do that. Women love a man to get straight to the point and share their feelings. I hate to say it, bro, but you’re not good at doing that.”
Coop was right, he wasn’t. “I never had to do that before. I’ve never truly loved a woman before Swan.”
“I understand. But you do love her, so make sure she knows it. A woman has to believe she’s loved.”
Flipper chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Coop asked him.
“You’re giving relationship advice. Do you know how much like Mac you sound?”
Coop chuckled as well. “You would have to point that out. I guess it comes with loving a woman.”
“I guess so.”
“No guess in it, remember it. Know it. Feel it. Take care and good luck.”
After ending the call with Coop, it wasn’t long before Flipper got calls from Bane, Viper and Mac as well, all letting him know they hoped things worked out for Flipper and Swan. All giving him advice. They were married men who had the women they loved and they wanted him to have the woman he loved as well.
He appreciated good friends who not only watched his back but who also cared about the condition of his heart. They knew about the pain he had lodged there and it got worse every day he and Swan were apart.
Flipper glanced at his watch. Swan’s store would be closing in less than an hour. He would give her time to get home and relax before paying her a visit. He refused to let her put things off any longer. They needed to talk.
He loved her and it was damn time she knew it.
Swan had just poured a glass of wine to enjoy while sitting on the patio when she heard the knock at her door.
She knew Candy had gone out to dinner with her family and Jamila had mentioned she would just stay in tonight and chill. Swan had invited Jamila to join her so maybe her cousin had changed her mind.
Her cousin.
That was taking a lot of getting used to but Swan knew her parents would want a family connection for them. Jamila was the only family Swan had and she appreciated their friendship more than ever.
She reached the door and glanced through the peephole. Her heart nearly stopped.
Was it really David? She blinked and looked again and saw it was really him. Back in Key West. And he was standing in front of her door looking like he always did, sexy as hell.
Drawing in a deep breath, she removed the security lock and opened the door. “David? I thought you’d left the island.”
“I had but I returned today. May I come in?”
She nodded and stepped aside. The moment he passed her, she caught a whiff of his masculine scent, the same one she was convinced still lingered in her bedroom.
Swan closed the door and stood to face him. He was standing in the middle of her living room wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt with a huge picture of a dolphin. Flipper. Her gaze moved beyond the shirt to his face to find his laser-blue eyes staring at her.
She cleared her throat. “I was about to sit out back and drink a glass of wine while enjoying the view. Would you like to have a beer and join me?”
She could tell he was surprised by her invitation. She hadn’t bothered to ask why he was there.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Moments later, they were sitting side by side on a bench that overlooked the beach. They had been sipping their drinks for a few moments when he said, “I told you that night two weeks ago that we needed to talk, Swan. I think we still do.”
Yes, they did. She would let him go first. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I want you to do more than just listen, Swan. I want you to engage by asking questions, giving me feedback, and I would like to be able to do the same with you.”
“Okay, that seems fair because I do have some questions for you.”
“Ask away.”
She took another sip of her drink. “You didn’t tell me you were a SEAL and I’d—”
“I couldn’t tell you I was a SEAL, Swan,” he interrupted to say. “That’s why I lied and said I was no longer in the military.”
“Yes, I know that now. I want to tell you, because of what happened to my father, I had made up my mind never to get serious about a military man...especially not a SEAL.”
“Oh, I see.”
She wouldn’t tell him yet that she’d changed her mind about that. “Is your mother’s birthday really next month and do you have four brothers?”
“Yes. Everything I told you about my family is true. I never lied to you about anything pertaining to them. I just omitted some details and couldn’t elaborate on certain things.”
She then put her wineglass down and turned toward him. “Why did you sleep with me, David, when I was just an assignment to you?”
* * *
Flipper knew this was the time of reckoning and what he told her would have an impact on their relationship for the rest of their days. He needed her to understand.
“You were supposed to be an assignment, Swan. But honestly, I don’t think you ever were. From the moment I walked into your shop and saw you, a part of me knew I had to fight hard to be objective and do the job I’d been sent here to do.”
He paused. “I tried to keep my attraction to you out of the picture but found it harder and harder to do. Each time I saw you while getting to know you, I fell deeper under your spell. It was hard pretending with you.”
He decided to be totally honest with her. “Just so you know, that day you invited me to your place for dinner wasn’t my first time there. I’d been to your home without you knowing anything about it. But at the time, it was just a house I was checking out as part of an investigation. The day you invited me to dinner, I saw it through another pair of eyes. Yours. And for me, it then became your home.”
She drew in a deep breath. “You invaded my privacy by letting yourself into my home, but that’s not why I’m upset. I accept that you had a job to do and I was your assignment but...”
“But what?”
“You still haven’t fully answered my question, David. Why did you make love to me?”
David frowned, realizing that he hadn’t answered her question. His teammates often teased him about beating around the bush, sometimes providing too much context instead of just sticking with the facts.
“The reason I made love to you, Swan, was because
