Page 1 of Inevitable
PROLOGUE
Marshall
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Fourteen Years Earlier…
It was time for me to go.
I’d been telling myself the same thing over and over for the last forty-five minutes. I’d stalled around by taking a long shower in the master bath while the beautiful, blonde female sleeping in the bed was oblivious and sleeping like an angel.
It had been a long night for us because we knew it was our last night together.
Emma.
What in the hell had I been doing with an extraordinary woman like her for the last five days?
And why in the fuck was I having such a hard time leaving when I’d known from day one that this was just a brief fling for both of us?
Neither of us had wanted any commitments or strings attached to the time we’d spent here together in Virginia Beach.
She’d said she was on vacation, and I wasn’t looking for a relationship.
I wasneverlooking for a relationship.
I certainly hadn’t planned on hooking up with anyone, either.
I’d just finished a really rough mission as the commander of a SEAL team, and all I’d wanted during my leave was totemporarily put that operation out of my mind.
I hadn’t planned on actually succeeding at that goal.
Ineverdid.
My thoughts were never far away from my job. My career in the military was my entire life, and I’d made that choice very willingly a long time ago.
However, for just a short time, I’d actually let a woman get to me.
I had managed to put that recent mission out of my mind for a while because I’d been totally distracted byher.
Emma.
I wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get under my skin, but she had.
Five days!
We’d only been together for five fucking days, and now I was dragging my feet about leaving her.
Emma and I had literally bumped into each other.
Okay, maybe that wasn’texactlythe truth.
I’d practically mowed her over while she was window shopping in town because my thoughts were consumed with my previous operation at the time.
I’d stopped to help her up.
Itwasmy fault she fell to the ground in the first place.
And then…I’d done something totally out of character once I’d looked into the prettiest pair of blue eyes I’d ever seen. I’d invited her to get a drink to apologize.
