Warrick Read online

  WARRICK

  SEALs of Honor, Book 17

  Dale Mayer

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Complimentary Download

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  About Tanner

  Author’s Note

  Complimentary Download

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  Brave, badass warriors who serve their country with honor and love their women to the limits of life and death.

  Warrick Canton works with Mason’s Navy SEAL team and he’s going stir-crazy on the sidelines while he heals from an ankle injury. He longs for a relationship like the ones his buddies have, but, after his girlfriend of three years dumps him just when he thinks they’re solid, he struggles to believe it’s possible. He’s invited to a backyard barbecue at Mason’s house, where he meets up with the spitfire he’s met before and knows won’t give an inch. Warrick is intrigued, even though the she-devil won’t stop arguing long enough to get to know her.

  Penny Magnus loves her job as a clerk in the medical insurance offices, but trying to get stubborn men to fill out a few forms properly isn’t her idea of a good time. With a fiery personality, Penny’s open to starting a new romance but absolutely not with a difficult man, even if he is gorgeous. Her best friend got herself in an ugly relationship and had to ask Penny for help in escaping him.

  Now, just when Penny and Warrick are calming down enough to actually connect, her friend’s boyfriend contacts her. He blames Penny for the mess she created when she tore the love of his life from him. He goes on a rampage, targeting Penny—only he’s thwarted by one big, badass warrior standing firmly in his way, protecting her. All he needs is for Warrick to make one tiny mistake…

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  Prologue

  Warrick Canton picked up another box of toys, shook his head, looked down at Joshua and said, “This is a lot of toys for one little boy.”

  Joshua danced in place. “No, it’s not.” He grabbed a small box beside Warrick. “Come on. I’ll show you my new room.”

  Warrick chuckled and followed the little boy. In the ensuing weeks, with all the chaos and recovery behind them, Joshua was a whole new child. He no longer went to a private school and didn’t seem to mind. He attended the local public school and was settling in. It would take him a bit, but he was young and resilient and had a lot of good times ahead of him to wipe out the bad memories.

  His father was in jail and wouldn’t be out anytime soon. The trial was scheduled but wasn’t for another year. In the meantime, Joshua hadn’t asked very much about him. Apparently he’d been awake and had seen his father try to shoot his mom. That had been too much for him.

  They’d explained quietly what had happened, that his father had done something very bad and was in jail. Joshua had just nodded. Once he realized he would be staying with his mom, he was fine.

  When he later heard Corey was moving into their new home with them, Joshua got really excited. And he’d seen plenty of Corey and Warrick. Even Mason had stopped by. Joshua had seemed pretty thrilled by all the men. It was a good life for a little boy. He would grow up with real men as role models—not assholes who used others for their own gain. And Joshua smiled all the time. The same off-center smile as his mother.

  Warrick was happy for Corey, yet enjoyed being single right now. But it didn’t make up for the three years he had been in a relationship with Sandra, where he’d thought he had had the real thing. He should have realized their breakup was imminent, but he’d been blind, not really aware of what was going on in her world. He didn’t want to make that mistake again. But he hadn’t found anybody else who he liked half as much.

  Joshua led Warrick into the bedroom where Corey had set up his captain’s bed. Corey took one look at the box in Joshua’s hand and said, “Whoa, tiger. I don’t think any more stuff will fit in here.”

  But Joshua just giggled and stacked his additional box atop the others off to the side. “We’ll unpack later. I’ll show you all my stuff then.” And he raced back out again.

  Corey looked up at Warrick and smiled. “Thanks for helping us today.”

  “A bunch of other guys just arrived too.”

  Corey nodded. “That’s great. The more hands, the more gets moved in, and the faster this will go.”

  “Are you happy, dude?”

  Corey looked up, his face beaming. “I’m so happy, I’m stupid with it,” he admitted. “I hadn’t really expected this.”

  “Sometimes you need to let go of your expectations and see what comes your way, instead of trying to control everything in your life.”

  Corey nodded. “How are you doing?”

  “Outside of the concussion leaving me with an odd headache …” He grinned. “I’m fine.”

  “Time for you to find another woman,” Corey said in a joking tone.

  “No rush. I’m happy to watch you guys play house for a while.”

  “Here, give me a hand with this, will you?” Corey asked.

  The two flipped the bed onto its four legs and finished off the last of the installation. They added the mattress and the drawers. And then stepped back. “He should like that.”

  Warrick slapped Corey on the shoulder. “That kid is in heaven.”

  “Yeah, I’m just a little nervous.”

  “Don’t be. Just be you. It’ll be great.” Warrick smiled at his friend in all sincerity. “Don’t forget his dad was an ass. It can’t be too hard to beat that.”

  “Thanks,” Corey said, laughing.

  The two went back downstairs. And the house was full of men moving furniture and boxes. In the center of it all was Angela, her face flushed with excitement.

  She caught sight of Corey and raced toward him, flinging her arms around him. “Your friends arrived.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, hopefully so did the groceries.”

