The SEAL Next Door (Alpha SEALs Book 5) (2 page)

Pushing open the heavy door to the admin building, a blast of AC rushed over his heated skin.  It felt pretty damn amazing.  Pushing his aviators atop his head, he strode down the hall and looked around for the office of the man he’d gone through BUD/S with years ago.  Life in the military was funny sometimes, because no matter what base he was headed to, he or one of the other guys already had a contact there.  Matthew had made a call to an old friend and simple as that, he had a ride home from Pensacola.  They’d drop Evan off at a hotel and then Matthew would face the music, returning to his childhood home.  It wasn’t even his own parents he had qualms about seeing, just his buddy Beckett’s.  Who happened to live right next door.

Evan caught up to him in the hall.  “So you went through basic with this guy Colton?”

Matthew nodded.  “Affirmative.  We’ve kept in touch over the years.  He’s doing a one-year tour here in Pensacola, but normally he’s an explosives guy.”

“Yeah.  Kind of figured with the name ‘C-4’,” Evan laughed.

Matthew smirked and knocked on the door of the office of Colton “C-4” Ferguson, clutching his duffle bag.  It probably would’ve been easier catching a cab—then there’d be no need to explain to his old buddy what he was doing here in Pensacola.  No reminder of his wounded friend.  But damn.  The sooner they got this show on the road, the sooner this weekend could be over.  He didn’t know if he could stomach seeing his best buddy injured.  And what the hell kind of a friend did that make him anyway?  He should be damn glad Beckett was alive, not feeling guilty for the things he could do that his friend would never be able to again.  The sooner he faced Beckett and their new reality, the sooner Matthew could move forward with his life.  Pretend this shit storm never happened.

With his SEAL team he had a mission, a purpose.  But back home, when his best friend would be arriving in a wheelchair, missing one limb?  No matter how hard he fought, how strong he was, nothing could change the past.  Nothing could erase Beckett’s injury.  And for the first time ever, Matthew felt completely helpless.

Brianna Miller peeled off the sexy cocktail waitress dress she was wearing and pulled on a pair of cut-off denim shorts and soft cotton tank top.  The low cut dress with a short frilly skirt was the exact opposite of her style, and she wouldn’t be caught dead in it outside of the bar where she worked.  She stuffed the satiny black material into her oversized purse.  The sooner she could burn it, the better.

The bar had no shortage of clientele on a Friday afternoon, she thought with a snort.  Imagine that, men with plenty of money drinking too much and hitting on the pretty waitresses.  Not exactly how she’d envisioned life after getting her MBA, but with lay-offs at the company she’d worked for and massive student loans to pay off, this was the best she could do.  She was already living back at home with her parents at the age of twenty-six, as if that wasn’t embarrassing enough.

She pulled her long blonde hair up into a loose bun and gathered the rest of her things.  Surprise, surprise, the more makeup she wore and the more her straight, satiny hair swung around as she walked, the bigger the tips.  Might as well work it, she thought.  As degrading as that was.

Her friend Ella shot her a sideways glance from the adjoining locker.  Her chocolate brown hair was piled high atop her head and her bright blue eyes could’ve brought many men to their knees.  It actually had today, Brianna recalled with a grin, thinking of the drunk man who’d gotten down on bended knee and proposed to Ella before her shift ended.  The ring he’d fashioned out of a strip of napkin hadn’t exactly been what happily-ever-afters were made of, but the expression on his buddies’ faces had made the whole thing worth it.

“What’s so funny?” Ella asked, cocking her head.

“Just recalling your proposal tonight,” Brianna said.

Ella rolled her eyes.  “Ugh.  Well, I guess it was better than some of things other customers have propositioned.”

“Don’t remind me,” Brianna groaned.

Ella was a few years younger than Brianna and still working her way through college. While some of the other waitresses who worked here had no other aspirations, Brianna and Ella had quickly bonded over their desire to make a decent salary running cocktails for the filthy rich clientele and then move on with their lives.  As quickly as possible.

“Do you have a shift tomorrow?” Ella asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Brianna muttered.

“If you want the day off, just take it.  It’s your brother’s homecoming.  I mean for God’s sake, he was practically killed.”

“I have off Sunday, plus next weekend to help him get settled in.  I need this job, Ella.  I’ve got massive student loan payments.  I already got laid off from my real job, and that was supposed to pay for my MBA.”

“Smarty pants,” Ella teased, sticking her tongue out at Brianna.

“Right.  All those years of school and I can’t even get a good job in this crappy market.”

Ella shrugged.  “So move.  There’re jobs out there somewhere.”

