SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (101 page)

After several seconds of silence, he spoke up with a chuckle. “Want something to drink?”

Humor tickled her throat. “
Now
you offer it?”

Jill’s heart was still beating fast as she climbed on top of him and straddled his muscular body. Her hair fell like a curtain over his chest, and he fisted a hunk of it and brought her head down for a kiss. When their tongues met, her senses roared to life again.

“We don’t have time for silly things like hydration,” she said as she breathlessly broke the kiss. “We only get one night, remember?”

There was a beat. Followed by a quiet, “Yes.”

She could have sworn she’d heard a rueful note in his voice, but he didn’t give her time to dwell on it. He kissed her again, just as passionately as before, then peered up at her with heat in his eyes. “So we better make it count.”

‡

T
he following weekend,
Shane once again found himself at Andy’s Bar, after another grueling week of training with the team. Although he was dead-ass tired, Max had convinced him to go for dinner and drinks, except two minutes after they strode into the bar, the young lieutenant had ditched Shane for Allie West, the co-owner of the bar.

Shane would’ve been insulted if not for the fact that Allie was a great girl, and one of the sweetest people he’d ever met. He knew she and Max were close, but there was nothing romantic about their relationship. The pretty blonde had been dating the same guy since high school, and when she’d wandered over to their booth asking if Max had a moment to listen to her vent about her boyfriend, the other guy had dropped his menu and went off with her like the good friend he was.

Unfortunately, that left Shane to sit around like a chump, and as he waited for his buddy to return, his mind was flooded with thoughts of—who else—Jill Marshall.

He hadn’t seen or spoken to her all week, which told him she’d meant what she’d said about respecting his one-night policy. Last weekend she’d left his place at 3:00 a.m. with nothing but a hug and kiss goodbye, and it should have been the end of it. Except…well, there was one little problem.

He
hadn’t been satisfied with one night.

His gaze landed on his cell phone, which sat innocently next to his beer, taunting him with the fact that Jill’s phone number was stored inside it. The irony didn’t escape him. He’d laid down his usual ground rule, fully intending on sticking to it, and yet here he was, desperately wanting to call her.

But he shouldn’t. He really, really shouldn’t. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, damn it. He’d already met and married the love of his life. If he called Jill, he’d only be leading her on, and he didn’t want her to get attached to him, only to be crushed when she realized he truly wasn’t capable of giving her his heart.

But fuck. He was
aching
for her. His usual one-night mentality wasn’t working, and he couldn’t get Jill out of his goddamn head.

Before he knew it, he was swiping the iPhone screen to unlock it.

This is a mistake
, a cynical voice warned.

Yeah, it totally was, but it was too late to heed the advice. He’d already dialed Jill’s number, and when he heard her voice on the other end of the line, his heart did a wild flip. Christ. He felt like a horny teenager.

“Hey,” he greeted her. “It’s Shane.”

“Who?”

His stomach clenched.
Seriously?

“Shane,” he said again, his tone hardening.

“Sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name,” Jill said breezily. “I mean, I did, at one point in time, but I was instructed to forget he ever existed.”

Shane relaxed as he realized she was fucking with him. He didn’t entirely blame her, either. He supposed he deserved it after his staunch insistence that they couldn’t see each other.

“Funny,” he grumbled. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Nope. I was just wandering around my kitchen trying to figure out what to do for dinner.”

He smiled. “What’d you come up with?”

“Absolutely nothing. It’s awful—I can make any drink on the planet, but when it comes to cooking? I’m a total disaster. I’m not sure if I should fry up an omelet and hope that it’s not full of eggshells, or make mac and cheese and hope I don’t overcook the noodles.”

“There’s always option number three,” he hedged.

He could hear her suspicion buzzing through the extension. “Yeah? What’s that?”

“Have dinner with me. I’m at Andy’s again, and they’ve got a decent menu.”

The line went silent.

“Jill? You still there?”

“I’m here.” She paused. “I just don’t get it.”

“I’m asking you to have dinner with me. It’s not very complicated.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the walking definition of complicated! I thought you didn’t want to see me again.”

Shane stifled a sigh. “I changed my mind.”

“Ugh. And people say
women
are the indecisive ones.” Her laughter slid into his ear. “Are you being serious right now? You really want to hang out again?”

“Yes.” Regret crept into his tone. “Look, I know I was a dick about the whole one-night rule, but I wasn’t trying to jerk you around. That’s usually all I’m interested in.”

“Okay. And now?”

“Now I want to see you again,” he said simply. “If you’re still interested.”

He held his breath as he awaited a response. Fortunately, she didn’t keep him waiting long. She just sighed and said, “I’ll be there soon.”

Shane’s chest felt considerably lighter as he hung up the phone. Hell. He might as well accept it—the woman had gotten under his skin. Her laughter, her sarcasm, her insatiable sexual appetite. He hadn’t gotten her out of his system, and until he did, he would just have to readjust his rules and plow forward.

Sliding his phone in his pocket, he got up and headed for the bar. “Sorry to interrupt.” He tapped Max on the shoulder, then nodded at Allie, who greeted him with a smile. “But Jill’s meeting me here for dinner. Feel free to ditch me for real.”

Max sighed. “Yeah, I think I’ll have to. I can’t get this chatterbox to shut up.”

“You’re the one who wanted the whole story!” Allie protested. “Every last detail, you said.” She glanced at Shane. “I told him
numerous
times that he was being rude.”

She looked so genuinely upset that he had to chuckle. He liked the younger woman a helluva lot. Her sister Bridget, too. The two women had kept the bar open after their father’s death, and they were both tough as nails when it came to dealing with the often-overzealous sailors and jarheads that frequented the bar.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “I’m used to my teammates ditching me for beautiful women.”

