Page 3 of Winter Surprise (Seasoned SEALs #4)

“Da da da da.” His young son’s babbling warmed his heart even though he knew that at only eight months the child didn’t understand the meaning of Daddy. Handing Ian a clean, chilled washcloth and setting the swing into motion once again, Dylan finally opened the door.

The woman before him was shockingly beautiful.

Long brown hair with sun-kissed lighter strands that fell below her shoulders, highlighting her whiskey-colored eyes.

He’d always found it fascinating that when active-duty military women released their required bun at the nape, how feminine they suddenly appeared. Eve was no exception.

He’d truly invited her as a kind gesture. She’d helped him and he was repaying the favor. Friendly, as lieutenant to lieutenant. The fact that she was gorgeous stunned him.

“Here.” She thrust a bottle of Amarone toward him.

“I found a liquor store still open. The clerk said this would go well with lasagna.” She raised her shoulders.

“I know nothing about wine. I was hoping while I was here on the West Coast that I would get an opportunity to take a long weekend in Napa and get an education.”

“Genevieve and her friends go every October. When I’m over there for supper, she’s been trying to teach me a little.

” Realizing she was still standing outside, he gestured for her to come in, holding the door open wide.

One brush of those feminine curves against him would send his body, and brain, in the direction he wasn’t sure he wanted to go.

“Nice place,” Eve said as her gaze swept the living room. “The location is outstanding. I’d be across the street at the beach all the time.”

Dylan was used to his peers being in awe of his home given the price of housing on Coronado.

“Captain and Mrs. Hubbard bought this place when they first moved here over twenty years ago. When they got divorced, Genevieve put Kylie’s name on the deed.

When she remarried the captain, they moved into his much larger quarters on base and allowed me to live here with Ian.

Technically, my son owns half this house and his grandmother the other half. ”

Dylan walked over and maneuvered the baby out of the swing and set him on his butt on a large blanket in the middle of the living room. The boy immediately rolled over and crawled to the coffee table in front of the couch where he pulled himself up and bounced his bottom up and down.

“He’ll be walking before you know it,” Eve said as Dylan gestured for her to take a seat. “Developmentally, it looks like he’s right on target.”

Dylan didn’t stop his proud smile. “According to his last doctor’s appointment, he’s a little ahead. He weighs twenty-two pounds and does many things an average nine-month-old can do. With Genevieve being a recently retired teacher, she’s all about keeping him on track.”

“You and I both know what it’s like to grow up with a mother who was a teacher,” she noted.

“She’ll have him reading by age three, like me.

I hope he learns to love reading.” Dylan realized this was a very personal conversation, one he’d never had with another date.

Except Kylie. Mothers who were teachers was one of the first things they’d discovered they had in common. Of love of reading was another.

It felt right talking with Eve about his childhood. He was already very comfortable with her. Maybe, because it wasn’t a date. Their conversation certainly didn’t have any of those awkward first date vibes. It was simply two fellow lieutenants sharing a meal.

“I was also three when I learned to read.” Her eyes tracked his son as he sidestepped his way around the low coffee table. “Mom used to tell me that I literally tried to eat up books, chewing on the thick pages until the corners delaminated.”

Ian made his way around to Dylan and lifted an arm, the other securely holding onto the table. He immediately bent to pick up his son who dropped his arm then lifted it again.

Eve’s giggle filled the room and touched Dylan’s heart. “I think he wants to go to the Christmas tree.”

“I’m sure he does. I had to put his toddler fence around the tree because he kept crawling over to it and pulling himself up using the branches.

More than once, I was sure it was going to topple onto him, or he was going to fall into it and poke his eye out on one of the fake branches.

” Dylan shook his head side to side. “Baby proofing the house is an ongoing challenge.”

“It can’t be easy being a single father, especially since you’re a SEAL.” She stood and swooped his son into her arms. “Those lights are so pretty, aren’t they? You need to touch and feel everything, don’t you?”

Dylan felt a twinge in his chest watching the attractive woman explore the tree with his son.

Deep down, he knew that Ian was in excellent hands.

Eve was a physician’s assistant with years of nursing behind her.

Genevieve did similar things with Ian, and he’d never felt this way.

Marta, the admiral’s new wife, always picked up Ian and walked around talking to him.

Perhaps it was having this woman, his own age, holding his son, in his home.

Her long thick hair swung side to side gently as she rocked his child. As her hips moved, Dylan couldn’t help but notice what a fine ass she had, her cheeks cupped in tight denim.

His cock stirred for the first time in over a year.

Since he discovered he had a son shortly after returning from a long mission in the desert, sex had been the last thing he thought about.

Making bottles, introducing new food, trying to determine the needs of an infant who had no words, occupied his non-working hours.

While at work, it was work. Physical training, practicing for every situation imaginable, then as commanding officer of a platoon, there was always piles of paperwork.

Dylan didn’t have time to think about a woman, even one to slake his growing interest. He had to do something other than stare at Eve’s seductive backside.

“I’m a terrible host,” he announced. “While you have Ian, how about I pour us a glass of the wine you brought?”

