SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle by Lynn Raye Harris, Elle Kennedy, Anne Marsh, Delilah Devlin, Sharon Hamilton, Jennifer Lowery, Cora Seton, Elle James, S.M. Butler, Zoe York, Kimberley Troutte Page B

in his head, but couldn’t figure out where he’d gone wrong.
    “Help me out,” he finally said as she started gathering firewood back in the clearing. “What did I say to piss you off?”
    “I’m not—”
    “Don’t even start, Larken. You threw some nonsense at me about a wife and kids. Given that we just made love, that’s out of left field.”
    “We had sex, Vince . Don’t worry, I didn’t over-romanticize it.”
    I did , he wanted to point out, but this definitely wasn’t the time. “Is this about me splitting my time back and forth between here and Georgia?”
    “Nope.” But she said it like it was definitely that. Definitely.
    Shit.
    “I’ll be here as much as possible.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “Hey.” He said in his drill sergeant voice because he’d had enough of this.
    She snapped her back straight, then turned slowly and gave him a hard look. “What?”
    “I wasn’t worried about it. I thought it sounded like a fine plan. Clearly you have a different opinion, and I’m standing here, telling you I’m fucking interested in your thought process. So do me a favor and open the fuck up, okay?”
    “Nothing to open up about,” she said bitterly, picking up a piece of kindling and whipping it at the pile. “I’m not asking you for anything. I don’t have any claim on you. I appreciate your honesty, and I’m sure we can keep fucking when you’re around.”
    Oh, hell no. He stormed across the clearing and picked her up, flinging her over his shoulder.
    “Put me down!”
    “No.” He turned in a circle while she whaled on his back with fists of fury. He didn’t care. Stomping over to the wooden platform, he sat down and pulled her into his lap.
    “What the hell?” he yelled at her, not loud enough to hurt her ear drums or anything, but loud enough to be impolite. “When did I ever give you the impression that I just wanted to ‘keep fucking’?”
    Her lower lip trembled as she glared at him.
    “Last time I…” he trailed off. The last time he’d looked her up had been ten years ago, and he’d done it on the sly. She’d still been in the Army then, in Iraq. A lot must have happened in the next decade. Hell, she’d told him as much, hadn’t she? “When did you start working for Rik?”
    She glanced away. “Just a few months ago.”
    “And in between?”
    She gave him a tight, unhappy smile. “Let’s not do this memory lane thing. It’s not fun.”
    Jesus, this woman. He pressed his forehead against hers and glowered. “Me encanta tu temperamento.”
    *
    I love your temper.
    Larken blinked. He what? She swallowed hard and tried to cover her reaction. “Tempera-mento?”
    “You’re such a hot head. Let me spell this out for you. I don’t want you to be my fuck buddy on or around missions. Fate or God or something has brought us back together, and I’m… temperamento and all, I like you, Larken White. A lot.”
    “Okay.” She should tell him the feeling was mutual. She opened her mouth again. Nothing came out.
    He sighed and shook his head slowly as he gave her a look. “What are you scared of?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Look, tough girl. I’m scared of shit. I’m scared that my mother’s health will deteriorate and my grandmother’s occasional absentmindedness will turn into full-blown dementia.”
    That was hardly the same. And way more important. “What’s wrong with your mom?”
    “She’s got diabetes, and she doesn’t always manage it well. And after my dad died, she was diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder, and it’s gotten way worse since my grandfather passed.” He winced. “I should probably move back there full-time, but I…”
    “You can’t.” She touched his face, her heart aching for him. “No, of course you can’t.”
    “You’re changing the subject.”
    “My general dislike and distrust of men isn’t even on the same scale as what you’re dealing with. Tell me more about what the truck stop needs.”
    “Tell me who