Page 19 of Operation K-9 Brothers
Chapter Six
Was he really going to do this?Bare his ugliness to the prettiest girl?How did that even work, ugly with pretty?
As Jack slipped his fingers under the hem of his T-shirt, he didn’t think his heart had ever pounded this hard, even in the middle of a firefight.Maybe Nichole was right, and the woman had been stupid, but her words had been seared into his brain.Thinking about it now, it was surprising that he’d hunted down Nichole when he expected the same reaction from any woman.
From the time he’d heard Nichole’s voice on the phone he’d been drawn to her, forgetting that he was damaged and not once considering that she probably wouldn’t want anything to do with him.But she was full of surprises, good ones so far.
He drew his shirt up and off, dropping it next to him on the rock.Suck it up, SEAL.His stomach lurched as her gaze clinically roamed over him, much like the way his doctors had every time they’d examined him.He watched for that moment when her eyes would prove her disgust.It didn’t come.
Instead.Fuck.Instead, she kissed his arm, from the bottom of the scar that had almost disappeared, up to the top, to the worst ones on his shoulder, where the bomb had done the most damage, and then where the infection had set in.The ugliest part of him.What was he supposed to do with that?With her kissing places he wasn’t even sure he would?
“You called me.Drunk.You drunk dialed me.”Had those words come out of his mouth?They apparently had since she jerked away, making him wish he had a time machine so he could back up a good ten seconds.
She blinked, then narrowed her eyes at the same time as that delicious mouth of hers showed her displeasure by giving him the coldest frown he’d ever seen.Cool trick, all that.
“What?”she said.
That one word was a loaded one.“About three in the morning.You were crying and called me a bunch of names.”He hated how she was looking at him, as if he were something that had crawled out from under a rock.He’d always meant to tell her, but he hadn’t intended to just blurt it out like that.“You said, ‘How could you?’and I had to know what I’d done to you.I thought maybe it was a wrong number, but I wasn’t sure, so I looked you up.”
“You stalked me?”
“I don’t know if I’d exactly call it stalking.”He sighed when she raised her brows.“Yeah, okay, I stalked you, but only long enough to find out where you worked.I’m an ass.”
“An ass and a toad,” she said as she slid off the rock, landing next to Dakota.“Is he always a toadstool?”she asked his dog.Dakota huffed, sounding way too agreeable.“You’re donkey doo, you know that?”
Jack couldn’t help it.He laughed.That got him a glare from Nichole.Even Dakota, the traitorous thing, gave him a dirty look.“You have a talent for name calling.Donkey doo just replaced doggie doo as my favorite one.”
She pushed up, crossed her arms over her chest, and scowled.He wondered if he should tell her that her attempt to glare him into next week wasn’t working, mostly because her arms were pushing her breasts up.He was a man.Breasts trumped all else, and hers were ten times better than perfect.
“Eyes up here, soldier!”
He could tell her that a SEAL was never referred to as a soldier, but she could call him soldier all night if she let him anywhere near those sweet girls.As difficult as it was, he managed to drag his gaze up to her face.
“Sorry,” he said.Or not.Now that he knew his scars didn’t disgust her, like a broken record, his male brain was stuck on one word.Sex.Now.Okay, that was two words, so he wasn’t as boneheaded as he was acting.
Sex now with her.
There.A complete sentence.He could think again.That was good.
He tried a smile but didn’t get one back.He sighed.It was time to grovel.“You’re right.I’m donkey doo, doggie doo, a toad, and all those other things you called me.I knew it was creepy to stalk you, but—” She narrowed her eyes.“Right, no buts.I’ll take you home, then I’ll disappear from your life.”
“Probably a good idea.”
He was glad she thought so because he sure didn’t.Although it was undoubtedly for the best, considering the way his chest hurt at the thought of never seeing her again.Better to put a stop to those kinds of feelings while he still could.
“I’m sorry, Nichole.Really.”He tugged his shirt back on, then picked up his pack from where he’d dropped it on the rock.
“So that’s it?You’re not going to try to change my mind?”
Was that what she wanted him to do?Women were confusing.He glanced at the dogs.Rambo had woken from his nap and was sitting quietly—a minor miracle that—next to Dakota, both of them staring at him, as if waiting to see if he’d manage to screw this up.He tried to think of the right words, but his mind was a complete blank.
To hell with it.Didn’t actions speak louder than words?He strode to Nichole, cupped her cheeks, lifted her face, and lowered his mouth to hers.When she didn’t slap him, he took that as a positive sign.On a soft sigh, she melted against him.
He raised his head.“This is me doing my best to change your mind.Is it working?”
“Yes, you creepy stalker, it is.Now shut up and kiss me again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”He was trained to follow orders, and this was one he was definitely on board with.Her breath quickened, matching his own as their tongues tangled.Drunk on endorphins, his worries about his arm, his future, about anything melted away.He’d found his oasis, and he never wanted to stop kissing her.
