The Diver: Steamy Small Town Romance (Elite Six Novel Book 5), page 1
The Diver
Elite Six Novel, Book 5
Kelly Moore
Edited by
Kerry Genova
Illustrated by
Dark Water Covers
Title
Copyright © 2023 by Kelly Moore
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. Faith
2. Slater
3. Faith
4. Slater
5. Slater
6. Faith
7. Slater
8. Faith
9. Faith
10. Slater
11. Faith
12. Slater
13. Faith
14. Slater
15. Slater
16. Faith
17. Slater
18. Faith
19. Slater
20. Faith
21. Slater
22. Faith
About the Author
Series by Kelly Moore
1
Faith
“What’s in the box?” Avery strolls into my office, holding a clipboard.
“It’s my brother’s belongings.” I sigh and run my hand over the shipping label. “Military red tape held it up for a year.”
“I’m sorry, Faith. I know it’s been a struggle for you.” She squeezes my shoulder. “Do you want me to leave you alone to open it?”
“It’s going to have to wait.” I lift my wrist, glancing at my watch. “The new recruits should already be in the lobby waiting on us.”
“I could have Mia cover for you if you’d like to take the day off.”
“Nonsense.” I pick up the box and place it on the credenza behind my desk. “I’ve already waited a year. What’s a few more hours? Besides, we’re already covering for Rain’s maternity leave.”
“You should see the picture she sent me this morning.” She smiles as she digs her phone from her pocket and scrolls. “He’s the cutest darn thing.” She angles the phone so I can see it.
“He’s adorable and looks just like Owen. When are you and Nick having another one?”
“He’d have to be home at night for that to happen,” she huffs, strumming her short nails on the edge of my desk. “He’s been gone a lot lately.”
“You two alright?”
“Yeah, I’m just missing him, that’s all.” She holds the clipboard out to look at it. “I don’t have time to complain. Let’s put our personal lives aside and go face the new recruits.” She turns around and heads for the door, and I follow, glancing over my shoulder to look at the box of my brother’s belongings before I turn off the light and shut the door.
“We have eight men and two women this time. Commander Riggs added two additional spots because of the loss of a couple of agents due to retirement. I assured him we’ll be able to handle it, but it would be easier if we were at full staff. I’ve divided Rain’s duties between you and Mia to cover the range.”
“We’ll make it work, don’t stress.”
“That’s what’s so great about working with such skilled women. You’re all so versatile.”
We walk into the front area, where the recruits are already receiving the basic information on the Elite Six schedule from Harper. She’s updated our program by providing the recruits with tablets to manage the time they will spend training with us. It was Commander Riggs’ suggestion in order to keep him in the know on a daily basis. I have to admit, he’s taken over Agent A’s role and made some improvements, one having nothing to do with our job but making Harper the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She’s completely comfortable in her own skin with no trace of her mother’s nagging voice left behind.
The six of us stand in a row facing the recruits for our introductions by Harper. The man directly across from me has me commanding my libido to stand down. Mia nudges me when I don’t hear Harper asking me to give a brief detail on tactical training.
My tongue darts out to lick my dry, parted lips. “The time you spend with me, I’ll be instructing and giving applied exercises for acquiring and implementing knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes necessary to complete the combat-related functions in order to pass this training program. It could one day mean the difference between life and death for an agent.”
Mia takes over her spiel as our field specialist, and my gaze is magnetically drawn back to the soldier. Something about him eases my heart that’s been pounding since I received Fort’s belongings this morning. Nonchalantly, I skim the papers on my clipboard, matching his broody face with his picture. He’s not wearing the smile he is in the photo, and he didn’t have a closely shaven beard when it was taken. He looks more rugged and primal in person. His shades cover his eyes, and I can’t tell where his focus is, but I’d like it to be on me. He’s wearing a snug white tank top with an apparent six-pack beneath it. His right bicep has a prominent vein protruding the length of it, and I find it very sexy. I outwardly gulp when he grips the hem of his shirt and lifts it to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead. He’s got the most impressive abs I’ve ever seen.
Bryn leans toward me, speaking out of the corner of her mouth in a hushed tone. “You okay?”
I clear my throat. “Yes.”
“If I wasn’t a married woman,” she whispers and winks.
“Sloan would spank your ass if he heard you.” I hold in a laugh, and she stands tall, sporting a smirk as if she’s saying, bring it on.
As much as I try to focus on each individual recruit, I can’t help but be drawn to Slater Hayes. He has a familiarity about him, but his name doesn’t ring any bells for me. I can’t tell by his tense facial expression if he’s concentrating on the information being tossed at him or if he’s clenching his jaw because he’s angry about something. I wish he’d take off his dark sunglasses.
