Fall for a SEAL (26 page)

Success was the only option.

She traced the faded Avengers logo on his t-shirt before stepping back.

“Not a date,” she said quietly. “But lunch, maybe?”

“A lunch date. I like it.” He winked as she shook her head and laughed. He pulled his card out of his pocket, his cell phone number already scribbled on it. “Here. Text me. Or my email address is on there, too. Let me know the best way to contact you. Should I pick you up?”

Her head shook quickly.
Damn
. “I’ll meet you wherever we decide to
go.”

“’Kay.” At some point, he was going to want to pick her up. At some point, they’d have to settle that issue and put it behind them. How, though…fuck if he knew.

He dropped his gaze to her mouth. He wanted to kiss her goodnight in the worst way. She offered him another of her small smiles. Nice, but missing something. And then she licked her lips, and even though they were saying goodbye,
his blood flowed to the most unhelpful of places.

“Good night, Patrick,” she said, ever so quietly, and turned quickly, moving to her car.

Damn. Just like that—
pow
. She destroyed him. Maybe he liked his name after all.

He watched her drive off, then headed home.

In the shower, he thought about the way her cheeks turned pink, and the way she bit her lower lip. His cock thickened against his
thigh, then crawled up his belly as he imagined Gaby perched on top of him. Naked.

Jesus Christ
. He groaned and took himself in hand, slowly. He wanted this fantasy to last until he was stretched out in his bed and could imagine her curled up on top of him, rocking her wet pussy against him, whispering about how it wasn’t a date. Scowling at him as he slid deep inside her, that sharp little look
making him hard as nails. Her tongue licking the corner of his mouth the same way her thumb had. The way she said his name. His given name that no one else ever used.
Patrick
.

His release hovered right there, his balls tight and his primal brain taking over, but Trick made himself ease back. He needed more of Gaby. He needed her to tuck him into bed. He turned off the shower, drying himself off
as he padded through his pitch-black room, crawling under the covers naked with just his towel.

He imagined her kissing up his spine.
Wishful thinking
. But the slide of her cool hand over his side, wrapping underneath his hand to stroke with him…that felt real enough in his lusty haze to do the job.

He groaned her name as he stroked himself faster, harder, right to the edge of pain. He rode
the edge into the darkness, spurting into the towel as he tipped his head back, eyes pressed tightly shut.
 

— FOUR —

The next morning, Gaby slammed the kitchen cupboard door shut a little harder than was necessary. She sloshed water into the coffee maker, glowered at the toaster, and thought seriously about calling into work sick because her mood was
not
fit for children. Or any other human beings.

Including her roommate.

“What the heck got under your skin?” Lila asked drowsily as she slowly
drifted into the kitchen. “You’re making enough noise to wake the dead.”

Gaby didn’t really want to talk about Trick surprising her at the restaurant last night, or the sleepless night she spent tossing and turning, thinking about the rub of his legs against hers and the way he stared at her mouth.

She definitely didn’t want to share any of that with her roommate, lest it later be revealed as
a fantasy Gaby had constructed in her mind, but in case it wasn’t…now was the time to say
something
to Lila.

She sighed. “It’s not what, but who.”

“Oooh, boy trouble?” Lila pulled the cherry jam from the fridge and wiggled it in Gaby’s direction. “You want?”

She nodded. Yes, today was definitely a cherry jam kind of day. “It’s complicated. Or maybe it’s not, but it’s definitely complicated
in my head.”

Lila popped in toast for herself and grabbed the vanilla-flavored coffee cream from the fridge.
 

“You’re up early.”

“You were being loud. You’re never loud. I thought it might be important.”

They weren’t close friends—that made them perfect roommates, really, because they could talk about shared bills and house rules without emotion getting involved. But Lila did friendly stuff
without pushing—things like waking up early when Gaby was grumpy and realizing she needed jam. Asking if there were boy troubles, but not demanding details.

Gaby sighed. “Hypothetically, if I was interested in someone you’d dated…what would you want me to do about that?”

Lila snorted. “I don’t date.”

Gaby blushed. “You know what I mean.”

