turned to face her. She’d put her hands on her hips and her face was flushed.
Still so fucking pretty.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said. “What in the hell were you thinking?”
Dane dragged his gaze from the scoop neck of her top. “Why are you wearing clothes that hide your figure?”
Ivy blinked. And then her face grew redder. “Un-fucking-believable! I’m being serious here, and you’re talking to me about my clothes? What about your clothes, asshole? Why are you wearing camouflage?”
“It’s my uniform.”
Ivy poked him in the chest with a manicured fingernail. “Exactly, dickhead. We aren’t dressing for a night out on the town here, are we? Not to mention your right to discuss my wardrobe ended when you walked out on me.”
A hot ball of anger coiled tight in Dane’s chest. He worked real hard not to let it explode. “When I walked out on you? Honey, you told me to get out, if I remember rightly. Told me to go join the fucking SEALs and stay out of your life.”
“You were going to join anyway. You told me that. I told you not to come back if you did.”
He couldn’t help the sarcasm in his tone. “Same as I told you when you wanted to join the DEA, right?”
She had the grace to look ashamed—for about half a second. “That was different, and you know it. You knew why.”
Yes, he knew that her mother had died from an accidental drug overdose after her father abandoned them and that Ivy had spent a few years in foster care before going to live with her grandmother. He also knew that she’d had a passion to prevent drugs from reaching the streets. It was her calling, and he couldn’t argue with that. But the Navy had been his calling, and she hadn’t understood. Neither had his parents. His father had gone particularly ballistic at the announcement. It had felt as if everyone in his life who was supposed to support him had bailed on him.
Which they had.
“And before you go getting all self-righteous,” she continued, “you weren’t precisely happy about it.”
“No, but I was supportive. Because you wanted it, Ivy. Because I loved you.”
And when you loved someone, you supported them.
He didn’t miss the way her green eyes darkened for a second or the way even saying those words formed a lump in his throat. Yeah, he’d loved her. He’d learned the hard way that it wasn’t a good idea. Thanks to Ivy, he wasn’t ever letting himself get so emotionally involved with a woman again.
He’d had no idea what love was supposed to be, but he’d thought it meant you did whatever it took to make the other person happy. Yeah, he’d been an idiot all right. Never again.
“If I’d never joined the DEA, if I’d followed you around the world, sat in port and waited for months while you were gone, you’d have been perfectly happy to let that happen. I needed more, Dane.”
“You knew when you met me what my plans were,” he growled. “If you didn’t like it, then why the fuck did you stay? Why did you marry me?”
She’d been the first person he’d told that he planned to join the Navy rather than the Army as expected. He hadn’t told her about the SEALs at that point because he hadn’t realized it himself.
She closed her eyes for a second. “It never changes, does it? We’ve had this argument before. Clearly, we don’t understand each other. We never did. And we shouldn’t have gotten married. It was wrong.”
“Didn’t feel like that at the time.”
She snorted softly. “You know it’s true though. We were young and dumb and hot for each other. That’s not enough to build a life together.”
Dane shook his head. “There are worse things than being hot for each other. It’s a start.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t do this right now. We sat there and told that man this wasn’t going to be a problem. And I really need it not to be because I have work to do. I want to find these motherfuckers and get that sub, and
Still so fucking pretty.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said. “What in the hell were you thinking?”
Dane dragged his gaze from the scoop neck of her top. “Why are you wearing clothes that hide your figure?”
Ivy blinked. And then her face grew redder. “Un-fucking-believable! I’m being serious here, and you’re talking to me about my clothes? What about your clothes, asshole? Why are you wearing camouflage?”
“It’s my uniform.”
Ivy poked him in the chest with a manicured fingernail. “Exactly, dickhead. We aren’t dressing for a night out on the town here, are we? Not to mention your right to discuss my wardrobe ended when you walked out on me.”
A hot ball of anger coiled tight in Dane’s chest. He worked real hard not to let it explode. “When I walked out on you? Honey, you told me to get out, if I remember rightly. Told me to go join the fucking SEALs and stay out of your life.”
“You were going to join anyway. You told me that. I told you not to come back if you did.”
He couldn’t help the sarcasm in his tone. “Same as I told you when you wanted to join the DEA, right?”
She had the grace to look ashamed—for about half a second. “That was different, and you know it. You knew why.”
Yes, he knew that her mother had died from an accidental drug overdose after her father abandoned them and that Ivy had spent a few years in foster care before going to live with her grandmother. He also knew that she’d had a passion to prevent drugs from reaching the streets. It was her calling, and he couldn’t argue with that. But the Navy had been his calling, and she hadn’t understood. Neither had his parents. His father had gone particularly ballistic at the announcement. It had felt as if everyone in his life who was supposed to support him had bailed on him.
Which they had.
“And before you go getting all self-righteous,” she continued, “you weren’t precisely happy about it.”
“No, but I was supportive. Because you wanted it, Ivy. Because I loved you.”
And when you loved someone, you supported them.
He didn’t miss the way her green eyes darkened for a second or the way even saying those words formed a lump in his throat. Yeah, he’d loved her. He’d learned the hard way that it wasn’t a good idea. Thanks to Ivy, he wasn’t ever letting himself get so emotionally involved with a woman again.
He’d had no idea what love was supposed to be, but he’d thought it meant you did whatever it took to make the other person happy. Yeah, he’d been an idiot all right. Never again.
“If I’d never joined the DEA, if I’d followed you around the world, sat in port and waited for months while you were gone, you’d have been perfectly happy to let that happen. I needed more, Dane.”
“You knew when you met me what my plans were,” he growled. “If you didn’t like it, then why the fuck did you stay? Why did you marry me?”
She’d been the first person he’d told that he planned to join the Navy rather than the Army as expected. He hadn’t told her about the SEALs at that point because he hadn’t realized it himself.
She closed her eyes for a second. “It never changes, does it? We’ve had this argument before. Clearly, we don’t understand each other. We never did. And we shouldn’t have gotten married. It was wrong.”
“Didn’t feel like that at the time.”
She snorted softly. “You know it’s true though. We were young and dumb and hot for each other. That’s not enough to build a life together.”
Dane shook his head. “There are worse things than being hot for each other. It’s a start.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t do this right now. We sat there and told that man this wasn’t going to be a problem. And I really need it not to be because I have work to do. I want to find these motherfuckers and get that sub, and
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