by Elle Kennedy
Matt smiled at the mention of Garrett’s six-month-old daughter. The squirt was pretty damn adorable, with her father’s dark hair and mother’s sparkling blue eyes. All the guys on the team had instantly fallen in love with the kid, though Will Charleston’s new baby, Lucas, was pretty freaking cute too. It seemed like everyone around him was popping out babies. Jane, the wife of their lieutenant Thomas Becker, was due to deliver next month, and he’d even overheard Carson’s wife, Holly, mention to Annabelle that she wanted to try for a baby soon.
“Tell them the other news,” Carson spoke up, sounding edgy.
Matt and Ryan eyed Garrett uneasily. “What other news?” Ryan asked.
After taking a long sip of his coffee, Garrett set down the mug and said, “I’m going off active duty next month.”
Silence.
It took a few seconds for the words to register in Matt’s head, and when he realized he’d indeed heard them right, he shook his head in shock. “You’re off the team?”
Garrett nodded. “I took a position with a security firm in San Diego. I’ll still be in the reserves, but no more missions for me.”
Ryan looked flabbergasted. “Why the hell not?”
“Because I’ve got a wife and kid to worry about now. Look, boys, I’ve done a hell of a lot to serve my country. Now it’s time to focus on my family.”
The second silence that followed dragged on for longer. Matt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d figured John Garrett would be career navy. Guy had enlisted at the age of eighteen, went to officer school, worked to make it to junior grade lieutenant. And now he was getting out?
“It’s time,” Garrett repeated, his voice quiet.
Matt was the first to snap out of his surprised trance. “Are you sure about this, man?”
“Oh yeah. Trust me, when you get married, you’ll understand. My two girls come first now.”
Carson suddenly smirked. “Oh, I think Matt understands. Rumor has it he’s found the woman of his dreams.”
Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “Where the hell did you hear that?”
“Holly and Annabelle were gossiping about it yesterday.” Carson wiggled his eyebrows. “According to Annabelle, you’re in love with a woman named Georgia who has really nice tits.”
“First, her name is Savannah,” Matt said coldly, “and second, her tits are none of your business.”
Both Carson and Ryan hooted, while Garrett’s mouth lifted in a wry smile.
“Shit, it’s actually true,” Ryan said gleefully. “I figured Annie was exaggerating when she mentioned it, but that possessive look on your face…fuck, you really are into this girl.”
“How big are her breasts exactly?” Carson asked with a curious tilt of the head.
Matt jabbed a finger in Carson’s direction. “Like I said, none of your business.” He glanced at Ryan. “And Annabelle is exaggerating. I’m not in love with anyone. Savannah and I are just having a little fling.”
“If it’s just a fling, then you should have no problem sharing the juicy details,” Ryan pointed out, a wide smile on his face.
Matt faltered. His friend had a point. In the past he’d had no qualms discussing the measurements of the current female in his bed. For some reason, though, he felt guilty objectifying Savannah in that way. Sure, she was a knockout, but that wasn’t the only reason he liked her. She was smart, unbelievably funny, sarcastic…stubborn. Yeah, definitely stubborn. He’d left the ball in her court after their encounter in the shop two days ago, and she still hadn’t called him. A part of him feared his taunting had only annoyed her, and that she’d washed her hands of him and went after some other dude. Like Hank.
“Still want to convince us it’s just a fling?” Carson said when Matt hadn’t answered for more than a minute.
“It is,” he finally replied. “She’s fun to be with. And she has no interest in anything serious, so it’s, you know, perfect for me.”
Had they heard the tremor in his voice during those last three words?
Shit, they had. All three men were staring at him as if he’d slathered on lipstick or something.
“You want more,” Carson accused.
“No,” he said quickly. “No way.”
“Fuck, you totally do. I know the feeling, man,” Carson added with a sigh. “When Holly and I first hooked up, she insisted she didn’t want a relationship. It took me weeks to convince her to give us a chance.”
