Free Protected by a SEAL (Alpha SEALs, Book 6) by Makenna Jameison

go
away.
    “Let’s head out,” he grumbled, rising to his
feet.
    She looked slightly confused at his abrupt
announcement they should go but agreed. As she stood up, he could
see the questions in her eyes. Hell. He wasn’t anyone’s hero. The
sooner she realized that, the better off they’d both be.

Chapter 6

    “I parked a couple of blocks down,” Brent
said, his piercing blue eyes meeting hers as they exited the
pizzeria. He waited until she’d walked through the door to let it
shut behind them, and Ella resisted the urge to shiver as she
brushed past him. His warmth and heat were so tempting, even with
his abrupt decision to call it a night. His clean, masculine scent
filled the air, and she had the craziest urge to go to him, letting
him wrap her up in those muscular arms. She barely came up to his
shoulder, and he’d practically engulf her in a hug. Shelter her.
Make her feel safe.
    Geez. The only time he probably held a woman
was when they were in bed together. If that. He certainly wasn’t
the type of man to stand around embracing her under the stars.
    “I’ll come pick you up,” he said, his voice
deep. “Wait right here. It’s late.”
    “I can walk.”
    They started down the sidewalk in silence,
Ella clutching Brent’s leather jacket around herself. This entire
night was starting to feel surreal, like a dream she was about to
wake up from at any moment. She didn’t belong here, in Virginia
Beach. She shouldn’t be out for a midnight stroll with Brent. Hell,
it was like she’d left her life behind in Florida for a little
fantasy vacation. That didn’t stop reality from bearing down on her
though. She was barely scraping by, could hardly afford to pay her
regular bills let alone tuition, and she had some sleezeball
texting her endlessly, reminding her what it would take to get her
job back after she’d walked out.
    Brent had obviously taken pity on her and
paid for their pizza tonight, but he was more clued in than Brianna
that she was on an extremely limited budget. Part of her felt
embarrassed that he seemed to guess she didn’t have a lot of money.
Another part of her didn’t really care—he didn’t make her feel bad
about it. Didn’t seem to expect anything despite paying her way
this evening. And like he said earlier, it was just a pizza. It’s
not like she owed him her undying gratitude or something.
    Too bad every man wasn’t like him.
    She’d made the mistake of checking her phone
again when she’d ducked into the ladies room, and sure enough, she
had six more messages from Frank. Plus a voicemail. Reluctantly,
she’d finally sent him a text saying she’d be there that weekend.
But was leaving the second her shift was over.
    His reply wasn’t too promising:

    I need you here early. My office.

    He was probably just going to go over her
schedule, she told herself. Certainly he wouldn’t expect anything
from her in the middle of the day, with the others arriving any
minute. Coming in early wasn’t the same as going home with him.
There wasn’t anything untoward about arriving early for a meeting
with her boss. With absolutely no one else around.
    She stifled a groan as she ground her teeth
together. Not for the first time, she wished Brianna would still be
working there with her. She’d never put up with that crap. Plus
there was safety in numbers and all that. Neither of them had loved
serving cocktails, but it was a job. And it hadn’t exactly been a
safety hazard until recently. How had everything gotten turned
upside down so quickly?
    “Damn, it’s late,” Brent muttered, seemingly
to himself. They walked under a lamppost, and she could see the
shadows beneath his eyes. She assumed he was out late every night
though, judging from his reputation.
    “I can catch a cab,” Ella said.
    “I’m not the type of man to offer a woman a
ride home and then send her on her way,” Brent said, his voice
rough. “It’s almost midnight.”
    “You seemed in a hurry to leave.