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“Sorry,” I muttered. “I mean, I don’t know what this is.”
“It’s coffee. And just so you know, I don’t shake hands with women I’ve already fucked.”
I smiled. “What about impregnated?”
“Well.” His grin slipped a little. “Let’s sit.”
We sat back down and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. I studied him, impossibly curious. He was wearing a loose black shirt and well-fitting jeans. His tattoos snaked up his arms, disappearing underneath his sleeves, and I vaguely remembered tracing them with my fingers once, a long time ago.
“I’m sure this is strange for you,” he said, “me just showing up like this.”
“Very strange,” I admitted. “How did you find me?”
He just smiled. “I’ll get to that. First, I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner. I didn’t know about Mason. I may not be a fucking saint, but I wouldn’t ignore my own kid.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I tried to find you, but it’s like you don’t exist. Is Emory your real name?”
“Yeah,” he said, grinning again, “it is. But you won’t find me under that name.”
“Why not?” I asked, cocking my head.
“What do you do for a living, Tara?” he asked instead.
“I go to school. I want to be a nurse.”
“Well, my job is a little more complicated.” He leaned toward me, speaking low. “What do you know about the Navy SEALs?”
“Aren’t they, like, an elite special forces group or something?”
“Exactly. That’s my job. In particular, I’m assigned to a team that fights a Pakistani terrorist group called The Network.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds fake.”
He laughed. “It does, but I’m not lying.”
“Okay, so I couldn’t find you because you’re a spy or something?”
“Not exactly,” he said. “Our identities are protected because of the dangerous shit we do. I’m not in the public databases anymore.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.”
“It’s also how I found you. Being a SEAL team captain means I have access to some pretty cool fucking tricks.”
“But if you didn’t know about Mason, why did you come find me?”
I watched his face fall for a second before quickly gathering himself. “Do you remember the night we first met?”
“Of course,” I said softly. I felt a thrill run down my spine.
“You’re just as fucking sexy as you were that night,” he said softly.
“Obviously,” I said, joking.
“Some hard shit happened to me after that night, but all through it I kept thinking about your delicious little pussy.”
“What sort of stuff happened?”
“Just a mission. But you put a fucking fire in my veins, Tara.”
“So you found me because you wanted to sleep with me again?” I asked, feeling slightly annoyed.
“Would that bother you if it were true?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Probably.”
He smirked that delicious smile and leaned back, crossing his arms. “I’m not the type of man to play games, Tara. If that was what I wanted, I’d take it.”
“You can’t just take whatever you want,” I said, annoyed.
“Sure I can. Especially when you want to give it to me.”
“I don’t want to give you anything.”
“Are you sure about that?” He leaned forward again, looking hard at me. “Are you sure you’re not dripping wet, squirming in your seat right now?”
“Positive.” I stared back at him, my face hard, even though he was absolutely right.
I was dripping wet. I didn’t want to be, but my body was totally betraying me.
It didn’t matter though. I wasn’t going to give this cocky jerk an inch of what he wanted.
“We’ll see about that.”
“You haven’t answered my question yet,” I pressed. “Why are you here?”
“I know I didn’t answer. I will eventually, just not right now.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry, princess. It’s part of the job.”
“So you’re here because you’re a SEAL?”
“Not exactly.”
I sighed, exasperated. “Try being a little more exact. I’m tired and I have a baby at home. Your baby.”
“You’re tough, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have time to be weak. I’m a single mother now.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get that. I don’t have time for weakness either.”
