“Yep. She was gorgeous. The CO called, and I hustled out of there though. If I’d known the redhead hadn’t told you her name, I would’ve found out for you.”
“I know.” Troy swiped his hand across his eyes. Damn, he was exhausted. He’d check his messages and then crash after he got home. If he hadn’t heard from the pretty redhead, he’d figure out a way to get in touch with her. How many event planners could be in San Diego anyway? As it was, they needed to stash their gear and debrief with the commander before heading out.
They dropped off some of their supplies, and then the men walked into the locker room on base, stashing the rest of their gear. “The CO wants to meet with us in thirty minutes,” Blake said. “Shower, change, and be in the bullpen by then.”
Troy nodded, grabbing a clean pair of fatigues and heading toward the showers. He’d check his messages momentarily. He hoped like hell he’d have a text or voicemail, but it could wait another five minutes. He’d shave tomorrow after he slept, but at least he’d be clean. His entire body was exhausted, his muscles aching, and he hoped the debrief would be quick. He loved the exertion of pushing his body on missions with his teammates, but now that the adrenaline had faded and the job had been completed, he was ready to crash.
After putting on a fresh pair of fatigues, he went back to the locker room and turned on his cell phone. It felt like it took forever for his phone to turn on. Jackson glanced over at him, hair damp from his own shower. “Any word?”
“Still turning on my phone,” Troy muttered.
“Well good luck. I’m going to give Taryn a quick call before the debrief.”
Troy nodded, watching as his teammate left the room, presumably for some privacy. Hell, everyone but Logan was quickly calling their girl. Hopefully the meeting with the CO would be quick, but who the hell knew. He’d probably want to update them on the situation with the admiral as well.
Troy swiped through the text messages on his phone, seeing several from one of his sisters. Brooklyn was young, only twenty-two, and was about to graduate from college in a few months. He hoped she’d move here to San Diego. He scrolled down and saw that he had a spam text and one from his neighbor, who’d picked up a package off his front porch. None from the mysterious redhead though.
Frowning, he dialed into his voicemail. Maybe she’d called him. He hoped like hell she had at least left him a message to say hi. Then he’d have her number and could call her back tomorrow and ask her out on a proper date.
There were two voicemails from his mom, another spam message, and that was it. Nothing else. Trying not to feel disappointed, he put his phone back into his locker. Maybe the redhead had changed her mind. Maybe she’d met another guy. Maybe he had a missed call that wouldn’t show up because his phone had been turned off.
Shaking his head, he closed his locker a little more forcefully than he’d intended. Damn. It was silly to be hung up on a woman he’d spent less than thirty minutes with. He’d felt the crazy chemistry between them, but was that part of the allure?
He’d only gotten a taste. A metaphorical taste that is—wouldn’t he have loved to kiss those pink lips.
But if he had taken her out, it could’ve ended like all his other dates. This girl might just be appealing because it was the thrill of the chase. There was a bit of mystery surrounding her, and hell if he didn’t love that. Grunting, he pushed open the locker room door and skulked out. “No luck?” Logan asked with a chuckle.
“Negative.”
So much for avoiding his teammates for the next twenty minutes.
“Well, the blonde told me her sister was getting married Columbus Day weekend. So, if all else fails, just show up there next fall. I assume an event planner would be at the actual event.”
“Next fall? Damn, I’m not waiting months to see her again,” Troy said. “I’ll find her before then.”
“Maybe you’ll meet another woman this weekend and forget all about the redhead.”
“Nah. She’s been on my mind all week. One way or another I’m going to track her down.”
Logan chuckled. “I can’t say she looked too upset to be in your arms.”
Warmth filled his chest at the memory. “There was a definite spark of interest in her eyes. She had all that long, red hair. Damn, she was beautiful.”
“Then what would she be doing with your sorry ass?” Logan ribbed him.
“There’s the commander,” Troy said, ignoring his teammate’s comment. “Guess we’ll be early for the debrief.” He shifted focus as they moved down the hallway, preparing to talk about the mission and any urgent updates that had come up while they were gone. Everything else—including the mysterious redhead from the beach—would have to wait.
Chapter 5
Two weeks later, Caitlyn squealed in delight as she listened to her voicemail. Harper looked up from where she was sitting in Caitlyn’s office. “What is it? Did your Navy SEAL find you?”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “No, he didn’t find me. I think that ship has sailed. You know how I was bummed out because that big corporate conference was cancelled next month?”
“Yep. You cleared your calendar for that weekend and had to turn down several other potential events. Why?”
“I’ve got a new lead for an event that Saturday. Some bigwig from the Navy base is having an anniversary party on a huge yacht. The woman they’d hired to plan the entire thing had to bail out because of a family emergency, and they