“Maybe.  But now’s not the time.  My parents need me with everything that’s happened with Beckett.  He needs me.  Maybe in a year or so if nothing changes I’ll expand my scope, but I’m sure I’ll find a decent job before then.”

“This isn’t decent?” Ella asked with a smirk.  Her eyes flashed with amusement, and for the millionth time, Brianna was grateful she had her.  There was no way she’d survive day after day in this job otherwise.  Her friends from business school were all off working their way up the corporate ladder.  Her parents didn’t know she’d lost her lucrative marketing job.  The only person she’d confessed to was Beckett, and he was madder than hell at her for taking this job as a cocktail waitress.  But there’d been little he could do about it when he was a million miles away on the other side of the world.  Now that he was home, however, was a different story.  She’d led him to believe that she’d moved on to something else, but with him injured, now wasn’t exactly the time to fess up.

Brianna slammed her locker shut.  They’d given her Sunday off, the day of her brother’s arrival from Walter Reed.  But since she’d told her manager she needed next weekend off to help him, they’d put her on the schedule today and tomorrow.  As if she needed creepy, drunk men trying to slip their hands up her skirt.  It was bad enough to deal with that on an average day, but when her world had been turned upside down at the sudden near-fatal injury of her brother?  Those assholes she served drinks to were lucky she hadn’t dumped a cocktail right over their heads.  And followed it up by a good slap in the face or knee to the groin.  Because that wouldn’t get her fired or anything.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked, glancing back at Ella.

“I’ll be here, same as always.  And tonight I’ll be drowning in a term paper.  You know you’re lucky to already have two degrees, right?”

“Plus, don’t forget I have all this,” Brianna said, twirling her finger around as she smiled in a brief moment of levity.  Despite the grief and shock she’d gone through over the past month, she could count on Ella to cheer her up.  Brianna might not have a career or her own place at the moment, but friendship counted for something.  And she needed that more than ever right now.

She walked out to the parking lot, tossing her purse onto the passenger seat of her convertible.  Geez.  If she didn’t find a high-paying job in the marketing field soon, she might have to sell her baby and get something less expensive.  She sighed.  As if she needed another problem to worry about at the moment.  Brianna started the engine, switched on the radio, and backed out of her parking space.  A group of men climbing out of a BMW a few spaces down whistled appreciatively at her as she pulled away.

Good grief.

She’d gone to college and business school just to prance around in a skimpy outfit all day serving drinks?  Un-freaking-believable. 

She pushed the speed dial for Beckett’s number as she cruised down the road.  He had physical therapy sessions on Friday afternoons, but hopefully she could catch him when he was back in his room.

“Hey little sis,” he answered as way of greeting.  His voice sounded strained, and worry creased her brow.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just wiped out.  My entire body hurts at the moment.”

“It’s good for you to exercise.  Are you all set to fly down here on Sunday?”

“Yeah, I’m about ready to bust out of this joint.  I’m not sure how I’ll manage getting around on one leg, but the doctors assure me I’ll adjust.  It sucks to be a Navy SEAL who can barely even dress himself in the morning, but one of these days I hope to be up and about again.”

“You will,” Brianna assured him, feeling uncertainty creep into her chest.  He had to.  She couldn’t imagine her fearless brother needing to depend on anyone.  As much as it pained her, it had to be about a million times worse for him.

“I’m not sure if I can take much more of this hospital food,” he admitted.  “So it will be good to get out of here.  I just don’t want to be a burden to Mom and Dad.”

“You’re not a burden,” Brianna protested.  “Plus don’t forget I moved back home.  I’ll be there to help out.”

“I’m thirty years old, Brianna.  I shouldn’t have to depend on my parents or little sister.”

“We’re family.  Of course we’ll help you.  Wouldn’t you help me if the situation was reversed?”

“That’s not the same thing,” Beckett argued.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a man.  A God damn Navy SEAL.  I’m used to being the guy to get things done when no one else can.  Taking on dangerous operations.  But not being able to move around my own house with assistance?  That just isn’t right.”

“It’s not forever,” Brianna assured him softly.  “I mean, you’ll adjust to your new life.”

“I don’t know,” he said grimly.  “I’ve been here over a month and feel like I don’t have a damn thing to show for it.”

“We can talk Sunday if you want.  I just got to the grocery store—I’m picking up things for your big homecoming party.”

“Yeah, the party,” he muttered.  “I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to deal with a house full of guests.”

“But Mom and Dad are so excited you’re coming home.”

“Yeah, yeah.  What are you doing off on Friday afternoon anyhow?  You haven’t found a new job yet?”