  Just then Ryder stepped in and held up a box. “I brought the steaks, potatoes and salads. Devlin’s here with the grill. I think Mason is bringing a second one.”

  Warrick leaned against the doorjamb and watched as the chaos around him continued. This was what Corey had always hoped for. And Warrick was so damn glad Corey would finally get his chance at a home, a family and happiness. Warrick had watched his friend go through one lighthearted romance after another, never settling down. But, man, when Corey found the right person, he’d settled in a big way.

  Ryder walked over, looked at Warrick and asked, “You okay?”

  Warrick nodded. “I just think all the good women in the world are taken.”

  Ryder stared at him for a long moment. “I thought that way once too.”

  Warrick gave him a lopsided grin. “And yet look at you now,” he teased.

  Ryder nodded. “When it’s time, when it’s right, it’ll happen. Until then, just enjoy life.”

  Warrick shifted from the doorjamb and thought that was a hell of a decent piece of advice. He could just enjoy life for a while. And, if he was lucky, somebody would cross his path and put a smile on his face to match the one on Corey’s. And Warrick couldn’t wait.

  Chapter 1

  Hell, yeah, he could wait. He could wait for eternity until the
right woman showed up if she was anything like the pugnacious terror in front of him.

  It didn’t matter that she was only five foot nothing, her fiery long red hair in a ponytail slightly off to the side and a face full of freckles.

  She glared at him and had been for the last half an hour.

  He’d filled out the paperwork incorrectly on his latest injury. And, damn, if she wasn’t trying to hang him with it.

  Warrick had a hard time stopping his jaw from jutting out, an imitation of her own actions. “Penny, I get that you have a problem with me,” he said, trying for patience. “But honestly, I’m not trying to screw you over by messing up the paperwork.”

  She snorted. A completely unfeminine sound that both surprised him and intrigued him. She shook her head. “You might not be trying to be difficult,” she said, “but you do it naturally. The instructions are so damn clear.” She tapped the paperwork. “Why aren’t you following them?”

  Warrick sighed, took the papers from her, looked at them, and, sure enough, it gave exact instructions. He didn’t know why he hadn’t followed them. Then again, it was the third time he’d been in here with the wrong paperwork.

  On one of the training missions a few weeks ago, he’d hurt his ankle. It had pissed him off, and he had refused to get treatment until the guys had forced him to get it looked at. He had a hairline fracture and had severely strained his ankle, and his foot was in a cast, to keep the ankle immobile to heal properly. The doctor had been very clear how he felt about Warrick staying on his feet when he had long passed the point he should have gotten off of them before seeing him.

  Warrick would be the first to admit he had more than his fair share of stubbornness. But then all the guys did. And nobody wanted to be sidelined with an injury. That just wasn’t on anybody’s to-do list. Not that he had a whole lot of choice. Not now at least.

  He lifted his gaze from the paperwork and said, “Okay, I did it wrong. Sorry.”

  She blew out a heavy breath, directing it up where tendrils of red curls lifted off her forehead. Then she relaxed. “I just don’t get it, Warrick. This is the third time in as many weeks.”

  He shrugged. “I’m really good at stuff I like to do.” He plastered an engaging grin on his face, or at least he hoped it was. “You know? A lot of people don’t want to deal with stuff that’s boring and uninteresting.”

  “This is hardly boring and uninteresting,” she said. “This is what gets you your medical. This is what gets you all that good stuff you need done so you can heal and get back onto the front line as fast as possible so you can go kill yourself again,” she explained.

  He chuckled. “It’s not that bad.”

  She glared at him, her bottom lip jutting out. “You do remember you’ve got a fracture on your shin bone, right?”

  “Yeah, but that’s not a real break,” he said, minimizing the injury. “Besides, even if it was broken, it’s not that big a deal.”

  “A break isn’t a big deal?” she snapped. “Stress fractures, damaged tendons? Because somebody is an idiot and staying on his ankle well past the point when he shouldn’t have been. Now that’s a problem.”

  Under his breath he said, “Whatever.”

  Only she had heard him. And that was probably not a good thing. She turned and glared at him. “Whatever?”

  He sighed. “How come I only ever see the prickly side of your personality?” he asked resentfully. “Everybody else says you’re a sweetheart.” She flushed, and he watched as the wave, almost shockingly red, rolled up her alabaster-white skin.

  “Prickly? Sweetheart?”

  He raised both hands in surrender. “What? So both of those are wrong or not allowed?”

  “Not when they’re complete opposites, no,” she said in exasperation. “Fill out the paperwork properly, and bring it back again.”

  “We could do it right here and right now,” he said hopefully. “Then I wouldn’t have to come back.”

  She glanced at the clock and said triumphantly, “We can’t because I have to close up the offices. It’s four o’clock. You’re too late.”

  He just glared at her. “Now you’re being mean.”

  “Try to utilize an education level above a two-year-old and fill out the forms correctly.”

