ChapterThree
Two monthslater
“Well, I’ll be damned.”Quinn set his rum punch down on the bar and leaped over the retaining wall that separated the grass-roofed hut from thebeach.
Behind him, his twin brother Will and Will’s business partners hollered after him, but Quinndidn’tcare.
He was pretty sure the gorgeous woman who’d just sauntered past was none other than Master Sergeant LeahSaunders.
They were on the same sleepy, Caribbean island, far from camo-pattern uniforms and interfering teammates. Schedules and responsibilities thousands of miles away. He probably owed her an apology—and he’d happily give her much, much more, now that he’d seen her in a pinkbikini.
Not that he needed the luscious revelation of her skin to know he wanted her. He’d been attracted to her back at that off-base bar when she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and the next morning as she yelled at him, all bad-ass army girl in her uniformandbun.
And if she knew that he got a hard-on thinking about her being a bad-ass army girl, she’d knee him in his verydistractedjunk.
But thatbikini….
Hello,Sgt.
She made him want to present for inspection in theworstway.
“Leah!” he hollered, his feet churning over the sand as he killed the gapbetweenthem.
She turned around, confusion quickly replaced by surprise on her face. Cool, controlled surprise. Not the best sign, but he forgedahead.
“Quinn.” He pointed at his chest. “We met a fewmonthsago.”
“I remember you.” A politebrush-off.
Had he left that bad of an impression on her? “And now here we are on the same island. Far from any base or uniform or…” He flashed her a quick grin. “What are thechances?”
“Military’s a small world.” She dropped her gaze to histrunks.
Nothing small about his world. He set his hands on his hips, and by the time her gaze made it back to his face—a little less cool, now—he was smirking. “Maybe you’re here because you asked aroundaboutme.”
“I promise that if I knew you were coming anywhere near this resort, I’d have found another island for myleave.”
“Ouch. Youwoundme.”
She laughed, because he was grinning. Okay, he wasn’t that easilywounded.
She waved her hand down the beach. “I gotta getgoing.”
“That’s what you saidlasttime.”
“It’s what I’ll say every time. It’s an easy, honest way to get out of a conversationwithyou.”
“Keep that up and I’ll start to get the idea you’re notinterested.”
She held his gaze a little too steadily for his liking. “I’mnot.”
He nodded and took a step back in the direction of the bar. “If you change your mind, I’m here all week. My buddy Mick’s getting married nextweekend.”
“Fun. But I won’t changemymind.”
He took another two steps away from her. “Myloss.”
“It’sreallynot.”
