SEALed with a Kiss (Alpha SEALs Book 2)
Read SEALed with a Kiss (Alpha SEALs Book 2) Online
Authors: Makenna Jameison
He won’t let anything stand in their way…not even her.
Alison Garrett doesn’t do relationships. Especially with a younger man. After her heart’s been trampled on in the past, she’s reluctant to give the handsome Navy SEAL she met a shot at anything other than friendship. A barbeque with friends, couple of beers, and rock-hard abs aren’t enough to change her mind. Even if he does ooze sex from his pores.
Navy SEAL Evan “Flip” Jenkins is used to getting any woman he wants. Except her. The strawberry blonde beauty he meets at a party catches his interest, yet eludes him. Their innocent flirting can’t conceal the way he wants her—big time. He’s down for the thrill of a chase, but what if she doesn’t want to be caught?
When Evan’s SEAL team is dispatched on a hostage rescue mission in enemy territory, Evan is critically injured, never letting Alison know his feelings. Will he get a chance to return to the woman he’s fallen for? And more importantly—will she have him?
SEALed with a Kiss, a stand-alone romance, is book two in the Alpha SEALs series.
SEALED WITH A KISS
ALPHA SEALS BOOK TWO
Makenna Jameison
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Makenna Jameison.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALSO BY MAKENNA JAMEISON
ALPHA SEALS
SEAL the Deal
SEALed with a Kiss
A SEAL’s Surrender
A SEAL’s Seduction
The SEAL Next Door
Protected by a SEAL
Loved by a SEAL (Fall 2016)
SOLDIER SERIES ROMANCE NOVELLAS
Christmas with a Soldier
Valentine from a Soldier
In the Arms of a Soldier
Return of a Soldier
Summer with a Soldier
HEARTS ABLAZE: MEN IN UNIFORM
A Marine for Christmas
Her Forbidden Marine
Evan “Flip” Jenkins took a long pull from his bottle of beer, watching the strawberry blonde woman standing near the cooler, chatting with Evan’s SEAL team member Patrick “Ice” Foster and Patrick’s girlfriend, Rebecca. The woman’s long hair gleamed in the sunlight, framing the delicate features of her porcelain skin and emerald green eyes. She burst out laughing, flashing a huge smile that lit up her entire face. Evan wished he was standing closer so he could’ve heard what made her laugh like that. What he wouldn’t do to hear that sound again and again. It was light and carefree, sweet, and feminine. It filled his chest with a stirring he couldn’t even begin to describe and seeped deep inside him, lighting his entire body with awareness and desire.
Her snug tank top highlighted her gorgeous curves, the swell of her breasts giving way to a small waist and slender hips. She wore a loose, long skirt beneath it—the swish of it against those silky legs as she walked around earlier had nearly killed him. How he longed to see exactly what was beneath it, the peeks of flesh he’d gotten taunting and teasing him with every delicate step she took. Her feet just barely peeked out beneath the bottom of it, and he saw a hint of dainty sandals and pink toenails. She was so sweet and feminine it practically hurt just to look at her.
A flush spread over her cheeks, probably from the summer heat, but Evan imagined she might look like that after a very thorough kissing from him, in which his hands skimmed over all those supple womanly curves and his mouth claimed hers. An even better image popped into his mind—the woman, crying out in pleasure from beneath his large frame after he’d thrust into her, making her come in his bed. The first of many times he’d pleasure her again and again.
“Man, you’ve got it bad…,” his fellow SEAL Matthew “Gator” Murphy taunted, following Evan’s gaze across the backyard.
“How do you figure?” Evan asked, his eyes not leaving the gorgeous redhead.
“You’ve been staring at her all night, and she hasn’t glanced your way once. You’re totally fucked.”
Evan guffawed, spitting out his beer.
Matthew slapped him on the back and laughed. “Yep, just like I said. Totally fucked.”
Evan bit out a curse and turned away, Matthew still chuckling in the background. As the youngest man on his SEAL team, Evan was used to the other guys ribbing him. Still, at twenty-seven, he wasn’t exactly some kid fresh out of BUD/S. He’d joined the Navy right out of high school and had proudly served his country for the past nine years. He’d seen more life and death than most guys his age, and he’d accomplished more in his short career than some men could hope to achieve in their entire lives.
