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  “I can be good for you in other ways, too.”

  He blinked his eyes open and gave her a hooded look. “I bet you could. But first, I need in your pants. Is that okay? Too crude? Fuck it, I don’t care. I want in your beautiful pants, babe.” He grinned.

  She turned that smile into an open-mouthed silent groan by sliding her palm lower, cupping his sac.

  “Jesus, woman. Stop distracting me. Your hand is amazing, but did you hear me?”

  His words thrilled her. Too bad she wasn’t done yet. She slid her other hand around his neck, cupping his solid muscles there as she fused their mouths together.

  The next thing she knew, he was spinning them around, and pinning her against the door.

  So Jason would only let her play at being in charge for a bit. Okay. She could… “Ahhhhhh!”

  His mouth latched onto her breast, through her shirt and her bra. Hot, wet, hungry. He’d found a live current straight to her womb, and her legs started to shake from the intensity of it all. Her other breast grew heavy and needy for attention, but before she could beg for it, he’d cupped the swollen flesh and started teasing her aching peak with his thumb.

  At the same time—somehow, like he was Octopus Man, except sexy—he unzipped her jeans and deftly stripped the denim off her legs. His warm, strong hand then settled on her bare hip. It made her gasp, but from that point he slowed right down, and the next sound she made was a sweet moan as he dragged his mouth up her chest.

  They were both breathing heavily when he rested his forehead against hers. “You ready?”

  “For what?” She gave him a wide-eyed look which just made him grin wickedly.

  Then he squeezed her bottom and hoisted her in the air. With a squeak, she wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his shoulders.

  Nobody carried her. Ever. Julie was built for fun and had legs that went on for miles, which she could appreciate had a certain appeal to men.

  But she might break a lesser man if he tried to carry her.

  Jason managed to do it without pausing a beat.

  He set her down in front of the big mirror above the desk. “Look at us,” he murmured as he turned her.

  They looked pretty hot. He was bare-chested, his cargo shorts riding dangerously low on his hips. She wasn’t wearing any pants, and his arm was wrapped possessively around her waist, his hand rucking up her t-shirt, revealing a slice of skin between her shirt and her black panties.

  But the best part was his eyes. They were burning hot, and locked on hers. Once she caught his gaze in the reflection, she couldn’t see anything else until he shifted behind her, breaking the connection.

  “I love your height,” he growled against the base of her neck.

  She shivered. “Usually I do, too.”

  “Usually?”

  “Sometimes it’s nice to feel dainty.”

  He laughed and palmed her hips. “Oh, Jules, the last thing I want is a dainty woman.”

  A dark, heady thrill ran through her at the promise in those words. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh. Yeah.” He nudged her thighs further apart, and his shorts fell to the floor.

  The crisp hairs on his legs teased at her skin. She wanted more of that. His hard to her soft, his furry to her smooth. He was all man, and he made her feel every inch a wanted woman.

  “I want you so much,” he said from behind her. “One night isn’t going to be enough. We’re going to need—”

  Zzzzzzzzzz.

  The floor beneath them vibrated softly. Then stopped. Then started again.

  Jason pressed his forehead against the back of her shoulder and cursed under his breath. “I need to check that.”

  “Oh.”

  “It might be nothing.” He cleared his throat as he reached for his shorts. “Give me a second.”

  But it wasn’t nothing. And in the next few seconds, it became quickly apparent to Julie that the best one-night stand of her life was about to stop before they got to the best parts.

  She sat down on the bed when Jason answered the phone. For a one-sided conversation, it was pretty easy to follow.

  “Good evening, Captain. What can I do for you?”

  “Yes sir. It’s not a problem.”

  “Monterey. I’m on a leave pass.”

  “I understand.”

  “It’s a seven hour drive, without hitting traffic around Los Angeles.”

  Like that would ever happen. L.A. traffic was unavoidable. Julie tried to do the math in her head. He was a long day’s drive from home, for sure.

  “I understand. Roger that.” He winced and Julie walked softly to the door to get her pants. Fun time was over. “I’m at the Hyatt, sir. Ten minutes from the airport.”

  “Understood. Will report there in thirty.” He hung up the phone and dropped it on the bed, reaching for her before it bounced once. “I’m sorry.”

  “Nope, it’s fine. That’s the job, right?”

  “I know, but I owe you a rebound orgasm. And I was hoping to get a regular orgasm or two with you just for fun.”

  She laughed and took his hands, letting him draw her close. “You’re a good guy, Jason.”

  “That’s what every man wants to hear,” he teased, but then he kissed her roughly, and she sighed as she opened for him.

  Very good. In every way.

  “And you’ll be worth the wait,” she whispered when he pulled away. She pressed her hands to his chest, sighing longingly one last time at the sculpted goodness he was about to cover up.

  He handed her his phone after unlocking it. “Can you program your phone number and email into there?”

  “This is a test, isn’t it?” She felt like she was holding a live grenade. He was a perfect stranger—who’d had his tongue down her throat and his hands up her shirt, sure, but still…

  Would she give him her phone? What if he accidentally clicked on her Pinterest app and saw all the half-naked men?

