Contract with a SEAL (Special Ops: Homefront Book 3) by Kate Aster Read Free Book Online

her to her fingertips.
    Wandering back into the great room, she
glanced at a photo of him as a young Lieutenant with his SEAL team. They were
dressed in the old desert cammies, not the kind the Navy later replaced them
with. He was holding some kind of assault rifle and posing with his teammates.
Not a smile among them, she noted, not that there was much to smile about in
the thick of war.
    Joe emerged from the hallway. “Find
everything you need?”
    She gazed at him wantonly, noticing the
way his shirt clung to his torso. It was probably an extra-large by the look of
it, but still seemed a shade small for the body that was hidden beneath the
cotton. Yep. You’re everything I need right now. Too bad you’re off-limits.
    Tossing back another gulp of wine, she
hoped it would extinguish the libidinous effect his presence had on her. Perfectly
shaven, his face was impossible to read—not as though he was trying to
deceive her, but simply as though he were a man who liked to hold all his cards
to his chest.
    And what a chest it was.
    “Vi?”
    “Huh?” She snapped back to reality.
    “Did you find everything you need?”
    “Oh—yeah, I did. Thanks.”
    “Good. I picked up some antipasti at the
commissary. Let me get it for you.” As he passed her, the scent of him wafted
her way, a luscious mix of soap and man. There were no aftershaves for a guy
like Joe. No cologne. He wasn’t a man to try to lure women in with false
scents. He simply didn’t need them.
    Vi Owens was living proof of that, she
pondered, as her toes seemed to be melting inside her shoes.
    “Thanks,” she finally said, as he
drizzled mozzarella balls with extra virgin olive oil. It looked almost seductive
to her, the way he moved the bottle slowly over the cheese. But a man like Joe
Shey would look seductive cleaning a toilet.
    Picking up a red pepper, he extended it
to her. “Try a pepper?”
    Emboldened by the wine, she bent over
slightly and took the pepper in her mouth, making sure her lips touched his
fingers. It might break the rules a bit for the evening, but she couldn’t
resist.
    His composure faltered. Good . Finally,
a chink in his armor, she thought. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling a
hint of sexual tension in the air.
    “Like it?” he asked, his voice strained.
    “Very.” Her eyes transfixed on his, she took
another sip of wine.
    Joe raised his eyebrows. “Umm, might want
to slow down a little. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
    His words were like a slap of cool water
on her face.
    This wasn’t a date. This was an important
event for his teams and their families. What the hell was the matter with her?
“Of course. It just feels good. My body was still vibrating from sitting in
that car for so long.”
    “Mmm…” He stared at her a moment as
though he might say something, then stepped backwards suddenly, reaching for a
glass in the cabinet as he cleared his throat. “So, the caterer should be arriving
to set up any minute,” he began, filling his glass from the tap. “People will
start showing up at sixteen hundred hours. Usually it’s families with small
children first. Then the ones with older kids. Last are the couples and singles
who usually close the party down at around twenty-three hundred hours.”
    Vi looked at him quizzically. “Translation,
please?””
    The glass met his lips for a moment as he
drank, and he seemed to savor the water as though he was a parched man just
emerging from the desert. “Oh. Sorry. Party starts at four o’clock. Closes down
around eleven.”
    Vi nodded. Perfect. The longer the
guests stayed, the less time she had with Joe alone. And that was definitely
safest.
    Grabbing a mozzarella ball, she popped it
into her mouth. She better get something in her stomach to ward off the effects
of the alcohol. Clearly she was not a woman who could drink on an empty
stomach. At least, not in the presence of Joe.
    She leaned against the counter. “So,
they’ll be thinking