A Sexy SEAL Novella Anthology Read Online Free PDF Page B

in here. You should be out
there,” she said, turning to wave her hand toward the living room.
When she spotted the beer still dangling from his fingers she
grabbed it and had it turned upside down, draining in the sink
before he could protest. She skirted around him and opened the
fridge while he was still frowning at the empty bottle.
    “Here. Here’s a fresh beer,” she told him,
sliding it into his hand while turning him toward the exit. “You go
on out and relax. I’ll have dinner done in just a few minutes.”
    He wanted to protest.
    He didn’t want to relax. He wasn’t even sure
he wanted dinner. He did want Bryanna, though. He wanted to watch
her slap together her famous tuna fish or attempt to do something
edible with canned soup. To talk with her about what she’d been up
to, or what he’d been doing while he was away. To simply enjoy her
company the way he usually did.
    Better yet, he wanted to decipher the look
in her eyes, to figure out what was wrong.
    Because something clearly was.
    “Bry—”
    “I’m sure you worked your butt off during—”
she broke off, a combination of worry and dismay flashing in her
eyes before she corrected, “over the last few months. You should
relax. Go into the living room, put your feet up. I DVR’d some
football games. Watch one, or check out the new Patterson novel I
picked up for you.”
    “I’d rather stay here.” He added his most
charming smile. But before he could reach out to use any of his
other charms, Bryanna stepped back.
    “I need to cook dinner, Sam. You know it’ll
take all of my concentration. So go. Just,” she made a shooing
motion with her fingers, “Go.”
    Obviously, he had no choice.
    He and his beer went into the living room to
relax.
    He scrolled through the games and
appreciated that she’d caught all the ones he’d have wanted to see.
Then he turned off the TV.
    He lifted the stack of four novels from the
coffee table, the books clamped between his thumb and pinkie. They
all looked good. But he set them back down, unread. He drank the
beer in three swallows, then paced the room.
    It looked the same.
    When he’d been growing up, not a month went
by that his mom didn’t change something. The furniture arrangement,
the paint on the walls, the curtains on the windows. She had bins
of pillows and doodads she’d alternate regularly. It’d always
freaked him out to have to stand in the doorway for a good long
second before he was sure he was in the right place.
    But not Bryanna.
    Pacing back toward the kitchen, he grabbed
the stuffed penguin from the couch, tossing it in the air as he
walked. Bryanna had the good sense to know that her place looked
great. Comfortably stylish, he supposed. And when it was right, she
didn’t screw it up changing pillows or scratching the hardwood
floor when she hauled the couch across it. His girl, she knew when
she had a good thing, and she appreciated it.
    Just like he appreciated her.
    He glanced into the kitchen, watching as
Bryanna tossed colorful greens in a big bowl with two wooden
spoons. She was going to a lot of trouble. He didn’t offer again to
help. His girl was stubborn, he knew. And he really did appreciate
that she was putting on one hell of a welcome home party for him.
His game on TV, a fancy meal hot from the kitchen and mind-blowing
sex. He tossed the penguin back on the couch and blew out a
breath.
    It was a hell of a contrast to his last few
weeks.
    That’s why he felt so weird, wasn’t it?
    “Dinner,” Bryanna sang out, setting the bowl
of salad she’d been tossing earlier on the small gateleg table next
to the window. “I hope you’re hungry.”
    “Fancy,” he commented as he pulled out a
chair for her before taking the salad and setting it on the table
himself. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble, though. I’ve
been living on C-rations. One of your world famous tuna sandwiches
would’ve been fine with me.”
    “I wanted to do something special,”