Her roommate shrugged. “I’d want you to be careful for
you, but I don’t get possessive over guys. If you want to hook up with someone, that’s cool.”

“I don’t…” Gaby trailed off. This was why she dated quiet guys, guys like her. Because even though Trick had used the word date, and he’d never come out and propositioned her…maybe what he was angling for was just a one-night stand. Ugh.

“Is this a hypothetical question?” Lila tilted her head to the
side. “I didn’t think we had the same taste in men. But I’m sure whoever it is, I don’t care. Unless he was a jerk to me. Then I’ll kick him in the nuts for pawing at my roomie.”

Gaby cleared her throat. “Have there been any jerks lately?”

Lila grinned. “How lately are we talking about?”

Gaby squeezed her eyes shut and fought a losing battle against the bright red embarrassment crawling into
her hairline. “Last month or so?”

Amused laughter filled the kitchen. “Nope. No jerks lately.” Lila sighed. “But nobody I’d call dating material, either. All nice guys, but super clear on having no-strings rules, just like me.”

Gaby nodded slowly. She could be smart about this and enjoy Trick’s attention as long as it lasted.
It’s just flirting
, she reminded herself. And if he wanted more…well,
she wasn’t usually interested in casual sex, but she was twenty-six. Maybe she needed to be a little wild, just once. Try it out before ruling it out.

She definitely wanted to kiss him. So much it hurt. When he’d handed her that mint the night before, her heart had started beating at double speed, and it hadn’t slowed down since. If she hadn’t pulled away…

But she couldn’t forget that he’d done
that with Lila, too. Granted, her roommate kissed a lot of guys. And she probably hadn’t done exactly
that
with Trick. Just a bunch of other similar, more naked things.

It was a lot for Gaby to wrap her head around as they silently munched their toast. She needed to be sure that her silly little crush wasn’t the start of an ugly love triangle she had no hope of winning. All signs pointed to Trick
and Lila not caring at all. She was the only one hung up on who’d been naked with whom.

Across the table, Lila slid out of her seat and grabbed the coffee pot. Without saying a word, she topped up Gaby’s cup.

“Thank you.”

“I’m not going to pry.” Lila smiled. “But make sure he’s worth all this heavy thinking you’re doing. Because
you’re
worth it.”

Gaby frowned. “What if I wanted to try something
more casual?”

“Do you?”

That was the million-dollar question.

— —
 

Trick winced as he looked at the text message on his phone. One hour earlier and it would have made his day. Hell, his entire week. But just over twelve hours after he’d asked Gaby out, he was going to need to beg for a rain check.

Okay, I’m game for whatever you want to do tomorrow ~ Gaby

He clicked on the number it
came from and stored her in his address book. Then he sighed again. This wasn’t going to go well. Maybe it was better to talk over the phone. He quickly tapped out a response.
Can I call you?

Lunch is over in two minutes. Call me after four?

Crap. He was going to be on a military transport plane by midafternoon.
I need to postpone lunch. Work reason. I still really want to see you.

A beat passed,
then another. His thumb hovered over her name, ready to call her, not caring if she was surrounded by a bunch of kids. If she just heard his voice, maybe she’d believe him.
 

Okay, no worries. I have to go.

Damn.
A thump at the door was his only warning before Lieutenant Jason Steyner stomped into the office where Trick had gone for some privacy. “Come on, Meyers is already steaming mad that
we can only pull together a small extraction team. Let’s not piss him off further.”

“Yes, sir.” Trick cleared his throat. “I was going to make a call.”

“You can make it from Honolulu. Let’s go.”

But when they landed in Hawaii, all hell had broken lose, and by the time they got out of the briefing and had their orders, it was the middle of the night for Gaby.

He lay on his bunk and let himself
slip into the mental review of what they’d do the next day. They were going to rescue a salvage boat and her mostly American crew of ocean treasure hunters, including a CIA operative who was apparently clever enough to be a spook but not clever enough to save himself from pirates. The boat had been boarded four days earlier, and yesterday they’d landed on a private island in the Pacific.

