Love So Irresistible

by Marquita Valentine

  “Is this your way of asking me out?” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. She couldn’t tell if he was happy or unhappy to see her again.

  Shivering in pleasure as she stood, she tried to give him some half answer. “Just being neigh—”

  His lips flattened.

  “Asking you out,” she finished.

  He didn’t say a word. Cold embarrassment invaded the heat of desire, turning her insides lukewarm. What had she been thinking? Just because they’d had a good time before, and he’d asked her to come out on his boat with him, did not mean he wanted to see her in the meantime.

  Don’t be desperate, Skylar. Men didn’t like desperate, and since Mason was such an alpha type of guy, he really wouldn’t like it. He probably ate desperate for lunch.

  “Ye-ah, I’ll go home now.”

  “You don’t want to eat dinner with me?” he asked.

  Confused, she wrinkled her nose at him. “Huh?”

  “Me. You. Bomber. Steaks.”

  “You want to eat dinner with me?”

  “I like steak.”

  “Just steak?” she asked hopefully.

  His lips tipped at the corners. “Bomber’s pretty good company.”

  Laughter bubbled up. “Anything else you like or think is good company?”

  “Baked potatoes.”

  “Didn’t bring any.” She shrugged a shoulder and his eyes followed the movement, making her completely grateful that she wore something a little sexier than normal. Okay, so a whole lot sexier than normal. But who else would she wear an off-the-shoulder top and flirty skirt for?

  “Nice shirt.”

  Score. He noticed. “It’s my favorite color.” Almost violet in color, it reminded her of his eyes.

  “Suits you.”

  Bomber brushed past her and bounded onto dry land.

  “Did you just pay me a compliment?” she asked.

  His smile widened, revealing perfectly even white teeth. Looked like she wasn’t the only one who wore braces. Still, she bet he was a heartbreaker as a kid.

  “And if I did?”

  Was he flirting with her again? “I might kiss your cheek for it.” Where had that come from? Just as she was about to say that she was kidding, Mason took a step closer.

  He dipped his head. “You have pretty eyes. They’re my favorite color.”

  Romantic and sexy.

  “Oh.” Heat worked its way up her chest, and her heart fluttered.

  His head turned, presenting her with his cheek. Golden stubble roughed the skin. She leaned forward. He smelled of salt and sweat and all things a man should. Delicious. Heavenly.

  Her knees went weak.

  “Such pretty skin, too.”

  She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Donovan never complimented the way she looked. Only the way she played an instrument.

  “I—”

  Mason turned to face her again, his lips inches from hers. She let out a shuddering breath. So close. She’d never wanted to taste someone so bad in her life.

  “What happened to that kiss?”

  “Um.” She shook her head and cleared the fog of lust that had gathered in her brain, rendering her stupid.

  Give him one.

  Do it now.

  I can’t remember how.

  Oh good grief. Just put your lips together and blow.

  That’s so not helping.

  “I need a shower,” he said, straightening. Disappointment flashed in his eyes. “Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll be ready.”

  Crap. She missed her chance. “Shower. Yeah. Good idea. I can go home and grab the steaks. The potatoes should be done, too.”

  “Baked potatoes, huh? You’re a confident one.”

  “Envision what you want and then bake it?”

  “You envision eating baked potatoes?”

  “With you.”

  “How about I come to your place this time?” he countered.

  Once more, she was shocked into silence.

  “If that’s alright with you.”

  “Well, I was hoping that I’d get to eat in the enchanted forest again.”

  He rested his hands on his hips and raised a brow at her. “Do you really think calling it that is helping your case?”

  “Please?” She batted her lashes at him. “I won’t call it an enchanted forest again.”

  “You will in your head,” he said gruffly, but he was caving. She knew it.

  “I’ll bring your favorite dessert with me.”

  “Don’t have one.”

  He was such a liar. “Then I’ll have to eat all that peach cobbler from Yates’ Diner by myself.”

  “You’re just afraid I’ll change my mind and not show up.”

  There was that possibility. Deciding to trust him, she tossed her head. “I’ll see you in fifteen minutes. Bring Bomber, too.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said in a drawl so thick that she wanted to wrap herself up in it.

  Bemused, she stared up at him far longer than she should have, and then shook her head. “I’m going now.”

  “You do that.”

  Neither of them moved.

  “Right this second.”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  Bomber barked.