“I don’t want to convince Savannah of anything,” he objected. “Like I said, it’s just a casual thing. I don’t plan on—” His cell phone, which he’d placed on the table, began to vibrate. Matt’s heart did an involuntary lurch when he noticed the caller ID. “Hold on. I gotta take this.”
He was out of his seat and moving to the other end of the patio in nanoseconds, while Carson and Ryan burst out laughing from behind. “Say hi to Georgia!” Carson the five-year-old called.
Matt clicked the talk button and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
“You’re playing hard to get,” was the greeting he received. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
He grinned at the petulant note to her voice. “I’m doing no such thing.”
“I don’t like games, Superman.”
“Neither do I.” He paused. “Except Scrabble. I’m pretty good at that one.”
A heavy sigh echoed in his ear. “Are you waiting for me to beg, is that it? Because I don’t like begging. I’ve always thought I’d be a terrible beggar, sitting there on the sidewalk, holding out a tin can. I think eventually I’d get bored and go look for a job.”
Laughter rolled out of his chest. “I’m not sure, but that comment might have been politically incorrect.”
“I don’t like politics either,” she said breezily. “Now, what’ll it take to get you to come over?”
“Who says I want to? Maybe I’ve grown bored of having sex with you.” He smiled to himself, proud that he was finally back on track. All the charm he’d perfected over the years had dissolved during those first few encounters with Savannah, but he’d slowly begun regaining ground here, and the outrage in her voice confirmed it.
“You have not. I am unbelievably good at sex.”
“You’re okay.”
“Uh-uh, no way. I’m awesome. So level with me, what do I have to do to get you to see me again?”
“For sex?” he clarified.
“Well, duh.”
He pretended to think it over, then said, “A date.”
She balked. “I told you how I feel about that.”
“Those are my terms, take them or leave them. One date for every round of sex.”
“You’re an awful person.”
“Is that a no?”
There was a long pause, followed by a soft curse. “No, it’s not a no.”
“Then it’s a yes?” he prompted with great amusement.
“Yes, it’s a yes.” Another pause. “Where are you now? The store’s pretty empty so I can leave Chad in charge for the rest of the day.”
“I’m in Coronado. We were doing a training demo at the base.” An idea entered his mind. “Why don’t we go to the beach? You mind driving over here?”
He expected another protest, but to his surprise, she sounded enthused. “Sure, I’ll head over to you.”
They arranged to meet in an hour, and Matt was smiling again as he hung up the phone and wandered back to the table. Of course, his friends immediately honed in on the smile and proceeded to harass him.
“Was that Georgia?”
“Is her ass as nice as her boobs? Annabelle didn’t mention.”
“Wanna baby-sit Penny to prepare for the baby you’ll have with your future bride?”
“Ha ha,” he said, rolling his eyes as he reached for his coffee. It had grown cold, but he still swallowed a mouthful of the lukewarm liquid so he wouldn’t have to dignify any of their juvenile questions with a response.
Savannah’s heart skipped a beat when she got
out of her Toyota and found Matt sitting on the hood of his SUV. They’d arranged to meet in the gravel parking lot near the beach, and the entire drive over she’d tried convincing herself she was pissed off at Matt for sex-blackmailing her into a date. But the moment she laid eyes on him, she realized just how glad she was to see him, and how un-pissed she was.
He wore a pair of camo pants, a tight olive-green T-shirt and aviator sunglasses, looking like the hot military man he was. She’d been thinking about him non-stop since he’d strolled out of her shop the other day. She wasn’t sure if there was an equivalent for blue balls when it came to women, but after he’d teased her into oblivion and then left her in the lurch, her body had ached so badly she’d had to go upstairs to her apartment and make herself come to stop the throbbing pain.
“Where are your swim trunks?” she asked as she headed over to him.
He jumped off the hood. “Got some in the trunk.” Moving toward her, he planted a quick kiss on her lips then popped the trunk of his car and bent forward.