When Mia is done, the floor goes to Avery. “Throughout this program, I want each of you to remember that it’s a privilege to have been chosen for the Elite Six program. You all possess certain skills that the SMA requires of its agents, along with your military background. You are the elite.”
“Grab your bags. It’s time for a tour of the facility,” Harper directs them and leads them through the doors.
They fall in line, and Slater is last. Don’t stare at his ass in those unbelievably sexy, worn-out jeans. If he looks this good in plain clothing, my body shudders at the thought of him in a uniform.
Harper shows them where they will be sleeping, and his bicep ripples when he tosses his bag on an upper bunk. When he swivels in my direction, I hear him inhale, and his jaw rocks back and forth. He whips off his glasses and lays them on his pillow, never looking me directly in the eye. He faces Harper with his arms perched over his chest and a single brow raised.
“Are we required to stay here, or can we get our own place nearby?” His voice is as hunky as he is, but his tone is inflected with irritation, which isn’t unusual when the recruits are reluctant to be here, giving up positions that they’ve loved.
“On weekends only, yes. For the first half of training, but during the week, this is where you’ll be,” Avery answers him.
He glances at me with shockingly periwinkle-colored eyes, and I hold my breath. He’s completely riveting. If I’d ever met him before, I wouldn’t so easily have forgotten him. There is nothing unforgettable about this soldier. He’s got my panties in a puddle with just one look in my direction. Damn, get it together, girl, I berate myself.
“I’ll show you the war room, so when we are done with our tour, you’ll know where we’ll be meeting at the scheduled time on your programs.” Harper walks in front of them and takes them to our conference room, aka the war room. She continues with the tour, then sends them to the kitchen area to grab coffee and bagels that have been set out for them.
I notice Slater only fills a mug with black coffee and doesn’t take a bagel. “There are some other foods stocked in the fridge if you’d prefer something else,” I offer.
“I don’t eat breakfast,” he says with a momentary stare at me, the mug pressed to his lips.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” I finally ask after a long pause.
“No,” he quips quickly, then walks over to where the other recruits have gathered and sits.
“He’s not overly friendly,” Mia states, standing next to me.
“I guess being friendly wasn’t in the job description.” I half laugh.
“He’s awful nice to look at, though.” She grins at me.
“I’m not interested. It’s just that he seems somewhat familiar, and I can’t place him.”
“Your words aren’t convincing,” she snorts. “Your body language is saying something entirely different.”
“You’re imagining things.” I wave her off.
“So said Avery, Rain, Bryn, and Harper when they were in denial of their attractions to the men they married.”
“He’s just another recruit. Nothing more.” Then why can’t I take my eyes off him? His presence has made me clearly aware of my heartbeat thudding. I can literally feel it stroking my throat. I feign interest in one of the female soldiers in order to cool down the heat pulsating between my thighs. I’ve never been this physically attracted to a man I don’t know.
When their break is over, I lag behind, following them into the war room, where Avery goes over every detail of their schedules. I peruse Slater’s folder as she speaks. He’s a Navy Seal who specialized in diving. His file indicates he’s able to hold his breath underwater for five minutes, and he’s had more diving missions than any other person in the military. His skills alone set him apart from all the other recruits. The name of his SEAL team is blacked out. This isn’t an uncommon thing. It’s used for the safety of the team members. I was fortunate enough to have Fort’s letters to know where and what team he was stationed to. I close my eyes, trying to recall the one time I did meet my brother’s team when I was given permission to finally see him. The faces are vague in my mind other than my brother’s, who I had not seen since our parents tore us apart in their nasty divorce when I was eight years old. Fort was only eighteen months older than me, and we had no choice in which parent took us. My father insisted on keeping his son, and I was given to my mother. Neither one of us was left in good hands. They were both addicts and neglected us. I don’t know why the courts didn’t take us away from both of them. We’d have been better off and perhaps stayed together. I had no idea where my father and brother disappeared to when they left, and my mother would never talk about them. When I graduated high school, I tried to locate Fort with no success. He came into my life when I was going down the wrong path. I received a letter from him out of the blue, telling me he had joined the Navy and about his life with our father, who had passed six months earlier. We spoke on the phone once a week, and he convinced me to turn my life around and join the military. He saved me from a life of addiction, and I can thank him for who I am today. It wasn’t until I became a SEAL that I was able to see him for the first time in over ten years. At the time, he was assigned to Little Creek - Fort Story, Virginia. As a member of SEAL Team 7, I was to be stationed in Coronado, California. I petitioned my commander to set up a meeting with my brother, giving him our family dynamics, and he approved it. I flew to Virginia and met him. I had faint memories of Fort, and I was surprised by how much we resembled one another. We had the same eyes and smile. Our differences were his red hair, which he got from our mother, and my blond from our father. I adored him, and we never lost touch again.