  She glared at his phone. Did he have pictures of half-naked women on there? And was he totally fine with her finding them?

  He finished getting dressed, then joined her on the bed, laughing gently into her neck when he realized she hadn’t done anything with his phone. “Don’t you want to give me your number, beautiful?”

  “I do…” she whispered.

  “But?”

  “But you just handed over your phone. What if I saw something I shouldn’t?”

  He took it from her, but kept it in front of them both as he easily wrapped her in his arms. “I can’t imagine what that would be.”

  “Porn.” His laugh wasn’t gentle this time, and she turned pink. “It’s possible.”

  “It sure is,” he murmured in her ear. “But nothing I’d be embarrassed for you to see. And not enough time to show you now, because I have to go. So give me your phone number, and next time we can compare dirty picture collections.”

  The pink turned to red. “I don’t—”

  “Then why did you think…?” His arms tightened around her. “Did your ex not let you use his phone?”

  Julie winced and bit her lower lip. “Something like that.”

  “What an idiot. I’m sorry. Guys like that give the rest of us a bad name. I promise you, the only stuff you’ll find in my photos are memes of hot chicks from sci-fi movies. And my emails are almost entirely work related. Which…yeah, actually, you can’t read. But I don’t think you would.”

  “I wouldn’t.”

  “I know.”

  How could he? But she closed her eyes and whispered her phone number, wanting more of this precious, wonderful feeling. And when he kissed her once more, long and deep, she could taste his regret.

  “Soon, beautiful,” he said, his voice gruff and catching at the end of the endearment. “Wherever I’m going, I’ll need to fly back here to pick up my car. And they still owe me a weekend of leave. I want to spend it with you.”

  “Definitely,” she whispered back, pressing her hand to his cheek. Then he stepped into t
he hall, and her hand slipped to his shoulder. His arm. His hand.

  And then he was gone.

  An almost one-night stand.

  An unexpected connection.

  She slid back into the quiet of his room and twirled in a circle.

  They may not have had sex, but it had been the best night she could remember.

  Chapter Five

  Julie had braced herself for grilling when she fell asleep in Jason’s hotel room, not making it back to the room she was sharing with Nikki until the morning. But when she got to the other side of the hotel, she found their room empty as well.

  She checked her phone at the exact same moment a text message came flying in.

  Nikki: I ended up staying at Emme’s last night. You and your sailor friend ready to join us for brunch?

  Julie: I am. He’s gone. Long story.

  The next thing she knew, her phone was ringing.

  “Did he hurt you?” Nikki demanded angrily, which made Julie grin. Gotta love a protective friend, even when they’re firing off in the wrong direction.

  “No no, nothing like that. He had to go to work unexpectedly.”

  Nikki covered the phone and there was a muffled exchanged before she came back. “Okay, Nathan says that’s probably legit.”

  Julie rolled her eyes. “Of course it is! I was right there when he got the call. Settle down. It’s fine. We had a nice night, and we exchanged numbers. And now I’m starving.”

  “We’ll come to you, apparently. Emme’s got a craving for the omelettes there. See you in twenty?”

  “Perfect. I’ll meet you guys downstairs.”

  Jason didn’t like his new second-in-command. It wasn’t Chief Marty “Whip” Wickerson’s fault that he wasn’t Nathan Meyers. But Marty couldn’t read Jason’s mind, and that was super annoying.

  It also grated on Jason’s nerves that the man said gnarly and dude a lot. A lot of SEALs surfed. Marty had been raised in the circuit, and if his older brother hadn’t died in Afghanistan, Marty would probably be in Hawaii right now, living the dream.

  Instead, he was standing next to Jason on the flight deck of the USS Lincoln, arguing with an army major. Jason cleared his throat. “That’s enough, Wickerson.”

  Marty shot him a look, but blessedly kept his mouth shut.

  Jason widened his stance. Marty had gone about it the wrong way, but his point had been bang on. “My 2IC has raised a fair question, sir. We’re lifting off in ninety minutes and the communications plan is changing now? That has operational impact.”

  They were sailing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Both of their teams, Jason’s quick response team from SEAL Team 11 and this group of elite Army Rangers, had been dispatched to the aircraft carrier. Each under the impression the other was offering support for the mission: securement and detainment of a war criminal.

  “The real problem here, son, is that you people operate under misassumptions and far too much ego.” The major’s voice bellowed around them, carrying halfway across the deck.

  Nobody turned and looked.

  Jason knew better than to be affected by bluster. He stood his ground and waited for the major to finish.

  “What is the point of this mission, Lieutenant?” the major barked.

  Jason’s response was swift and clipped. “To capture a high-value target, sir.”

  “And what is the best way to do that?”

  “Combined force, sir. Maximum aggression.”

  “So what the hell is your problem?”

  The major probably meant it as a rhetorical question, but Jason saw his opportunity and took it. “Communications breakdown, sir. That’s my problem. Success in this mission will depend on one chain of command, and only one chain of command.”

