Bodyguard SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 8), Paige Tyler [best classic books txt] 📗

to his sister about it. Would he lie to her if she asked him for the truth?

Peyton was wondering about whether she wanted to know the answer to that question when another tall, muscular man approached them with a smile on his face, a woman with long, blond hair at his side. Peyton couldn’t miss the way Noah’s shoulders tensed, making her wonder who the guy was.

“Noah, glad you came,” the man said, reaching out to shake hands while doing that shoulder-grippy thing guys did all the time.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Noah said with a laugh, slipping his arm around her. “This is Peyton Matthews. Peyton, this is Chasen Ward my platoon’s Chief Petty Officer and his wife, Hayley.”

Peyton shook hands with the couple, smiling as Hayley hugged Noah, Wes, Kyla, and Sam. She once again got the sense that his Team was more like a family. It was nice.

A few moments later, Noah slipped away to get them drinks from the bar—since Sam and Nash were nice enough to pay for it—leaving her there alone with his friends.

“So, you’re a full-time writer?” Chasen asked. “Is there good money in that?”

That earned him a smack on the arm from his wife, along with an eye roll. “Honey!”

“What?” he said. “It’s a valid question. I like collecting information in case I decide to make a career change when I retire from the SEALs.”

Peyton laughed. “I do okay.” Like most writers, she didn’t like talking about money. “But if you’re serious about that second career thing, you might want to look elsewhere. The world of fiction publishing can be vicious.”

“Oh, well,” Hayley said with a sigh. “Guess you’ll need to look elsewhere for your shot at fortune and fame.”

Everyone was still laughing at that when Noah came back with her glass of white wine for her and a Jack and Coke for himself. It may have been her writer’s imagination, but the drink seemed to fit him.

“Considering that I’ve never seen Noah read a book, how’d the two of you meet?” Chasen asked.

Peyton didn’t say anything. She knew they couldn’t reveal that Noah was her bodyguard, so she had no idea how to explain their meeting without revealing that particular detail, other than to say she knew his sister. She glanced out the corner of her eye, trying to let Noah know this one was completely on him.

“Actually, my sister introduced us,” he said, flashing Peyton a grin and making it impossible to not smile back.

Chasen regarded Noah for a long moment, but didn’t say anything. Did he know Noah was hiding something?

Hayley was asking if Peyton lived in San Diego when she heard a familiar voice. She glanced over to see Laurissa coming toward them.

“You came!” Peyton said with a laugh as her friend ran over to hug her, interrupting the conversation she’d been having with Hayley. “I was worried you wouldn’t be able make it with the short notice and everything.”

Laurissa casually punched her much taller brother in the shoulder. “What, and leave you alone to deal with all this testosterone on your own? No chance!”

After Hayley and Chasen left to talk to some of the other people, the conversation quickly moved away from Noah and his ability to hide a secret, focusing on Sam’s promotion and what he was going to do with all that extra money.

“Our pay doesn’t really go up much,” Sam said. “It’s less than two hundred dollars a month after taxes. But the housing allowance goes up almost three hundred dollars a month, meaning I might actually be able to find a place I can afford off base and finally get out of the barracks.”

Laurissa was asking Sam what kind of place he was looking for when yet another tall, muscular man approached their group. Peyton did a double take. Did the Navy have some kind of cloning thing going on? Because like Noah, every man at the party was a physical specimen of perfection.

“You going to make introductions, dude, or you going to make me do it myself?” the man asked, looking back and forth between Peyton and Noah.

Noah snorted. “Peyton, this is Lane Robbins, a new member of our platoon and one of your more rabid fans.”

Peyton laughed. She knew a super fan when she saw one and she was right, because Lane immediately began asking detailed questions about several obscure easter eggs he’d noticed in the most recent book. He’d even picked up on the scholarship letter the hero had received mid-book without fan fair of any type. They were talking about the book signing she’d be doing the next day and whether Lane would be able to make it when Noah interrupted.

“Sorry to break this up, but before she punches me in the arm again for not introducing her, Lane, this is my sister, Laurissa. And before you ask, no, she’s not available.”

It was Peyton’s turn to let out a snort at the blatant way Noah declared his sister off limits, something which earned him that aforementioned punch in the arm he’d been trying to avoid. After giving Noah a glare, Laurissa smiled at Lane and held out her hand.

“I know you from somewhere, don’t I?” Laurissa asked, gazing up at Lane curiously for a moment before her eyes went wide. “Wait a minute! You’re on my to-do list.”

Noah frowned, clearly not liking the sound of that. “What’s a to-do list and why do you have one?”

Most of the people in the room were looking in their direction now, and all of them seemed just as amused as Peyton by the whole exchange.

“That’s what I call the people I consider serious contenders on Tinder that I haven’t gotten around to messaging yet,” Laurissa said, giving him a sweet smile. “In fact, now that I think about it, Lane is at the top of the list.”

While that clearly pleased Lane if the broad grin on his face was anything to go by, poor Noah, on the other hand, looked like he was about