Page 13 of Cowboy SEAL Homecoming

Chapter 4

Alex woke up with a start. He wasn’t sure what had knocked him out of sleep, but he looked around the darkened room and tried to calm his uneven breathing.

He was home, so to speak. The home of his childhood. The only home he’d ever really had. Otherwise, it was bases—flung all over the world. His entire adult life had been homeless in a way. He’d almost always had shelter—except for the few missions when he hadn’t even had that—but never a home.

He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of home. Being one place forever. Of sinking your heart and soul into something the way his father had into this ranch. It was too much, too overwhelming of a thought.

He glanced at his watch. Five in the morning. It wouldn’t be the worst time to wake up. There would be chores to do and he wanted to call Connor as soon as his office opened. He wanted to look through the bunkhouse a little bit more himself and develop his own theories before the “expert” came in.

Alex rolled off the twin bed. It wasn’t the most uncomfortable place he’d ever slept, but the mattress might have actually been from his childhood. He didn’t know whether that was funny or not.

Last night he’d unpacked his duffel bag and placed everything in the dresser. Though this was temporary until the bunkhouse was ready, and he didn’t want to get too comfortable here, where memories clouded the air like dust, he wasn’t going to live out of a bag anymore.

So he’d meticulously unpacked the duffel into the ancient dresser, and this morning he pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He gave a fleeting thought to a shower, but they needed to discuss some ground rules with Becca first.

Although she had overtaken the master bedroom with the en suite bathroom, and he and the guys were going to share the hallway bathroom, there was still a hot water issue to be worked out before someone ended up with a frigid shower.

But before any of that, he needed coffee. A nice, strong pot. He pulled on the clothes and exited his bedroom. He was immediately greeted with a little shriek that caused him to instinctively crouch.

He looked at the source. Becca. Ignoring the fact that he’d immediately gone into military mode, Alex straightened to his full height.

Becca had plastered herself to the side of the hallway wall. He tried not to notice the fact that she was wearing shorts and a tank top, clearly her pajamas.

Despite her height, she had pretty, long legs. Pretty, long, bare arms. Pale skin, freckled at the shoulders.

No bra.

Alex looked up at the ceiling. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” His voice sounded oddly strangled in his own ears.

“No, it’s my fault. I kind of didn’t expect you guys to be walking around yet. I usually go start coffee before I get dressed.” She made an odd sound, something like a throat clearing and a groan. “Not a good idea,” she muttered. “I’m going to go get dressed.”

Alex nodded, eyes still on the ceiling. He meant to keep his gaze focused there until Becca’s footsteps receded, but somehow his eyes drifted down to her backside as she scurried away.

He most definitely did not look at her ass, because that would have been weird. And he was not weird. Everything was fine.

On a heavy sigh, Alex trudged downstairs. He measured enough coffee for ten people because he was going to need to drink enough for four if his brain was going to be this muddled.

He stood there waiting for it to brew, willing his mind blank. He heard footsteps, but they were too heavy to be Becca’s. He glanced back at Gabe, who stepped into the kitchen with a yawn.

“Coffee,” he said on a grunt.

“Slept well I see,” Alex returned.

“You know, we’ve slept in a lot of shitty places. I think that’s why I can’t sleep in a nice one.” Gabe collapsed into a chair at the table.

“We’ll get used to it. You on breakfast duty?”

“Coffee first. Chore talk second.”

Alex nodded and waited impatiently for the rest of the coffee to brew. When another footfall sounded, it was clearly Becca’s. Soft, a little hesitant. He stared hard at the coffeepot instead of turning to face her. Not because he could clearly picture her legs or her ass in shorts or her…

He closed his eyes and counted to five. He was not attracted to his stepsister. That would be weird.

“Morning, Becca,” Gabe greeted.

“Good morning. Thanks for starting coffee, Alex.”

“Any day.”