Savannah couldn’t help but check out his sinewy back and firm ass. Heat seeped into her cheeks when she heard him pull down his zipper. “You’re getting changed out here?” she said in surprise.
“There’s no one around. I’ll only be a sec.”
He kept his back to her, and her gaze was glued to him as he dropped his pants and boxers in one swift motion. And then there he was, in all his bare-assed glory. Cotton lodged into every corner of her mouth. She could barely swallow as she stared at that taut behind. How was this man this sexy?
She forced herself to look away. She couldn’t jump the guy in public, no matter how badly she wanted to.
He turned around a moment later, a pair of sky-blue swim trunks hugging his trim hips. Two beach towels were tucked under his arm and a smile graced his sensual mouth as he said, “Ready?”
She gulped. “Uh-huh.”
They headed down the concrete staircase and made their way to the beach. Savannah instantly kicked off her flip-flops, sinking her bare toes into the warm, white sand. In the distance, she spotted the commanding shape of Coronado’s Naval Base. “What kind of demo were you doing over there today?” she asked curiously.
“Obstacle course.” He cast her a cocky smile. “We were showing some of the new recruits what we’ve got.”
“Your arrogance makes my heart go a-flutter,” she said sweetly.
“What about my ass? Does that make your heart flutter too?”
“No,” she lied.
He just laughed.
The beach was completely deserted and they had their pick of spots to spread out their towels. Once they were settled, Savannah peeled off her bright green sundress and shoved it inside the oversized beach bag she’d brought. She pulled out a tube of sun block and innocently held it out. “Do my back?”
He visibly swallowed. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?” She couldn’t help but feel a little insulted.
“I’m not putting my hands on you,” Matt said cheerfully, plopping down on his towel. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do. You’re tempting me with your goddess body in the hopes that I’ll be so overwhelmed with lust that I’ll cut the date short so we can fuck like bunnies.”
“I am not.”
Okay, so maybe she was trying to tempt him. Truth was, she hadn’t hung out with a guy in ages. A dinner or two before getting naked, sure, but once sex entered the equation, she made sure to keep it that way. For some reason, though, Matt was determined to spend time with her.
What was wrong with him?
She unscrewed the cap and squirted a glop of sun block into her hands, proceeding to slap it across her skin in frustration. Really, what was the matter with him? Here she was, offering him wild, no-strings sex, something most men dreamed of, and he wanted to get to know her. Didn’t he realize that—she sucked in a breath. Oh Lord, he’d taken off his shirt.
Uncontrollable lust slammed into her at the sight of those sleek, golden muscles. Her body went into sexual overdrive.
“So tell me about your parents.”
The awareness sizzling through her veins fizzled with a pop. “Why do you want to know about them?” she asked immediately.
Matt let out a laugh. “Relax, darlin’, I’m not going to track them down and murder them. I just want to know what they’re like.”
“Okay, you want to know what they’re like? They’re perfect,” she said with a sigh. “And boring.”
“With you as a daughter, I doubt they’re boring.”
Savannah fixed her gaze on the calm waves lapping against the shoreline. She breathed in the clean scent of salt, suddenly wishing she’d tried harder to seduce him right out of this “date”.
“They’re just so predictable,” she finally admitted. “They finish each other’s sentences, laugh at all the same jokes, do all the same things. It’s…well, like I said, boring.”
She felt Matt’s gaze burning into her skin. When she glanced over, his green eyes revealed a perceptive glint. “What’s the real reason?”
She swallowed. “What real reason?”
“Why you’re so bothered by their relationship.”
“I’m not…I’m not bothered by it.”
“Sure you are. So why?”
Uneasiness swirled in the pit of her stomach. “I don’t know.”
“Of course you know.” He tilted his head. “What is it about them that troubles you so badly?”
She grew silent.
“Come on, tell me. I’ll even make you a deal. If you tell me, I’ll tell why I’m bothered by my family.”
His offer sparked her interest. Despite her reluctance, she found herself trying to put her feelings into words. “I guess it’s… They’re just…still so in love,” she burst out. “After twenty years, they still act like newlyweds. Their relationship is so solid I can’t make sense of it.”
