Page 41 of Securing Jane

“Same!” the other woman returned with a smile and wave. “Have fun!”

Storm didn’t give her time to worry about meeting his men. One second they were walking down the beach toward them, and the next they were surrounded.

“Hey, Sir!”

“Good to see you, North!”

“You’re late!”

The greetings came fast and furious, and Jane couldn’t help but smile. The men seemed down-to-earth, and she loved that they didn’t hesitate to give their commanding officer hell. In her experience, the more relaxed people were around their boss when they weren’t at work, the better the boss.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Storm told his men. “No offense, but I’d rather hang out and stare at Jane than your ugly mugs.”

Everyone burst out laughing. Jane knew she was blushing, but she couldn’t help her huge smile.

“Everyone, this is Jane. I think most of you have seen her around the base. Jane, this is Rocco, Gumby, Ace, Bubba, Rex, and Phantom. They’re a hell of a SEAL team, even if they are a little rough around the edges.”

“It’s good to meet you,” Rocco said, holding out a hand.

Jane shook it. “You too,” she told him. Then she did the same with the other five men. When it was Phantom’s turn, he held her hand for a little longer than necessary. Jane felt as if he was examining her as they locked gazes. Finally, he nodded before dropping his hand. She had no idea what he’d been looking for, but hopefully he wasn’t too disappointed in whatever he’d seen.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Phantom,” she told the extremely tall man. “All good things,” she hurried to clarify.

“Then whoever you’ve been talking to was lying,” he told her calmly. His friends all laughed, but Jane didn’t even smile.

She shook her head. “Nope. I know you’ve got a reputation for being extremely gruff, but anyone who did what you did…risked your own life and career to rescue someone who desperately needed a champion is someone I’m proud to know.”

Jane felt Storm squeeze her hand, but she didn’t take her gaze from Phantom’s.

He stared at her for a moment longer before nodding and looking at Storm. “She’ll do,” he said, then turned and headed for a red-haired woman behind him.

“That’s high praise coming from Phantom,” Rocco told her. “We’ve all seen you around and appreciate your efficiency. I remember one time when I’d been called down to the mail room because I was expecting a very important package, and no one seemed to know where the hell it was even though the tracking showed that it had been delivered to the base. You personally took the time to track it down. It had been delivered to the wrong office, and the secretary there was new and was too busy trying to learn everything else about her job to deal with it. I appreciate you going out of your way to find it.”

Jane nodded. She didn’t remember the specific incident Rocco was talking about. She spent a lot of time trying to find misplaced letters and packages. “I’m glad I was able to find it for you,” she told him.

Just then, a little girl ran up to Ace and hugged him around the waist. “Come play, Daddy!” she begged. Ace lifted her off her feet and turned her upside down. The girl shrieked. “You wanna play, Rani?” he asked. Then he gave Jane a smile and headed toward two other girls who looked more than ready to play with their dad. A blonde woman who Jane assumed was his wife merely shook her head at his antics.

One by one, the other men on Rocco’s team told her they were glad to meet her then headed back to their wives and families. If Jane had stumbled onto the beach party on her own, she never in a hundred years would’ve guessed that she was looking at deadly SEALs.

“Ready to meet my other team?” Storm asked.

Jane took a deep breath. “Bring it,” she mumbled.

Storm chuckled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “For what it’s worth…they liked you.”

Jane rolled her eyes.

“What? They did,” he insisted.

“Storm, you’re their boss. They wouldn’t let on if they didn’t like me. And meeting me for two seconds isn’t enough for them to know if they liked me or not.”

“Wrong,” Storm said immediately. “These aren’t men who suffer fools. I made the mistake of bringing a woman I was casually dating to one of these things years ago, and it was made more than clear that no one thought she was good enough for me.”

“How?” Jane asked.

Storm shrugged. “Little things. They didn’t shake her hand. Didn’t engage in any kind of small talk. Talked to me like she wasn’t there. They were actually pretty rude, but their point was made. So, you see, baby, they more than approve of you.”

“So what are we doing?” she asked.