Page 24 of Stealthy Seduction (SEAL Team Blackout Charlie #5)

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nodded. “Nothing has been said. It’s too soon…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“I understand. And when you’re ready for something more than that concrete gray blanket, you know where to find me. I’m really good at planning. I have a whole mood board app.”

“You’ll be the first person I come to.”

When Kennedy smiled, her entire face lit up with the sort of beauty that could only come from pure happiness. “Good. But I didn’t come in here to pick on you about sleeping in a man cave.”

“What did you come here for?”

The woman’s eyes took on a faraway look, a tension riding in the depths that had Izzy’s palms sweating. “I’m getting all the girls together. Are you free now?”

She was so curious about what was causing such worry in Kennedy that she couldn’t write more on her project if she were forced to. She pushed to her feet. “I’m free. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Kennedy reached out and clasped Izzy’s hand. “Good. Come with me.” She towed her to the door and then down the stairs. When they entered a big, open room with the golden glow of sunset streaming through tall windows overlooking the back yard, she took in the group of women gathered there.

Her new friends.

A big cream-colored leather sectional sofa added a layer of that cozy comfort to the space that Kennedy mentioned, and there were layers of throw pillows in natural tones. A big round wooden coffee table with brass and glass accents had a big makeup box on it.

Sophie scooted over to make room for Izzy, and she took a seat with a smile.

“What’s going on, Kennedy? Does this have anything to do with the guys?” May got straight to the point. She pushed her long, dark hair over her shoulder in a nervous gesture.

Kennedy perched on the edge of the lounge portion of the sectional. “Yes. Things get tense around here when the guys go to the war room. Every one of us can feel it.”

The ladies all nodded…except for Izzy. She didn’t realize that the team was shut up in there. She had been so focused on herself that she didn’t see what was happening around her. What was happening to Hudson.

Looking toward the door, she felt that tension now, as if the whole house held its breath.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

Sophie rested a hand on her arm, her expressive eyes filled with empathy. “We never know, but everything is going to be all right.”

Kennedy leaned forward and scooped up the box. “We’re starting a new tradition right now. Operation Distraction.”

Alyssa eyed her. “And we’re doing our makeup?”

Kennedy shook her head and popped the clasp on the box. Nail polish bottles were lined up in rows in all colors of the rainbow, from clear and nude all the way through vampy red and black cherry.

She beamed. “Anyone up for a mani?”

“Oh my god, yes.” May’s nervous energy immediately channeled into excitement as she reached for a deep burgundy shade. “I haven’t done my nails in months.”

Alyssa laughed. “You have to admit, May—being the weapons specialist for the team doesn’t exactly lend itself to manicures.” She was next to sift through the polish, selecting a soft pink that somehow managed to look both professional and feminine.

“We all need to take care of ourselves more. Our roles are vital to the team.”

Izzy dropped her gaze to her own fingers, her nails natural but shaped into the ovals she preferred. Except she wasn’t really seeing her nails. She was weighing what Kennedy said about being a vital part of the team.

Izzy wasn’t doing anything to support the team, her new friends…or the man who was becoming so important to her. She had spent so many years stuck in her own head—her own pain. It was high time that she made some changes.

The box made its way to her, and Izzy stared at the colors. She started to reach for the warm tan color that was her favorite, then pulled her hand back.

She darted a look at Kennedy, who unscrewed the cap on a shimmery gold polish.

Sophie held up two bottles, comparing a soft lavender against a bold coral. “I like the psychology behind this op. Colors can actually affect mood and confidence levels.”

Izzy found herself drawn to a molten silver-gray with a subtle shimmer that reminded her of Hudson’s eyes when he was being particularly intense. The color seemed to capture something essential about him—calm on the surface but with hidden depths that could pull her under if she wasn’t careful.

Maybe it was time she stopped treading so carefully. To stop moving through the world like she was waiting for the next bomb to explode, even though it was very, very possible that it would.

She twirled the bottle, watching how the hue picked up a new shimmer from the setting sun.

“That’s perfect for you,” Kennedy observed. “Very sophisticated, but with an edge.”

The ladies all added noises of agreement and approval. Kennedy laid out manicure pads around the coffee table, and they all sat on the floor around it.

As they settled into the comfortable rhythm of nail painting, the conversation flowed as easily as the polish.

May regaled them with stories about trying to maintain any kind of feminine routine while working in various military facilities around the country, complete with dramatic reenactments of trying to apply mascara in a bunker without a mirror.

Her antics had them all laughing.

