The Bad Boy's Redemption by Lili Valente, Jessie Evans

stirred but didn’t lift his head from her neck, where he was murmuring something about how beautiful she was.
    “No, Colt.” She patted him more insistently. “The lasagna is burning.”
    “What?” He lifted his head, looking as sex drunk as she felt, making her giggle as she said—
    “Our supper is burning you sex fiend. Let me up so I can pull it before it’s ruined.”
    “Oh, shit, sorry.” He rolled to one side and Olivia stood, running across the room naked, grabbing a pot holder from a hanger beside the oven and fetching the lasagna out. She set it on the stovetop, waving the potholder as she peeked beneath the foil.
    “It’s okay,” she said, surveying the dark brown edges of the dish. “It’s just the edges. It’s still edible.”
    Colt hummed happily, making her glance up to see him watching her from his position sprawled, half naked, on the carpet.
    She grinned as she braced her hands on either side of the lasagna, making no move to cover her breasts. “What?”
    “You. Cooking. Naked.”
    “It reduces you to one-word sentences?” she said, fanning the lasagna again, simply for an excuse to make her breasts bob from side to side.
    Colt rewarded her efforts with a groan. “Yes. Sexy as hell.”
    “Three words in a row,” she said. “You seem to be recovering.”
    “Slowly.” He shook his head, letting it roll back and forth on the carpet. “That was unreal.”
    “It was,” she said, skin tingling. “I like you bossy.”
    “I like you period.” He sighed. “All of you. Under all of me. Wet and hot and calling my name in that sexy voice when you’re about to come.”
    Olivia bit her lip. “You’d better stop talking dirty. Unless you’re already up for round two.”
    He smiled sleepily. “No, not yet. Even men with invincible cocks need to eat.”
    She snorted. “All right Mr. Invincible Cock. I’m going to wash up and get my pajamas on before dinner.”
    “I approve of that plan,” he said. “Pajama pants make for easy access after our bellies are full.”
    “So I’m going to be the appetizer and the dessert,” she said, not missing the way his eyes followed her as she started across the room. “A lot of responsibility for one woman.”
    “You can handle it,” he said. “You’re made of tough stuff, Olivia Page.”
    Olivia smiled, taking the words as a compliment, never imagining that the man who had just made love to her as if his life depended on bringing her pleasure was counting on her toughness to sustain her when she was on her own.
    She had no idea he was already making plans to leave town, a full month ahead of schedule, keeping the news secret from the woman he professed to be falling in love with.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    Colton
    Colt had learned early on in his military career the importance of keeping his head and his body in the same place.
    He couldn’t focus on the mission at hand if he was worried about something going on back home in Lover’s Leap, and often the mission at hand was dangerous, high-stakes, and potentially deadly. His life had literally depended on compartmentalizing his feelings and keeping one world separate from the other.
    Even on the day his mother went into the hospital for a biopsy that would reveal if the lump in her left breast was cancerous, once he strapped into the pilot’s seat, his mother’s health was the furthest thing from his mind.
    When he was on duty, he was on duty, serving his country; when he was at home, he was home, enjoying his family, and he did his best not to let one interfere with the other.
    So it wasn’t that difficult for him to put the letter he’d received the morning of the race from his mind. It was a matter for another day—for December twenty-eighth, the first day his commanding officer had said he would be back in the office—and not relevant to celebrating the holiday with his family. There were decisions to be made, big decisions that would affect the entire course of his life, but worrying