Fatal Heat: A Navy SEAL Novella Read Online Free PDF

Paige-trance.
    “Max!” He put command in his voice. “Sit!”
    Immediately, Max plopped his butt on the floor. The discipline lasted a second as he shivered with excitement, then hind muscles bunched for another leap on Paige.
    “Stay!” Max commanded, and surreptitiously slipped him a doggie treat. He’d never thought to try that with his men. Give them a command, then slip them a Mars bar when they obeyed.
    Now it was Paige’s pretty jaw that dropped. She gazed wide-eyed down at her dog then up at him. “Oh my gosh! He obeyed you! That’s amazing, how did you manage that?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And don’t you dare say it’s because you’re a man.”
    He clenched his jaw closed because, well, it was true. He was used to commanding men. Corralling her dog into something resembling discipline came easily to him.
    “I won’t say that. Promise.” Max wasn’t a fool. He wanted to keep on her good side. “Here.” He pulled his hand from behind his back to show her a bouquet of flowers. “Believe it or not, your dog picked them out. He sniffed at all the florist’s bouquets and decided on this one. Just sat down in front of it and wouldn’t budge until I bought it. I have no idea what the flowers are.”
    She was smiling as she took the bouquet, sniffing appreciatively. “Thanks, though it wasn’t necessary. Let’s see, we have black-eyed Susans, African daisies, Gladioli, Zinnias and Asters.”
    His eyebrows rose. “That’s impressive. I know daisies from roses, but that’s about it. I know edible mushrooms and those that will poison you.” And how to make deadly oleander tea.
    “Don’t be too impressed,” Paige called out as she walked into a small, pretty, light-filled kitchen and came back out with a vase. “Knowing plants is my job. I’m a plant geneticist.” She looked at his face and laughed. “I get that blank look a lot. No one knows what to say to that. Must be like your line of work. Come on in and sit down; can I serve you a glass of wine?”
    The dog was whining and wriggling at his feet. Max looked at Paige. “Thanks. I’d love a glass of wine. What are we going to do about Max? I think we’ve reached the limits of my one-day training course.”
    Paige turned back to the kitchen, her words trailing. “Well, I do happen to have some treats for a good dog .” As if the words were a trigger releasing a spring, Max leaped up and scrambled into the kitchen, nails clicking madly on the tile floor.
    Well, it was good while it lasted. No one could expect a dog barely out of puppyhood to stay still forever. Particularly after only one day of training.
    Max was jumping up and down, making light yips of joy. Paige bent down open-handed, and he ate the treats delicately from her palm, then licked it. Paige laughed and ruffled the fur on the top of his head as he looked up at her adoringly.
    Max understood perfectly. The instant he’d seen Paige on the doorstep, so pretty and smiling, something in him—something painful and dark and twisted—cracked open, just a little.
    Amazing.
    The groundwork had been laid by a sunny day with an energetic, affectionate dog, and now the work was complete in the presence of its mistress.
    Paige exuded calm. Sexy, radiant serenity. Did such a thing exist? Hell if he knew. But if it did, she had it in spades.
    The way she moved, those luscious yet slender curves, some kind of perfume that moved straight into a man’s nose and zapped the thinking part of his brain—those were there. But there was also some kind of serene force field around her. She moved in her pretty orderly space like some kind of angel sent to earth to remind him that life was good, was worth living. That life wasn’t battle and death and loss. Blood and pain. That life had things that were worth fighting for.
    Paige and her funny, hyperactive dog—hell, yes, they were worth fighting for. What he was watching was a scene that was unthinkable in certain parts of the