Warrior (Navy SEALs Romance Book 5) Read Free

classroom.
    “Have they still not assigned you an office?” he asked, practically sneering at Emily’s inferior working conditions.
    “Um, no sir. There was talk of clearing out one of the storage rooms on the twelfth floor, but they haven't gotten around to it yet.” Emily folded her hands and waited patiently. Dr. Kirkland frowned at her.
    “And this is why you haven't moved up in the department, Stanton. You have to show some initiative, some motivation to move up. If you haven't demanded an office by now, that can be taken as a sign that you must not be planning on remaining with us.”
    “I’ll certainly take that into consideration, thank you for the advice,” she answered dutifully. She only hoped she sounded genuine. Emily had heard plenty of warnings in school about making sure you got on the department head’s good side, or life could be pretty unpleasant and your career very short.
    “See that you do. This is a prestigious program with a world-renowned reputation to uphold. There's no room for those who don't pull their weight.” He nodded curtly and walked down the hall, leaving Emily to fume.
    Not pulling her weight? No initiative? What did that jerk think she was doing in this smelly old classroom at nine o’clock at night?
    Emily finally slammed her textbook shut and pushed back from her desk. The rest of the papers would wait until morning. She was going home.

Chapter 3
    “ H ey girl , did ya miss me?” Mike asked, dropping his backpack on the floor right inside the front door. His black lab, Misha, wagged her tail in greeting before putting her front paws on his broad chest and bumping him with her muzzle. He scratched behind her ears for a few moments before walking to the kitchen, Misha following on his heels.
    He switched on the small TV that sat on the countertop, catching up on the news while he poured Misha’s food in her bowl and changed out her water. The day’s headlines ran in the background while he whipped up some dinner of leftover pasta and an extra piece of chicken he'd grilled over the weekend.
    “You ready to go for a walk, girl?” Mike asked aloud after eating at the sink. The dog ambled over to the back door and waited for Mike to grab her leash and a flashlight. He clipped the end to her collar and unlocked the door, letting the lab bound off ahead of him down the walkway as far as her retractable leash would let her.
    “Not so fast, girl. We're in no hurry,” he reminded Misha, pulling back on her leash slightly. She loped back towards him then paused at every fence post to smell the scent of any other dogs who’d passed by.
    “This isn’t exactly what I meant, either,” he said with a tired sigh. The team had had an afternoon run that had turned into an evening rescue, just some tourists who’d taken a rented catamaran out to sea and been unable to make their way back. It had been a cakewalk once they located the family, and Mike really only had to hover overhead while Tanner took the dive in and secured a line on the boat. Knox had met them in their oversized speedboat and towed the vessel back to safety, the grateful family still onboard and along for the ride.
    But as with most rescues, it was the feeling of coming down off the extreme adrenaline overload that left him so worn out.
    Misha finally grew tired of updating herself with the neighborhood dogs’ scents, and trotted along the boardwalk happily while Mike used the time to stretch out his tired legs. They turned their usual corner that would eventually wind them back home, but Misha stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, staring straight ahead at something in the darkness.
    “What is it, girl? You see something?” he asked as he strained to look in the same direction, his human eyes pitiful compared to what she could see. Eventually, he thought he could make out the silhouette of a car parked up ahead, its lights off and no sound coming from the vehicle.
    Mike looked over his shoulder once to