One Hot SEAL Read Free Page B

window. “Stop by
Ma’s, and I’ll return your keys and buy you a drink.”
    The flirtatious smile was
automatic. She looked him over while she waited for his answer. God, he was
gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. She didn’t usually go back for seconds, but
since she hadn’t really had him, that
rule didn’t apply, did it?
    Plus she lived to break the rules.
    He gave her a small smile. “I don’t
drink.”
    And wasn’t he just a boy scout? He
hadn’t always been that way. “Come by the bar anyhow.”
    He nodded and then proceeded to go
over where the registration and insurance papers were and the major safety
features of the truck. She got it. Don’t speed. Don’t ding it up. Try to avoid
firestorms. Shockingly, she was on board with that plan.
    Leaning out the window, she blew
him a kiss and hit the road.
    Then she fishtailed the backend,
spitting a little gravel as she hit the gas just because she could. Too bad she
couldn’t see his pretty face.

 
    2
     
    Ma’s was hopping. It was Friday
night, the place was the only bar in town, and the entire firefighting
population had just wrapped off the ten-thousand-acre fire that had swallowed
up Deelie’s campground. Luke had blown off steam with the guys many times in
the past, celebrating another mission won or—more often—another
mission survived. Recognizing that he was alive and mostly in one piece was a
good thing, but it wasn’t the reason he was here.
    There was only one thing he wanted,
and that was Deelie herself. He didn’t think she’d gotten the memo though. He’d
have to be clearer. She was cute and a total flirt, but he got the feeling she
used her looks as a way of keeping people at a distance.
    He pushed open the door and stepped
inside. A blast of country music hit him. A line formed out on the teeny tiny
square of hardwood that doubled as a dance floor as what seemed like half
Strong put their dancing shoes on. He recognized several hotshots from the
Black Mountain crew, along with at least half the local smoke-jumping team
whooping it up. Since he didn’t dance, he looked around the crowded bar for Deelie.
    Working hard, Deelie slung drinks
onto a tray. Even from twenty feet away, he could see the cherry-red lines of
her bra through the tight T-shirt with the bar’s logo on her chest. She wore a
short black skirt and cowboy boots that showed off her long bare legs. She’d piled
her hair up on top of her head in sexy, loose curls. The only thing prettier
had been the sight of her waking up at the campground, all sleepy-eyed and
relaxed. Even better, as soon as she spotted him, she came over. Something warm
uncurled inside him.
    “Hey, soldier.” For a moment, he
thought she’d lean up and plant a kiss on his mouth, but at the last moment she
settled for patting him on the chest. Deelie wasn’t predictable. He had no idea
what kind of man appealed to her, although clearly she liked variety. She
attacked dating with the same kind of glee his sisters pawed through a
chocolate box. A bite here, a bite there.
    “I guess you came for that drink or
something.” She smiled at him, a sexy grin that lit her eyes up with mischief
and made his fingers itch to touch her.
    “Or something,” he agreed. Christ,
she was pretty.
    “What’ll it be? We’ve got all the
usual frozen things—piña coladas, margaritas—but Mimi has some
excellent single-malt whiskeys. I’m guessing that’s more your kind of thing.”
    It had been, right after he’d
landed stateside after his last tour. Hanging out with the guys, knocking back
a few beers, had become a few Jack and Cokes, a little whiskey to put him out
at night because the nightmares sucked. He’d come home, but his head had stayed
behind in Afghanistan. A few had become more, and the more had changed into
many.
    “I don’t drink.”
    “Bad night last night?” She nodded
sagely. “Mimi has some awesome hangover cures.”
    “I don’t drink anymore. Ever. I did
too much of that after my