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“WOW, THIS MARGARITA is to die for, am I right?” Chloe exclaimed excitedly as they sat around a table at Salty Sunset later in the week. Mark and some of his teammates were hanging out in the bar area, observing, while the women relaxed at a table, having some girl time. Chloe had flown in from Bethesda the day before, and Everly had been thrilled to see her best friend again.
Olivia raised her margarita glass, clinking it with Chloe’s. “They’re fab. I knew I liked you.”
Everly laughed as she exchanged a knowing glance with Addison. The two women had become friends when she’d been staying at Ace’s house. She supposed it made sense that their friends were fast becoming buddies as well. Chole had just gotten to town but had already made quite an impression. Her exuberant personality just drew people in, and she was the type of person that could talk to and befriend anyone.
“I love your hair,” Addison said, glancing over at Chloe’s violet and black waves. “I used to color my hair fun shades all the time but finally stopped.”
“Girl, you should do it again. With your coloring? You can pull off so many different shades.”
“I kind of want to go crazy and add some green streaks to my hair,” Olivia confessed. “Maybe underlights, so it just peeks through.”
They launched into a discussion of bold hair colors, while Everly, Cassie, and Rachel listened in. “Apparently us blondes are the ones who don’t want to color their hair wild, crazy shades,” Rachel said with a laugh.
Everly shrugged. “I get highlights, but yeah. I definitely won’t be going with a bright color.”
“I don’t know,” Cassie said quietly. “Some men seem to just think blondes are bimbos. Maybe I’d do better with a dark hair color to tone it down a bit.”
“Are you okay?” Everly asked gently, sensing the other woman’s sadness. She didn’t know Cassie well at all, but Addison had confided that she used to be bubbly and outgoing, dated a lot, and was completely different than the reticent person she’d become.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Everly pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to pry given that she barely knew the other woman. Something clearly was bothering her though.
“Yo, Slinger!” Mark called out from the bar, lifting his beer in hello as Rob came into Salty Sunset and headed toward the table of women. He nodded at Mark but stopped by the table to say hi first.
“Hi Rob,” Addison said, casting a quick glance over at Cassie. “How are you?”
“Good, thanks. Ladies. I thought I’d say hello before joining the guys at the bar. It looks like the real fun is over here,” he said, looking at Olivia and Chloe as they giggled together.
“We’re just talking about the crazy shades we could color our hair,” Chloe explained.
“What would Havoc think of hot pink?” Olivia mused.
“This is my friend Chloe,” Everly said. “She’s a hairstylist and is visiting me from Bethesda.”
Rob introduced himself, briefly shaking her hand. He asked a couple of polite questions but after a moment, turned his attention to Cassie. “Hey. How are you?” he asked in a low voice. Everly strained to hear her response, knowing that she was being nosy. She was curious about why Cassie looked so sad though.
A loud group of military guys walked into Salty Sunset just then, causing Cassie to jump in surprise. She looked frightened for a moment but then relaxed as she scanned over their faces. Rob had noticed her reaction, too. “Hey, Cass, are you okay?” he asked.
She paled slightly. “Yeah. Sure. I’m probably going to head out though. It’s too crowded in here.”
Addison and Olivia turned to look at her as well. “Are you okay, hun?” Olivia asked. “Tell us what’s going on. You’ve seemed down all night. I’m sorry for dragging you out with us.”
“I just want to go home,” she said, pushing back her chair. Rob moved closer to her, and Everly noticed that she didn’t shift away from him.
“All right, well, I can drop you off and then head back here,” Olivia said. “Save my seat.”
“I’ll take her.” Rob’s deep voice brokered no argument, but Olivia still waited for Cassie’s answer.
“You just got here,” Cassie said softly.
“I don’t mind. I’ll take you home if you want.”
“Okay. Thanks. Sorry guys,” she murmured before turning away and hurrying toward the front of the restaurant. Rob followed, leaving the others staring after them in confusion.
“She looked scared,” Addison said quietly. “As soon as those men came in, she panicked.”
“Do you know them?” Olivia asked.
“No. Maybe I’ll ask Ace if he knows who they are.” Addison rose from her seat and headed toward the bar area where the men were hanging out drinking beers, leaving the other four women talking.
“She seemed afraid of them,” Chloe said. “I’ve had my fair share of bad dates and wouldn’t mind wringing the bastards’ necks, but she actually looked frightened.”
“I hope she’s okay,” Rachel said, looking concerned. “Rob will get her home safely, but wow. I wasn’t expecting that reaction to a group of military men.”
“Yeah,” Olivia agreed. “She sees our guys and is fine. Not that any of them are mine,” she hastily added.
Everly’s lips quirked. Mark had told her about Olivia and Havoc and the way they seemed to always dance around one another. She wondered if those two would ever get together. She took a sip of her drink, eyeing Chloe. “So what happened with that guy you were seeing anyway? I thought things were good. You wanted me to meet him and then what? He turned into a jerk?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “We went out on date three, to that fancy place in DC. He had to postpone because he was out of town again, but eventually he took me out. It was good, and we laughed, talked, and drank. We went back to my place and had sex. It was decent I guess.”
Olivia snorted.
“A man needs to know what he’s doing, am I right?” Chloe said.
“Girl, amen,” Olivia said, clinking her margarita glass against Chloe’s. “So, he was bad in bed, and that was the dealbreaker?”
“I barely heard from him after that.”
“Ouch,” Everly murmured.
“Yeah, he was suddenly busy, not calling me back. He didn’t ask me out on any more dates. He did ask about you though, which was odd.”
