He laughed and walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Yes, beautiful. I cook. Now start the shower.”
After shower sex and homemade food that tasted better than some of the gourmet dishes I’d had in my youth, I pulled Daniel into my arms, tilting my chin up as he angled his down.
“You don’t need to leave,” he muttered.
I didn’t need to leave, no, but I didn’t tell him that. There were things I had to get done before I went on watch the next day. One of them was to settle back into the mindset I needed to finish my training. I understood better now than I had before why everyone maintained immersion. It was the only way to succeed in BUD/S. This small glimpse of normality made the thought of going back that much harder.
“Yeah, I do.”
He nodded. A look I wished I had time to learn its meaning painted his face. I sighed—a deep, resigned breath. I wanted to suggest we hook up again, but Daniel posed too big a distraction, too much of a temptation. So as intrigued as I was, Daniel and the things he made me feel, in bed and out, he was a risk I couldn’t take.
CHAPTER 6
DANIEL
San Diego - September2001
The building loomed as I pulled into the parking lot, and if the building seemed imposing, the week ahead was worse. Deployment for SEAL Team 3 came at us like a heat-seeking missile. For me, that meant a lot of long hours, both before we deployed and after.
If the team was the tip of the spear, then I was the man who pointed it in the right direction. I dug through reports, vetted intel, and interrogated targets the team took into custody, all to do one thing—point the spear toward the next high-value target.
Turning the corner toward my office. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to my bed. Only not to the man I left in it. He wasn’t the man I wanted in my bed, but it was clear the night I spent with Xander, whose last name I didn’t even know, was one and done. It irked me. We connected. I knew we did. I felt it. But given he hadn’t called, and yes, I’d given him my number, or even knocked on the door since that night, I needed to get a clue.
He wasn’t interested.
“Hey!”
I turned. Parker Holt stood in front of me, a smirk on his face. “Mornin’.”
“Good morning, Lieutenant,” I said, skirting the man to walk into my office.
I hoped the lack of interaction would keep him from following me, but the gods weren’t on my side. He followed me inside, closing the door.
Sighing, I took a seat behind my desk, wincing as my ass contacted the chair. Parker’s stupid, smirking face irked me when I looked up at him. God, I was an idiot.
“We need to do better.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” I muttered.
He looked over his shoulder, then whispered, “Fucking you wasn’t the plan when I invited you out for a drink last night.”
I dropped my head into my hands. I didn’t think it was. That was the problem whenever we went out—if one of us didn’t find someone to hook up with, we kept drinking until we were so drunk we fell into bed with each other.
“Daniel…”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine,” I said. A deep sigh filled my lungs, whispering, “Apparently, I have a type,” as I exhaled.
“What’s that mean?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“Ho! I don’t think so.”
Grumbling under my breath, I muttered, “I have a thing for alpha male warrior types who are emotionally unavailable.”
He mimicked a curious puppy as he stared at me with an idiotic, quizzical look on his face. “Who?” he asked.
I cocked my brow at him, tilting my chin. He didn’t actually believe I would out someone even if I knew he’d keep his mouth shut. Xander’s truth wasn’t mine to tell.
