SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(2)
Though Lori supposed he’d met Debbie on other occasions before she was partnered with him, like during monthly emergency rescue training.
There was just something about the two of them that seemed overly comfortable between new partners. Though Allan was careful not to be too friendly around Debbie when he was with Paul and Lori, she saw the way he cast Debbie looks. Intrigued looks. Not just on-the-job-training looks.
Paul was trying to calm her fears, but he was worried about Allan too. How could he not be?
Debbie was a lovely brunette and vivacious, something that totally appealed to Allan. She was definitely an alpha, ready for adventure. She loved the police work, loved saving people and animals, just like Allan. Worst of all, she was single.
Even if he hadn’t been totally attracted to her at first, it would have been hard not to be when Debbie clearly admired him. She asked about his missions—that he could talk about—and wanted to know about his personal and family life. Any man would be flattered with the way she seemed to genuinely care about him, and Lori sensed that Debbie wasn’t just intrigued with him because he was a hot SEAL.
As far as Lori was concerned, Debbie should be ultraprofessional and just get the job done.
“You need to talk to him,” Lori told Paul.
“He’s a grown man and knows what he’s doing.”
“He’s human, well, and wolf, and both are going to get him into trouble.”
“I’ll talk to him, but he’s going to wonder what all the fuss is about.”
Lori was certain Allan would know just why they were concerned.
*
Allan was just as concerned about working with a human woman as Paul and Lori were, but he knew he could handle this. Going on dives with Debbie sure was a hell of a lot different than going with Paul.
He’d become so used to working with Paul over the years that they did everything in perfect sync—the hand signals, the body movements, the awareness of their partner. Some signals were universal, but he and Paul, along with the other members of their SEAL wolf team, had developed some over the years that were distinctive to them.
Allan knew Paul and Lori were warily observing them. He had to admit watching Debbie swim was a hell of a lot more attention-grabbing than watching Paul. And when she smiled at him, she made him feel as though he was dating her and not just working a job. He had to remind himself to act professional and get the training done. On an assignment, they had to concentrate on the mission so they could get the results they needed—evidence from a crime scene, people or animals to safety—while ensuring they came out unscathed.
If he’d been assigned to a human male dive partner, no problem. But working with a single female, one who fascinated him like she did, was different. He could see it would take a lot of diligence on his part to keep his mind on business and not on Debbie. If he could just become interested in one of the new single females in the pack, that would solve all his problems.
But when he swam next to Debbie in the clear blue lake, she fired his testosterone sky-high. That didn’t happen when he was around the single women in his pack. He hoped he could deal with this without getting them both into dangerous waters.
Chapter 2
Four months later
The tires of Allan’s hatchback slid on a patch of ice on the bridge just as he spied tires sticking up out of a deluge of water in a culvert. A rush of adrenaline poured through his veins, readying him for the frigid conditions and a rescue mission. In the cold of winter in northern Montana, he and his dive partner were the first to arrive on the scene of the accident and had to act quickly.
Debbie was requesting emergency backup and an ambulance as she held on to the dashboard, looking just as alarmed when the tires lost traction on the ice. He worried that they’d end up down the embankment, crashing into the upside-down SUV.
Frantically, a woman jerked at the back door of the SUV without success.
As soon as Allan saw who it was, his heart took a dive. It was Franny White, wife of the new chef at their wolf-run Italian restaurant, Fame del Lupo. She didn’t go anywhere without her daughter. But the baby wasn’t in her arms and Franny was trying so hard to get into the backseat, he knew little Stacy had to be buckled into her car seat and submerged underwater.
“Cancel the call for the ambulance!” he said to Debbie, knowing that this was a risk he had to take. “Call this number!” He gave her the number for the medical clinic that catered to his kind, though Debbie would be clueless. “I know the woman—her baby is in the car. Just…call it.” He didn’t have time to make up a cover story.
Debbie hesitated, and he knew she had to be thinking his request was a dangerous mistake. That precious time could be wasted. But lots more was at stake if the human-run hospital’s ambulance picked up Franny and Stacy and they shifted. Debbie quickly called for the other ambulance and canceled the one for the main hospital in Bigfork.
As soon as he could safely brake the car and stop, Allan and Debbie were out of the vehicle, dashing down the steep incline on the crunchy snow and ice. Debbie had grabbed the emergency medical kit on the way out.
Seeing Allan and Debbie, Franny screamed, “My baby’s in there! She’s in a car seat in back.” She was soaking wet, her tearful words were slurred, and she was stumbling around as if she were drunk. She was wearing just a sweater and jeans as she stood in the nearly waist-deep water. Allan was certain she was hypothermic. Confusion and the natural instinct to warm herself could cause her to shift. Between that and needing to rescue the baby, they were in a hell of a fix.