“Earth to Faith,” Harper whispers in my ear.
“Sorry,” I say, shaking my thoughts free of my head. “What did I miss?”
“They are being dismissed for lunch. Where were you?”
I exhale. “I received my brother’s belongings right before our day started. They are in my office as we speak.”
“No wonder you looked lost.” She runs her hand comfortingly down my forearm. “Why don’t you take the time to go through his things now?”
“I’d rather wait and do it at home with a large glass of wine in my hand.”
“Do you want company?”
“That’s sweet, but no. You go home to that hunk of a man of yours. It’s something I should do in private.”
“Alright, but if you change your mind, I’ll be there for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
I grab a sandwich and some fruit from the catered food for lunch and skate off to my office to review my schedule for the day. Slater Hayes is slotted in my two o’clock timeframe. Studying his files, I see he mastered all the preliminary testing without any hiccups. He’s one of the strongest candidates I’ve ever seen, and I have no doubt he’ll fly through with ease. On a more personal note, there’s no listing on his forms for next of kin. His address prior to enlisting was San Antonio, Texas. From his skills, I want to assume he was a SEAL Team 6 member and was stationed in NAS Oceana, Virginia. Did his path ever cross with Fort’s? According to this, they are the same age and joined the Navy within a few months of one another. I swivel in my chair to stare at the taped box. “I’m letting my mind run amuck. Just because he was a SEAL in the same state doesn’t mean he knew him.”
2
Slater
It’s her. I can’t believe it’s freaking her. Good thing I have my sunglasses on so she can’t see me gawking, surprised by the sight of her. What are the chances I’d ever see Faith Ledger again? One in a billion? Surely she won’t recognize me from our brief meeting. I don’t want nor do I need to be in the same vicinity as her.
I open my tablet to see that she’s one of the Elite Six instructors. Next to her name, it says, “Tactical training instructor.” Well, shit. How the hell am I going to avoid her? Her brother was one of the best men I’ve ever known, and his loss affected me profoundly. He was always precise and professional when it came to being a SEAL, but he shared with me his deeply troubling, nightmarish childhood and the separation from his only sibling. Most people living through the same past as him would’ve fallen into addiction like his parents. Fort Ledger chose to have a different life than his parents’ lousy choices. It encouraged him rather than discouraged him toward a meaningful life. He set goals for himself and obtained them one by one. Faith and Fort were the pawns in their parents’ illness, but they failed to destroy either one of them. I don’t know if, given the same circumstance, I would have come out as strong as either one of them.
Tucking my tablet under my arm, I pull my T-shirt up and wipe the sweat on my brow. It’s not that it’s hot in here; it’s just being in the same room with her has my heart racing, drawing in all sorts of flashbacks. I clench my teeth, keeping them at bay while I peer through my sunglasses at her sweet face. I could get lost in her light brown eyes. And the patch of freckles on her nose is adorable. It was one of the first things I noticed about Faith. Her fit body would feel good beneath mine, but I will never let it happen. Not her.
She’s staring at me. There’s no way she remembers me. That was fifteen years ago, but I’ve never forgotten her. It was before I was sent to NAS. I was on her brother’s SEAL team, and he was one of my best friends. Years later, we ended up on SEAL Team 6, and he was our leader. He’d shared pictures of Faith with me, and I recall thinking what I’d give for a woman like her. Meeting Fort’s sister in person all those years ago, I still remember how I’d felt when I laid eyes on her. She was a breath of fresh air in the hell we had just endured. I shake off my thoughts, trying to pay attention to anything but her.
We follow Harper through a set of double doors for a tour of the place, and she takes us to our barracks. I can feel Faith’s gaze on me as we walk. The room is long and narrow, with bunks stacked along the wall. I choose one and throw my bag on top, claiming it. Panic hits me. I can’t be this close to her.
“Are we required to stay here, or can we get our own place nearby?” The question comes out before I can stop myself, and I get an answer I don’t want to hear. I’ll have to put all my focus on the program and only interact with her when necessary. I shed my sunglasses and look into her eyes to see her reaction. Does she remember me like I so vividly do her?
She visibly holds her breath, but there is no other response.
Good, she doesn’t recognize me. Fort always called me by my last name, and fortunately, Hayes is as common as they come and wouldn’t draw any attention like my first name would.
We finish our tour and are led to the general kitchen area. She watches me fill a mug with coffee and leans against the counter.
“There are some other foods stocked in the fridge if you’d prefer something else,” she offers sweetly.
“I don’t eat breakfast,” I all but bark at her, and she momentarily stares at me with the mug pressed to my lips, taking a sip.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” she finally asks after a long pause.
