“Good evening, Lieutenant Morgan.”
His handshake was firm, and no one was more surprised than me when he didn’t try to break it.
“Good evening, captain.”
He swallowed—probably all the words he really wanted to say—and said, “You two have done very well in the Elite program so far. I hope you have a nice evening.”
“Thanks, uh, we’ll definitely try.”
He nodded and released my hand, and, not being stupid, I took that as my cue to keep on going. Panther stopped in front of his father and they exchanged quiet words.
It wasn’t until Panther sidled up beside me at the end of the receiving line and slipped his hand into mine that I realized we’d managed to weather this storm together and come out the other side intact…for now.
I glanced around the room, trying to locate the rest of our class, but it wasn’t hard to find them, since most were standing at our table with their mouths wide and their eyes round as saucers.
So I plastered a smirk on my face—I mean, let’s face it, my date is the hottest—and sauntered toward them, Panther following. When we stopped in front of the nosy bastards, I said, “Okay, assholes, who’s buying the first round? I could do with a drink.”
3Panther
“IT DOESN’T USUALLY take you more than one try to get it in the hole.” Solo’s breath tickled my ear as he chuckled and pressed his body more firmly against my back. “Need me to take over?”
“I can get it.” And really, I could. I just needed to figure out which of the two holes staring back at me was the right one. I closed one eye, and when one of the holes disappeared, I tried the one remaining.
“Mmm, yes,” Solo whispered. “Success.”
I chuckled, twisting the key so the lock popped, and then practically fell as the door swung open. Solo grabbed me from behind before I could face-plant, his strong arm wrapping tight around my waist, and then laughed.
“I guess those shots in the limo just hit.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“No? Where’s your hat?”
I looked around me, felt on top of my head, and looked down again.
Solo laughed and produced the hat from behind his back. “Looking for this?”
I grabbed the hat and tossed it across the room like a Frisbee. Then I reached for his and did the same.
So handsome… Solo in his dress whites would never fail to take my breath away. As much as I wanted to strip him naked now that I finally had him alone, I also wanted to take my time just looking at him.
He smirked. “See something you like?”
“Oh yeah.” I ran my hands over his chest and stepped in closer to nuzzle his neck. “Why do you have to look so good?” I breathed him in and sighed. “And smell so damn good.”
Solo vibrated with laughter as he wrapped his arms around me. “Okay, that tequila is kicking in.”
“Don’t need tequila to see how hot you are.”
“Both of me?” Solo’s lips quirked as I pulled back to look at him.
“Mhmm. Which one to kiss first…”
Solo’s grin grew, and then he reached for me, bringing his hands up to hold my face. I closed my eyes as his lips brushed against mine.
And then I was lost.
He deepened the kiss slowly, running his tongue along my lower lip before diving in to taste me. I couldn’t stop my groan as I finally got the connection I’d been dying for all night. Even though we’d walked into the Navy Ball together and made our status known to everyone in that room, we’d still shied away from any PDA, especially with our superiors watching. Not to mention our fellow Elite trainees, all of whom had looked a little shell-shocked and not sure what to say. It hadn’t been my plan to drink much, but I couldn’t deny the way the beers sent my way had helped, and by the time we’d crawled into Houdini’s limo, I’d been relaxed enough to take every shot thrust my way. All while Solo watched from beside me, his hand on my thigh, stroking his thumb across my pants lightly…