Although that earned him respect in other areas of his life, namely where civilians and women were concerned, the other men on his SEAL team still enjoyed giving him a hard time. Especially when it came to women. Those guys were like five big brothers—rough and tumble alpha males, like him, who fought hard and played harder and were fiercely protective of those they cared about. Their unbreakable bond had been tightly forged after years of training together in grueling situations on and off shore and repeated deployments to critical situations all over the world. They were ready to go at a moment’s notice and fought swiftly as one unit, gauging each other’s reactions and reading one another’s thoughts as though their ties had been those of blood brothers.
Not that any of that mattered tonight, judging from the way the other guys were giving him shit over failing to impress a woman.
Hell.
Their team leader, Patrick, had invited the SEALs and their CO over for a barbeque at his place. Some mishap had prevented the CO from hosting it at his home, but Patrick didn’t seem too put out by the change in plans. He’d been manning the grill throughout the evening while Rebecca directed guests to the beers in the coolers and food spread out on the table. And his often cold-as-ice team leader had never looked happier.
Hell, if Evan had a home of his own and a woman at his side, he’d be glad to host shit like this, too. Especially on a balmy summer evening like tonight. The air was warm with just a bit of the salty breeze from the ocean, the scent of the charcoal was mixing in with the delicious aroma of the food on the grill, and he was feeling a bit restless.
If he had a gorgeous lady in his life, he’d be able to enjoy burgers and beers with his buddies and then haul his woman off to bed when the evening was over, ravishing her until morning. Until they were both boneless with exhaustion and thoroughly sated.
Not gonna happen tonight.
The one-night-stands he’d enjoyed over the past few years—hell, the ones he’d enjoyed ever since he’d joined the military—just weren’t cutting it anymore. He’d been too old for that kind of thing for a long time now. Sure, he enjoyed female company and the immediate sexual gratification that came from bedding a woman, but afterward? He’d be alone in his apartment night after night, waking up at the ass crack of dawn for PT and drills with no one to come home to at night.
Then he’d meet another woman the following weekend and repeat the cycle again. Ad nauseam.
The redhead his eyes had been glued on all night he’d seen before. He’d briefly met her in passing one day at Rebecca’s a month or so ago. Somehow he’d gotten roped into dropping some shit off for Patrick, and she’d been heading out the door just as he got there. Cute little shorts, another tight tank top…hair pulled back in some kind of messy twist that looked cuter than hell on her. She’d grinned up at him, those big green eyes capturing his heart, and hurried off before he’d known what had hit him.
Damn if she wasn’t even sexier tonight. Her skirt wasn’t revealing like those shorts had been. It was sexier than hell though. Then there was the way all that strawberry blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders. It caressed her breasts as she’d walked around the backyard, enrapturing him. He wondered what all that long, silky hair would feel like whispering across his chest as she rode him. He’d twist his fingers through it, lost in her. Pump into her until she flushed and came for him.
Hell. He’d barely even spoken to her and was already imagining night after night of her in his bed.
He stalked toward the picnic table, which was currently overflowing with platters of food. Ribs, hot dogs, sausages, burgers—just about anything a man could want to chow down on. Patrick had obviously been in charge of the food. No doubt if Rebecca had selected the menu they’d be eating healthy grilled chicken and fish. Maybe those tiny little sandwiches women served at parties.
He grabbed a burger and side of ribs, scooping some potato salad onto his plate and finally adding a hot dog as well for good measure. If only catching the attention of that elusive redhead—Alison—was as easy as grabbing what he wanted for dinner. When they’d been introduced earlier, he’d tried to charm her with a little flirting. She’d politely shaken his hand, flashed him the sweetest smile he’d ever seen, and then breezed right by him, her eyes set on another member of his SEAL team.
It didn’t help that when the guys had introduced him they’d pointed out he was the youngest of the men. Save for Patrick, they were all single, and eager for the attention of a gorgeous woman like Alison. Her eyes had lit up at the amount of testosterone filling the backyard as she scanned the crowd, and before he could even attempt to get to know her, she’d chased after some other guy.
She was barely a few years older than him, if that. Hell, at six-foot-two, he towered above her small frame by a foot. She was slender and petite, with a personality radiating warmth. He was tall with the build of a SEAL, of a man who spent hours doing PT and who had been hardened by war. He always treated women with respect but was used to commanding the attention of a room and getting the woman he chose.
