they were deployed for long periods of time—months, years—in submarines, on ships, in other countries.
That sort of lifestyle didn’t lend itself to dating, let alone to having relationships. It was irresponsible to pretend otherwise.
Mitch looked into Livi’s big brown eyes and couldn’t resist, though.
“I’ll see you when I get back in town,” he promised. “In the meantime, tell me your number.”
She rattled it off.
“Aren’t you going to write it down?” she asked with a frown as she slid off the crate.
“I never forget things that matter,” he promised. “I’ll call you when I get back.”
“Will you be gone long?” she asked, her fingers rubbing the sleeve hem of his shirt so her knuckles slid over his bicep.
He wasn’t going on a mission, per se. Nothing about his trip was top secret. Still, Mitch didn’t share any details of what he did. An overcautious habit, perhaps, but a habit nonetheless.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
Unable to resist one last kiss, he pulled her into his arms and gave himself over to whatever in the hell this was between them.
Lust. Desire. Passion or a trap, he didn’t know.
All he knew was that he’d never felt anything like this before.
Mitch slowly ended the kiss, his fingers brushing her cheek before he released her.
“You’re so sweet,” he said with a smile. “I never realized how addicting that could be.”
Then he did what he’d spent his entire life training to do.
He walked out and didn’t look back.
LIVI’S LIPS WERE still tingling an hour later.
Tucked into her comfiest jammies, Livi sank onto her couch and sighed with pleasure. Mitch Donovan had the most incredible mouth. What else could it do? Was he a kiss-you-everywhere kind of guy? Derrick hadn’t been. She had a feeling there was nowhere Mitch wasn’t willing to go.
“You look like a cat with a mouthful of canary feathers,” Tessa said as she brought Livi a bowl of freshly cut fruit and Greek yogurt. “So go ahead. Dish. What’d the sexy SEAL have to offer?”
Livi opened her mouth, but no words came out. Pressing her lips together, she frowned.
Between training, taping and touring, she’d spent the last year with burlesque dancers, strippers and, for a memorable couple of weeks, drag queens. All the while she’d listened to them and her crew exchange salacious stories, share intimate encounters and dish naughty details.
She finally had something worth sharing, and the words wouldn’t come out.
Not for the first time she wondered what was wrong with her. Why couldn’t she just put it out there, the good, the bad and the ugly? Or in Mitch’s case, the incredible?
“I can’t believe you were so rude,” she said instead. “I’ve never interrupted you like that. I’m pretty sure this means you still owe me.”
Tessa grimaced but didn’t deny the claim.
“So you cut your flirting short,” she said instead, setting her own fruit and yogurt on the table. “It’s not as if anything between the two of you had a chance of going anywhere.”
“A kiss and a date,” Livi reminded her.
Tessa scowled.
“You’re not really going through with that, are you? It was a tie. There’s no way anyone can expect you to pay double when you essentially won.”
“Mitch didn’t lose,” Livi said, running her tongue over her bottom lip as she remembered him making that point.
“He didn’t win, though. So nobody has to pay.” Tessa threw her hands in the air and paced from one end of the living room to the other. Unlike Livi, she hadn’t changed out of her costume. Even dressed in colorless white, she contrasted clashingly with the soothing shades of lilac and pool-blue of the room.
“Nobody?” Livi ventured. “Or you?”
Tessa stopped mid-pace, her glare hot enough to melt glass.
“Okay, what’s the deal?” Livi demanded, straightening with her shoulders back and chin high. As if great posture would allow her to win the argument. “I’ve known you for eight years and in all that time I’ve seen you with hundreds, maybe thousands of men. You either seduce or freeze. You never get angry. So what’s your problem with Gabriel?”
Tessa kept glaring, but Livi could tell she had to work for it. Finally, the brunette rolled her eyes.
“Thousands?”
“Sure. I count all the men I’ve ever seen you with. Fans, dancers, waiters. That old man who lives in the apartment below you.” Livi waited a beat, then snapped her fingers and added, “The little boy who broke your window last year. What was his name?”
“Billy.” Tessa’s lips twitched. “I do not seduce eight-year-olds.”
“Of course you do. Not sexually.” Seeing that Tessa still hadn’t touched her bowl, Livi stole one of her strawberries. “But you pour on enough charm to get the guy—or little boy, in this case—to fall head over heels for you, making him so crazy he’ll do anything you want.”
Livi leaned forward to take a blueberry, but Tessa moved her bowl before Livi could reach it.
“What’s your point?” Tessa snapped.
“My point is I’ve never seen you argue with a guy. Especially not a good-looking, sexy, available one. But you were right up in Gabriel’s face. Why?”
Tessa’s face closed up. Something flashed in her eyes, a pain Livi had seen before. But no matter how often she’d offered to listen, no matter how good of a friend she tried to be, Tessa kept whatever had caused that pain locked away tight.
“Have you met Gabriel before?” Livi couldn’t help but ask.
“I know exactly what kind of guy he is. He’s military. He’s totally dedicated to one thing and one thing only. His career. Guys like that say they’ll be back. They make all sorts of promises. But they never keep them.” Tessa waved her hand through the air as if shooing away all those broken promises. “I know you think they’re hot, Livi. But they belong in the look-but-don’t-touch category. And more importantly, don’t be touched.”
Tessa gave her a questioning look.
“Oh, no. It doesn’t work that way.” Livi shook her head and wagged her finger at the same time. “You don’t want to tell me what your issue with Gabriel is—that’s your choice. But you don’t get to use those issues