She flushed prettily. “Thanks, Senior.”

With a nod of goodbye, he left them to their own devices and went over to the pool table, deciding to shoot some balls until Jill got there. It was still early in the evening, so the bar wasn’t even at half capacity yet. In a few hours it would be packed to the rafters, but he planned on being long gone by then. Judging by his previous interactions with Jill, they probably wouldn’t make it through dinner before they hightailed it out the door and into a bed.

When she entered the bar fifteen minutes later, he sensed her even with his back turned to the door. Her presence was
that
visceral.

Shane’s pulse sped up as he turned around to greet her. She’d worn a dress tonight, a silky green thing that matched her eyes and swirled around her knees, and she flashed a sparkling smile in his direction when she spotted him. It was kind of amazing—the woman always seemed to be in a good mood. He doubted she’d ever frowned a day in her life.

“Hey.” She walked up and planted a light peck on his cheek.

Shane was tempted to yank her into his arms for a more substantial kiss, but she was already heading to the nearest available booth. “I’m starving,” she announced as she flopped onto the bench. “I need food inside me, stat.”

“Is that all you want inside you?” he couldn’t help drawl.

She snickered. “Horndog.”

“Woof.”

Now she rolled her eyes. “Would you sit down already? You’re making me nervous looming over me like that.”

He didn’t believe for a second that
anything
made her nervous, but he indulged her by sliding onto the bench. Directly beside her.

Jill blinked. “Wow, really? Same side of the booth?”

“Got a problem with that?”

“No. But that’s…” Her brow furrowed. “That’s what couples do, you realize that, right?”

She had a point—he and Alana had always shared the same side of a booth. But he didn’t dwell on that. He simply rested a hand on her thigh and picked up one of the menus on the wooden tabletop.

“Okay, I
really
don’t get you,” Jill blurted out. “What exactly changed from last week to tonight?”

“I don’t know.” Shane shrugged. “I just wanted to see you again.”

“Why?”

“Because I did.” He ignored his rising discomfort and studied the menu, but it was hard to do when he saw Jill grinning at him from the corner of his eye.

“What?” he grumbled.

She beamed. “You like me.”

Resignation floated through him as he met her eyes. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

Jill looked ready to tease him about it, but the waiter chose that exact moment to approach their booth and take their drink orders. He left a moment later to give them time to look at their menus, and Jill skimmed hers with impressive speed before setting it down. “Okay, I know what I want. Let’s get to the question portion of the evening.”

Shane stared at her in suspicion. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning I ask you questions and you answer them. And if I’m satisfied by your answers, then maybe…
maybe
…I’ll sleep with you again.”

His lips curved mockingly. “Who said anything about sex? I invited you to dinner, pervert.”

Her tinkling laughter surrounded him like a warm embrace. “Bull,” she shot back. “This was a booty call and you know it. Only it’s the kind of booty call where you feed the girl first.”

Before she could launch into Twenty Questions, though, the waiter returned with their beers and stayed to scribble down their orders. They both ordered burgers, which Shane liked. There hadn’t been too many dinner dates in his life since Alana’s death, but the ones he had been on involved him ordering actual food while his companion picked at a starter salad without eating a bite. He appreciated a woman with a healthy appetite.

“First question,” Jill said the second the waiter disappeared. She shifted in the booth, angling her body so she was turned toward him. “Why do you only do one-night stands?”

He sipped his beer, keeping his tone casual. “I already told you, I’m not interested in relationships.”

“So, what, you’re scared that if you see a woman more than once she’ll get attached to you? Fall head over heels and hold on tight and never want to let you go?” Jill snorted. “I do love a man with a healthy ego.”

“I just don’t want to take the risk, okay?”

“Fair enough.” She tilted her head. “Second question is the same as the first, since you didn’t answer it properly. Why don’t you want a relationship? And don’t you dare say ‘not interested’. I want to know
why
.”

Hesitation rippled through him. “I…” His tongue tripped on the words. “I was married for eleven years.”

“Oh.” Her expression went serious. “Divorced?”

“She died.”

“Oh. Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, Shane. Did it happen recently?”

“Two years ago. Breast cancer.”

“Shit. That’s awful.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “It was.”

“You must have married young,” Jill remarked.

“I guess so. Alana was twenty when we met. I was twenty-two.”

“She was the love of your life?”

“Yes.” It was difficult to get the word out. His throat had clamped shut.

“Then you were lucky to have eleven years with her,” Jill murmured, gently touching his arm. “That’s something, right?”

Bitterness shot through him. “We should’ve had a lifetime.”

“Life doesn’t always go the way we plan.” She curled her fingers around his biceps, her thumb moving over his sleeve in soothing strokes. “I’m sorry for your loss, Shane.”

Christ. The conversation had taken a depressing turn he hadn’t intended on, so he quickly swallowed a lump of pain and changed the subject. “What about you? Any longtime relationships?”

“A few. I dated one guy all throughout college, but he landed a job in New York after graduation, and I had one lined up in California, and, well, the long-distance thing didn’t work out. After that I was with someone else for three years, but that didn’t work out either. We were too different, I guess. Didn’t have much in common.” She made a face. “And my last relationship was suffocation central. I wasted six months on that guy, until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I swear, I wasn’t even allowed to breathe without asking for permission.”

Shane chuckled. “I can’t imagine you asking permission for anything. You take what you want, remember?”

“Yup. That’s why you like me so much.” She cast another dazzling smile. “I like you, too, by the way. I’m not sure why, though.”