“So I can make a pie,” she said, her voice high and shaky. “I have to get three or four squash because something always goes wrong, and Patrick and Sam give me a ton of shit about it. I only burnt one this year.” She laughed and started down a narrow path off the trail. “I hope Lauren remembers them.”
“I can guarantee you that Lo will not forget about a pie,” I said. “Pie is a major component of her world.”
“Fair point,” she murmured.
This path led toward a large, flat rock the size of a gazebo. She climbed up and stood in the center, then turned back and beckoned me to join. That was the invitation, and I was taking it. I jogged to the rock and grabbed her around the waist, turning her upside down while she laughed and shrieked.
“You’re going to drop me,” she screamed.
“I’m giving you a new perspective on the valley,” I said, my arms banded around her torso as she wiggled and kicked. I pressed my teeth against her backside and bit. “You’re supposed to be appreciating nature, peanut.”
“Are youbitingmy ass?” she yelled.
“It’s a nice ass,” I said, kissing the same spot before setting her on her feet.
We settled on the rock and shared the lunch we’d picked up before leaving the hotel. She tossed eighty percent of the turkey from her sandwich aside, explaining that she preferred sandwiches composed mostly of vegetables and cheese.
“If it were up to me, I’d skip the bread and stick with cheese and fruit,” she said, gesturing to me with her water bottle. “And nuts. Cheese, fruit, nuts. That’s all I need. There’s a market in Chestnut Hill that makes these perfect little cheese plates, but it’s a pain in the ass to get there from my place. Sometimes I send Tom to get me one for lunch, but I can’t really justify him spending that much time on cheese.”
I gazed at her, smiling. “When am I going to see you again?”
She capped her water and reclined back against her balled-up jacket. “When would you like to see me again?”
“Soon,” I said. I shifted to lie beside her, and wove our fingers together. There was an extended deployment on my horizon, and I wanted to steal every single moment of time between now and then with Shannon. “Really soon.”
“Why?”
I wasn’t sure what prompted the question, but it wasn’t like we spent much time defining this relationship or our feelings for each other. I only assumed she had feelings for me, and that was why she agreed to continue seeing me. “You’re so much,” I said, dragging my finger across that comet of freckles on her collarbone. “And I want all of it.”
*
Shannon was quieton the drive to the airport. She sat beside me, her fingers laced around mine, staring at the scenery as it passed.
I hated it.
“I noticed that it’s the end of November,” I said. “And December comes next.”
“A shrewd observation,” she mumbled. “Are commandos expected to memorize the sequence of months, or is that one of your special tricks?”
I hiked up my sleeve and made an exaggerated glance at my watch. “I had you biting a pillow two hours ago. You need me to pull over and fix that attitude?”
SEALs liked to sayanything worth doing was worth overdoingand this thing with Shannon—this power struggle—was definitely worth overdoing.
Shannon shook her fingers free with a snicker. “You don’t want me to hop on?”
She gestured to my crotch, and as if the mere suggestion of her silky skin against mine was enough to turn me on, an ache rolled down my dick. Four days of unrestricted access to this woman wasn’t enough, and as I caught sidelong glimpses of her now, her hair wavy and wild, a splattering of new freckles fanning out across her nose and cheekbones, her lips arched in a scowling pout, I knew there wouldn’t be a time when I wanted anyone other than Shannon.
“I want you to spend Christmas with me.”
I wanted to piss her off and fuck her hard. I wanted to laugh with her and hear all her awful stories. I wanted her vicious insults and the purring sighs she made before she came. I wanted itall.
“No,” she drawled. She huffed out a laugh and glanced at me, her brows furrowed. I knew she was searching for a caustic comeback, and when she found none, she crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”
“And by no you obviously mean yes,” I said. “We’re going to Mexico, a little place on the Baja coast.”
Shannon propped her sunglasses up and pressed her fingertips to her eyelids. She exhaled, as if this topic was inflicting pain. “You’ve omitted some critical details.”
“Like what?” I asked. My hand moved to the nape of her neck.