Brianna paled, and was relieved they were talking over the phone and not in person.  Otherwise her brother would certainly see right through her.  “I’m still looking,” she said lightly.  “I sent out a bunch of resumes this week.”

“Good,” he said.

Beckett didn’t say anything about the job he thought she’d quit at the cocktail lounge.  It was just as well.  She didn’t want to get into it with him, and he had enough on his plate as it was.  Getting readjusted to civilian life and to life with only one leg would be hard on anyway.  He would do it, but he sure didn’t need to deal with her problems as well.  She was going to turn her life back around pronto.  Just as soon as she got through the next week.

***

Matthew narrowed his eyes in the passenger seat as Colton pulled into his parents’ driveway.  The same house he’d grown up in greeted him, complete with a two-car garage, neat landscaping, and his mother’s potted plants and colorful flowers on the front porch.  But that’s not what his gaze was drawn to.

A shiny new Mustang convertible was parked in the driveway next door at Beckett’s house.  And at the moment, a hotter than hell blonde was leaning over the trunk, pulling out bags of groceries.  The skimpy little denim shorts she had on did little to conceal her miles of tanned, toned legs and perfectly highlighted her heart-shaped ass.  His dick immediately jerked to attention, and Matthew clenched his teeth.  He was home to attend his buddy’s homecoming ceremony.  Not to feast eyes on the pretty little thing that had pulled up in Beckett’s driveway.  Was that his…girlfriend?  Surely Beckett would have mentioned if he was dating someone.  And if she was, she’d be with him at Walter Reed.  Maybe she was some relative he’d never met?  Like a cousin or something?

Matthew opened the car door and nodded at Colton.  “Thanks again for the lift, man.  And for dropping Evan off at his hotel.”

“No problem.  It was the least I could do.  I’m sorry about your buddy, but I’ll be there at the arrival ceremony on Sunday.”

“Thanks.  Are you working tomorrow afternoon?  We’ll be back on base to pick up some SEAL buddies of mine who’re flying in for the ceremony.”

“Probably so.  Stop by my office before you head out.  We can all grab a drink.”

“Damn straight,” Matthew agreed, shutting the passenger door and then reaching into the backseat to grab his duffle bag.  He nodded again at Colton as their eyes met in the rearview mirror and then stepped back, taking a deep breath as he steeled himself to go inside.  Usually coming home felt good, but this time, it was for all the wrong reasons.  Seeing the pain on his parents’ faces over the injury of the man they’d thought of as a second son would be gut-wrenching.  And eventually seeing Beckett’s parents?  Brutal.  He had half a mind to turn around and catch the next flight back to Virginia.

He was a SEAL used to going into battle, getting sent on missions all over the world, charging at armed insurgents.  But he couldn’t stand the thought of facing his best friend’s parents?  What kind of asshole was he?  His buddy was injured, not dead.  He needed to man the hell up and face whatever came his way.

The trunk slammed in the driveway next door, and he resisted the urge to look over.  Why the hell tempt himself with something he couldn’t have?  He’d be here and gone again, just like that.  There were plenty of pretty women back home in Virginia.  No sense in getting mixed up with Beckett’s friend or relative or whoever the hell the goddess next door turned out to be.

“Matthew?”

A voice sweeter than honey called out his name, and he blinked behind his aviators, momentarily dazed.  How in the hell did the gorgeous blonde know his name?

Turning around, he saw that the woman he’d been ogling was now watching him suspiciously.  Confusion knit her brows, but those pouty pink lips were open in surprise.  Straight, almost white-blonde hair hung to her breasts, which looked supple and tempting beneath the yellow tank top she wore.  The top was loosely tucked into her shorts, which hung from her curvy hips in a way that was positively dangerous.

She was way too enticing.  The kind of woman that a man wanted to kiss all over and pleasure all night.  He was dying to peel off that clingy top and tug down those sexier-than-sin little shorts.  What did she have on beneath those tiny little scraps of denim?  A bikini?  Thong?  Satin or lace?  He was practically salivating to find out.  And hell if that was the very last thing he should be after right now.

“Matthew, right?” she asked again, cocking her head.  She pursed her pretty lips together, watching him.

Hell.

The thought of those full lips wrapped around his cock had him instantly hard again.  Pink gloss coated them, although she wore more makeup than the women he usually went after.  But she was gorgeous.  Would be even without all that stuff caked on.  And she had a killer body he’d love to explore, he thought as his gaze swept over her again from head to toe.  Every single inch of.

What the hell was wrong with him?