Page 77 of Hot SEAL, Under Pressure

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey, Stefan. Good to see you. Jonas and I were just leaving.” Lucy practically dragged Jonas away, leaving the two of them alone.

It shouldn’t be awkward. She’d done nothing but wish he’d walk through her door for weeks. But now that he was here, she wasn’t sure what to do. What to say.

“So the show’s a hit,” she began.

He laughed. “Is it?”

“Yeah. Actually, it is.”

“Joanne must be happy.”

“Oh, she is. Also, as you might have guessed, you’re a hit too.”

“I was wondering what that autograph was about.” He hooked a thumb behind him.

“Yeah, the episode of you carrying my unconscious body out of the Pacific broke records.”

“Oh, good. I guess.” He shook his head and took a step closer. “So, who ended up winning in the end?”

“Nick and Dani.”

He dipped his head. “I’m glad. He’s a good guy.”

“Yeah. They donated the money to a veterans’ charity.”

Stefan blew out a laugh. “Proving he’s a better man than me because I was gonna keep it if I won.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not a good guy, even though you did say you’d call and you didn’t.”

“Mmm. Well, you know, the Navy takes our cell phones to keep us off kilter, just like you guys do here with the contestants. They don’t let us have clocks or watches either.” He took the few more steps to close the distance between them as he abandoned his lame joke and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was hoping a personal visit would make up for it.”

“It might,” she admitted, not letting him off easy but also wishing he would just hold her already. Kiss her. Tell her he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.

Instead, he asked, “How did Marathon Barbie do?”

“She and Tony came in second.”

“That must have killed her. Losing,” he guessed.

Shelly nodded. “Yup. It was kinda great.”

He smiled. “I bet.”

“Have you been able to watch any of the episodes that aired?” she asked.

As long as he was insisting on talking about the show, now might be a good time to ease him into the idea of what might be in episode six.

“Oh yeah. Sure. The boys and I had viewing parties every week.” He rolled his eyes. “No. Sorry. The wi-fi was shit and I figured I could catch up when I got back. I thought maybe I could watch it with you… if you wanted to.”

“I’d like that. But…” she began, searching for the words to tell him.

“But?” he asked, no longer looking amused.

“It’s not bad. It’s not good either,” she added.

Brows raised, he silently watched her struggle.

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