With their testosterone-driven group, the women had always flocked to them. When the guys went out to Anchors, a popular bar near their base in Little Creek, Virginia, they’d practically be fighting the women off. If she thought a younger man couldn’t provide for her, care for and pleasure her, she was dead wrong. He’d be more than happy to show her exactly all the ways he wished they were acquainted.
Balancing his plate of food in one hand, he grabbed another beer. His eyes scanned over the crowd, searching. Plotting. He was determined to find a way to catch her eye, and the night was still young.
Mission on.
Alison excused herself from chatting with Rebecca and Patrick and wandered over to grab something to eat, the rumbling in her stomach reminding her that she needed some sustenance. Since Patrick had immediately pulled her best friend into his muscular arms the moment Alison had stepped away, she didn’t think either of them would miss her too much. She was overjoyed to finally see Rebecca so happy after losing her husband a year ago in a terrible car accident. But now that Rebecca was dating a handsome SEAL who seemed completely smitten with her, Alison realized just how lonely she’d become these past few months.
She tossed her empty beer bottle into the recycling bin, listening as it clanked against the others. The barbeque had only started an hour ago, but the hungry men had already put away enough food and drink to feed her for an entire year. If that’s what it took for them to keep up with the grueling workouts that got them those strapping muscles and chiseled physiques, she’d take it. And gladly offer to cook for them anytime.
Those guys were a feast for the eyes, and there were several moments tonight where she had to practically stop herself from drooling as she caught sight of one gorgeous man after another.
This was
sooo
not what she needed right now.
Patrick was the one hosting the barbeque tonight. Six insanely hot members of his SEAL team, their CO—who was handsome, too, for a slightly older man—and some guys from base had come over to enjoy a little food and camaraderie. The backyard was now packed with buff military men and their wives or dates. According to Rebecca, all of the other guys on Patrick’s team were single, or at least without a serious girlfriend.
Having experienced a recent dating drought with the lack of eligible men in the Virginia Beach area, Alison had been more than happy to join her best friend in hopes of scoping out an unattached SEAL. The last guy she’d dated had been a buttoned-up accountant, and he couldn’t have been further from these guys if he’d tried. He was smart and polite, but there was absolutely no spark between them. After two mediocre dates, she’d bid him farewell. Wanting someone serious to settle down with and wanting at least
some
mutual attraction between them wasn’t too much to ask, was it? The guy would make a great friend, but sadly, the physical attraction had been strictly one-sided.
She stepped up to the buffet table, watching a young guy pile his plate high with food. He was as big and muscular as the rest of them, but cute rather than devastatingly handsome, with dark blond hair and a baby face. She smiled, thinking he most definitely wouldn’t like being told that. His eyes had flashed in warning earlier when another guy—Christopher, was it?—had told her he was the baby of their SEAL team.
The other men had laughed, ribbing him like older brothers, but this guy’s eyes had blazed. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought she sensed a hint of embarrassment there as well. It couldn’t be easy competing for women when you were constantly around five other aggressive, assertive alpha males. He probably attracted his fair share of the younger college girls though.
Having just reached the big three-oh, Alison’s biological clock was ticking away. She spent her days caring for kids at the hospital as a pediatric nurse and spent many weekends with Rebecca and her daughter, Abby, but it wasn’t the same as having kids of her own. Or a house and a husband to take care of her. Not that she needed “taking care of.” She had a successful career, plenty of friends, and a great townhouse by the beach.
That didn’t stop her from wanting that white picket fence, two point five kids, dog, and a husband.
This guy certainly wasn’t looking to settle down. He was big but looked only twenty-five or so, and she didn’t date younger men. She’d made that mistake once and had her heart broken when she realized they were at completely different stages of their lives. She’d wanted to get married; he’d wanted to take off for a year to see the world. And he hadn’t expected her to wait around for him.
That relationship had ended two years ago, and her heart still hurt if she thought too much about it. No, she’d definitely scope out an older guy this time.
The accountant she’d just met had nearly fit the bill—he was thirty-four, owned a home, had a successful career, and wanted to settle down with a family. Unfortunately, when he’d kissed her goodnight, it had been about as exciting as kissing her brother.
She grabbed a plate and scanned the selection of food.
“Alison, right?” the cute SEAL at the buffet table asked. A grin spread across his tanned face, his blue eyes bright as he gazed down at her. The short buzz-cut of his blond hair screamed military, but something about him was friendly and approachable. Pretty much the opposite of Patrick and some of the other guys.
