Read Online Contract with a SEAL (Special Ops: Homefront Book 3) by Kate Aster - Free Book Online Page A

particular have him
wishing she could stay longer playing house with him in Little Creek? Vi was
like a nicely wrapped gift at Christmas, all done up in colorful paper and
fancy bows. It looked lovely, but the most interesting part was inside the box,
something that didn’t even slightly resemble the shiny exterior.
    She slid into a parking space next to
him, and he opened her door, his blood stirring to the sight of her long legs
stepping out of the car.
    “I have a tavern in mind for breakfast. My
nephew and I had lunch there when we visited. All the servers are actors playing
Colonial characters. They sing, talk about the war with Great Britain, that
sort of thing.”
    Vi grimaced. “That might be a bit much
for this hour of the morning.”
    Joe gave her a warning gaze. “I’m trying
to recreate your eighth grade trip, Vi.”
    She laughed. “Ah, well, in that case, it
definitely sounds like a place I would have loved back then.”
    Granted, it wasn’t the kind of place he’d
normally take a woman. It usually served him better to take women someplace along
the boardwalk in Virginia Beach. A place with candlelight and a view of the
water, which would make for an easy segue into a conversation about the Navy
and life as a SEAL CO, topics which invariably led to an easy score… if he was
still intrigued by the woman after an hour or two of conversation.
    And he’d never take a woman for breakfast.
That was generally a meal he preferred to eat alone, after a good workout and
hot shower—sometimes the only time of the day when someone wasn’t calling
him on his cell or knocking on his office door.
    But it’s not like this was a date, he
reminded himself. And if it were, Joe was surprised to admit that he’d happily
settle for breakfast at a venue more suitable for families with children, if it
brought a smile to Vi’s face.
    After breakfast, they watched Thomas
Jefferson rally a crowd, and then followed behind the fife and drum parade
before catching a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. By the time the cannons were
set off that afternoon, Vi had transformed into the consummate tourist,
stopping in every shop she could, picking up things for Abigail.
    After having high tea in one of the
taverns—God help him if his teams found out he’d had high tea—they
made their way back to the parking lot. Joe loaded her shopping bags into her
car, and opened her door for her.
    “Joe, I had so much fun.” Shaking her
head, she almost seemed to disbelieve it. Her cheeks were pink from the winter
chill in the air and, even with only a few hours sleep, her eyes sparkled. “Thanks
so much for taking me here.”
    Leaning in slightly when a brisk breeze
blew, she stole a bit of his body heat against the winter’s wind. With his face
so close to hers, he wondered a moment if he should kiss her goodbye. What was
customary in a situation like this? For a so-called fake date, the pull between
them was impossible to deny. But an email flashed in his mind’s eye.
    Orders. Philippines. PCS in four weeks. Oh,
yeah.
    He couldn’t break her heart, tossing her
like live grenade when his time here was up. He couldn’t lead her on. Relationships
generally turned sour after the woman realized that a few emails and Skypes
weren’t enough to keep her warm at night while he was away. And with only four
weeks before he left, they barely had time to get the engine warmed up
    Leaning in, he indulged slightly,
brushing a light kiss against her cheek. She smelled like pine and
cinnamon—must have picked up the scent among all the holiday décor in
those old, restored buildings. The smell had never been more alluring.
    Reluctantly pulling his lips from her
cheek, he took her face gently in his hands. “It was my pleasure. And Vi? Promise
me that you won’t spend one more moment of your life depriving yourself of
something you want to please someone else.”
    Eyes glistening, she gazed up at him. “I
promise.”
    He watched her slide into the