Free SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) by Naomi Niles

eleven years of distance stand between us, but I
pushed aside the awkwardness and looked out towards the lake. “Let’s go down to
the water,” I said, praying she wouldn’t make an excuse and turn me down.
    “Ok,” she said simply and
we started walking down towards the lake.
       We picked the spot that was shaded by large trees and sat down by
the edge so that we could dip our legs into the water. This was what we did as
kids on cool afternoon days armed with juice bars and silly conversation.
    “How are you doing?”
Lizzie asked.
    I looked out at the
calming expanse of water. “I think I’m still coming to terms with it,” I
answered honestly. “I can’t quite believe he’s gone.”
    “Me neither,” Lizzie
replied. “So I can’t imagine how it must be for you and Tyler.”
    “I wish I’d had more time
with dad,” I admitted. “I feel like we never spent as much time together as we
should have.”
    “Don’t do that to
yourself, Dylan,” Lizzie said softly. “Just appreciate the time you did have
together.”
       I fell silent, reflecting on how much better I felt in Lizzie’s
presence. I realized it had always been that way between us. Whenever I felt
angry or frustrated I would go to Lizzie and vent. She would sit and listen to
me, sometimes she would speak and other times she simply held my hand, it
didn’t matter what she did, I would invariably feel better. She had always been
able to calm me down.
    “How have you been, Lizzie?”
I asked.
    “I’ve been fine,” she
said vaguely.
    “No really,” I said
stressing the point. “I want to know how you’re life’s been.”
    “I’m divorced,” she said
after a moment of hesitation.
    “I heard,” I admitted.
“Paul Kapke huh?”
    “Yes.”
    “How did that happen?” I
asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
    “I was young and he was
charming … at the time at least,” she replied. “It’s behind me now.”
       There was a note of bitter sadness in her tone and I knew it was painful
for her to think about her failed marriage, but a selfish part of me couldn’t
help but be happy about it. I hated that she was hurting and I hated what she
had been through, I was just glad that there was no other guy standing in my
way.
    “You’re still as
beautiful as ever, Lizzie,” I said sincerely.
    She looked embarrassed by
the compliment. “How long will you be in town for?” she asked.
    “I mean it,” I said
deftly ignoring her attempt to change the subject. “You were always the most
beautiful girl in the room to me.”
    Her eyes went dull with
sadness. “Didn’t stop you from leaving though did it?”
       I was taken back by her response. There was no anger or accusation
in her tone, she stated it simply, as though it were the unequivocal truth.
“When I think back now, I really don’t know why I left in the first place,” I
admitted. “I don’t know what motivated me to leave town.”
    She smiled and shrugged.
“You don’t have to explain, Dylan. It was a long time ago. You moved on and so
did I.”
       The way she said it made it seem like we were done with each
other, but looking at her now, I knew I wasn’t done. It was easy to forget when
you were on the other side of the world, training six hours a day and trying to
figure out the best way to stay alive. But sitting there, under the shade, in
front of the lake, and opposite Lizzie, it was impossible to think that the
passion and tenderness we had shared all those years ago was behind us.
    “Maybe once the funeral’s
over and things have settled … maybe we could do something fun,” I suggested
terrified that she would turn me down. “We could go bowling or something?”
       She regarded me with those brilliant, blue eyes and just when I
thought she was on the cusp of turning me down, she nodded. “Ok,” was all she
said, leaving me to wonder if she was actually enthusiastic about the plan or
if she had simply accepted me out of pity for my