Irresistible SEAL Book 4: A Navy SEAL Romance by Amanda Heartley

Author:Amanda Heartley [Heartley, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: military romance
Publisher: Heartley Publishing
Published: 2016-11-04T22:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Luke

He was young—no older than Spud. I saw the missing arm through his shirtsleeve, the cuff pinned carefully to his shoulder and hiding the rest of his missing limb.

I’d been sleeping through most of the flight. The pain killers were working overtime, but when my eyes finally opened and I sat up, and found him peering back at me. He was clutching the frayed seatbelt that held him in to the no frills bucket seat of the huge cargo plane with one hand.

“Morning,” he said, bashfully, as if he was embarrassed to be caught staring. I felt the same about his empty shirtsleeve and gave him a nod.

“Isn’t it night?” I asked, looking through the black window behind him.

“1 AM,” he said, the nametag on his khaki fatigues reading Bryant. “So, technically…”

I nodded. “Luke,” I said, realizing I was nobody’s superior anymore, and eager to begin practicing the slow descent into civilian life.

“Corporal Bryant,” he said, automatically, after a brief salute. “Billy Bryant,” he added.

“Nice to meet you, Billy,” I said, leaning forward across the aisle to shake his hand. “Any word on where we are?”

“We should touchdown in Bakersfield by 5 AM,” he said, nodding toward the cockpit to my left. “I’m just glad we’re not over water anymore.”

He shivered visibly, rubbing his shoulder as if to get warm. “You think we’re any safer over the Midwest?” I chuckled, realizing how much he looked like Spud. Or, perhaps, maybe all nineteen year olds in uniform looked like Spud.

“Guess not, sir,” he said, before I waved away the formality.

“Luke,” I growled, only half-joking. “There will be plenty of time for that military bullshit once we land. Enjoy the freedom while you can.”

He nodded, about to open his mouth—no doubt with another “yes sir”—before promptly shutting it and nodding twice as hard. “Okay.”

“Where you heading, Billy?” I said, emphasizing his name so he knew I meant business.

He looked down at his freshly polished boots. “On my way to Santa Monica, sir,” he said before our eyes met and he rushed to add, “I mean, Luke.”

I smiled, the seat jostling as the giant plane soared through a small patch of turbulence. “Santa Monica? Sounds nice.”

He scoffed, a flash of annoyance crossed his young, innocent face. “Not likely,” he huffed. “That’s where the nearest Center for Limb Enhancement is located. I hear the VA has a wing there, and a specialist in titanium elbows, so…”

I nodded, my own face flushing with shame and frustration. Why had I ever brought it up in the first place? Of course he wasn’t going home. Damn stupid fool is what I was—

“And you?” he asked, interrupting my self-flagellation. “Heading home?”

I grunted, thinking of how long it had been since I’d returned to the tiny little Missouri town where I’d grown up, hunkered down in my room, waiting for another one of dad’s drunken beat downs. “Not likely, Billy,” I said, almost relieved. “I’ve got some work to do on my leg, so… I’ll be at the VA hospital in Burbank for a while.

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