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

molded
into any shape he desired. Take me to your bedroom, she thought, the words
nearly escaping her lips when she suddenly felt his lips leave hers.
    His grin full of confidence, he looked
down at her half-shut eyes. At least six inches taller than her, he towered
over her in the most dominating way, and all she wanted was to be lifted off
the hardwood and carried to his bed without further delay.
    Stepping back a few inches, she felt the
chill of air hit her chest where he was no longer pressed against her.
    “Does that work?” he asked.
    She swallowed, moving her hands back to
the counter behind her to steady herself. “Yes, I think that works very well.”
    Her eyes popped open wider at the sound
of the doorbell. The caterer, she imagined. He strode, seemingly completely
unaffected by the kiss, out of the kitchen.
    This was going to be a long night.
    ***
    She shouldn’t have had such a good time,
Vi pondered as she heard Joe shut the door on the last of the guests just shy
of midnight.
    Vi had never been a social animal. That
was more Lacey’s territory. But the hundred and fifty or so people who had
filtered into Joe’s house over the course of the night had been such a
welcoming crowd—so unlike many of the backstabbing, ladder-climbing people
who filled Vi’s normal social circles.
    There were no ulterior motives in this group.
No posturing. No pretenses. Just a few harmless gossips, scattered here and
there, who she could see busy at work texting something immediately after Vi
had made her first appearance at Joe’s side.
    Vi imagined the words “Joe Shey is taken”
were probably being tapped out on the phones. And she predicted, as the news
spread, a collective sob would ring out from every single woman within a twenty-mile
radius of Little Creek.
    She couldn’t blame any of them, she
thought as he stepped toward her and, lifting her off the ground, spun her
around 360 degrees.
    “You were amazing,” he said, a triumphant
glimmer in his eyes.
    “I was no such thing.”
    “You were. They all loved you. You made
my life a whole lot easier for these last weeks here. You have no idea how
uncomfortable things can get. Something about the holidays makes everyone want
to set me up.”
    Vi grinned. “Yeah, but now if you meet
someone special, she’ll think you’re cheating on me if you make a move.”
    “Haven’t got the time for it. In four
weeks, I’ll be headed to the Philippines. Besides, who could top Vi Owens?”
    Vi’s chin went slack. “The Philippines?”
    “Yeah, I’m commanding the Joint Special
Operations Task Force based there.”
    Vi gave herself a mental shake. So what? She
had known he was going. But somehow she had pictured him moving to Florida or
California. Not to the other side of the world.
    A hint of worry grating at the confines
of her belly, she watched him lift a bottle of champagne to the light. Seeing
that there was a small amount left, he pulled two flutes from the cabinet and
filled them. He extended a flute to her and raised his in a toast. “To the best
fake date I’ve ever had.” Smiling, he cocked his head slightly. “Actually the
only fake date I’ve ever had.”
    “Just don’t forget about next week,” she
reminded him before taking a sip.
    “Of course. I got my dress blues cleaned,
pressed, and waiting in my room.”
    Drawn to the warm glow, Vi sat in front
of the dwindling fire in the fireplace and let the champagne sooth her raw
throat as she drank. She hadn’t talked this much at a party in ages, and thought
it surprising how many people wanted to talk finances with her. “I can’t
believe how many people tolerated me droning on about stocks and funds.”
    “You weren’t droning on at all. You talk
about investing in an approachable way. You should be teaching, not sitting in
front of a camera interviewing shifty CEOs.”
    Vi kicked off her shoes, and resisted the
urge to peel the stockings from her legs. “That’s kind of what I used