Free Night with a Seal (Hot SEALs #1) by Cat Johnson Page A

and cute, and he had a good-paying civilian job with benefits and a pension plan. But alas, Darci’s brother had become like the brother Ali never had, and all three of them were happy with that.
    Sad that those last criteria Rick possessed were right up there with the first in Ali’s check list of what made for a good man. She felt like an old woman thinking about pensions and health plans as she got closer to the big three-zero.
    The sliding back door slammed closed and Darci came back into the house. “Damn, it’s cold out there.”
    “If you’d put on some clothes and dress like it’s almost January, you won’t be cold, now would you?” Rick reached for a beer bottle and twisted the cap off while shooting Darci a look.
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “Oh, shut up. It’s a party and it’s nice and warm in here.”
    It was nice and warm in the house, and when a knock on the front door had them all turning Ali realized that if who she suspected was standing on the other side it was about to get a whole lot warmer.
    “I’ll get it.” Rick shot a glance over his shoulder. “Get that scotch ready. If it’s the team, we’re going to need it.”
    She saw the direction this night could take and it only twisted her insides with more nerves and need. Jon would be drunk on scotch, sexually deprived from a six-month deployment in the war zone, happy to be home and alive. Ali would be just as sexually deprived and a bit tipsy on champagne herself, with no one to kiss at midnight.
    Why didn’t Rick just present Jon to her naked on a silver platter? She was already salivating like she was a starving woman and Jon was the only meal in sight.
    Bracing herself, she donned a smile and watched as Rick pulled open the door. “Dude. Good to see you back in one piece.”
    “Takes a lot to kill me. You know that.” Rick’s bulk blocked the entrance, but there was no mistaking the voice of the man at the door who’d replied.
    “Come on in. I got some beer cold and the scotch is ready to be poured.” Finally, Rick moved out of the way and Jon was there in view.
    “Oh, bro. Let me get something in my stomach before I start on the scotch.” Jon held up the six-pack he’d carried in. “I grabbed this at the gas station on the way over. Sorry, it’s not much. There were slim pickings.”
    “Don’t be silly. You being here is enough, but thanks.” Rick took the six-pack from Jon’s hands and swung the door shut.
    From the kitchen, Darci called out, “Hey, Jon.”
    Jon, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with no coat, moved farther into the room. “Hi, Darci. Happy New Year.”
    “To you too. Hot hors d’oeuvres are coming out of the oven now, and a lasagna is going in for later.”
    “Sounds good.” Jon’s gaze moved from Darci and Ali saw the exact moment he noticed her standing off to the side. He smiled and set her heart fluttering as he came closer until he was standing right there next to her. “Hey. Fancy meeting you here.”
    “Hi. Welcome home.” It was all Ali could do to respond as her throat clenched.
    “Thanks. How have you been?” he asked.
    “Good. Good. Thanks.” She sipped her champagne for lack of anything else to do with her hands or her mouth.
    “Good to hear it.” Jon turned toward Rick to accept the beer bottle he’d handed him, and that was it. The moment was gone. Not that it had been much of a moment to begin with.
    If this stilted attempt at small talk was how the whole night was going to be, she was going to need a refill. She blew out a breath and caught Darci watching her.
    Ali put down her glass and moved around the island, into the kitchen area. “Need help with those hors d’oeuvres?”
    Darci eyed her with more interest than the question warranted but finally nodded. “Sure. The platter is on the counter. Let me grab a potholder and get them out of the oven.”
    Jon and Rick moved out to the deck, presumably to stow in the cooler the six-pack Jon had bought.