He nodded tersely. “I’ll have her ready.”

“See to it she makes it through BUD/S. Do whatever you have to, Grif.”

“Roger that, sir.”

* * *

Which was why that afternoon found him at the swimming pool with Sherri and a handful of zip ties. She threw skeptical looks back and forth between him and the pool.

“We’re going to start in the shallow end today,” he explained. “I’m going to break down how to swim while tied up, and you’re going to practice it without the zip ties until you master it.”

It felt weird to spoon-feed her the trade secrets to passing a training evolution like this, but so be it. If the Navy wanted a woman SEAL, then a woman SEAL he would give them.

“The trick is to accept that you’re going to spend most of this type of swimming underwater. You’ll only surface to breathe. Where people mess it up is by trying to get their faces above water and keep them there.”

“You could’ve told me that the last time you nearly drowned me,” Sherri replied tartly.

“One of the big objects of BUD/S is to mess with your mind and see how you handle it. How mentally tough are you? Since we’re not worried about that with you anymore, I can tell you all the tricks.”

She scowled and slid into the pool, standing chest deep in the water.

“Clasp your hands behind your back and hold your feet together like they’re zip-tied. I’ll move you into the deeper water, and I’ll be right there with you this time. Any time you feel like you can’t get to the surface to breathe, let go of your hands and kick yourself up to the surface.”

When the screaming and harassment and abject terror were stripped out of the drowning evolution, Sherri picked up fast on how to swim like a dolphin, relaxing and letting herself sink gently between breaths, and then kicking up to the surface just long enough to breathe.

“Good. Now, let’s put you in clothing. It’s heavier, and you’ll sink faster and deeper. It’s the same motion, though. You’ll just have to work at it a little harder.”

It took her a few tries to overcome momentary panic attacks, but she got the hang of it soon enough.

“Ready to try it with zip ties?” he asked.

She nodded, looking more determined than scared. Good. That was the right mindset for this evolution.

He stepped up behind her at the edge of the pool and ran his palms down her arms, drawing them behind her back. He took a quick look around to make sure they were alone and leaned forward to place a quick kiss on the side of her neck.