Free Rescued (Navy SEALS Romance Book 1) by Rachel Hanna

elevator. In medical building. I ended up talking like I'm completely crazy. Date tonight. Have to chill. I have got to chill. Help me!"
    They'd been friends since high school. Jessie dissected the incoherent request and started asking questions like someone doing a threat assessment. "The pilot? Hon, there is no way to chill if you're going out with him, he is rock god status. OK, and what do you mean, tonight? It's Monday."
    "Check. He knows that. Doesn't care."
    "Where are you going tonight?"
    "Don't know."
    "Good, I can see we're starting with top notch information. So you don't know what to wear."
    Taylor made a sound of abject despair.
    "Sorry," Jessie said. "Clearly I'm not helping. What do you mean, medical building? Why were you in a medical building? What's wrong with you?"
    "Nothing's wrong with me. I was volunteering."
    Jessie's silence meant she was deciding whether to pursue that or leave it for another time. What she came up with was, "With him?"
    "What?"
    "Were you volunteering with him? Meaning you're going to be search and rescue now?"
    "Why would I go to a medical building to do that?"
    "Just searching for a thread. OK, you were in a medical building because?"
    So Taylor told her, climbing out of her car midway through to stand in the sun. Monday morning drive time had ended. She'd have an easy drive to work. Jessie talked her through possible dates, warned her not to talk about the dog all night, suggested outfits and that Taylor might want to at least ask where they were going before he arrived, partly because that was a logical sane person thing to do and would give her direction on how to dress. And partly because no matter how hot he was, single girls asked where they were going and left word with the friend they were no longer cooking halibut for. And finally she said she had to get off the phone, because her boss was going to wonder if she didn't come out of the bathroom soon, so good luck and try not to talk much.
    "Grr," Taylor said.
    "You're welcome," Jessie laughed.
    And Taylor, her stomach full of butterflies and anticipation, headed finally to work.

Chapter Ten
    I n the end , she didn't have to worry about what she was going to wear. Tanner texted her and asked if she wanted to go for a walk on the beach or a run, and then share a picnic of cold chicken, grapes, wine – or was she more the pizza kind of girl?
    And Taylor, thinking of her abs compared to his, decided to forego her favorite meal said the chicken route sounded great and what could she bring?
    "You," he said, calling her a minute later when her heart had begun to pound because he wasn't texting her back fast enough.

    T hey sat on towels by the water, watching the sun pancake itself into the Pacific. The wind off the water was just turning cool as the summer day drained away. The beach wasn't deserted but they didn't have a lot of company.
    Taylor, drinking white wine, and sparingly, wore a long tan skirt, a pink shell top, and, currently, his big burly gray sweatshirt because Tanner said he wasn't cold.
    "So is your family military?" she asked. Living in San Diego, there were sailors and SEALs all over the place but she'd never thought much about it. Her family had been solidly white collar, she and her sister still were, and Taylor herself wasn't completely pro armed forces. It seemed like a lifestyle she didn't understand.
    "None of them, actually," Tanner said, leaning back with his arms braced, his legs out in front of him. His triceps looked like they could cut glass. His hair was getting longer. If he let it grow, would it be soft? "My dad's a professor of economics. My brother Tucker works in advertising."
    "Are you close to your brother?" Idly she licked the spoon she'd been using on the yogurt he'd brought for dessert. Now she realized his attention was fixed on her mouth. She pretended not to notice and watched him over the bowl of the spoon.
    Tanner cleared his throat, seeming to force himself back to the question.