Read Online Claiming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 1) by Kat Cantrell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kat Cantrell
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with crappy stuff that should be in the past but won’t stay there? Well, you haven’t. You’ve never asked why I’m afraid of the water. Aren’t you curious? Or did you just assume it’s a cute little issue that a city girl developed by virtue of not growing up around water?”
His mouth tightened. “That’s your business, not mine.”
She checked the small silent scream of frustration. “That’s so wrong. You’re standing knee-deep in the ocean at midnight because a woman you met a handful of days ago asked you to. You have a right to know things about me. I want to know things about you. That’s how it works.”
“I didn’t offer to go in the water with you so I could grill you about your past. Take a lesson.”
The barb sank in, hitting its intended target better than she’d let him know. She swallowed the hurt.
It was all smoke and mirrors anyway and didn’t deter her from the goal. Dex was holding out for some reason and she’d uncover it if it was the last thing she did. She just wished she could figure out why it mattered so much. To either of them.
“I didn’t say you did! The point is that there’s a give and take between people when they want to get to know each other. Maybe you don’t want it to work that way, but you don’t get that choice. You’re a human being. We all crave connection.”
That elusive vulnerability flared up in his gaze, flitting around like a fragile butterfly just emerging from a cocoon. And then, just as quickly, it was gone. “Maybe I’m a robot. Did you think of that?”
She refused to smile, though he clearly wanted her to so the subject would be effectively changed, no harm, no foul. Except he wasn’t weaseling out of this conversation under any circumstances. “And maybe you use any method you can think of to push people away. Stop it.”
With a strangled sigh, he shook his head. “Fine. Have it your way. Please, Emma. For the love of God. Tell me what happened to make you so afraid of the water.”
Blinking, she stared up at his hard, uncompromising expression and faltered. When Dex had been kissing her— oh, my God . All of the loose pieces in her world had suddenly clicked into place. He was the answer to all the questions, no matter what they were.
And then he’d withdrawn. He couldn’t have slammed the door any harder. Prying it open like this didn’t feel anything like what she’d wanted. But what had she wanted? For him to take her hand and smile gently so she’d be encouraged to share the darkest episode of her life with him? For Dex to provide the wisdom and guidance she desperately needed?
Yeah. Actually she had. That was how he did things. He’d jumped into the middle of her plights without asking, knocking back her unwanted suitor and taking charge of her mission to get in the water.
What was so different about this? Simply that she hadn’t given him a problem to solve?
That was easy enough to fix.
“It’s not the water itself, exactly. It’s that I can’t get over what happened last time I was in the ocean. I don’t know how, and it’s killing me,” she admitted honestly. “I feel myself wasting away sometimes. When I’m at home in Boston. Like I’ll never be able to take a deep breath again.”
That had not been what she’d meant to say. How was this virtual stranger supposed to fix that ? She couldn’t heal herself, and she was the most invested in the outcome.
Something broke open in her chest and a sob bubbled from her throat without her permission. Where had that come from? She’d stopped crying about what had happened with Chris months ago.
“Emma.” Dex’s soft voice drew her gaze and gone was the hard, shuttered man. Concern etched lines around his mouth as he cocked his head. “What happened in the water? You said you nearly drowned. But that’s not the whole story, is it?”
She shook her head, helpless to break free of their locked gazes. Somehow he’d heard the wish of her heart to have an
His mouth tightened. “That’s your business, not mine.”
She checked the small silent scream of frustration. “That’s so wrong. You’re standing knee-deep in the ocean at midnight because a woman you met a handful of days ago asked you to. You have a right to know things about me. I want to know things about you. That’s how it works.”
“I didn’t offer to go in the water with you so I could grill you about your past. Take a lesson.”
The barb sank in, hitting its intended target better than she’d let him know. She swallowed the hurt.
It was all smoke and mirrors anyway and didn’t deter her from the goal. Dex was holding out for some reason and she’d uncover it if it was the last thing she did. She just wished she could figure out why it mattered so much. To either of them.
“I didn’t say you did! The point is that there’s a give and take between people when they want to get to know each other. Maybe you don’t want it to work that way, but you don’t get that choice. You’re a human being. We all crave connection.”
That elusive vulnerability flared up in his gaze, flitting around like a fragile butterfly just emerging from a cocoon. And then, just as quickly, it was gone. “Maybe I’m a robot. Did you think of that?”
She refused to smile, though he clearly wanted her to so the subject would be effectively changed, no harm, no foul. Except he wasn’t weaseling out of this conversation under any circumstances. “And maybe you use any method you can think of to push people away. Stop it.”
With a strangled sigh, he shook his head. “Fine. Have it your way. Please, Emma. For the love of God. Tell me what happened to make you so afraid of the water.”
Blinking, she stared up at his hard, uncompromising expression and faltered. When Dex had been kissing her— oh, my God . All of the loose pieces in her world had suddenly clicked into place. He was the answer to all the questions, no matter what they were.
And then he’d withdrawn. He couldn’t have slammed the door any harder. Prying it open like this didn’t feel anything like what she’d wanted. But what had she wanted? For him to take her hand and smile gently so she’d be encouraged to share the darkest episode of her life with him? For Dex to provide the wisdom and guidance she desperately needed?
Yeah. Actually she had. That was how he did things. He’d jumped into the middle of her plights without asking, knocking back her unwanted suitor and taking charge of her mission to get in the water.
What was so different about this? Simply that she hadn’t given him a problem to solve?
That was easy enough to fix.
“It’s not the water itself, exactly. It’s that I can’t get over what happened last time I was in the ocean. I don’t know how, and it’s killing me,” she admitted honestly. “I feel myself wasting away sometimes. When I’m at home in Boston. Like I’ll never be able to take a deep breath again.”
That had not been what she’d meant to say. How was this virtual stranger supposed to fix that ? She couldn’t heal herself, and she was the most invested in the outcome.
Something broke open in her chest and a sob bubbled from her throat without her permission. Where had that come from? She’d stopped crying about what had happened with Chris months ago.
“Emma.” Dex’s soft voice drew her gaze and gone was the hard, shuttered man. Concern etched lines around his mouth as he cocked his head. “What happened in the water? You said you nearly drowned. But that’s not the whole story, is it?”
She shook her head, helpless to break free of their locked gazes. Somehow he’d heard the wish of her heart to have an
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