He released her. She stood staring up at him, gasping for a moment before looking around sheepishly. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d forgotten where they were for the moment.
The huskiness in her voice nearly did him in again. “I think they got the message that time.”
He hoped so. Because he sure as hell did.
•••
After that strange episode on the beach, Annie wasn’t sure what to expect. But when Dan met her in the room later, it wasn’t nearly as awkward as she feared. They went to dinner and talked the same way they had the night before.
He told her a little more about his past. It sounded pretty messed up. His alcoholic mother and abusive deadbeat father certainly weren’t going to win Mom and Dad of the Year. Reading between the lines, she realized that the military had been a stabilizing force in his life, taking the place of the family who had left him to fend for himself. She asked a little about his time in the navy, but it was clear the subject was off-limits. Not wanting to ruin the night, she didn’t voice her suspicions about his being a SEAL.
Maybe she didn’t want confirmation.
It wasn’t until they’d finished getting ready for bed that the air in the room grew thick with tension.
She was already under the covers when he came back from the bathroom. He was wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt, which she suspected were for her benefit.
“I can sleep on the floor,” he said, holding her gaze, his jaw tight.
In other words, he was leaving the decision up to her. They both knew what would happen if he got into bed next to her again.
The air practically crackled with heated anticipation as he waited for her to make up her mind. It should have taken much longer than it did. But she wanted to be with him again. This morning had been amazing, but it had just been a taste. A wicked, delicious taste, perhaps, but she knew there was much more.
Just because she’d never done casual didn’t mean she couldn’t do it.
Was it a good idea? Probably not. She already liked him too much and had become strangely attached. But she took that tobe largely due to their circumstances, and she wasn’t going to waste the chance to experience what she expected was going to be phenomenal, mind-blowing, no-holds-barred sex.
She met his gaze unhesitatingly. “I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”
The clear invitation didn’t lessen the tautness in his body any; he seemed to be holding himself by a very tight rope.
Did he have any idea how attractive he was right now? She couldn’t take her eyes off the dark, chiseled lines of his face, the hard line of his jaw, and the silvery blue of his eyes.
Tough guy. Hard as nails. Too blunt. But hot. Really, really hot.
“I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings,” he said. “I can’t offer you anything more.”
“I’m not asking for anything more.”
He put one knee on the bed and pulled off his shirt.
Holy shit, that wasn’t fair. His body was... built, incredible, insane. Pick your extraordinary adjective. She wanted to run her finger down all those lines and ridges.
Or maybe her tongue.
Unaware that he’d just turned her body into a pool of liquid heat, he still seemed hesitant. “Casual, right?”
“Very casual.”
All-night-long casual, she hoped.
“You sure?”
She shook her head. “Do you always give a girl this many times to change her mind?”
He smiled—that not-quite-half smile that she loved. “Maybe not. But this feels”—he shrugged—“I don’t know—different.”
She told her heart not to catch at that.
