Bodyguard SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 8) by Paige Tyler (best classic literature txt) 📗

to blow a gasket. As for his Teammates, they seemed to think this was the best thing ever.

“Does Mom know you’re fishing for hook-ups on a dating app?” Noah whispered urgently, as if the rest of the room couldn’t hear him. “She’s going to lose her mind when she finds out.”

Laurissa laughed. “Who do you think helped me set up my profile?”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Noah begged, and Peyton thought for a minute he might pass out.

His sister made a face. “Of course, I’m joking. I don’t even think Mom knows what Tinder is.”

Peyton hid her smile in her glass as she took a sip of wine. While Noah appeared to be relieved at that, he still didn’t seem to like the idea of Laurissa and Lane together. Before he could say anything else, two servers came in and announced they were ready to start taking orders for dinner. Laurissa took that as the signal to go find a seat at one of the tables—with Lane. Noah was about to follow, but Peyton caught his hand, leading him to a different one.

He glared at Lane, who blatantly ignored him. “I don’t think I want my sister seeing someone on my Team.”

“And I don’t think Laurissa cares what you think,” Peyton pointed out as they sat down. “So, maybe let your sister handle her own dating life while we focus on dinner?”

She expected some resistance to that suggestion, but after a moment, Noah sighed and nodded, giving her his full attention and asking if she’d ever eaten at the restaurant before.

The next two hours turned into the best date Peyton had been on in a long time. She spent some of the time chatting with Kyla and Wes, who sat near them, but mostly she and Noah focused on each other as if they were the only ones in the room.

She wasn’t sure what they even talked about. Just…stuff. TV shows and movies they’d seen, their favorite family pets growing up, their love of scuba diving and dislike for broccoli. She even confessed she preferred swimming in the ocean to lying on the beach.

“There are simply so many places sand was never meant to be,” she told him with a laugh.

After the promotion party officially ended, Sam and Nash dragged everyone to the bar in the main restaurant for another round of free drinks. Their huge group crowded into the small area, the guys immediately getting the bartender’s attention.

Peyton gave Laurissa a grin. “So, you and Lane, huh?”

Laurissa laughed, glancing at the cute SEAL standing over by the bar. “I’d been planning to try and set up a date with Lane even before meeting him tonight. But now that we have, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d be a good fit. He’s even more handsome in person than in his picture—and I thought he was hot then. He’s so easy to talk to. And it’s definitely a bonus that Noah doesn’t like the idea of me dating Lane. I live to make him uncomfortable.”

“That’s so wrong,” Peyton said, shaking her head but laughing all the same. “He’s your brother. You should be nicer to him.”

Laurissa lifted a brow. “Defending my brother now, huh? And before you try and deny it, don’t think I didn’t notice how into each other the two of you were at dinner. When did Noah go from being your bodyguard to something more?”

Peyton opened her mouth to say there was nothing going on, but then closed it again. Laurissa was her best friend in the world. She couldn’t lie to her.

“We kissed last night,” she admitted softly. “And it was really good. Better than good. The most amazing kiss ever. I was ready to go so much further, but Noah wanted to slow down because he thought there could be something special happening between us. So, we’re going to take our time and see where things take us. I guess tonight was technically our first date. Is that okay? Me dating your brother, I mean. That won’t make it weird for you, will it?”

“Why would it make it weird?” Laurissa smiled. “My two favorite people in the world are getting together. What could be better than that? You’ve always been like a sister to me, so being my sister-in-law would be awesome.”

Peyton laughed. “While it’s a relief you feel that way, I think it’s safe to say you can put the brakes on when it comes to that sister-in-law stuff. Like I said, this was technically only our first date.”

“Who are you kidding?” Laurissa let out a snort. “You guys could have been alone in that room back there for all the attention you paid anyone else. It’s obvious you two are perfect for each other.”

Peyton was about to thank her friend for the vote of confidence, but the serious expression that suddenly crossed Laurissa’s face stopped her.

“What is it?” she asked.

Laurissa hesitated, like she was wondering if she should say anything, then sighed. “I don’t want this to sound like I’m trying to say you shouldn’t be with Noah, but have you thought about what dating a SEAL is going to be like? I mean, it’s not like I keep track of what he’s doing on a day-to-day basis, but I know he’s gone a lot. Even worse, he can’t tell us anything about where he’s going or what he’s doing. Most of the time we don’t even know he left town until he misses a dinner at Mom’s house or a movie with me.”

Peyton considered that. She’d been so focused on the idea of spending time with a man as perfect as Noah that the reality of his job had almost been an afterthought.

“I don’t know a lot about what SEALs do,” she admitted. “All I know is what I’ve read in a handful of military romances and what I see on the news. I’d like to think he’s well trained, good at his job, and that his Teammates watch out for