Page 8 of SEAL's Temptation

She swallowed and nodded.“I want to do this.I have to.”

He gave her thigh another squeeze.“I know.That’s why I’m not trying to stop you, even though every part of me wants to.”

“Ryan,” she said softly, a sudden feeling of uneasiness coursing through her.She’d been excited about this new opportunity.Sure, it had risks, but didn’t everything in life?Ryan and his teammates faced danger head-on.She didn’t even know where he deployed.Nor would she.That information was highly classified, and she’d never be privy to it.

“And you’d really move to Hawaii after your assignment?”he asked, his voice serious as his eyes landed on her.She couldn’t read the expression on his face and wasn’t sure how much to reveal.She liked him.Really liked him.Even now, the air between them felt electric, sizzling with energy.With promise.

But how could she expect him to wait a year for her?

“Av?”he asked when she didn’t answer.She studied his gruffly masculine features, taking in his curious eyes, broad nose, full lips, and the stubble covering his strong jaw.

Avery swallowed, her stomach churning with nerves.“I would.I love it here, plus you and my brother are stationed in Honolulu.I’m a nurse and can work anywhere.I have to take the job though,” she quickly added, “or I’ll always regret it.I’ll always wonder about the leap I didn’t take.The risks and the rewards.But afterwards?”She swallowed again.“Afterwards, I’d move to Honolulu.”

Relief washed over his face, and he broke into a smile.“If we were living in the same city, I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you.”

Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

“Hey,” he said, his voice gruff.Ryan lifted her chin so she was looking at him again, his thumb lightly running over her lips.“Why the tears?”

“I just feel like I’m choosing my career over you.What if you meet some other girl while I’m in South America?It’ll be my own fault that I missed out on a possibility of...us.”

“There’s no other girl,” he said huskily, shaking his head.“I’d wait for you, Av.Hell, you’re all I’ve been able to think about anyway.We talk or text most nights.I see more of you than your brother does when you’re in town.And that kiss?That kiss was fucking spectacular.”

“That’s true,” she agreed, smiling through her tears.

Ryan gently thumbed them away, his gaze softening.“I definitely wouldn’t want another woman knowing that you were planning to move here.I feel like I could hardly ask you to make that leap, but—”

“I’d do it,” she said.“Not just for you, but for me, too.For us.I love Oahu, but I feel like something is happening between the two of us.Something I haven’t ever felt before.”

“I feel it, too.”

“We hardly know each other,” she said, suddenly growing concerned.

“We do,” he countered.“We talk almost every night, Av.Maybe we don’t go out every weekend given the distance, but we absolutely know each other.While I wish you weren’t taking a job in South America, I can hardly talk.I deploy all the time, but if you come here in a year, well, I plan to take up a hell of a lot of your time.”

A surprising sense of relief flooded through her, like suddenly, all was right in her world.

Ryan kissed her again, softer than before, and she practically melted in his embrace.Avery felt safe with him.Secure.She was attracted to him like crazy, but it was more than that.Ryan made her feel like anything was possible.She breathed in his spicy, masculine scent, felt his strength and warmth, and was completely lost in him when a scream suddenly pierced the air.

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