Second Chance with Her SEAL

by Gillian Blakely

  The shower clicked off and she snatched up the carafe. What a mess she was, letting her mind run away with her.

  That was better than hormones, she supposed.

  She'd poured the water in the reservoir and loaded a few heaping teaspoons of coffee when the bathroom door opened. Unable to stop herself, she glanced back.

  Amid a swirl of moist air, David emerged into the narrow hallway, all brawny shoulders and gorgeous pecks. A fluffy white towel hugged his hips almost indecently. Water droplets clung to well defined abs. His skin was tanned to perfection and dotted with intricate jet-black ink.

  Sabrina's stomach tightened, and air froze in her lungs.

  He was gorgeous.

  Her gaze continued north until she met his eyes. The connection she'd felt between them in the coffee shop sizzled. He drew her like the world's strongest magnet. Her entire body leaned in his direction, but something kept her feet planted.

  Sex wasn't why she was here, but it sure as hell was what she wanted. From the flush of heat rushing across her shoulders, to the sizzle in her blood, she recognized the instant attraction that'd only happened to her once before.

  The memory of how that turned out made her turn and search the upper cabinet for coffee cups. She'd be smart to remember that she hadn't seen this man in almost fifteen years. And just because he was hotter than hell itself, she didn't know him. Certainly not enough to just jump into bed.

  Be honest. You'd do him against the bathroom door.

  True.

  Sad, but true.

  When had she become so darned horny?

  Roughly an hour ago.

  It was like her brain was melting down in her skull. Maybe he was wearing one of those pheromone sprays. Surely that was it.

  And all those muscles. Those certainly didn't hurt.

  She heard him move away, down the hall, shut the bedroom door. A steady stream of dark brown elixir hit the bottom of the carafe with a satisfying gurgle.

  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She honestly wasn't sure how much willpower she had around this man. He was both the friend she remembered and built like the god of her dreams. Being in such a small space, with the soft lighting, well, it was cozy.

  She simply needed to remember that the walls were paper thin, and David's next-door neighbors were all of ten feet away. Definitely not a private atmosphere.

  Would a round of vigorous sex make the RV shake?

  Sabrina snickered to herself.

  “What has you so amused?”

  His voice, so close and deep, startled her and she spun.

  “I—” she snapped her mouth closed. Heat flooded her cheeks. She couldn't tell him exactly what she'd been thinking, could she?

  A dark brow lifted in question. The way his gaze was locked on her face, the ease of facial muscles, he was intrigued.

  And God help her, so was she. More than intrigued.

  With him looming so close she had to tip her chin up, it was as if he'd stolen all the oxygen in the room.

  At least he'd put on clothes. Sort of. His bare chest peaked from beneath a plaid button up shirt and sent her temperature spiking. What could she say, she was a sucker for jeans and a naked torso on a man.

  “I was just thinking how close your neighbors are.”

  “Yeah.” He glanced out the window over the stove. “These sites are tighter than some of the parks I've been in.”

  “I guess it's okay as long as there aren't noise complaints.”

  There went that brow again. She found herself wanting to trace it with her fingertip. Hell, she wanted to nip her way down that chiseled cheek to his angled jaw. She might just nibble his ear lobe.

  “You thinking about making some noise?” His voice was like rich, dark chocolate and laced with humor.

  This man was different from the one who'd changed Celita's tire with brutal efficiency.

  This man made her swoon.

  Danger. Danger.

  Sirens went off in her head.

  Remember the neighbors. Paper thin walls. Fifteen years of history to discuss.

  Right. She turned to the mugs and braced her hands against the edge of the counter. What was happening to her?

  Sure, she'd felt attraction before. She knew exactly what lust was. She'd even felt it blossom into love. But this was... incendiary.

  This was a full body flush that felt more like wildfire, leaving her needy and panting.

  Right now, at this moment, she'd give anything to feel his touch.

  The sirens went off again. Red, white and blue lights swirling around in her head with a sharp blast indicating danger. Alert. Mayday.

  “Sabrina?”

  He was closer.

  The coffee maker gave one last sputter and the dribbling stopped. The delicious aroma wafted over her and she took a deep breath. She hadn't realized how much noise the machine had been producing but everything now seemed extra quiet.

  Extra intimate.

  Did he feel it? The pull? The connection zinging between them like a live wire? Did he notice the sound of her breath the way she did his?

  The awareness of him, standing so close but not quite touching her, it was unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

  And then, as if he could read her mind and was answering her silent prayers, he hooked a hand over her shoulder.

  6

  A tiny amount of pressure had Sabrina pivoting toward him. Somehow, David was even warmer than she was and that was saying something.

  Fire licked up and down her arms, flamed across her chest, down to the tips of her breasts. It was a living, breathing thing, consuming her and the look in his eyes only fed the beast.

  “Forget about the coffee.” His words were soft and rough, barely above a whisper.

  That sounded like an excellent idea to her. Most excellent.

  She swayed toward him.

