Page 61 of Hot SEAL, Under Pressure

She shook her head. “I know you want that money—"

“Do you want to know why I want that money?” he asked. “Yeah, at first I thought I might like to put a down payment on a house, but I looked online and prices have gotten insane so I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway. What I really want to do is send my parents home to Poland. They haven’t visited since before I was born. And my sister has never been. We have first cousins she’s never met. That’s why I really wanna win.”

“Aww. That’s really nice.” And it made her feel even worse she couldn’t get it for him.

The guilt on top of her fear was too much. Her vision blurred from the tears she couldn’t hold back.

“Shit. Come on. Come with me.” Stefan grabbed her arm and tugged her up and into a standing position before he pulled her away from the course.

“Where are we going?”

“To my Jeep where we can have some privacy. I think we need to do some mental training before we start with the ladder and the rope.”

He still thought she’d be able to do the challenge. He hadn’t figured out yet that she was trying to tell him she couldn’t. That she quit. That he wouldn’t even have a slim chance to win because she was a quitter.

Where was that bell when she needed it? He might understand she was quitting if she rang out.

Picturing his disappointment when she finally got through to him had her tears turning into sobs, which turned into hiccups once he had her situated inside his vehicle.

“Jesus. Shell. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

Hiccup.

He let out a sigh and she felt his arm snake around her.

“Come here.” Getting as close as the vehicle would allow, he held her tight, using both arms to capture her against his hard body. “You’re going to be okay.”

“No. Not—” She sucked in a stuttering breath. “—me. You.”

Hiccup.

He pulled his arms from around her to cup her face, forcing her to raise her head and look at him. “What are you trying to say?”

Didn’t he understand? She wasn’t worried about her being okay. She was worried he wouldn’t be after she dropped out and made him a loser.

“I can’t—” She was such a wreck she couldn’t even tell him what she couldn’t do. “—disappoint you.”

He waited for her to continue, his dark eyes close and intense as he focused on her. Then those eyes narrowed and his gaze dropped to her lips before coming back up to meet hers.

“Shell.”

Her lips parted on a breath. “Y-yeah?”

His mouth hovered close. So close it would take barely the slightest movement on her part to close the distance.

It turned out she didn’t have to move because he did. He covered her mouth with his in a kiss that began slow but quickly became intense.

She reached up and grabbed the back of his neck. He angled his head and deepened the kiss, his hands grasping as he ran his palms down her sides to hold her hips.

Then he stopped himself, breaking the kiss and pulling his hands away.

There was something that looked like regret in his eyes as he said, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

At least the shock of the kiss had chased away her hiccups and stopped the sobs she hadn’t been able to control on her own.

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