Page 35 of A SEAL's Heart
“No. He wrote it down.”
“He wrote down that he doesn’t want anything but sex?” She sucks in her breath and looks away. “That’s harsh.”
It was harsh, and when I think about his words on the paper,I can’t offer you anything, my heart hurts. “At least he’s clear about his intentions. It’s just casual.”
Paige reaches her free hand across the table and places it on mine.
“Avery, this is the guy you’ve crushed on since you were fourteen. You really think you can do casual with him?”
Her question raises the anxiety that’s been bubbling inside of me. Can I do casual? Can I make this only about sex? “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “But I want to try.”
She squeezes my hand. “This is bad, Avery. I know you; I know that big heart you’ve got inside of you. I don’t want you to fall in love and be left heartbroken. You deserve better than that.”
I take my hand away and stare down at my coffee.
“Oh shit. You already love him.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t. We’re just having sex.”
But I’m not fooling my best friend. “Oh honey, you can’t let this go on. Guys like Ed don’t change, Avery. If he said he can’t offer you anything, then he’s being honest. You have to stop this before your heart gets broken.”
She’s right. But my mind goes to his hand on me, the feel of him inside me, and the way he made my body sing like never before. I don’t want to stop that.
“Maybe,” I say noncommittally.
18
AVERY
Paige’s warning rings in my ears the next day as I prepare for Ed’s next therapy session. We haven’t seen each other since the night we had sex, but when I pulled back the curtains this morning, there was a new message stuck to the window.
Have a great day Beautiful.
Ed’s making it really hard not to fall in love with him.
I peer into the mirror in my treatment room and sweep my hair up into a ponytail. I adjust the red scarf I’m wearing around my neck and re-tie the bow.
It’s to look professional, I tell myself, not to look my best for Ed.
“I can do casual,” I tell my reflection in the mirror.
I resist the urge to apply lip gloss. Lip gloss would definitely send a message that I’m trying to look good for him, and I’m not.
I pull my t-shirt straight just as the buzzer goes off in the corridor.
I let Ed in, and he follows me to the consultation room. I feel his eyes on me, and when I turn around, he’s unashamedly staring at my ass.
His hungry expression makes my knees tingle, and the sensation spreads up my legs to my core. Casual and professional. I repeat the mantra in my head. But when I spin around, Ed’s looking at me the way men look at a steak dinner.
My throat’s gone dry, and I swallow hard before speaking. “How are the exercises going?”
He grunts, and I notice the sound comes easier than it did a few weeks ago. “That’s great. Today I want to focus on the tongue.”
I think about his tongue exploring my mouth, and heat spreads up my neck. Ed gets a wicked gleam in his eye like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
His hands grab my hips, and he pulls me toward him. Then his lips are on mine and his tongue is slipping between my teeth.
I forget about the session. I forget about being professional. I forget about everything apart from his hands on my ass and his insistent lips.