  “I can't believe...” She broke off her words and dropped her gaze to his chest. The smattering of dark hair over thick muscle fascinated her. Where had he been keeping himself?

  “What?”

  “You're here.” She dared another glance into eyes she knew as well as her own. “You're you.”

  Somehow, it was like the last fifteen years had collapsed in on themselves and they'd never been apart. Did he feel it too?

  There'd always been an ease between them...until high school that is.

  She ached just thinking about how strained things had become between them.

  His hand trailed down the outside of her arm and then settled over the curve of her waist. He'd never...they'd never touched like this before.

  “I'm here and I'm me. And you're you. So grown up.”

  She laughed at that and the corner of his sinful mouth turned up in a grin. Gracious.

  He might think she looked grown up but inside she had all the hormones and jitters of a seventeen-year-old girl. A seventeen-year-old girl who'd had a massive crush on her best friend.

  “I could say the same thing about you.” Reaching out, she gripped the edge of his shirt and gave it a little tug. “Where'd you find all these muscles?”

  “In the Navy.”

  She smiled. “Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head.”

  His thumb brushed back and forth against her side, teasing her. Letting go of his shirt, she slid a palm against his skin.

  “What about you?”

  She lifted her gaze from where she’d been studying his chest. He was checking her out. “That's a long story.”

  His brows lifted.

  “I met a guy during my freshman year. He was overweight like I was.” She paused as the memories assaulted her. So many happy memories. So many hard, sad moments that threatened to steal her breath.

  “You don't have to tell me now.”

  Her breath hitched.

  “It's okay. I—He had this amazing outlook on life. It was contagious. He didn't let his weight keep him down or from making friends. We started working out together.”
/>
  David's other hand hooked over her hip. “Where is he now?”

  Sabrina closed her eyes to keep the tears back. Would there ever be a day when she thought about Ethan and didn't cry?

  “He's a fool to let you go.”

  David's quiet assurance almost broke her composure, what she had left of it anyway. Talk about a mood killer. A crying woman had to be at the top of the list.

  But some aches never fully healed. In so many ways, Ethan had been her soul mate. Not in a romantic way, but in a spiritual one. He'd been exactly what she'd needed at the lowest point in her life.

  He'd saved her life.

  And she hadn't been able to save his.

  “It was never like that between us.” She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “He passed away during our junior year. Cancer.”

  There was a shocked gasp, a long moment where the world seemed to stop, and then he wrapped her in the strongest, most comforting embrace she'd ever felt.

  And that's when she lost it.

  Sobs tore through her chest and for a moment, the agony of losing such a dear friend felt brand new. The rawness stole her breath. Made her throat hurt as she choked back a breath.

  “I'm sorry,” David murmured as he rubbed her back.

  Sabrina cried for Ethan, but she cried for David too. For their friendship. For the years that had gone by and for not being a good friend. She wept because she knew how incredibly lucky she was to have had two wonderful men in her life.

  One lost to a terrible disease.

  The other to something almost as heinous.

  “I'm sorry.” She pulled back a fraction and fought for composure. “This was not at all how I imagined this going.”

  She wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. All the while, David, sweet David, held her close, supported and comforted her.

  Why had she not fought for him?

  “How did you imagine this going?” His voice was warm and mischievous.

  She laughed.

  God bless him. She laughed.

  Maybe, just maybe, she hadn't fully healed like she'd thought she had. Maybe she was, and David was, in exactly the place and time they were supposed to be.

  Sabrina tipped her head back and stared up at the boy-turned-gorgeous-man who'd hiked through swamps with her as a child.

  “I didn't expect to cry all over you.”

  “You look beautiful, even with tear stained cheeks.”

  She laughed and wiped away another tear. “You're so sweet.”

  A strange look flashed across his face and he took a slow step backward.

  “What's wrong?” She grabbed his hand, not ready to let him get away. Truth be told, she wasn't ready to let the connection sever. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

  “I'm not sweet—”

  “Dav—”

  He squeezed her hand and his gaze softened. A glimmer of a smile clung to his lips. Then he looked away, a long, long way away, it seemed. “I'm...”

  He took a deep breath and then he met her gaze again.

  “I'm a lotta things, Sabrina. But I haven't been sweet in a really, really long time.”

  Sabrina felt the air shift around them. She'd rehearsed what she'd say if she ever got to see her childhood friend again. How hurt she'd been in school, by the mean girls, how depressed she'd been after he'd moved to the other side of town.

  But this was so much deeper, so much rawer and the stakes felt so much higher.

  Heck, she didn't know if she'd ever see him again, but she knew she wanted to. And she knew, deep down with the kind of certainty life experience gives you, that she'd do anything to have him in her life.

  Whatever was happening between them, wherever this incredible attraction was leading, she was open to it. Open, ready, excited.

  Standing in front of him, her hand trapped in his much larger one, she felt feminine and delicate. High on her own power, she stepped toe to toe with him and tugged at his shirt again.