  The original plan was for the SEALs to lead and the Rangers to secure the perimeter. This whole fight had started when one of the Rangers mentioned to Wickerson that they had a backup plan of attack—one that Jason knew nothing about. And once they were on the ground, if it were implemented, could find the two teams surprising each other.

  It was, plain and simple, a bad idea.

  Jason knew it. Wickerson knew it. And as the major’s eyes narrowed, Jason’s chest relaxed a bit. This guy knew it, too.

  He nodded. “Fine. But it’s on your shoulders if we don’t secure the target.”

  “Understood.”

  It was one thing for Julie to be patient and wait for a second date with the nicest, hottest guy she’d ever met.

  It was entirely another to have total radio silence for more than a week. Even though she knew he was working—and she’d seen enough Hollywood movies to have terrifying ideas about what that meant—it was easy to slip into a “maybe he doesn’t want me” funk.

  So on her next chunk of days off, instead of staying in the city, she got in her car and headed to Hope Falls. Nikki was the perfect hostess, distracting her with girls’ nights and morning dog walks and a lot of fun in between.

  By the time she left to return home, she’d almost stopped thinking about Jason.

  So of course, that was when he called.

  She was in Sacramento, getting a coffee, when her phone rang. At the sight of his name on the display, her heart leapt into her throat.

  Swallowing hard, she made herself wait until the second ring to answer. “Hello?”

  “That’s the beautiful voice I’ve been longing to hear all week. It’s Jason.”

  “I know.” She grinned. “Nice to hear your voice, too.”

  “We didn’t get a lot of time together for me to warn you about what it’s like when I go dark.”

  “I figured it out. I’m a big girl, don’t worry about me.”

  “Okay. But those two things aren’t necessarily connected, you know.”

  “What two things?”

  “You being able to handle it and my concern about what it’s like for you.”

  “You were concerned?”

  “Of course. I had a chance with the hottest woman in California and had to blow her off for work. And then not talk to her all week. It’s a miracle you’re taking my call.”

  She laughed. “So are you…back?”

  “I’m in San Diego.”

  The unasked question hung between them. When was he coming north to get his car? Or the other question she wanted to ask him…could she come visit him there? One of the perks of being a flight attendant—cheap and sometimes free air travel. Instead of going straight there, she took a deep breath and told herself to be patient. “Can I ask how your…work went?”

  “You can ask, sure. It went…well.” He laughed gently. “Okay, I can’t answer it with much detail. Biggest challenge was managing conflicting personalities and keeping everyone focused on the point of what we were doing. I managed to do that, so I call that a win. What have you been up to while I was away?”

  “Worked. Went and visited with my friend Nikki—you met her.”

  “The cock-blocker.”

  She smiled. “Yeah. The terrible one.”

  “I appreciate that she sucks at that particular task.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell her.”

  “Wait, that came out wrong.”

  “Too late,” she teased, the warm banter thrilling her. “No take-backs.”

  “This isn’t the third grade, Jules. I reserve the right to clarify any statements that accidentally might give the impression—”

  “That you wanted to kiss me that night?”

  “Oh. Well, that’s accurate.” He chuckled. “And I still want to kiss you. We should talk about when that might happen next.”

  Be brave, she told herself. “Well…as a matter of fact…I’m flying to San Diego tomorrow. A short charter, someone has a meeting there. So I’ll be at the airport for about four hours. We need to be on standby for the return flight, though, so I can’t go far from the airport.”

  “Standby sounds…not that private.”

  The happiness blooming in her chest deflated a bit. Did
he just want to see her if he might get laid? Because she was familiar with that song and dance and hated every ballsy beat of it. “That’s right,” she said coolly. “Maybe just lunch.”

  “I’d take even coffee if it meant a chance to see you.”

  “But you’d rather something else?”

  “Uhhh…” His voice slowed to a halt. “Whoa, Jules. Back up. Did I say the wrong thing? Lunch is great. Coffee would be great.”

  She closed her eyes, regret burning bright against the seam of light between her eyelids. “I’m sorry. I heard you wanting privacy and way overreacted.” She pinched her nose at the bridge, annoyed with herself. “I wish we had more time together, too.”

  “I don’t just want to get you naked again,” he murmured. “But I want to be able to tell you that, yes, I do want you naked. Is that okay?”

  “More than okay,” she said, pressing her cheek against the phone.

  “Where should I go tomorrow?”

  She gave him directions to the private terminal they’d be using, then reluctantly said goodbye.

  Oh, she was in heaps of trouble. He was devastatingly handsome, considerate of her feelings, and understanding about emotional freak outs.

  Jason Steyner was a man among boys, it turned out. She wasn’t sure she deserved him, but she was bound and determined to keep him all the same.

  Chapter Six

  From: Jason Steyner

  To: Julie Collins

  Subject: Don’t hate me

  She hated the email already. Jury was still out on the man who’d sent it. Making a scrunched-up face, she clicked on the message.

  First of all, you are beautiful. And I’m pissed that I can’t tell you that to your face today, but I’ve been pulled into an O-group that I can’t get out of. I will make it up to you at the first opportunity. I can fly up to your end of the state any time next week.

  * * *

  Jason