She nodded, taking the cold glass from his hand. Their fingers brushed against each other, and she nearly swallowed her tongue. Her legs felt weak. She was afraid she would drop the drink, so she set it on the bar.
“Why don’t you sit?” He pointed at the stool she was leaning against as he eased onto the one next to hers.
She let her bag slide down her arm to land on the floor at her feet and somehow managed to jump up onto the seat. Her skirt was too short and didn’t get tucked under her butt very well, but she simply didn’t care.
Noah. Her Noah. The man she’d dreamed of for fourteen years. The man she’d only known as a teenager who had grown into someone ten times more handsome than she remembered. She could not believe this was happening.
His gaze roamed up and down her body, making her face heat. Suddenly it seemed much hotter than it had a moment ago. He slowly shook his head. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks. You do too.” How she managed to utter a word was a mystery. Her gaze was drawn to his full lips as he spoke, reminding her what they had felt like against hers. Against her neck. Her breasts. Her thighs. It had been so damn long…
“What are you up to these days?” he asked as he set his elbow on the bar.
He sat so close to her. Unbearably close. She wished she could reach up and touch him, remind herself what his skin felt like. The strength. The smooth texture.
“Ellie?”
Shit. He’d asked her a question. She nodded. “I live in New York.”
He nodded. “Right. Layton told me that. You work on Wall Street, right?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t find the vocabulary to elaborate. “You?”
“I just finished my second tour with the SEALs.”
She nodded. Good job, Ellie. Way to hold a conversation.
He chuckled. “I don’t remember you being so quiet.”
She forced a smile. “I guess I’m just shocked. You’re here. On the same cruise as me. What are the chances?”
He frowned and glanced around, his eyes slowly narrowing. “Wait. Who are you with?”
“Karla. Girls’ trip. We haven’t seen each other in years.”
He tipped his head back and groaned. “I should have known.”
“What?” She sat up straighter, her spine stiffening at his tone.
He met her gaze once more, his expression serious. “I’m with Layton. Guys’ week.”
Her mouth fell open, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. “No.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She looked around. “Where is he?” She would personally kill Layton and then Karla too.
“Haven’t found him yet.” He swiped a hand over his face. “Why the hell would they do this?”
“I can’t imagine.” Except she could. She could totally imagine. Karla had bugged Ellie about her breakup with Noah for years. Fourteen of them. Always prying for answers. Never getting anything out of Ellie.
“Do you think they have some wild idea they can get us back together by arranging a friends’ cruise?”
“It would seem that way.” She bit the corner of her lower lip hard. She was absolutely going to kill Karla. The moment she turned up.
Noah slid off the stool, running his free hand down his face. He didn’t meet her gaze.
A renewed flush rushed over her cheeks and down her chest at his discomfort. She felt it too, but seeing him clearly wishing he could fall into the ocean put her on edge.
He finally glanced at her. “Look, I’m so sorry about this. I can’t imagine why Layton would set us up like this. It’s crazy. Water under the bridge. It’s been fourteen years. I promise I knew nothing about this. I never would have agreed to come on this cruise if he’d told me.”
Ellie nearly choked. He didn’t have to be a dick about it.
Although, to be fair, he had every right to be a dick about it. In fact, she was surprised by how cordial he’d been up to that moment. Smiling and seeming genuinely happy to see her.
He tapped the bar with his fingers. “I’m going to go find Layton and toss him overboard. Don’t worry about me. It’s a big ship. We don’t have to see each other. There’s plenty to do.” With those sharp parting words, he turned around and walked away.
Ellie stared at his back for long moments until she could no longer see him in the crowd. She couldn’t move or breathe. It felt like she was swaying back and forth. And perhaps she was. She was on a ship after all. It was still docked, however.
Docked…
She jerked her gaze up, wondering if she could still get off the boat. At that very moment two loud blasts of the ship’s horn sounded, signaling they were moving away from the dock.
Dammit.
Several announcements were made. She understood very few words. Her ears were ringing. She turned back to the bar and picked up the drink. It had melted enough to suck about half of it down in one swallow. She needed the alcohol.
She glanced around again, looking for red curls and finding nothing of the sort. Undoubtedly, Karla and Layton had conspired to get both Noah and Ellie to run into each other at the bar right off the bat, so they could start forging the imaginary relationship that would never happen. It could never happen.
What Karla and Layton didn’t know was why Ellie had walked away from Noah to begin with. She’d never told a living soul. Not even Noah.
The damage had been thorough. There would never be any way to patch things up in forty years, let alone fourteen. Their friends were sadly mistaken if they thought they could arrange some sort of reconciliation.
Sure, maybe Noah had found a way to pretend to be polite and cordial for a few moments after running into her unexpectedly. But there was no way he would continue to do so for seven days. It wasn’t like they could play nice, go to dinner together, plan the same excursions, hang out at the pool.
This vacation had taken a serious dive into murky waters.
Ellie wasn’t ready to face Karla yet. She needed more time to gather her thoughts. Her friendship with Karla had lasted over two decades. The last thing Ellie wanted to do was cause irrevocable damage to their relationship while she was still fuming at her friend’s horrible plan.
