Page 12 of SEAL's Paradise
Just two consenting adults who’d agreed to sleep together.
Was Riley even available?He realized he hadn’t point blank asked if she had a boyfriend.A husband.If she was just in town on some job, away from her real life, maybe she had a house, man, and white picket fence somewhere.
But no woman would blush like that around him if she were happily married, content in her love life.
Riley was different than the women he was usually with.Intelligent.Maybe even a touch vulnerable, although he doubted she’d ever admit it.But try as she might to take control of the situation earlier, he’d maintained the upper hand.Sawyer had insisted on a date before he agreed to cooperate on her investigation.
And she’d conceded to him.
Smiling to himself, he took the stairs more quickly.Sawyer strode down the open breezeway and found her condo, knocking on the door without pause.He was eager to see her, he realized.Funny because he wasn’t the type of guy to wine and dine a woman, but he wanted to know more about this particular one.
Sawyer heard footsteps inside and saw a shadow cross the peephole.Good girl.At least Riley was smart enough to look and see who it was, even if she had been expecting Sawyer.The door swung open, and the wiseass comment he was about to make died on his lips.
Riley looked...stunning.Her dark brown hair fell in waves around her pretty face, and she had on some smokey eyeshadow and glossy stuff on her lips.The dress she wore was so sexy it was practically scandalous.
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a touch, but Riley looked fucking hot.
The slinky black dress was low cut, giving him a perfect eyeful of her creamy cleavage.The dress hugged all her curves, and he let his gaze slide down her body, noting the gentle curve of her hips, smooth legs, and polished pink toenails.He watched in surprise as she turned to grab a cat—a fucking cat—that had jumped up onto the table in the foyer, no doubt to prevent it from escaping out the door.
“Down, Mittens,” she said, and Sawyer’s lips quirked.He noted a rose and thorns tattoo on her left shoulder blade, the ink standing out against her ivory skin.The rose was small and delicate, just like Riley.
Exactly who was this mysterious woman?
He somehow came to the conclusion that the rose symbolized her—pretty and soft, with that slight flush he loved, but surrounded by a tough exterior to protect its beauty.
No more than a few seconds had passed as she turned back to him, but somehow his entire impression of Riley had changed in that moment.She swept her hair back with one hand as the cat disappeared down the hall, Riley no doubt oblivious as to his sudden revelation about her.
“A cat?”he asked.
She eyed him warily.“I’ve been in Oahu for a while on different assignments.I couldn’t board him for months on end.”
“A fucking cat.”
“What’s wrong with cats?”she asked, seeming perturbed.
“Not a damn thing.You just don’t strike me as the warm and cuddly type.”He nodded at the dagger tattoo on her wrist.
“What makes you think cats are warm and cuddly?”she asked, lifting a brow.
“Touche,” he quipped.
“Why don’t you come in,” Riley said, stepping to the side to let him pass.“I’m almost ready to go.”
Sawyer let out a low whistle as he moved into the foyer, letting his gaze rake down her body.“Kitten.You look incredible.”
She flashed him a knowing look.“I just need to put my heels on,” she told him.“Then we can head out to whatever place you’ve chosen.You made reservations?”
“Aww, come on,” he said, pretending she made his jaw drop in surprise.“You doubt me?”
“Not for a second.”
“Have many sleepovers here?”Sawyer joked, following her into the living room as his curious gaze glanced down the hall.He could see what he assumed was the master bedroom, looking light and airy with curtains blowing in the wind and a white, lacy bedspread.It didn’t match the tougher version of Riley he’d seen earlier today, but he suspected she had several different layers.All of which he’d love to discover.
She shot him a look.“You wait here in the living room.I need to close the windows and grab my things.”
“Need any help?”he joked, waggling his eyebrows.“You could show me your bedroom if you’d like.”
“Not a chance,” she retorted, quickly retreating down the hall.It was a retreat.She already looked flustered, that hint of a flush on her face again.Sawyer watched her hips sway as she left, the material of her dress clinging to her ass as she moved.Her shapely legs peeked out beneath, and even barefoot, she was graceful.
