Page 23 of The SEALs' Single Mom Baby Surprise

Sloane steps in, eliminating the little space left between us. Her body is lush under that oversized blouse. Warm.

Fuck, her mouth is soft and parts on a breath as I stare at it.

Resist temptation, asshole. You just met her. You’re meant to protect her. She’s going through enough without this on her plate, too.

But she’s looking at my mouth. Her nostrils flare and her pupils dilate.

My hand lifts to cup the back of her neck, fingers weaving through her hair, and I’m ready to take what I want. I can practically taste her mouth.

The bathroom door opens, and Sloane whirls away as her daughter steps back into the living room.

Sloane grabs the door handle behind me, opening the door and practically pushing me out of it. I don’t fight her because she wanted me to kiss her. The realization is blazing in her eyes as she meets my gaze.

“See you at work.”

And she shuts the door in my face. For a second time.

11

SLOANE

My morning is a whirlwind. I really shouldn’t have let Reese invite Rhett inside. The way he looked around my apartment said that he saw too much of my life as it really is. My place should be littered with moving boxes, but the reality is, we don’t have much.

And most of what I took from Alistair’s is Reese’s.

I shake the thoughts away and pack Reese in my car to get her to school on time.

She looks at me thoughtfully from her booster seat. “Why did your co-worker stay out in his car all night?”

The only downside to having such an intelligent little girl is how observant she is when I don't want her to be. I just want her to have a safe and stable childhood.

I’ve already failed in that regard, but that doesn’t mean I have to break her entire world open to the threats that always seem present as an adult.

“Because he’s paranoid. His job makes him that way.” I steer us onto the highway, scanning for suspicious cars like the one last night. Rhett might have made me a bit more paranoid, too.

“He’s a soldier?”

“Yes. A Navy SEAL.” That much I’d learned from him last night. It is the only explanation for their small team coming in, searching through the computers, and hovering around me as they did yesterday. When he mentioned having dangerous missions, it all clicked into place.

Warren didn’t call them to help figure this out. He called them to keep me out of danger.

A lot of good that did me. With the way those three have been acting, I’m already in the thick of it.

“Why did you push him out the door this morning instead of inviting him to breakfast?”

I sigh. If that’s all she saw, I’m grateful. Because I swear he was about to kiss me. The firm grip he had in my hair sent the kind of pang through me I haven’t experienced in a while. Pleasure at being handled and handled with care.

Such a new concept. A foreign one.

“Because he was being overbearing.” Which is definitely one way of putting it. Sure, I’d stepped into him, but he grabbed me first.

Reese’s features soften as she thinks through that. It takes her a moment to unravel what I mean. She’s such a smart little shit. Finally, she nods at me. “I like him. He seems nice.”

I pull up to her school, thankful we don’t have to unpack any more of what Rhett was doing there and why. Or how very attracted I am to him.

It confirms my type—twice my age and authoritative. Not a good sign when I’m going to be stuck with three of them again today. All day, I imagine. And all of them fit that description.

God, is this what rebounding feels like? I don’t need to or want to throw myself at the next man who crosses my path.

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