Setting two people up was always a gamble. Setting two people up without their knowledge would be outside the bounds of normal friendship. Setting two people up to spend a week on a cruise ship without checking with them first was unforgivable.
It wasn’t really Karla’s fault for thinking she might be able to get her high school friends to rekindle their relationship. She didn’t have all the facts. All she knew was what Ellie had told her over the years. That information had been spotty, but Ellie had never suggested she was over Noah in any way. Because she was not. She never would be.
She sucked down the rest of her drink, noticing the deck was starting to clear.
“Ma’am?”
She glanced at the bartender.
“You need to report to your muster station.”
She nodded and slid off her stool, hoping her legs could carry her to the designated spot. She wished she’d had time to drop her carry-on bag in her room, but apparently not. She would have to drag it with her to listen to the speech about escape routes, passenger safety, and lifeboats.
As soon as the drill was over, she would find her room and then hunt Karla down. By then, she hopefully would have calmed down enough to keep from shouting.
She had no idea how she was going to live through seven days on the same ship as Noah. The once massive ship she’d seen from the pier just an hour ago suddenly seemed ten times smaller. It was shrinking by the minute.
If you’d like to continue reading Hot SEAL, Red Wine, click here for the link.
Author’s Note
Thank you for enjoying Hot SEAL, Australian Nights. If you’d like to read the rest of the series, I’m including the links for all the other books by the wonderful group of authors who participated in this project.
Hot SEAL, Tijuana Nights by Cat Johnson
Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights by Elle James
Hot SEAL, Savannah Nights by Kris Michaels
Hot SEAL, Vegas Nights by Parker Kincade
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights by Becca Jameson
Hot SEAL, Roman Nights by Teresa Reasor
Hot SEAL, Alaskan Nights by Cynthia D’Alba
Hot SEAL, New Orleans Nights by Delilah Devlin
Also included are the books from the first round in this series.
Hot SEAL, Red Wine by Becca Jameson
Hot SEAL, Salty Dog by Elle James
Hot SEAL, S*x on the Beach by Delilah Devlin
Hot SEAL, Dirty Martini by Cat Johnson
Hot SEAL, Bourbon Neat by Parker Kincade
Hot SEAL, Cold Beer by Cynthia D’Alba
Hot SEAL, Rusty Nail by Teresa Reasor
Hot SEAL, Black Coffee by Cynthia D’Alba
Hot SEAL, Single Malt by Kris Michaels
Also by Becca Jameson
Project DEEP:
Reviving Emily
Reviving Trish
Reviving Dade
Reviving Zeke
Reviving Graham
Reviving Bianca
Reviving Olivia
SEALs in Paradise:
Hot SEAL, Red Wine
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights
Dark Falls:
Dark Nightmares
Club Zodiac:
Training Sasha
Obeying Rowen
Collaring Brooke
Mastering Rayne
Trusting Aaron
Claiming London
The Art of Kink:
Pose
Paint
Sculpt
Arcadian Bears:
Grizzly Mountain
Grizzly Beginning
Grizzly Secret
Grizzly Promise
Grizzly Survival
Grizzly Perfection
Sleeper SEALs:
Saving Zola
Spring Training:
Catching Zia
Catching Lily
Catching Ava
The Underground series:
Force
Clinch
Guard
Submit
Thrust
Torque
Saving Sofia (Kindle World)
Wolf Masters series:
Kara’s Wolves
Lindsey’s Wolves
Jessica’s Wolves
Alyssa’s Wolves
Tessa’s Wolf
Rebecca’s Wolves
Melinda’s Wolves
Laurie’s Wolves
Amanda’s Wolves
Sharon’s Wolves
Claiming Her series:
The Rules
The Game
The Prize
Bound to be Taken
Bound to be Tamed
Bound to be Tested
Bound to be Tempted
The Fight Club series:
Come
Perv
Need
Hers
Want
Lust
Wolf Gatherings series:
Tarnished
Dominated
Completed
Redeemed
Abandoned
Betrayed
Durham Wolves series:
Rescue in the Smokies
Fire in the Smokies
Freedom in the Smokies
Stand Alone Books:
Blind with Love
Guarding the Truth
Out of the Smoke
Abducting His Mate
Three’s a Cruise
Wolf Trinity
Frostbitten
A Princess for Cale/A Princess for Cain
About the Author
Becca Jameson is a USA Today best-selling author of over 80 books. She is most well-known for her Wolf Masters series and her Fight Club series. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two grown kids, and the various pets that wander through. She is loving this journey and has dabbled in a variety of genres, including paranormal, sports romance, military, and BDSM.
A total night owl, Becca writes late at night, sequestering herself in her office with a glass of red wine and a bar of dark chocolate, her fingers flying across the keyboard as her characters weave their own stories.
During the day--which never starts before ten in the morning!--she can be found jogging, floating in the pool, or reading in her favorite hammock chair!
…where Alphas dominate…
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Contact Becca:
www.beccajameson.com
beccajameson4@aol.com