  “You don't fool me, David Jameson. I've known you since you were five years old and you told me to hold out my hand. I fully expected a grasshopper or a spider or even a salamander.”

  He seemed transfixed by the memory.

  “You handed me a flower. You were sweet then, and despite whatever you've done, you're being sweet now.”

  She slid her hand up his chest, around his neck, and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. But before she could lose herself, she stepped away and turned toward the bathroom door.

  “I'll just be a minute.”

  * * *

  David stared at the closed bathroom door, excitement and apprehension tumbling through him. Sabrina Duncan.

  Little Sabrina Duncan was in his rig.

  The water turned on, filling the silence.

  Fifteen years. She was more beautiful than ever. Intoxicating even.

  What the hell was he doing? He should go pour himself a cup of coffee and sit his ass on the couch.

  That's what he should do.

  But his libido was having none of it. She was under his skin. In his head.

  If they kept this up, she'd be in his pants soon. And then he’d be in hers. He honestly didn’t know if he could resist her if she touched him like that, skin on skin.

  He pulled his hands down his face and turned away.

  There was no use trying to lie to himself, to brush this off as some quick, meaningless encounter. He didn't care much for those. Female company wasn't terribly high on his list of priorities.

  But this woman...

  He wanted her more than he had fifteen years ago and given what teenaged hormones were...

  The truth was, she made him feel... incredible.

  It'd been so damn long since he'd felt in awe of anything. Somewhere in the last half decade, he'd resigned himself to putting in the hours. Doing the work, coming home, and getting up to do it all again.

  He started for the coffee pot when the water shut off. David froze.

  If he wanted to keep things casual, he really should reach for that coffee cup. Two steps. That's all it'd take to reach the mug. Two steps to keep his life simple, quiet.

  Boring.

  Easy.

  The words whispered through the air and he realized he'd spoken.

  The bathroom door swung open and Sabrina stepped into the hallway, back lit and fresh faced.

  His gut tightened.

  Her amazing aqua eyes met his and his breath stalled just as it had when he’d bumped into her tonight.

  It wasn't lost on him that she was only a few steps away. Years ago, she might as well have been a million miles away. The wall she'd put between them had been high and impenetrable.

  It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what had happened. How had they gone from the sweetest night of his life to not speaking again? What had he done? What had he said? Had he done something wrong?

  He'd wracked his brain for months, reliving every minute, every moment. Eventually he'd given up and moved away. Moved on. Hell Week left little time for examining previous relationships. He'd been trying too damned hard not to drown.

  But here she was. The wall was nowhere in sight.

  God help him, he just didn't feel like talking about the past.

  For the first time in over a decade, he wanted to feel. To soak in her touch, her laugh, the sparkle in her eyes.

  David closed the distance between them in two easy strides. One hand slid around her waist, pulling her flush against him. The other cupped her cheek.

  Her full lips softened with a sigh.

  He trailed his thumb over her lower lip, reveling in the way it trembled beneath his touch. More than that, he marveled at how bold she'd become. How sure of herself, at peace in her own skin.

  There'd been a time when she’d hidden herself with baggy clothes and hats.

  Her fingertips pressed into his skin as if she were testing to see if he was real.

  He was having trouble believing his eyes, too.

  There'd be
en many nights when he'd dreamed of holding her like this, when he would have been thrilled just to touch her.

  Her eyes dropped from his and stared at his lips. His gut tightened.

  His dreams were about to come true. He had the faintest notion that his dreams couldn't hold a candle to this new reality.

  The Sabrina sliding her palms up his chest was confident, worldly even. And she was looking at him the way soldiers stared at a burger after a three-day hike through the jungle.

  She swayed forward, and her chin tipped up a notch.

  In the back of his mind, he knew that closing the distance would change everything. Right now, their worlds were separated by a scant foot. Twelve measly inches.

  All he had to do was reel her in and lower his head.

  Slant his lips across hers and lose himself.

  But their worlds would be firmly entwined then and there'd be no going back.

  Screw going back.

  For a man perfectly content to hold his line the past five years, he suddenly itched to move forward. To feel all the things he'd been missing.

  Maybe he'd been waiting all this time, stuck in a holding pattern while he'd waited for her. It was a romantic idea.

  David had lost faith in romance fifteen years ago.

  Sabrina had killed that part of him.

  But she was back.

  Her hand curled around the back of his neck and she looked up at him through her lashes.

  Anticipation tightened his skin.

  And then, the tension snapped.

  She stretched up, he bent down, meeting her half way. Her lips were warm and firm beneath his. There was no hesitation, not an ounce of tentativeness from her.

  And she didn’t just let him kiss her. No.

  She was an active participant. Sabrina met him kiss for kiss as her hands roamed his shoulders. Her incredible body melted against him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. If possible, she felt better than she looked.

  And the way the black material of her shirt had been clinging to her curves all night said everything. She was toned, fit, energetic.

  He traced the band at the top of her slacks, wanting to feel her skin and at the same time, afraid of moving too fast.