Claiming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

away.
    “Nah, I just live there because it’s convenient. I run an excursion company with some buddies. You wanna go parasailing or snorkeling, you call me.”
    Oh. So it hadn’t been his job to protect her. He’d done it out of the goodness of his heart, like she’d assumed. God, she could not get a handle on what was happening here. So which was he—white knight or bad news?
    The man ran the company that offered snorkeling excursions. That couldn’t be a coincidence. The universe had finally self-corrected, putting exactly what she’d needed in her grasp at exactly the right time. Relief rushed into the hollow place in her chest, and for the first time, she experienced a moment of optimism akin to her pre-Chris self.
    She hadn’t known Dex was watching her as she spazzed about whether she was actually going to get in the water. He could have let her walk away without ever saying a word. He could have walked away. The man moved like a graceful panther on the prowl. She’d never have heard him if he’d decided to leave before announcing his presence.
    But he hadn’t left.
    A good dose of the courage she’d desperately sought flashed through her. “Is that a line?”
    “Came out automatically,” he allowed without even a hint of a smile, but the muscles in his neck drew taut. “I meant, call the front desk. One of the guys is always available. We’re just getting off the ground, so we appreciate the business.”
    She cocked her head and contemplated him with a pointed once-over. “You’re a natural flirt. Yet you seem to be trying to reel it in with me. Why?”
    “Because I am.”
    “Oh, right.” The tide had risen a bit while they were standing there, and the foamy line of water stretched closer and closer to her feet. It was a testament to Dex’s presence that she had absolutely no desire to back away. “You’re bad news. I remember now. Tell me, what’s the definition of bad news? If I said I’m not worried about that, exactly what kind of trouble would I find myself in?”
    Maybe he was one of those dungeon-whip-tie-you-up types. Her fascination with Dex shot off the charts as she sifted through a few choice scenarios designed to find out.
    “The kind where you’d be in over your pretty head very fast.”
    “You seem to think I’m some sort of delicate flower who would be easily crushed by whatever your mysterious secrets are. I’m not.”
    Was she? Defense had come automatically. She’d always defined herself as a strong woman. But recent events might prove otherwise, and shame flushed her chest with heat.
    Being a good judge of character wasn’t one of her strong suits. Obviously. Was Dex picking up on her spazzy brain? Sensing the weaknesses that had walloped her from out of nowhere over the past three months?
    Perhaps she should heed his warnings. Men who seemed to be one thing but were something else entirely were her kryptonite. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he’d used a metaphor for drowning when answering her question.
    Or… maybe this was an opportunity to be brave. To find a bit of her old self—or all of it. To jump in with both feet and kick to the surface so she could find out precisely what kind of wicked she could stir up with Dex whose name rhymed with sex.
    Moving past Chris had been the whole point of this trip, and there was nothing wrong with solidifying her newfound courage again by flirting with a hot guy on a secluded beach.
    “Yeah?” Those gray eyes latched onto hers, seeking out… something. “Because you look pretty delicate to me.”
    “Why don’t you come over here and find out.”
    It was a dare and an invitation, all wrapped up in one, and he didn’t miss it. The muscles in his jaw tightened as his lashes lowered with a slow perusal of her bikini-clad body. Heat flashed across her skin as if he’d stroked her with his hand instead of his gaze, and the fabric covering her nipples grew oh so tight and delicious as friction heightened the