Loved by a SEAL by Cat Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

and I’ve handled patients who were much worse. Believe me.” She smiled and it actually looked genuine.
    She didn’t understand he was talking about so much more than his grandmother being a difficult patient.
    When he remained quiet, unsure of what to say, she tipped her head to one side. “Are you okay?”
    That one question, delivered with the concern of a friend and nothing more, shouldn’t have twisted his gut, but it did.
    He didn’t know what came over him, but before he knew it, he found himself spilling his guts to her. “We lost a guy.”  
    “Brody. I’m sorry.”
    He nodded his acceptance of her sympathy and kept talking. “That’s why I wasn’t here earlier. I stayed in Virginia for the memorial service.”
    She reached out and laid her hand on his arm and he decided he was tired. Tired of thinking. Of fighting.
    That one gentle touch did him in. He reached out and pulled her against him for the second time that day.  
    Ashley wrapped her arms around his waist. He squeezed her tighter in response.  
    What the hell was it about this woman that made him need to hold her? Was it just the memory of the girl who’d been his friend for years before she’d been his first and only love?
    Maybe it didn’t matter why.
    All that seemed to matter was that holding her made him feel better. Grounded. Home.
    She pulled back a few inches and raised the same eyes he used to get lost in to meet his. “Is there anything I can do?”
    “Yeah. There is.” He moved in closer before he thought better of it.
    Before he talked himself out of the urge he wasn’t sure he could control anyway, he crashed his mouth into hers.
    When she didn’t pull away, when she kissed him back, there was no more thinking. He let his mind shut down.
    Brody refused to think anymore and just let himself feel. Feel her. Feel safe. Feel home.
    Bringing one hand up he cradled her head while holding her body tightly to his with the other. When he breached her lips with his tongue, the soft sound of need she let out stole his breath. He forgot where he was as kissing her blocked out all reason.
    “Brody?” The distant sound of his grandmother’s summons penetrated the surreal haze.
    He broke the kiss but didn’t let her go. Instead he leaned his forehead against hers and waited for his heart to stop pounding.
    “We should get back to her.”
    “I know.” Still Brody didn’t move. Not to let go of her. Not to go to his grandmother even though he knew he should.
    She tipped her head so her gaze could find his. “I thought you hated me.”
    He let out a breath tinged with a laugh. “So did I. Turns out I was wrong.”
    Her breath had quickened with the kiss, just like his had. There was no way either one of them was going to move on and forget this had happened. He figured he might as well accept that. “Stay with me tonight.”
    Her eyes widened. “What?”
    “Stay here. For dinner. For longer.”
    “Brody—”
    “What are you two doing in there?” His grandmother’s question interrupted Ashley’s protest.
    “We’ll be right there. I had to fix more tea,” Ashley called back, providing a viable excuse that Brody wasn’t sure he would have been able to come up with on his own.
    “I told you that you need to make a fresh batch every day or we run out!”
    His grandmother obviously had no problem issuing orders while bedridden.
    “Yes, ma’am.” Ashley’s eyes remained on his even as she called the answer to his grandmother, before she lowered her voice to answer his question. “I have to go home to Nana. We have dinner together every night and then watch TV.”
    She moved to pull back and he held tighter. “Then come back. After Nana goes to bed, meet me.”
    Ashley would know where. As teens they’d both snuck out of their houses enough times to be together.
    A crease marred her pretty brow. “I don’t know—”
    “Please.”
    Ashley drew in a breath. “Maybe. Now, let me pour this dang tea and get it to Miss