AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eleven
DAKOTA
The afternoon was a whirlwind of fun and excitement and breathtaking weather, as we shot through the city beneath a flawless blue sky. Aurelius was my steadfast chauffeur. My saint and savior and ever-knowledgeable tour guide, and as a shopping partner, he was any girl’s best friend.
He plied me with addictively decadent coffee, then took me to shops and boutiques I would’ve never found on my own. I tried on various dresses in four different stores, until I found the one perfect gown that he swore was going to knock every man at the officer’s ball ‘square on his ass.’
It wasn’t that my original dress was bad, it was that the ball had a reputation for being over the top. The last thing I wanted was to underwhelm Jace’s mentor with some lackluster outfit, so if I could start off the night swinging a home run it might definitely help his cause.
Through it all Aurelius wasn’t just a trooper, he was a fantastic and charming date. He’d made me laugh dozens of times everywhere we went, sometimes with old stories at Jace or Merrick’s expense. I got to learn how he ended up here all the way from Greece, and that he’d met the others while running joint missions involving his SEAL platoon. The specifics of his service were vague, maybe even intentionally hazy. But the humility made him all the more mysterious. And let’s face it, all the more attractive, too.
We shared lunch on the water together: Mahi Mahi with grilled oysters, washed down with Bloody Marys so spicy they made my eyes water. Then, with the sun finally getting lower in the sky, we headed home.
Home.
It occurred to me that I might spend another evening at the guys’ place, especially if they had a guest room. I decided that scenario was fine by me. It sounded like a lot less lonely way to end the night.
“Wait! Pull over.”
Aurelius obeyed, and even miraculously found a spot. Two minutes later I was leading him by the hand into yet another dress shop.
“I thought we decided on the dress we bought earlier?” he said.
“We have.”
“Then what are we—”
“I saw something in the window.”
Walking along the front of the store, I pointed to the display. The red dress I’d seen from the street had a wickedly plunging neckline. From this angle, it had an open back, too.
“That dress is hot,” Aurelius admitted, letting out a low whistle. “But it’s not the kind of thing you’d wear to the officer’s ball.”
“Maybe not,” I agreed. “But what about your SEALs thing?”
His expression went utterly blank. It was the first time all day I’d seen him at a disadvantage.
“Did you still want me to go to that?” I asked.
“YES!” he replied enthusiastically. “Then again, I don’t think Jace—”
“You let me worry about Jace,” I stopped him quickly. “Besides, I agreed to be Jace’s wife for a night. After that, according to the deal we made, I’m on a solo Hawaiian vacation.”
Aurelius’s fierce brown eyes came suddenly alive. His smile was back, too.
“You are, huh?”
“I most certainly am.”
“And you’d be willing to do date night with the rest of my platoon?” he asked. “Let me show you off a little?”
“Well what kind of night is it?”
He shrugged his gorgeous shoulders, as his eyes shifted from side to side. “Well, it’s a lot less formal than the officer’s ball.”
I chuckled. “Go on.”
“We grab some food, some drink, some merriment…”
