Read SEAL Protected for Free Online

tell me to not to touch you.”
     
    I shrugged. “I don’t regret that, I don’t like people touching me. And besides, I had had a long night.” I didn’t have to make excuses. Tom was nice, but he didn’t need to know my life story inside of a month of us meeting. It simply wasn’t how I worked.
     
    “All right, I can understand that.” He rolled his shoulders and lifted his chin.
     
    “You really are military,” I murmured.
     
    “How do you know that?” asked Tom. “I know your father told you I was a SEAL, but you’ve pointed out a dozen details about my military background since we met on your own. As far as I know, you aren’t military, so how do you know them?”
     
    “My friend, Taryn, the flirty one, she’s ex-military. I mentioned her before. She had you clocked as navy before she said a word to you. I distinctly remember you thinking she was impressive.” Tom nodded. “Anyway, she picks it out and I have picked up some of her skills over the years.”
     
    “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Tom. “Why is she ex-military?”
     
    “I don’t know the whole story myself, she never told me.” I shrugged. “But Taryn went overseas, as a foot soldier. The things she saw… they couldn’t have been good.” With a sigh, I shook head. “But she manages, and I know she and Cindy are closer. Closer than we are, at any rate.” Tom nodded, pressing his lips together.
     
    “I’ve seen some things too, that I wish I hadn’t seen. It’s the price of living the way we do,” he said. He fell silent after that, his shoulders hunched and his gaze flicking back to water. The sunrise had finished now, but a faint pink remained on the horizon. I shuffled awkwardly, rubbing at my arm and wondering what to do next.
     
    “Michelle?”
     
    “Yeah?” I looked back at Tom. In my running shoes, I realized just how much shorter I was than him.
     
    “Thank you, for showing me this.”
     
    I smiled, my eyes crinkling. “Everyone deserves to see the sunrise over the ocean. It’s one of the best and most relaxing things in the world.” He nodded. “You’re welcome.” Then I reached out, half-heartedly slugged him in the shoulder, and jogged backward away. “Race you back!” I called. With that, I spun on my heels and bolted for the street.
     
    The run back was a bit more competitive than the one there. Tom jogged up to me halfway up the first street and we pushed forward together. Our feet synced up and by the second corner we were pushing to be ahead of one another. Feet pounding with our hearts, faces flushed with exertion and a will to win, and our mouths pulled up into smiles that sometimes made it difficult to run and breathe at the same time.
     
    Tom kept pace for most of the run, but at the end his feet started to falter. As much as he had stamina, he obviously wasn’t used to running at this kind of speed, and I couldn’t help but grin as I shot forward in a final sprint for my apartment building.
     
    I skidded to a stop in front of my building and turned to grin at Tom, who was jogging across the parking lot. He was shaking his head. I breathed hard and bent double, pulling in long, even breaths just like down at the waterfront. This time, Tom did the same thing and we both looked up to smile at each other mid-pant.
     
    Above me, a low rumble sounded off in the sky, and as I looked up, it began to rain. There were barely any clouds in the sky and the sun still shone brightly as the flash of cold, refreshing rain tumbled from the sky. I laughed and threw back my head, letting it soak me completely. My sweat mixed with the rain and the light wind chilled me, reminding me that it was already November. I caught Tom’s hand and tugged him into the lobby of my apartment building. He blinked a few times when we stopped and I snickered at the rain dripping off his nose.
     
    “What?” he asked me, frowning curiously. I shook my head and fought back a