleasant for you to do Monday morning.”
“Threatening your men because you’re uncomfortable with your natural gift for romance seems like an abuse of power.”
“Fuck off.”
Bear grinned and took a drink. Then his expression gradually sobered.
“Anything else from Tink?”
His own amusement disappeared. “Not yet. Tink’s still working it.”
Bear’s gaze shifted back toward the beach. “You think it’s Chen.”
Derek rested his forearms against the railing. “I think the timing’s too convenient not to consider it.”
Especially given everything Riley had told them about Chen Pham.
The man didn’t simply run a trafficking organization.
He had built an empire around fear, money, power, and control.
Men like that didn’t handle humiliation well.
And Willow hadn’t simply escaped. She had helped Riley get away first. Then she had nearly killed Chen, tied him up in his own home, taken his money, walked past his guards, and disappeared.
To a man like Chen, that wouldn’t just be betrayal. It would be personal.
“Someone with his resources isn’t going to go down easy,” Derek said quietly.
Bear’s jaw tightened. “No.”
“And he’s not going to forget what she did.”
They both looked toward the beach. Jay Bird had moved closer to Willow now, standing so near that there was barely any space between them.
Derek’s eyebrows lifted when Jay Bird leaned down, and Bear noticed it too. “Well, hell,” Derek muttered. But the uneasiness in his gut remained.
Down on the beach, Jay Bird, Willow, and Lily looked like a family beginning to take shape, but somewhere out there was a man who still believed Willow belonged to him.
Derek had spent enough years doing this job to know one thing for certain. Chen wasn’t finished. Sooner or later he was going to make his move.