Free SEAL Forever by Anne Elizabeth Page A

want things left this way. Taking the note from his back pocket, he slid it under the door. Simply enough, it said, “I’m sorry. Will be gone for a few. Be well. Talk when I’m back. Declan.” He couldn’t say much more. This was the painful part of a mission situation; one couldn’t say jack shit to anyone.
    Maura would either be cool with him and his life, or not. He knew he was providing her with the optimal opportunity to drop-kick him into the ocean. He just hoped she’d want to hang on to him.
    Shit! This fucking sucked. The timing for this Op could not be worse. The call had come a few hours after he’d gotten in from his swim. His brain had been completely at peace after the salt water soaked away his stressors, but he knew that was a temporary situation, because Maura was under his skin. He’d get laughed off the Teams if he’d ever admitted that about any woman. Teammates knew how to push buttons—at least the good ones did.
    Girls like Olivia made him nuts, because they liked to taunt and tease in a negative, manipulative manner. But Maura had an honest passion, and having her wrapped around him was addictive in the best of ways.
    He grabbed his pack and headed down the staircase. He didn’t want to be thinking about her or that kiss or the way they made love together, laughed, and talked, but it was hard to get her out of his mind. Something about her manner and personality caught his attention. Until he could figure it out, she was like a puzzle to him. Intriguing women always garnered his attention.
    The best thing he could do was concentrate on his work and let the female thing work itself out. He believed in the universe’s capacity to sort things out and man’s ability to screw it all up.
    He checked his watch. They’d be cutting it close. His eyes scanned the road, looking for his swim buddy, Leaper Lefton. The plane was taking off in fifteen minutes. There wasn’t much time. He’d only had an hour to get organized and grab his gear.
    â€œC’mon, Leaper, where are you?” They’d gone through BUD/S at different times—Leaper had been two classes ahead of him—yet they worked together as if they had known each other all their lives. It was like that with most SEALs. They became your brother, your friend, and your family. Training tended to weed out those who weren’t suited to the demands of the job as well as the roll-with-it lifestyle.
    A Mustang cornered the street with a screech. It was a twenty-five-mile-per-hour zone, and Leaper was going to get nailed if he wasn’t careful. The man had luck, though, because there wasn’t a police officer in sight. They’d have to keep hustling if they were going to get to Naval Air Station North Island (NAS) on time.
    The car skidded to stop and the door opened. “Hump it.”
    Declan put his pack in the back and was barely in the door before the car started moving. He was used to it. Buckling his seat belt, he closed his eyes. Think about the mission. Run through it in your head. As he repeated the directive, his brain finally gave way, and he was moving through the drills at top speed, ready, prepared, and primed to go.
    * * *
    Maura watched the waves rush in, climb up the shore, and then slowly slide back into the ocean. The rhythm was soothing, and she lost herself in the push and pull.
    The irrational fears rattling around in the back of her mind had played out in real life when she met Olivia. How horrible it must be to be thrust aside and treated so callously. Of course, Olivia hadn’t seemed like a wilting flower, either. The woman had some balls, barging in on her date with Declan. And that was the thing…it was possible that Maura had accused Declan wrongly, that Olivia was one of those nutty, obsessed types and Declan had avoided things going further with her for just that reason.
    She hugged her legs to her. She wasn’t getting any