Page 54 of Loved by a SEAL

It had been hours and she hadn’t heard a damn word from him.

Did he regret bringing her home with him? I mean, what even had been in it for him? He’d pleasured her then held her as she fell asleep. They hadn’t even slept together yet. Technically they had slept together, she supposed as tears filled her eyes. But they hadn’t had sex.

God, this entire thing was ridiculous.

She thumbed a response to Rebecca.

Awesome news! So happy to hear that.

Slamming her car door shut, she walked into her house. What she needed at the moment was a long, hot shower. And she’d open that bottle of wine she bought last night but never drank. Drown her sorrows and all.

She called Morgan and pushed the “speaker” button on her phone as she dumped her overnight bag onto her bed.

“Hey, I made it back. Patrick woke up from his surgery.”

“Oh, hun, that’s awesome news! How is he? When can he come home?”

“I don’t know, Rebecca just sent me a text.” She moved toward her dresser, pulling out a clean camisole and boy shorts. She eyed her pile of lacy bras, thinking of Ryan kissing her breasts through the lace earlier. Sexiest damn thing ever—too bad he’d pulled a freaking disappearing act after. “I just got home and am going to jump in the shower.”

“God, you’ve had a crazy few days. I’m glad it sounds like your brother will be okay though.”

“Yeah, me, too. Hopefully I can find out more soon.”

“What’d Commander Hottie say about it?”

Sarah paused, hurt filling her chest. “Don’t know, don’t care. I haven’t talked to him since he left this afternoon.”

“He probably went to work or something,” Morgan said. “I mean if they were all on a mission, doesn’t that mean he has nonstop work, too?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing he did have to go back to base. But I haven’t heard a word from him since. He left me at his house without saying goodbye, without my car, without calling me all evening—without anything.”

“I told you military guys were jerks,” Morgan joked.

“I don’t know,” Sarah muttered. “It was stupid of me to go home with him. I think I got distracted by all those big muscles and when he pulled me onto his lap at the beach—anyway,” she said, cutting herself off. “My mistake.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding? Like he thought you’d wait for him to get back?”

“Well he knows I live in Norfolk. It’s not like I can stay there waiting all night—I’ve got a job. A life.”

“I know,” Morgan said, blowing out a sigh. “Listen, I’d love to chat more, but I have about a million projects to finish for camp tomorrow. It’s the last week and then I’ve got a month off before school starts.”

“Right, sorry. I need to call or email some of my clients from today to reschedule anyway. I said I had a family emergency, but now that I know Patrick’s okay, I need to get back on schedule.”

“All right, hun. Talk to you soon!”

Sarah said goodbye and stared at the discarded pile of clothing on her bed. She gathered it up from her bed and dumped it into her overflowing wicker hamper, then grabbed the ripped panties from her purse and tossed them in the trash. Stupid egomaniac telling her he’d buy her more.

Right.

What made him think she’d be around for that?

She pulled her gauzy curtains shut then stripped out of her clothes, leaving them discarded on the floor, and padded into the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. Turning the shower on, she stepped under the rainfall spray, letting the warm water wash down over her.

Letting it wash the entire past twenty-four hours away.

She had a feeling Ryan would call her tonight, because he’d be an ass not to, but seriously. What could happen, anyway? He was a nonstop workaholic wed to his job. It’s not like they could see one another until the weekends. And by then, they’d probably both realize that rolling around his sheets together had been a bad freaking idea.

A total mistake.

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