Wed to a SEAL (Hot SEALs) (Volume 8) by Cat Johnson

own that took them far and wide on a moment’s notice too.  
    By the time Rocky had pulled the truck into Rick’s neighborhood, he was ill about the whole thing.
    He’d take on any mission anywhere fearlessly but this situation—having his hands tied and being unable to help Isabel when she needed it—knocked the wind right out of him and had him feeling completely helpless.
    At the sight of the house, Rick’s words from the day before flew into Rocky’s brain.
    Marry her.
    It was a crazy idea . . . and the more he thought about it, the better he liked it.
    Rick might have been joking at the time, but what he suggested was actually a damn good plan. Possibly the only plan at the moment.
    Heart beating faster as the idea flew through his mind Rocky parked and cut the engine. Shaking, he got out and ran around the truck to open Isabel’s door.
    Independent woman that she was, she already had the door open. He waited for her to step down and slammed the door behind her.
    At the front door of the house, Thom answered their knock. “Hey, come on in. Boy, are we happy to see you.”
    Uh, oh .
    “Why?” Rocky asked.
    “Nothing bad, but I think Lola’s about to start teething. She’s, uh, cranky.”
    Isabel was in the house and heading toward the sound of Lola’s wails before Rocky made it through the front door.
    “Everything else okay?” he asked.
    “Yeah. No sign of anyone. I’ve done a few sweeps of the neighborhood. Jon got back about half an hour ago so he’s been keeping an eye out too.”
    Rocky glanced around the house. “Where’s Rick?”
    “He conveniently had some official event with Sierra tonight so he abandoned us about an hour ago.”
    Rocky glanced into the kitchen to see Chris, Darci, Ali and Jon all huddled around the high chair where an unhappy Lola was being lifted by Isabel.
    He laughed. “Dude, you still had five adults to take care of one baby. Rick didn’t exactly abandon you.”
    “You listen to that crying for a few hours and get back to me.” Thom glanced at the kitchen and leaned in. “Don’t tell your girl but we even resorted to rubbing scotch on Lola’s gums.”
    “Jesus. You can go to jail for doing shit like that.”
    Thom scowled. “It was a few drops on my finger. That’s all. We didn’t give her a bottle full to drink. And my mother did the same to me when I was teething. Yours probably did too, so get off your high horse and babysit yourself next time.”
    “The next time might not be for a while. You got the text about the meeting, right?”
    “Yeah. You thinking we’re getting sent out?” Thom asked, voice still low.
    They were the only two in the house still on active duty.
    Chris and Jon might be former SEALs but officially they were civilians now, as were the three women. There was a good chance they’d guess, but they couldn’t be privy to the details of the team’s movements or missions.
    “I’m almost positive. I called Grant and asked about the chances of getting some time off to deal with this shit and the answer was a firm no.”
    “I think Brody agrees with you. He texted me saying he couldn’t come over because he wanted to get on Skype with his girl in Alabama in case we end up leaving tomorrow.” Thom sighed. “Shit. There goes my plan to drive home next weekend.”
    As much as it sucked that Thom couldn’t go home to Massachusetts or Connecticut or wherever to visit his parents and his girlfriend for the weekend, Rocky had more pressing issues.  
    He decided to get Thom’s take on the situation since he was the only one there who’d ever been married or had kids.
    While everyone else was occupied in the kitchen, Rocky tipped his head toward the back door. “Come outside with me for a second.”
    Thom didn’t question the request. He just nodded and said, “Okay.”
    After they’d walked across the room and out the sliding door to the deck, Rocky glanced sideways at Thom. “Rick said something yesterday.”
    Thom let out a