Hot SEAL, April's Fool by Becca Jameson (smart books to read .txt) 📗

Hot SEAL, April’s FoolSEALs in Paradise

Becca Jameson

Copyright © 2021 by Becca Jameson

Cover Artist: Elle James

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Created with Vellum

Contents

Newsletter

Acknowledgments

About the Book

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Author’s Note

Layover

Also by Becca Jameson

About the Author

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Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank Cat Johnson, Parker Kincade, and my daughter, Rebecca, for helping me plot this fun book!

About the Book

Ten years ago, he left her with no explanation. Now he’s back, and the sparks burn just as hot as they did in high school.

April might have been young, but she knew what love was. She and Cole were inseparable, voted most likely to marry. And then he vanished on the night she expected him to propose.

Joining the Navy had always been Cole’s plan. He’d intended to carry on a long-distance romance with his high school sweetheart. Nothing could ever come between them…until it did.

In this second chance, small-town romance the past collides with the present as Cole fights to save his family’s business and earn back the trust of the only woman he’s ever loved. Losing her a second time—for good—is out of the question.

Hot SEAL, April’s Fool is part of the SEALs in Paradise series. Each book stands alone, and they can be read in any order.

Prologue

“Hey, Joker, I heard the news. So sorry about your dad.” Heartbreaker slid onto the seat across from Cole and grabbed a beer from the bucket Cole had already purchased. He’d known eventually several of his teammates would show up to join him at McP’s this evening, especially as the news of his father’s death spread among them.

Cole lifted his beer to clink against Heartbreaker’s, waving a hand between them. “No need to get overly maudlin on me. I hadn’t spoken to the man in ten years.”

Heartbreaker winced. “Shit. Sorry, man. That sucks.”

Cole shrugged. “He wasn’t up for Father of the Year at any point. I left at eighteen and never looked back.” Granted, his father, Marcus Landry, wasn’t the only person Cole had left behind when he’d skipped town. Nope. When he’d vanished, he’d lost the best and worst people in his life. One of those people still haunted him to this day.

Cole was playing with the label on his bottle when another group of his teammates showed up. Luckily, one of them was holding a second bucket of beer. They were going to need it.

He glanced around at all of their sorrowful faces as they took seats. Finally, he rolled his eyes and smirked. “No need to feel overly sorry for my loss, guys. I had no relationship with my father. Haven’t spoken to him since I joined the Navy.”

Zig, also known as Chris Bykowski, clinked beers with Cole. “It’s still hard to lose a parent.”

“Yeah. We’re here for you if you need anything,” Pops, Benjamin Popovich, added. Pops turned toward the man next to him. “Bad timing, but this is Cash Mancini. He’s taking Liam’s place on the team. Apparently, they call him Inferno.”

Cole reached out a hand to shake the new guy’s. “Inferno. Bet there’s a story behind that.” He smiled.

Pops chuckled. “Go easy on him. He’s no Liam.”

Cole smirked. “Well, break him in while I’m gone.”

Everyone snickered.

“Heard you’re leaving in the morning to go handle the estate?” Jack “Mars” Marsten asked.

Cole nodded but he was already chuckling. “Estate is a stretch.” He took another long swig of his beer. “My father owned a mechanic’s shop in town. Not sure if it’s worth anything or not. It did well when I was in high school, but I suspect my lazy brother didn’t fill my shoes and help out much when I moved away.”

Wolf, Eli Miller, spoke next. “Alabama, right?”

Cole nodded. “Yep.” He cringed. “A week in small-town Alabama. Just what everyone wants to do with their leave.”

Zig handed Cole another beer. “Maybe you’ll run into some hot girls from high school. Last time I went home, I was shocked to see how the girls had changed into women. Seems like half of them had gotten married and had kids. Half of them were hot as fuck with figures they hadn’t had in high school. Granted, half of them had also let themselves go.”

Pops chuckled. “That’s a lot of halves, Zig.”

Zig punched him playfully on the arm. “The circles in the Venn diagram could overlap you know.”

Cole drew in a breath. He’d only ever cared about one girl in high school. April McKay. He could hardly remember any other girl’s name. She’d been his girlfriend for three years. His soulmate. He’d known that even at eighteen.

And then his world had flipped upside down and Cole had left town, never looking back. He had a million regrets, all of them concerning April. During the coming week, he would eventually run into her, and the thought slayed him.

He’d done her wrong. Chances were, she wouldn’t even glance at him if he confronted her. And he couldn’t blame her. He’d been immature and stupid and hurt when he’d left. There was no way to go back and undo the damage.

He’d give nearly anything to see her again. His heart had been beating erratically ever since his stepmom, Amanda, had called to tell him his father had died. She’d rambled on and on, including the occasional fake sob, but all Cole had thought about was how small the town was and how likely it would be to run into April. He