The rumble of his deep voice caused something to stir inside her, and if he’d been a few years older, losing some of that sweet baby face and looking a little more worldly, she’d probably be melting into a puddle right in front of him.
He must’ve been at least six feet two inches—her little brother was about his age and height, but not nearly as muscular. This guy’s biceps flexed as he reached out to shake her hand. She stared a beat too long, fascinated by his bulging arms. He easily balanced his overflowing plate in his other large hand, and she shook his extended hand, shocked by his warm, sure grip.
“Yes. And you’re…?” Her voice trailed off. She knew that she’d met him earlier, but after being introduced to so many members of Patrick’s SEAL team, she was having trouble keeping all of their names straight. Not to mention the crazy nicknames each guy also seemed to have. Luckily they addressed one another by their given names in crowds like this.
“Evan Jenkins,” he said, his turquoise eyes gleaming with interest. His dark blond lashes framed them perfectly, making him far more attractive than any man had a right to be. This guy must be a real heartbreaker with all the young college girls in this town.
“Right, Evan, sorry. It’s tough keeping all the names straight.”
“No problem,” he said, flashing her an easy grin. His full male lips looked entirely too kissable for her liking. Just a second ago she was thinking he reminded her of her little brother—now she was wondering what it would be like to kiss him? She discreetly shook her head and grabbed some utensils and a napkin.
“I saw you a few weeks ago at Rebecca’s,” she commented.
“I remember. You were wearing those cute little red shorts.”
She cocked her head at him, a blush spreading across her face. “You remember what I was wearing?” That day she’d bumped into him had been ages ago. Still, she had to admit she was a tiny bit flattered this guy would remember what she had on the first time they met.
“Why wouldn’t I remember a gorgeous woman like you?” His voice was low, gruff, but there was still a hint of humor in the way he said it.
“I’m sure you guys all meet your fair share of women,” she said lightly, maneuvering around him. He turned to watch her rather than walking away with his already overflowing plate of food.
“Don’t worry, I left a few things for you,” he joked.
“Not much from the looks of it.” She winked and appreciated the broad grin that stretched across his face.
“You’re a tiny little thing; how much could you possibly eat?” he laughed.
“More than you think; I’ve got two younger brothers. I had to make sure to keep up. There wasn’t much worse than having two teenage boys in the house when I was growing up.” She grabbed a hotdog and put some fruit salad on her plate.
“That’s it? Tell you what, I’ll let you wrestle me to the ground, and then you can have my plate.”
“You’ll
let
me? I can think of a few things that could bring you to your knees, but that’s not going to happen.”
Evan stepped closer, heat flaring in his eyes. She inhaled his clean, masculine scent, surprised at the way her blood pressure rose at his nearness. He brushed back a strand of hair that had blown across her face, and she had to force herself to remain still and not lean into his touch. No matter what she’d decided earlier about him being too young, she had to admit that it felt pretty darn good having his large hand brushing against her skin. She could think of a few places she wouldn’t mind feeling his gentle touch. And the desire in his eyes was evidence enough that he would be happy to acquiesce.
Not that she’d allow anything to happen. She was far past the age of making out with the cute guy she’d met at a party. Especially when it would lead nowhere.
“Tell me more about it,” he murmured, ducking low so that his lips were at her ear.
“About what?” she asked, momentarily stunned by his closeness.
“That part about you bringing me to my knees,” he whispered huskily.
A beat passed, and she almost suggested they get out of there together. As if she was the type of woman who did that sort of thing. Something about this guy had heat and awareness licking through her, her body entirely too responsive to him. He surprised her, intrigued her, even though he was exactly the opposite of her type. Too young. Too macho. Too all wrong for her.
For a flash, she imagined what it would feel like to have him haul her into his arms, to feel those hot lips and hard muscles moving against her.
There was no doubt he’d be up for a good time, but that didn’t mean they should actually do anything about it. Guys like him were all about having as many women as they could. She was too old to fall for that game and not at all interested in being added to what was likely a very long list of one-night-stands.
Alison laughed and pulled back, patting him gently on the arm. “Not going to happen, sweetie. I’m way too old for you.”
She turned and walked back across the lawn, leaving Evan standing at the table right where she’d found him, looking completely bewildered.