Page 38 of SEAL's Temptation
Chapter 18
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AVERY CLICKED ON RYAN’Semail Saturday night, smiling as she saw the pictures of him playing volleyball that afternoon.He’d sent a couple candid shots as well, and it was bittersweet to look through them.She’d become friendly with the women dating his teammates, and their lives were all moving on in Hawaii without her.
She didn’t think it would sting so much to miss out on things, but having the few pictures just made her see that life continued on anyway.
Aaron was in the background of one photo, with Emersyn naturally right at his side.She wondered if Aaron would pop the question soon.It would be fun to have a sister-in-law, and Avery was positive her brother and Emersyn would eventually get married someday.The question in her mind was only ‘when?’Avery realized that she didn’t even know if Ryan had siblings.He’d never mentioned any, but then again, they didn’t know everything about one another.Maybe he had siblings but they weren’t close.It was one of the many things she’d have to get to know about him.
Quickly finishing off her email, she asked him exactly that at the end, then clicked the send button.
Avery had glossed over her issues with Dr.Walters in her message to Ryan.The guy was annoying, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.She dealt with her fair share of arrogant doctors and surgeons back in California.She’d do her best to ignore his annoying behavior, and life would go on.
She zoomed in on the shot of Ryan, looking at him wistfully.It was hard falling asleep at night without hearing his deep, sexy voice telling her goodnight.Sure, it had been over the phone in the past, but it always gave her a sense of comfort.Not being able to talk with him was rough.They’d tried a video chat over the Internet, but the connection was too slow on her end to be more than a pixelated image.It was enough of a miracle that any photos had come through.He’d zipped them into a file to make them easier to download, and it always made her feel good to see his smiling face.
“How long have you and your man been together?”Luciana asked, noticing Avery looking at the picture on her laptop screen.
Avery’s gaze landed on her friend.“Well, officially, just over a month.We were friends first for a long time because he works with my brother.”
Luciana laughed, coming over to look more closely at Ryan’s photo.“That’s right.That sounds like trouble.Military, no?I can tell.There’s nothing like a strong military man.”
Avery’s ears perked up.“You’re single, right?There is another single guy on their team.He’s a total player though.”
Her friend shook her head.“No, no.I don’t need any man who’s got a wandering eye.That’s more trouble than it’s worth, and I’m too old for that sort of thing.”
“What?You’re barely older than me,” Avery protested.
“My life has been very different than yours,” Luciana pointed out.
Avery sobered.The other nurse wasn’t wrong.“Well, it wouldn’t be easy to date him anyway given that he lives in Hawaii.”
“Hawaii?That sounds downright luxurious compared to Bajo Chiquito.Maybe I will go there and find me a cute cabana boy,” she teased.
“They wouldn’t know what to do with you,” Avery said with a giggle.“Did the group finish unloading all the supplies from the truck?”she asked, changing the subject.“I offered to help, but Dr.Walters shooed me away.”
“Tsk.Tsk.That is a surprise.Normally he’s happy ordering us nurses around.Then again, he favors you.”
“I’m sorry,” Avery said.
“It’s not your fault Mr.American Doctor thinks he’s better than the rest of us.I will be sad when you leave next year, but him?Please.Send him off tomorrow, thank you very much.”
Avery frowned.“Did anything else happen with him?”
“Si.Ada asked if she could take some of the supplies back to the medical tents.We’re low on plastic gloves and know he ordered more.Dr.Walters was belligerent with her, ordering Ada not to touch anything before he looked through the boxes.”
“That’s weird.Do you think he’s hiding something?”
Luciana shrugged.“What could it be?We were all with him today picking up the supplies.Everything was labeled, but I didn’t inspect the packages.”
“But those other boxes were missing from the storage cabinet,” Avery pointed out.
