A SEAL at Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

back of her dress was partially unzipped.
    Pushing the strap of her dress back up her shoulder, she did about a hundred moves to pull the zipper up all the way.
    “Um, I think you might want to wash your face.” She gestured with her hand.
    “Thanks.” He smiled as he turned on the sink and did as she suggested.
    Fetching her purse from where she’d stashed it, she fixed her lipstick and was semiready to exit the bathroom.
    ***
    On the other side of the bathroom door, they quickly skirted the line. These people actually wanted to use the facilities. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She was mortified—necking in the toilet like a teenager. What on earth had gotten into her?
    Jack touched her elbow, guiding her to a semiquiet niche. Squeezing into it, they stared at each other.
    Ugh! She hated that awkward moment when the physical attraction was cooling and reality was setting in. Not that she had a ton of experience, but she had some.
    “So, Jack, what would you like to do next?” She began chattering to fill the silence. Though perhaps she shouldn’t have led with that question. Now that the crazy, lust-fueled moment had passed, she was starting to feel back in control. “I mean, what do you do for a living? What’s your job?”
    “I’m a Navy SEAL. I thought you knew.” His head tilted to the side as if he was studying her anew.
    Crap! Crap! Crap! “No, I didn’t. I, uh, don’t normally date military guys.” She spoke the words a little vehemently. I shouldn’t have kissed him. Seriously, it wasn’t this guy’s fault that he was Spec Ops. Whom did she expect to meet here? “Sorry, I just—”
    “Does that mean you date military women?” he asked with a smirk on his face.
    “No!” She laughed. “The military—in all its forms—isn’t my normal preference. I like nine-to-five guys. A man who comes home every night and is there on the weekend. Someone stable.”
    “You ever date a SEAL?” he asked. The question sounded curious, not judgmental, so she answered it.
    “No.”
    He looked at her intently. “How can you know you don’t want something if you’ve never tried it?”
    “Inside knowledge,” she stated. He hadn’t earned the right to her history yet.
    A grimace passed over his features. He grabbed his calf and massaged the back of it.
    “Cramp?” she asked.
    “Yeah, I get them when my potassium is low,” he confessed.
    “I have just the trick.” She pulled his hand away from the ailing muscle and pushed on various spots on and around the muscle. “I do acupressure. This should loosen things up.”
    “Yeah, that helps. Thanks.” Lowering his leg, he stared at her, and then he straightened his collar, flipping it out to land on top of his jacket.
    She searched in her purse for her business card, plucked one out, and handed it to him. “Laurie Smith, physical therapist.” His eyebrows furrowed. The smile melted away, to be replaced with a very deep frown. “What the hell? Is this some kind of setup? Did Gich put you up to this? He mentioned something about acupressure. I fucking knew you’d done this before.”
    “Done what? How do you know Commander Gich?” Laurie was confused. Could he insult her any more deeply than thinking her a prostitute? What was with this guy?
    “Hold up! You need to explain yourself, Jack.” Anger built in her gut. Had Gich set her up with him ? Was all of this a game to get her back into the groove of dating and living? Gich wouldn’t do this! She was a paragon, basically a nun, in his eyes, almost as pure as the Virgin Mary. None of this made any sense! Feeling a hard edge creep into her thoughts, she said, “You need to be up-front with me. What’s going on?”
    Stepping closer than was necessary, he looked down at her with a frown on his handsome face. “You can tell Gich for me that I don’t need any charity. Anything I have to face, I’ll do it on my own.” He turned away from her and then stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he said,