Formatted Seal Of Honor edit2 by Unknown

Chapter One
    “Good Morning, Commander. Your usual?”
    The girl behind the counter smiled and, as always, Zack Hennessey’s heart skipped a beat. The
    coffee shop was a fifteen-minute drive from his house and he stopped there every morning before he
    went on base. Just to see her. Her name was Jordyn Royale; it said so on her name tag and she was
    as beautiful as the island they were on. Hawaii had lush, colorful flowers, amazing fruit and the smel
    of the sea in the air. It was personified in her face. She had chocolate-brown skin the color of mocha
    coffee and warm brown eyes that sparkled. She never talked much about herself, but he sometimes
    caught her looking around as if she was wary, as if expecting to see someone she didn’t like come
    in the shop or afraid someone would jump out and grab her at any moment.
    The first time she made his coffee she told him she would try hard to remember his name and
    his order for the next time he came in. If she only knew that from then on he hadn’t been able to stop
    thinking about her. Zack was curious about her and wondered what her story was, wondered about
    her. Her slight baby bump was evident. So she’s pregnant, who gives a woof? he thought. He thought
    it only made her more enticing, having a life growing inside her. Zack had always wanted a family of
    his own and was resigned that it just wasn’t going to happen. And it was just his luck that the woman
    he was interested in was carrying another man’s child and so she was probably off the market.
    Every morning he came in to see her he charted the growth of her baby bump and, in his own way,
    watched the life grow along with her.
    “Commander?” Her soft voice brought him from his reverie and she repeated the question.
    “Your usual?”
    “Three espresso shots in it this time.” Zack grinned. “It’s been a long few days.”
    “Coming right up.” She passed the order slip to her work partner and rang up his order. “Five
    seventy-five.”
    As usual, he paid with a ten and put the change in the tip cup. “How are you today, Jordyn?”
    “I’m fine,” she replied. “The little girl is starting to move around now.”
    “That’s good. Her dad must be excited,” Zack said.
    Her smile faltered and then faded. “No dad. It’s just me and her.”
    “Wel , whoever he is, he’s a fool,” he said.
    “Maybe I’m the one who messed it al up,” she countered.
    “Were you?”
    She gave him a look, one with sadness in the depths of her chocolate-brown eyes. “No, I wasn’t.
    ”
    “I didn’t thought so.” A mental cheer started in his head and he squelched the urge to do a fist
    pump. “You’re around what, five months now?”
    “Six,” Jordyn said. “But good guess.”
    “So, um, what are you doing later? I’d like to take you both out to dinner,” Zack said.
    She laughed and it was a wonderful y husky sound. “I’m pregnant and you want to take me out?”
    “Why is that so hard to believe?” He leaned forward on the counter. “Let’s go out to dinner.”
    “Yeah, Jordyn, go out to dinner. Give it a whirl,” her co-worker said. She was a short Hawaiian
    woman with a great smile. “You better or I wil .”
    “She’s right. Give it whirl,” he said softly.
    Her eyes met his for a moment and she swal owed before nodding and scribbling on his
    receipt. “This is my address. I’l see you at eight.”
    He took his coffee and receipt and winked. “I’l see you tonight.”
    Zack walked out into the sunshine and made his way to his truck. He was a Navy man, stationed
    as the historic NS Pearl Harbor Base in Hawaii. His smal unit was a socialized team that
    specialized in reconnaissance and infiltration. In other words, he was a SEAL and damn proud of it.
    Their missions were long and sometimes so harsh that few could deal with it long term. But those
    who did, hunkered down for weeks at a time. There had been a lul recently and Zack was happy
    about that. In the last few years he’d