Matt’s forehead creased. “Why not?”
“Because every relationship I’ve ever had has died a fiery death. I just don’t get how they’re still together. How they made it work.” She was momentarily puzzled, despite the fact that she’d wondered about this for years. “Seeing them just makes me glaringly aware that I’m different.”
“Why did your previous relationships fail?” he asked curiously.
She shook her head in confusion. “I honestly don’t know. One minute everything was great, and the next they just ended. First with my high school boyfriend Rick, then in college with this guy Kevin, then Greg. Either I get bored, or they get bored, or both of us do—no matter what, it always ends.”
“So you’ve decided to prematurely end things instead?”
She shrugged. “Why not? Obviously I’m not cut out for relationships. Which I’m totally fine with.” She changed the subject before he could question her again. “Okay, your turn. Tell me why your family bugs you.”
“They express their emotions so easily,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t get it.”
Savannah had to laugh. “Uh, you express your feelings pretty easily too. You’ve made it more than clear you’re interested in me.”
Now he seemed to falter. “That’s different. I’m talking about…love, I guess. They’re so quick to gush about how much they love each other. For me, it’s always been more difficult, telling people how I feel about them.”
A short silence stretched between them. Discomfort roiled inside her. This was the most honest, disturbing conversation she’d ever had with a man, and the need to flee rose in her chest, tingled in her legs. Abruptly, she jumped to her feet and said, “I’m going to take a quick dip.”
Without waiting for a reply, she nearly sprinted across the flour-soft sand. The water that swirled around her ankles was warm, soothing. Taking a breath, she dove in, submerging herself in the ocean and swimming out a dozen yards. When she finally came up for air, she glanced at the beach and saw Matt still lying on the towel, propped up on his elbows. She couldn’t see his
expression but she imagined he looked as confused as she felt. What on earth was she thinking, telling him about her parents’ marriage, her past relationships?
She was treading in dangerous territory here. Having honest heart-to-hearts with a guy? She hadn’t done that in years, not since she’d decided to focus on the thrill of firsts and avoid the pain and heartache that came from messy break-ups. Evidently she needed to regain her footing here, remind herself that her time with Matt was temporary, the way it always was in her life.
Collecting her composure, she took another deep breath then smoothed her wet hair off her forehead. She kicked off in a leisurely stroke, and by the time she emerged on shore, she felt calm and centered and determined to lead this affair with Matt back in the direction it belonged.
To the bedroom.
Chapter Five
Matt groaned softly as Savannah’s head bobbed up and down his hard length, her tongue gliding across the sensitive underside of his shaft. Savannah’s blowjobs continued to amaze him. She gave them a hundred and ten percent, focusing all her delicious attention on the task at hand. She used her hands and tongue and mouth and even teeth, until he could barely remember his own name when subjected to her ministrations.
She sucked his tip gently before taking him almost to the back of her throat. Groaning again, Matt cupped her head and gave an upwards thrust. She moaned, the sound vibrating through his cock. She’d had his clothes off the second they stepped into her apartment, and as irritated as he’d been then, he felt none of that irritation now. Instead, he leaned his head against the headboard of her bed and closed his eyes, losing himself in the remarkable sensations she produced in his body.
His eyelids popped open when her mouth left him, but she didn’t leave him in the lurch. She just shimmied up his naked body, rolled a condom on his stiff shaft and lowered herself onto him. The moment her wet heat clamped over him, he wrapped his arms around her slender form and pulled her toward him.
“I need to taste you,” he muttered hoarsely.
Savannah cupped her breasts and brought them to his mouth. He devoured one, then the other, licking and sucking her pearly-pink nipples while she rode him in a slow, lazy rhythm. Her skin tasted like saltwater, and the still-damp hair streaming down her shoulders had a slight curl to it. She was the most beautiful fucking woman he’d ever seen, and a fresh dose of arousal flooded his groin.