“Situational awareness, Tate. How many times do I have to repeat myself?”

“I was concentrating on getting my movements right.”

“You have to stay aware of your surroundings at all times,” he snapped.

She sighed as if she was sick of hearing him say those words. Tough. He would keep saying them until it became second nature for her.

“I know, I know,” she groused. “I’ll get kicked out of BUD/S if I don’t learn this and every other lesson to perfection.”

“If it’ll get you kicked out of BUD/S, it’s because it will get you killed someday. We keep all the guys who won’t die like damned fools and get rid of the ones who will.”

She retorted sarcastically, “Got it. Don’t be a damned fool. Check.”

He closed in on her as she treaded water. Their legs bumped against each other as they kicked, and their arms brushed just below the surface. Interestingly enough, she didn’t back away from the contact with him. In fact, her pupils widened and her cheeks flushed a brighter shade of pink.

Maybe that wasn’t attraction to him. Maybe she was just out of breath from laboring with the new stroke. He prayed it was the latter. Honestly, he was starting to worry he wouldn’t find anything that would exclude Sherri from the SEALs. But being a lousy swimmer was a one-way express ticket out the door.

“Out of the pool, everybody,” Cal called from the deck.

As the women squeezed water from their hair, Kettering passed out zip ties to the men. Griffin took two and moved to stand behind Sherri at the edge of the pool.

“Why are you smirking back there, Caldwell?” she muttered suspiciously, throwing him a stink eye over her shoulder.

Smart girl.

“Hands behind your backs, ladies,” Cal ordered.

Griffin reached out with a zip tie for her wrists. She blurted out, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“This evolution is called ‘Drowning.’ You’re gonna love it,” he muttered.

When he squatted down to secure her ankles together, she squawked, “Are you freaking kidding me?”

He grinned up at her, testing the snugness with his finger. “Like I said. Fun times.”

For the first time since he’d arrived in North Carolina, he saw fear in Sherri Tate’s eyes. So. He’d finally found her Achilles’ heel. She was afraid of drowning.

“Into the pool, ladies,” Calvin ordered.

Anna and Lily jumped right into the ten-foot deep end of the pool, but Sherri hesitated. Griffin leaned forward and placed his mouth practically on her ear. “Don’t make me push you, Blondie.”

She threw him a defiant look over her shoulder and jumped into the pool. He watched impassively as she submerged and started dolphin kicking frantically toward the surface. If she didn’t relax, she wasn’t going to make it back up to air. He started counting in his head.