Sophie carefully painted her pinky nail a delicate shade of lavender. “I haven’t had my eyebrows done in so long that if I went now, the aesthetician would probably take one look at me and ask if I’m cosplaying as a gorilla.”

Alyssa blew on her own freshly painted nails, and her exhale turned into a snort. “Not true, Sophie. You’re lovely . Besides, natural brows are in.”

Even with the laughter and easy camaraderie, Izzy found her attention drifting toward the door every few minutes. The house did feel different when the men were in the war room—like the very walls were waiting for whatever decision or plan would be made.

Kennedy caught the direction of Izzy’s glances. “You’re worried about Hudson,” she said softly.

It wasn’t really a question, so Izzy didn’t bother denying it. “I just…I want to see with my own eyes that he’s okay. I know that’s probably silly—”

“It’s not silly at all,” Sophie interrupted in her calm, gentle manner. “When people matter to us, we worry. It’s human nature.”

“Plus,” Alyssa added with a knowing smile, “Hudson’s probably doing the exact same thing right now. These guys might be tough as nails, but they’re watchdogs when it comes to the people they care about.”

The observation made Izzy’s chest warm in a way that was both comforting and terrifying.

The idea that Hudson might be sitting in that war room thinking about her, worrying about her emotional state the same way she was worried about his safety—it suggested a level of mutual investment that she hadn’t quite let herself acknowledge before.

May added a second coat to her burgundy nails. “We all know that our alpha males brood a lot when they think we’re not looking.”

Kennedy snorted with laughter. “Then they claim they’re evaluating threats.”

The absurdity of their situation—five women painting their nails while their Navy SEAL boyfriends planned tactical operations in another room—struck Izzy as both ridiculous and somehow perfect.

This was what normal looked like for them now, and despite everything, she found herself not wanting to change it.

“I think I’m in trouble.” The words escaped from Izzy before she could stop them.

“What kind of trouble?” Alyssa’s tone suggested she already knew.

“The kind where you start planning your whole life around someone else’s presence in it.

” She watched the paint, called Forged Desire, dry on her nails.

“The kind where you realize that all those therapy retreats and healing workshops only taught you how to be okay alone, but they never prepared you for wanting to be okay with someone else.”

The room went quiet for a moment, but it was the comfortable kind of silence that came from shared understanding rather than awkwardness.

“Welcome to the club,” Kennedy said finally, raising her gold-polished hand in a mock salute. “Population: all of us.”

Before Izzy could respond, the thud of boots on the marble floors made all of them look toward the door. But instead of the serious, post-meeting energy she’d been expecting, what emerged was something entirely different.

Hudson appeared in the doorway first, his face lit up with the kind of boyish excitement she’d never seen from him before.

With the oxygen punched from her chest, she watched as one by one, the rest of the team crowded into view, all of them wearing expressions that seemed to hover between pride and barely contained enthusiasm.

“Ladies,” Con announced with the formal tone she’d heard him use for mission briefings, “you’ve been summoned.”

“Summoned?” May raised an eyebrow even as a suspicious expression stole over her pretty features.

Chase stepped forward, scooping Alyssa up from the sectional before she could protest.

She squealed. “My nails aren’t done!”

“They are now. To the theater room. We’ve got a surprise for you.”

Izzy looked up into Hudson’s eyes, then down at her own nails. They were close in color, but his eyes were so much better.

When he moved toward her, that familiar warmth spread through her chest, but this time it was accompanied by something else—a startling moment of absolute clarity.

She…

She was…

Definitely in love with him.

The realization should have been terrifying. But as he lifted her effortlessly into his arms, his eyes bright thanks to whatever plan they’d concocted, all she felt was a sense of rightness settling deep inside her.

When they entered the theater room, he turned his lips against her ear. “Family movie night. Complete with all your favorite snacks and a movie you mentioned wanting to see.”

She swept a glance over the plush leather theater recliners. Five chairs had blankets, one in her favorite color. When Hudson set her down in one and draped the thick hand-knitted neutral tan throw blanket over her lap, a carefree laugh burst from her.

He proceeded to slip off her shoes and ease matching slippers onto her feet. When he passed her a cup of her favorite flavor of margarita and a bag of peanut M&Ms, she shook her head in incredulity. “How do you know all my favorites?”

His smile was soft and devastating. “The beige I already guessed from your wardrobe. I admit, I thought it was a dull color…until I knew you. Now I see it’s not boring at all. As for the rest… Well, we have our ways. But now that I know what you like, I’ll remember forever.”

And there it was—the final piece clicking into place.

She was home.