Trick’s
team would do a High Altitude/Low Opening jump in the cover of darkness. He visualized each step of the HALO insertion. What they’d do if the wind picked up and dumped them in the ocean or jungle instead of on the intended beach. If they were seen. Their intel didn’t indicate the pirates had radar, but it was possible.

Anything was possible, but their plan would give them the best chance to take
the island by surprise and hopefully save some lives.

And then he’d call Gaby, and hope she could figure out from subtext and charm that he deserved another chance at a date.

— FIVE —

“You really okay?”

Trick rolled his eyes at Chief Special Warfare Operator Nathan “Gibson” Meyers. Most of the time, the other man was his friend. They didn’t usually serve on the same team, but while Trick’s team was in Iraq, he was attached to Meyers’ group. And right now the usually laid-back Meyers was acting like a worried mother hen. “Fuck off, Gibs. Also, a bit late, don’t
you think?”

Meyers laughed and looked around the V-22 Osprey aircraft they were flying in over the Pacific Ocean. “If I could have left you at home, I would have.”

“I’m fine.” And he was…his pulse was within normal parameters, his blood pressure was fine. He’d slept like shit last night, but that was mostly guilt over Gaby. No nightmares.

“The lieutenant says you haven’t been able to connect
with a girl back home?”

Steyner had a big mouth, but it was his job as part of the command group to talk to the Chief about everyone on the team. Trick got that. Didn’t like it, though.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“She a distraction?”

“Nope.”

“We do this for them, not despite them, right?”

Trick looked at his friend in surprise. “You got a girl, Chief?”

Meyers shrugged. “I got a face I see in my
mind when I need to be good at my fucking job. That’s all that matters.”

This wasn’t a new debate. Trick’s teammate, Jared Sutter, had gotten married last year, and his wife was pregnant with their first child. The gentle giant didn’t blink at heading to Iraq. Meyers clearly fell on the same side of the argument. Lots of other men thought the special forces teams weren’t a place for married men.

Until a few weeks ago, it had only been an academic question for Trick, and he’d always leaned on the side of single being easier.

Now he wondered how dating Gaby could work if he’d failed to make their first official date.
This is why you don’t date much
.

The ten-minute warning crackled through their headsets, and training swept aside his scattered thoughts. Trick checked his kit once more,
slid his mask into place, and waited for his turn to step out the jump door.

— —
 

The weekend dragged by, but when she hadn’t heard from Trick by Monday, Gaby tried to get on with her life as it had been before he’d sauntered into it. Before she knew what it was like to be pinned down by his thinking-of-sex gaze or receive one of his knowing smiles.

It was for the best, she told herself,
that it hadn’t gone any further than a bit of flirtation. She’d just avoid The Wave for the rest of time, lest she accidentally see him hooking up with someone more his speed.

Or so she told herself over and over again, but none of it rang true.

At her midday break, she called Lila.

“Okay, I need to ask you an embarrassing question.”

Lila laughed. “Is it awful that I’m glad you’re bringing
this up again, because I couldn’t be nosy?”

“Yes, that’s terrible,” Gaby teased. “No. Okay, so the guy…” She spilled the whole story, from the boots, to the beach, to the repeated meetings at the shawarma house. “And now he’s missing. I was hoping you might…”

“You know way more about him than I do.” Lila sighed. “I do know a few guys in the Navy, though, I can ask around.”

“Thank you. If he’s
just dodging me…maybe tell me he’s been transferred to Alaska.”

Lila must have been able to hear the tremor of doubt in Gaby’s voice. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”

“Is it weird that I want to make sure he’s okay?”

“No, not weird, but…maybe a bit…what’s the opposite of cynical?”

“Oh, shush. I’m not being naive.” Gaby sighed.
 

“I didn’t say that.”

“No,
I
did. I’m trying to convince myself.”

All
afternoon Gaby had to force herself not to look at her phone.
Do your job, don’t worry about that which you can’t control
.
 

But after releasing the last of her charges to their parents, she kicked herself when she checked her purse and saw six unread messages.

Her heart in her throat, she swiped in and starting reading.

The first one was from Lila, something about good news, but she skipped
right over it because the next three were from Trick.