  Inside he fumed because, of course, his education was much higher than a two-year-old level. He was well known for his reports, but he wasn’t sure why these damn medical forms were such a pain in the ass. He snatched the forms off the table and stormed out the room.

  Behind him she called out, “Have a nice day.”

  He slammed the door in response. In the hall he tried to control his breathing.

  Tanner walked up, took one look at his face and chuckled. “I told you Penny is a sweetheart.”

  Warrick glared at him. “How is that”—he jabbed a finger at the door behind him—“even remotely related to being a sweetheart?”

  “She’s a sweetheart, except when she isn’t,” Tanner said. “But she’s the one who keeps everything flowing. So I wouldn’t suggest you piss her off.”

  “Too late,” Warrick roared. “Why is this crap so difficult?” He stormed toward Tanner, then swore as his ankle screamed back at him. He slowed his pace, taking several slower, more careful steps.

  Tanner tsk-tsked. “Sorry, bud. That ankle’s given you nothing but hell.”

  “Stupid thing. You know we had games last week, and I missed out on them. We were against the air force too.”

  “You missed out on the soccer and the water sports the week before.” Tanner grinned.

  “Damn it.” But there was no help for it. He’d had a bad couple months with several injuries. Being so accident-prone wasn’t normal for him. The latest was during a bout of outback survival training. After thinking it was all healed, he’d returned to work only to find out it was not only not healed but he now had a damn stress fracture. He motioned to Tanner. “Let’s go.”

  “Sure,” Tanner said amiably.

  He walked like the cowboy he was. His voice had a drawl, his tone long and easy. It took a lot to rile him. Warrick would have said the same for himself, but, every time he came in here, Penny managed to set him off again.

  “So when do you get to see her again?”

  Warrick looked at his buddy, confused. “See who?”

  “Penny, of course.”

  He waved the paperwork in Tanner’s face. “I have to fill out this shit again. And then take it back.”

  Tanner nodded. “Good. That’ll be what? Monday?”

  “Needs to be, yes. The doctor won’t do anything else if I don’t get the proper papers filed.”

  “Wow. You must’ve really screwed up.”

  “Apparently over and over again,” Warrick snarled. “I can pull records off MI6’s database without them knowing about it. I can write goddamn reports about terrorist activity in the US. I can write protocol procedures for how to deal with the rebels in Afghanistan. But when it comes to filling out this medical shit …”

  “Did you ask her to fill it out for you?” Tanner asked. “I did that the first time, and, ever since then, she’s filled it out automatically for me.”

  They were in the elevator. Warrick twisted and looked at him. “She what?”

  Tanner nodded. “Yeah. Did you even ask?”

  Warrick stared at him in surprise. “I don’t know that I asked in as many words,” he said slowly. “But she knew I was having a hell of a time.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not the same thing as being courteous and asking her for a hand because you just don’t understand.”

  Warrick shrugged. “She could’ve helped anyway.”

  “She could have, but obviously she didn’t, so maybe you should try a little sweetness instead of all that anger.”

  Warrick nodded, but inside he was steaming. It was pretty shitty that she wouldn’t help him. He could almost understand but, at the same time, not really. Still, he probably had gone in with a chip on his shoulder bec
ause it was the third time he’d filled out the forms incorrectly, and he was pissed not only at himself but at the system that required him to do as much as he had done. Surely, if he was off halfway around the globe fighting to save the world and somebody had found out he had filled out a form wrong, someone else could fix it for him. But apparently not.

  The elevator opened on the main floor. He walked out slowly. “I don’t think there’s any way I can get her help,” he muttered. “She was pretty pissed at me today.”

  “Honestly, she is a sweetheart. Everybody says so.”

  “Everybody can say whatever the hell they want,” Warrick muttered. “It doesn’t change the fact that she’s not a sweetheart to me.”

  At that, Tanner just chuckled. “Are we heading to Mason’s house for a barbecue, or are you going home and spending the evening working on paperwork?”

  Warrick just glared at him. They walked over to Warrick’s Jeep Wrangler. It was a manual, and he needed both feet for the clutch and the gas pedal. In which case, Tanner drove Warrick around most of the time. At least while Tanner was stateside. If their unit took off on a big training mission without him, Warrick would be pissed. And, if they went on an active mission, he’d be beyond pissed.

  “How much longer?” Tanner asked as he got into the driver’s side of the vehicle.

  Warrick managed to get himself in on his side, relaxing slightly. “At least two more weeks. The doctor said he wouldn’t even send me for more tests if I didn’t get this stuff cleaned up.” He waved the paperwork, then set it in his lap.

  “So maybe you need to do that tonight,” Tanner said. “How hard can it be?”

  Warrick stared down at the multitude of colored papers. “It’s too damn hard.”

  “Do you want me to stay in and help you?”

  “Hell no. We’re going to Mason’s and having steak.”

  “Then we need to pick up some beer.”

  “Good. The liquor store it is. But I have to stop by the hangar first. I forgot my shit there.”