Free Conceit (Se7en Deadly SEALs Book 1) by Alana Albertson Page A

dense—I knew their bashes had no shortage of willing women thrilled to be in the presence of sexy SEALs. These women were peripheral ghosts to every SEAL wife and girlfriend.
    I knew I was in.
    “I would love to go to beach.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, nuzzled his ear. He attempted to kiss me, but I turned away. The sharp stubble from his beard grazed my cheek. I wanted him to pin me down and ravage me, but it was completely out of the question.
    “I’ll pick you up at the club at seven. Feel free to invite any of your hotty friends.”
    You got it, buddy! I clenched my hands to contain my joy, fearful that Grant would somehow realize my true intentions. “Oh, I will. They will love to come. I not want you to think I go home with all man I meet at strip club. You are first, I promise this to you.”
    His leaned into me and made firm eye contact. “I believe you.”
    I already knew Grant would never forgive me for deserting him when he was injured. But once he found out I’d completely deceived him, I would be dead to him forever. There would be no coming back from this betrayal—ever.
    As a SEAL, he had to trust his partner implicitly, know she would be faithful during his never-ending deployments, confident she would be by his side and support him when he was silently suffering from witnessing the horrors of war. We could never be together again. If anything, being with him tonight confirmed that belief.
    It’s okay, Mia. This is about Joaquín. Freeing Joaquín. Your sacrifice for him.
    I’d made my choice. I chose exonerating Joaquín over getting Grant to trust me. And as long as I could free Joaquín, I vowed never to regret my path.
    ***

 

     
     
    LAST NIGHT COMPLETELY SUCKED. I couldn’t even score with a stripper. But I wasn’t about to blame myself. Call me a conceited prick, but I didn’t usually have a problem with the ladies. Ever. Maybe I should’ve told her what I did for a living. Like the magical phrase “open sesame” opened the cave’s mouth for Ali Baba, the words “I’m a motherfucking Navy SEAL” usually opened a women’s mouth to my cock.
    But who knew? This chick wasn’t American—the SEAL line probably wouldn’t work with her anyway. Her ignorance about SEALs suited me fine. I didn’t want to deal with another Frog Hog, begging to start a relationship or bragging to her girlfriends she fucked a SEAL, only to cheat on me once she got what she wanted. I wanted one woman I could fuck whenever I desired, no talk about our futures or our pasts. Ksenya was perfect.
    I’d sacrificed so much for Mia, hadn’t tried out for any East Coast Teams so I could stay close to her, spent weekends with her instead of bonding with my guys. What she didn’t know was that I’d planned on proposing to her, had even asked Joaquín for his blessing. Then she’d left me while I was clinging to life in a hospital bed, her engagement ring tucked in the bottom of my sea bag.
    But being injured was the best thing that ever happened to me. Otherwise, I’d have married that bitch, and she would’ve divorced me the second we had any problems, which was inevitable being married to a Team guy.
    Last weekend, we had the big welcome home family day, though this homecoming had been bittersweet. No Joaquín, no Mia. For a while they had both been like family. All the Team guys loved Mia then. Despite my anger toward her, I wondered how she was doing without Joaquín. She was completely alone now—no parents, no brother. I was almost surprised she hadn’t tried to contact me again. I couldn’t blame her for giving up after the way I’d shut her down after Joaquín’s arrest.
    Our last homecoming rager ended with a dead stripper and my best buddy getting accused of her murder. My Team needed this party for morale, since we were struggling to get back to normalcy. And rebuild our trust.
    I believed Joaquín was innocent. I hoped that I would see something tonight, a trigger, and I could figure