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SIGHING IN CONTENTMENT, Sarah stretched out on the bed in the luxurious hotel suite. Morgan and another girlfriend were in the attached living room, ordering room service. Sarah heard them shrieking with laughter and smiled.
“How many bottles of champagne do you want me to order?” Morgan called out.
“Two!” Sarah shouted just as her friend Bree called out three.
Shaking her head, Sarah rose and walked into the living room. Morgan finished placing the order and hung up the hotel room phone. “It’ll be up here in thirty minutes!”
“Awesome, I’m starving. Ryan made me breakfast in bed, but I skipped lunch. God, will you look at that view?” Sarah said, glancing out the open balcony doors to the waves crashing on the shore.
“And tomorrow you’ll be down there getting hitched,” Bree said.
“I know, I can’t believe it. The weather should be amazing, the florist confirmed the flowers—everything is going to be perfect!”
Morgan flopped down onto the sofa, brushing back her hair. “And then you and Commander Hottie can ride off into the sunset together. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that.”
“Speaking of Ryan, what’s he doing tonight?” Bree asked.
Sarah laughed. “Grabbing a drink with a few officers from base I think. But his relatives are coming into town, so he’ll be meeting up with them later. My parents flew up from Florida, and Patrick said he’d get them from the airport and checked in to their hotel.”
She grabbed her phone as it buzzed and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Morgan asked.
“It’s that guy Juan who’s friends with the hairdresser. He said she might stay here as well, so I can go up to her room tomorrow to get my hair done.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yeah, kind of strange. The point was to do all our hair at once.” Sarah shrugged. “Maybe she just has a ton of supplies or something? I’ll touch base with her in the morning.”
“And I booked our spa appointments—don’t worry, not too early,” Bree said. “We’ve got massages at ten a.m.”
“Sounds perfect!” Sarah said. “The hair and makeup appointments aren’t until the afternoon, so we’ll be relaxed and ready.”
“And that’s room service!” Morgan said as there was a knock on the door. She hurried to answer the door and watched as a waiter rolled in a cart of food.
“Ummm, that smells amazing,” Sarah said. “Let’s eat on the balcony.”
Ten minutes later the women were all relaxed on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The sun was just starting to set in the sky, the golden rays beaming off the water. “I can’t believe that in twenty-four hours I’ll be down there marrying Ryan,” Sarah said dreamily.
Morgan lifted her champagne flute. “Believe it, girl. To you and Ryan!”
The women clinked glasses and sipped their champagne. Sarah’s phone buzzed with a text, and she glanced down to see Ryan’s name.
Miss you, baby.
She smiled contentedly, planning to text him back after they finished eating. He was no doubt meeting his buddies for drinks soon, and she’d have time later on as she and her friends spent the evening relaxing.
She took another sip of her bubbly, feeling on top of the world.
“Your manicure looks good,” Bree commented.
“Thanks! I splurged and got a mani/pedi the other day.” She giggled. “I got a Brazilian, too. Ryan’s going to be shocked on our wedding night.”
“Ha,” Morgan said. “He’ll love it. Men are all about that sort of thing.”
“Amen,” Bree agreed.
“I packed my sexiest lingerie, too. Anyway, thanks so much for helping me plan my wedding last-minute like this. I love you both so much. Let’s enjoy dinner, girls,” Sarah said. “To new beginnings!”
“To new beginnings!” the women repeated, and they spent the next hour laughing and enjoying life.
***
RYAN GOT HOME FROM drinks with the other officers later that night and walked into his empty home, double checking the locks. He flipped on the lights, and his eyes fell on his suitcase in the hallway.
Damn.
In less than twenty-four hours, Sarah would be his wife.
She was already checked into the hotel with her girlfriends, and tomorrow they’d be spending the night together in the luxurious hotel suite, their first night as a married couple. He’d already arranged for chocolates and champagne to be sent up the next evening and for rose petals to adorn the bed.
Although he didn’t really consider himself a romantic man, he wanted to surprise Sarah on their wedding night. And he couldn’t wait to see her face when he carried her into the bedroom.
Ryan walked into the kitchen, flipping on the light switch. It was too damn quiet without Sarah around, but he knew she was safe at the hotel, having fun with her bridesmaids. He’d check the home surveillance before going to bed and make sure the house was secure. After he left for the wedding tomorrow, he and Sarah wouldn’t be back for over a week.
His phone buzzed with an incoming call, and he saw Patrick’s name flash on the screen.
“Ice, is everything alright?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Patrick confirmed. “Sarah’s and my parents flew in, and I wanted to let you know they’re at their hotel. We picked them up at the airport and dropped them off. I texted Sarah but didn’t hear back.”
Ryan chuckled. “Yeah, she’s busy with her girlfriends at the hotel tonight.”
“Roger that,” Patrick said as he chuffed out a laugh. “I assume you’ll talk to her at some point.”
“Presumably,” Ryan commented dryly. He walked down the hallway and sat down at his desk, pulling up the surveillance footage on his computer screen. “I don’t know what she and her friends have planned exactly, but I’ll send her a text. I’m going to look over my security footage and call it a night.”
“Understood. There’s been nothing out of the ordinary here.”
“Here either. And we’ve been getting updates on base,” Ryan said. “All should go smoothly tomorrow. Sarah and I will be out of the country on our honeymoon, but if anything urgent comes up, I’d like to be updated.”
“We’ll keep you informed,” Patrick assured him.
“I’ll see you at seventeen hundred then.”
“We’ll see you then. Goodnight.”
Ryan set his cell phone down and quickly reviewed the surveillance footage, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Both teams had confirmed they were taking extra precautions with their families but hadn’t noticed anything unusual either. The leaked names of the Alpha team were looking to be a minimal worry at the moment.
There’d been no sightings of the men who’d escaped jail, and it looked like Ryan and his SEAL teams were not in any immediate danger. He’d marry Sarah tomorrow and enjoy his honeymoon with her. Officially move her into his place when they got back and hopefully start a family together.
Nothing sounded better than that.