Everly paused mid-sip, looking over at her friend. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I told you he does social media. He was helping me with my stuff, trying to grow my followers and client list. But he was really fascinated by how successful you were.” Chloe shrugged.
“Did you guys ever talk about me?” Everly asked, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. Chloe had started talking to this guy online a few weeks before Everly had come to San Diego. That was also when she’d started getting the lewd text messages. It had to be a coincidence though.
“Yeah, sure. I showed him your feed. We compared it to mine and a bunch of other bloggers. He wanted to work with you. Did he ever call? I gave him your cell number to set up a consultation.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yeah. I figured you wouldn’t mind. He said he’d do a free consult. Who wouldn’t want to grow their social media followers? You’re doing amazingly well, fantastic in fact, but he’s the real deal, you know? He could take you to the next level.”
Everly began to feel nauseous. “So did he say he tried to contact me?”
“No, oddly enough he didn’t mention it. And he traveled a lot. It was hard enough just lining up our schedules for our third date.”
“And you slept with him?”
“Yeah, it was okay. Nothing to write home about.”
Everly lifted a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling dizzy. They’d been wondering for weeks who the creep stalking her had been, and her best friend had inadvertently given some asshole her phone number? This was crazy. “So, uh, what did he say about my feed when you first talked?”
“He thought you were gorgeous, of course. He wanted to see more skin though—typical man. He travels for business a lot, like I said, so I only went out with him a few times. He might’ve even been in California at some point.”
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked as Everly grew lightheaded. Her pulse began to pound, her heartbeat quickening. None of this was making sense.
“Hey, Ev, are you all right?” Mark asked, noticing her from over at the bar. He stood and was crossing toward her when Chloe suddenly began cursing.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. He told me he was coming out to the West Coast again, but to be here in San Diego at the same bar as me? With that other woman on his arm? What a prick. I should go tell him off right now. How’d he even know I was here?”
“Who?” Everly asked weakly, looking around.
Mark appeared at her side, the other men walking over as well. Ace had his arm around Addison, and Havoc stopped by Olivia.
“Joe—if that’s even his real name. He said he doesn’t have much time to date. We barely saw each other three times back home, and I slept with that asshole before he blew me off. Look, he’s right over there with that redhead. That beefy looking guy in the baseball cap.”
“What’d he do?” Mark demanded, catching only the end of the conversation.
“Slept with me then never called again. I gave him Everly’s cell number weeks ago. He was supposed to help us with our social media channels. He probably made that shit up, too.”
“Let’s grab a beer,” a raspy voice said as the man turned with a pretty girl on his arm to head toward the bar.
Shock coursed through Everly.
“What the fuck?” Mark muttered. “That’s the security guy from the photoshoot.”
“What? No, that’s Joe. He does social media marketing,” Chloe said, her voice trailing off as she took in Mark’s angry countenance.
The security guy looked over, doing a double-take as he spotted both Chloe and Everly sitting at the table. His gaze landed on Mark and the other SEALs. Without another word, he shoved the redheaded woman aside, turned, and bolted.
“Stay with the women,” Mark growled at Havoc before he and Ace took off after the security guy. Mark leapt over an empty chair, charging toward the man running away.
“Joey, where are you going?” the redheaded woman screeched. “What about buying me a drink?”
Everly watched in shock as Mark tackled the guy to the ground, Ace pulling out his cell phone to call the police. “Who the hell was that?” Havoc asked the women.
“That’s Everly’s stalker,” Olivia surmised. “My dad was a cop, and I just put two and two together. He got Everly’s number from Chloe, stalked and harassed her, couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, blew off Chloe, and then somehow got a job as a security guard at the photoshoot.”
“What the hell is he doing here?” Havoc asked.
Addison crossed her arms, watching as Ace and Mark manhandled the guy into a chair until the police arrived. “He was probably still looking for Everly,” she said with a frown. “He could’ve figured out that the guys hang out here sometimes. He knew where Tyler lived and probably followed him at some point, too.”
“Damn, he’s persistent,” Havoc said. “Not to mention completely fucked up.”
Everly shuddered, listening as the man began shouting in rage. “I’ll go over there and help Ace,” Havoc said. “Mayhem can come hang here with you.”
She nodded and mouthed thanks, watching as the SEAL crossed the crowded restaurant. Mark was back at her side in an instant. “Are you okay?” he asked, ducking down to look into her eyes.
“Yeah, I will be.”
“I’m so sorry,” Chloe said. “I thought I was helping you out—I never dreamed—”
“It’s not your fault,” Everly assured her. “He manipulated you. You had no idea what a prick he was. The texts he sent me were disgusting though, Chloe. I’m just glad he didn’t hurt you.”
Rachel tried to comfort Chloe as Mark gently brushed back some of Everly’s hair. “You know what this means, right? It’s over now. That asshole won’t be able to harass you anymore. Ever. Ace has enough on him to hand over to the police. And trust me, I already made it clear to him just now that he’s never to contact you again. He might be an idiot, but I doubt he’s dumb enough to cross a team of Navy SEALs.”
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Mark. “Hey,” he said gently, stroking her hair. “It’s over. You’re safe now.”
She smiled and nodded, throwing her arms around Mark and holding on tight. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He hugged her back, his lips at her ear. “You don’t have to thank me. I love you, Everly. You know I’d do anything for you. Anything. This might be over, but I want you to stay here with me in San Diego. You’ve already stolen my heart. I want you here in my life permanently.”
“I want that, too, Mark. I love you so much it scares me, but I know you’ll keep me safe.”
“Always,” he promised. “I’ll always protect you.”
