the images.
Livi’s heart did a happy bounce just thinking of Super Hottie in a plank position, biceps and triceps bulging as he pressed. Up. Down. Up. Down.
Whew. She wet her lips and wished she had a glass of water. Iced, preferably.
As much to try to erase the tempting visual from her mind as to stop the conversation before it moved on, Livi waved her hand in the air.
“Hold up. Romeo? Irish? I have trouble believing your mother looked at your sweet baby faces and decided to give you those names.”
Romeo gave a snort that could have been taken as amusement if not for the quick flash of bitterness in his eyes.
Super Hottie flew to the rescue so fast Livi wondered if she had been imagining things.
“Romeo and Irish are call signs, nicknames, if you will. It’s a Navy thing, or rather a military thing.” Super Hottie offered a smile that rivaled his friend’s in charm. “I’d rather you just called me Mitch, though. And he’s Gabriel, if you were looking for something else to call him.”
“I’ve got a few other things in mind,” Tessa muttered.
Mitch. Livi was too busy rolling Super Hottie’s name around in her mind to do more than give her friend a quick elbow jab.
“So Gabriel blows things up,” Livi said, her eyes locked on Mitch’s bright blue ones. They were hypnotic. Seductively hypnotic. “What about you, Mitch? What do you do?”
Me, she wanted to suggest. I’d like you to do me.
But for once, her bone-deep shyness came to the rescue, keeping her mouth shut before she blurted that out.
“I’m a bit of master of everything. You name it, I’ve probably done it.”
“Is that so?” Livi murmured, her mind rapidly compiling a list of things he might have mastered. Since most of them involved him being naked, her smile turned naughty. “Tell me more.”
“Why don’t you name a few and we’ll compare notes.” Coming from any other guy, she’d consider that to be a pickup line. But Mitch looked as sincere as he did amused. He was so nonthreatening, he scared her.
Or maybe that was the desire pounding through her body.
She wet her lips, wondering how to find out.
Before she could come up with any ideas, Tessa’s words caught her attention.
“Livi can beat that. She is the push-up queen.”
Frowning, Livi looked at her best friend. Had she missed the coronation?
“I bow to her majesty’s prowess. But Irish is still the best.”
Was he? He was busy watching the debate between Gabriel and Tessa, so Livi allowed herself to stare. He definitely had a great body. She could see enough of his muscle definition to give a nod to the Navy for a job well done. A great body was one thing. Knowing how to use it was another.
Been there, done that, had the divorce papers to prove it.
She was pretty sure Mitch knew what to do with his. A guy as hot as he was, as focused and intuitive? He had to, right?
“You want to bet?”
“Name the stakes, Angel.”
“Anything you want says that Livi can beat Mitch at push-ups.”
Livi blinked as the words filtered through her fantasies of what Mitch might do if he focused on her naked body.
What?
She shook her head then did a mental replay.
“What?” She gave Tessa a baffled look. “What are you talking about?”
“Just pointing out that you’re in great shape and you rock at push-ups.” Tessa shrugged. “Why not prove it?”
“Maybe because I’m dressed like a snack cake.” Then Livi muttered out the side of her mouth. “Or maybe because I don’t want to? Besides, you’re in great shape, too. You prove it.”
“You’ve got a bodysuit on underneath.” Ignoring the rest, Tessa frowned. Obviously she was more focused on beating Romeo at whatever private game they were playing than on Livi’s wants.
“You’re seriously challenging my guy to a push-up contest?” His teeth flashed white against his bronze skin before Gabriel threw back his head and laughed. “Angel, he’s a SEAL. Best of the best. I know your girl is good, but she can’t be that good.”
A SEAL?
Livi melted a little inside.
He really was Super Hottie.
Livi’s eyes flew back to Mitch. He’d angled his chair so it was tilted against the wall, his booted foot on his knee. He watched Gabriel and Tessa continue their heated debate, his smile not shifting. Then he met Livi’s gaze and shrugged as if to say he knew their friends were acting crazy, but what could he do.
For the first time in her life, Livi considered ditching her friend and asking a guy to take her home.
Then she could show him what she could do. Or better yet, he could show her.
“C’mon, Liv. I’ll help you out of your costume.”
“What?” Livi shook her head, wondering if that halo was squeezing Tessa’s head too tight. “I’m not taking off my clothes.”
The words had barely left her mouth when she felt it.
The air changed.
Electrified.
Startled, she looked back at Mitch.
His calm amusement was gone. Instead, his eyes were intense. Filled with an unmistakable sexual energy that sparked a response so hot and fast Livi swore she had a tiny orgasm then and there.
“How about a private bet?” he suggested quietly, his smile making it clear he was once again amused by the entire scenario.
Livi frowned. Was he always so mellow and self-assured? The confidence might be a SEAL thing. His friend had it, too. But where Gabriel came across somewhere between confident and cocky, Mitch was simply sure.
What was that like?
Had the man never lost at anything?
Livi had no idea where the urge came from. She was clueless how the words landed on the tip of her tongue. But before she could stop it, her own challenge tumbled out.
“You’re on,” she agreed, leaning forward until she was nose to nose with him. For a second she lost her train of thought as his scent, rich and spicy, wrapped around her. His eyes were pure blue, she realized. Not a hint of gray or green. Gorgeous.
And
