Page 2 of SEAL of Valor

“Animals, man. They love us way too much.”

I laugh softly, then yawn. “Three o’clock is really catching up with me.”

“Three o’clock? Why in the world were you up that early?”

Because I couldn’t stop having nightmares over a certain cowboy I never want to see again. “Just couldn’t sleep.”

“Then go and get some now. I can close up.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I have some notes to finish up before I leave.”

“You need a life.”

“Excuse me, I have a life.”

“Speaking of.” Ash grins and turns around in her chair. “When is Mr. Mysterious going to come meet the rest of us?”

I smile at her and roll my eyes. “He’s hardly mysterious. Besides, we’ve only been on a handful of dates.” After a relationship with my current boss turned into an absolute nightmare of a breakup, I went three months without another date.

Until Max brought his puppy in after it ate some chocolate. We’d hit it off pretty quickly, and it’s been really nice ever since.

“A handful of swoony dates,” Ash replies.

“And how do you know that?” I ask. I’m notoriously private about my life. Because I’m terrified that, if I open those particular wounds, I’ll never stop bleeding.

“I can dream, can’t I? Besides, I have to live vicariously through you since my dating life is as dry as the Sahara.”

Laughing, I head toward my office. “It wouldn’t have to be if you’d just let Jeremiah take you out.”

She gets up and follows me, dropping down into the chair on the other side of my desk. “We work together; that could be weird.”

“Unless it works out, and then it could be great,” I point out. Except that constant pit in my stomach serves as a reminder that, even when things feel destined, they don’t always work out.

Oh, boy.

The anniversary is in just a couple of days, and no matter how many years pass, I always get emotional. Not because of him, though. Or, at least, that’s what I’m going to tell myself.

“I’m considering it.” She plucks a small chocolate from the bowl sitting on top of my desk and sticks it into her mouth. “When are you going out again?”

I yawn. “Tonight. He’s taking me to dinner.”

“Oooh! Where?”

“An Italian restaurant downtown. Ciao Bella. Have you heard of it?”

“Um, yes. Do you know how hard it is to get reservations there?”

“Since I didn’t even know the place existed until he texted me this morning, I’m going to say no.”

Ash shakes her head as she stares at me in disgust. “Romance is so wasted on you.”

A short alarm beeps, alerting us that the back door has been opened. Curious, I push to my feet and head out into the hall right as my ex-boyfriend and current boss strolls toward me, a frustrated expression on his face. The guy always looks like he just got done sucking on a lemon.

“I need to talk to you, Reese.”

My stomach drops. Ugh. After I caught him cheating in one of the exam rooms, I’ve managed to avoid him at every turn. I think we’ve spent maybe five minutes together—collectively—since.

“Good luck,” Ash whispers as I move past her and head toward his office.