When she turned toward him, her contented smile with his son in her arms, the Christmas tree twinkling behind them, they looked like a family Christmas card. He could picture the three of them, Ian a year older, his arms around both of them, taking an annual photograph.

“That would be wonderful,” she replied.

Yes, it would. The small voice in the depth of his mind that he sometimes thought of as Kylie’s, kicked his heart.

Needing to leave the room as quickly as possible, he announced, “I’ll be right back.”

In the kitchen, Dylan let out a long breath. When he filled his lungs again, he realized he was missing something. He could smell the lasagna and it wasn’t burning. Genevieve had placed holiday-scented aromatics around the house, but that wasn’t it either.

Two minutes later, as he handed Eve a glass of wine after she set Ian back on his blanket, he discovered it was her.

It had been so long since he’d been around a woman, her light delicate fragrance seemed foreign, but not in a bad way.

It was just a scent he hadn’t experienced in over a year… one he liked.

Both sipped at the same time.

“This is quite good.” She licked the wine off her top lip and Dylan’s cock stood up and took notice.

“Yes, it is.” He quickly turned and sat down holding the stemless wine glass in his lap. “So, what are your plans for the next several days?”

“I have to work tomorrow morning. It’s only a half-day since it’s Christmas Eve.

” She let out a short huff. “If the weather is nice, I’ll go to the beach.

I haven’t seen much of the sun lately since I was studying for my finals and certification.

If it’s rainy, as predicted, I’ll probably just hang around my room watching Christmas movies.

” She glanced up at him through dark lashes.

“I love a happy ending. Or I’ll sit around and read. ”

“What kind of books do you like to read?” Dylan pointed at the overflowing bookshelves surrounding the front window.

Taking her glass of wine with her, she perused his eclectic assortment of books. Genevieve had left some, but most were his.

Perfectly arched eyebrows rose as she turned with a paperback in her hand. “You read romance novels?” She waggled the book.

Blushing, he answered honestly, “I read one of those, but I don’t think it was that one. They were left by Genevieve and Kylie.”

Turning back around, Eve quickly placed the book back on the shelf. “I’ve read several of these Grishams.”

For the next ten minutes, they discussed popular thrillers and suspense novels discovering they both enjoyed the same authors.

When the in-house system notified him that the lasagna was done, he placed Ian in his highchair. He’d already set the small kitchen table. Pulling the salad from the fridge that he’d made when he thought his parents were arriving yesterday, he set the bowl on the table.

“I hope you don’t mind eating in here. The floor is tile and much easier to clean up when Ian decides to play with his food rather than eat it.”

“No problem at all.” She glanced at the table then around the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

“Absolutely nothing. I’ve got it.”

Thirty minutes later, stuffed with some of the best lasagna he’d ever eaten, Dylan stood to clear the table.

“Nope.” Eve grabbed the plate out of his hand. “You cooked, I’ll clean up.”

“Fine. I’ll put away the leftovers.” He was used to bathing Ian and getting him into bed, then coming down to a dirty kitchen. An extra set of hands was amazingly helpful. In less than five minutes they’d finished the after-dinner chores. Ian bounced in his chair, slapping his hands on the tray.

Eve and Dylan looked at him and laughed out loud. His son had officially decided he liked lasagna. Red sauce covered his face and hands. Somehow, bits of sauce and noodles were stuck in his inch-long hair.

Ian was a mess.

“Can I give him a bath?” Eve offered, looking up at Dylan with hopeful big brown eyes.

Dylan glanced at her tight-fitting sweater and shook his head.

“Ian loves bath time and believes in sharing the water. You’ll get that pretty sweater soaked.

” In truth, Dylan wasn’t sure he could handle the light cloth plastered to her surprisingly ample breasts which had been hidden under her uniform.

She glanced around the kitchen one more time.

Clapping her hands together as though holding them so they wouldn’t reach out, she announced, “I’m sure his bath is the start of the nighttime routine, so I’ll say good night and thank you.

Please extend my appreciation to Mrs. Hubbard for making the best damn lasagna I’ve had…

ever. Thank you so much for inviting me over and feeding me. ”

Turning quickly, she headed for the door.

With a glance to assure himself Ian was safe in his highchair, Dylan followed her through the house. “Eve,” he called as she reached for the knob.

He stopped a few feet from her. “I really appreciate you coming over tonight. I was kind of down because my parents didn’t get here, and it looks like Ian and I are going to be all alone for Christmas.

You said you didn’t have anything to do tomorrow afternoon.

We don’t either. How about you come over here after you close at the clinic, and I’ll make a picnic lunch. ”

He nodded toward the kitchen. “I hit the commissary a couple days ago and stocked up on lunchmeat, chicken salad, egg salad, and all the fixings that are just going to go bad. You’d be doing me a favor helping me eat them.

If the weather’s nice, we’ll go across the street and sit on the beach.

We might end up eating leftover lasagna for dinner. ”

Eve laughed. “That sounds wonderful.” She leaned into him and went up on tiptoes, brushing a kiss across his cheek. Opening the door, she turned her head. “I had a wonderful time. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

She closed the door and he stepped to the side window to make sure her car started.

Grinning, he walked back to his son and announced, “We have a date tomorrow.”