As the heat of an Indian summer afternoon baked them, she fell in behind Caldwell. This time the men led the way. Apparently, Kettering had shown the guys the perimeter road around the artillery range, which measured a little over nine miles long.

The pace was slightly slower, slightly being the operative word. Given that she would have to sustain it longer, Sherri did her best to relax and conserve energy.

Except her gaze kept straying to Caldwell’s broad shoulders, narrow waist, and the steady pumping of his muscular legs. And that caboose of his. Wowsers. It was high and tight, promising driving power and all-night stamina—annnd there went her pulse again. Shoot. She couldn’t afford to hyperventilate every time she looked at her swim buddy’s butt.

She tried to take interest in the towering cypress trees festooned with long ropes of Spanish moss. Nope. The moss swayed in perfect time with the deep, steady breaths he took. How about the clouds? Surely, they had interesting shapes today. Indeed, the building thunderheads reminded her of the way Griffin’s hard muscles bunched and flexed across his arms and shoulders. Well, fudge.

She finally gave in and lost herself in fantasies of what it would be like to sleep with a man like Griffin Caldwell. If she couldn’t fight her imagination, she might as well let it distract her. Not that she envisioned sleeping with him specifically, of course. Just someone vaguely similar in size, build, looks, and general smart-assery. It wasn’t ideal for maintaining a steady running stride and slow, even breathing, but it was better than falling on her face.

“You okay in the rear?” Caldwell called out to the folks in the back of the formation.

Kenny yelled back, “Loving the rears, Grif!”

Sherri rolled her eyes. Men. They were all just overgrown adolescent hormone monsters.

Sam piped up, “Give us a song to run to, Kenny.”

Lily jumped in immediately. “Please, no obscene marching songs about picking up women in bars.”

Sherri shook her head. Lily was shouting into a hurricane to ask a bunch of SEALs to behave themselves and be tasteful.

Kenny belted out, “Came to town to run with girls. Worked ’em out until they hurled. Picked them up and ran again. Turned them into manly men.”

The guys laughed, and Sherri snorted. Never in her adult life had any man looked at her and seen a “manly” woman.

Anna sang out, “Came to town to train with SEALs. Got drunks instead, what is the deal? Asked the boss where is the beef? He looked at me in disbelief. These SEALs, I said, they aren’t real men. We’ll run their asses off again.”

Sherri burst out laughing, in spite of doubting it was a good idea to taunt their trainers. But even shy Lily laughed in delight.

No surprise, Griffin picked up the pace. Considerably.