  She jumped and came back to her sense. Pivoting, she strode to her house, determined not to look back. He wouldn’t be staring after her anyway.

  Don’t look, Skylar.

  But she couldn’t resist. Sneaking a peek over her shoulder, she found Mason still standing on the pier, watching her.

  He smirked.

  She blushed and almost ran into one of the huge gardenia bushes that served as the property line.

  “Okay?” he called out.

  “Yep. Just getting some ambient flowers,” she said, snatching a few blossoms from the poor bush before jogging the rest of the way to her house, eyes forward.

  With fourteen minutes left, Skylar got the grill going, chopped up lettuce and veggies for a salad, and poured two glasses of the wine she’d been saving for a special occasion. Every so often, she’d glance at her watch to check the time.

  Five minutes.

  Figuring he’d want to be all man with meat and fire, she set the table on the back porch and lit some candles. Too bad she didn’t have any fairy lights, but it was still early enough in the evening that they had a few hours of sun left.

  Two minutes.

  She checked and rechecked her hair, dabbed on some gloss. Took the potatoes out of the oven and replaced them with a casserole dish filled with peach cobbler.

  Checking her watch for the final time, her heart slammed against her chest when she realized twenty minutes had passed. Her stomach flipped.

  He wasn’t going to come. She should have known. She was being too pushy, and men didn’t like pushy. Hadn’t Donovan told her often enough that—

  There was a knock at the door, and she flew to it, almost yanking it off the hinges in her hurry.

  Mason stood there, flowers in hand. He wore a dark t-shirt, another pair of loose jeans, and his hair was tied back. However, he hadn’t shaven and all that stubble gave him a dangerously sexy look.

  He held out the flowers. “These are for you.”

  “Is that why you were late?”

  “No. I bought them earlier today. I planned on giving them to you once I’d gotten back from diving.”

  “Oh.” She buried her nose in the roses, sunflowers, and other assorted flowers she couldn’t name. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Sorry I’m late. Bomber sends his apologies.”

  She frowned. “Where is he?”

  “I left him home.”

  “Is he okay with that?”

  “He’s fine with that.” Mason stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “But that’s not why I’m late.”

  “Are you going to tell me or leaving me guessing?”

  “My mother called.”

  She stared at him blankly. “And?”

  “She
invited me over to a get together.”

  “This is a bad thing?”

  He raised a brow. “What do you think?”

  “I could come with you.”

  “I’d rather we miss it completely. Besides, I told her I was busy.”

  “Mason, you should go.”

  “It’s tomorrow, and I already planned a day with you,” he said gruffly as he started for her kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

  “Wait a minute.” She grabbed his arm and nearly moaned at how muscular it was. Focus, Skylar. “Did you tell your mother you had plans?”

  “No.”

  “Oh, thank God. I do not want her to think—”

  “She guessed.”

  Skylar gulped. “And?”

  His blue eyes glinted. “She told me to bring you, but we’re not going.”

  Despite the fact he said we, her heart ached for him. “I take it your family does things in a big way, and that would make you uncomfortable.”

  He nodded, his mouth tight. The scar on the bottom white. “I don’t do crowds, and by the time all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and kids…hell, half the town showed up…” A tremor ran through his body. “I know my limits, sweetness, and I’m not willing to chance it.”

  She rubbed his arm. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  He blew out a breath. “Hell yes there is, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now.”

  “Stop being so hard on yourself. You’ve been through a lot,” she said softly.

  The muscles under her palm bunched. “Need me to grill the steaks?”

  “Yep. Left it all to you. Men. Fire. Meat. It’s a trifecta of what makes America ’Merica!”

  He eyed her, and she grinned without shame. “Too much?”

  “You forgot a hot woman and a cold beer.”

  Pleasure at his compliment washed through her, making her body all tingly. “I’ll remember that next time,” she said lightly as she let go of him.

  “See that you do.”

  With a shy smile, she moved to the kitchen and he followed her. Then he grabbed the platter of steak from the counter and headed outside.

  *

  The next morning, Skylar sat in the co-captain’s chair as Mason navigated through the Pamlico Sound and out into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

  White-capped waves beat at the boat as they went through the last part of the inlet and then smoothed out. Salt water sprayed up and over the bow, wetting her face and hair. She licked her lips, tasting the brine, and laughed.

  Mason glanced over at her, and she grinned. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and concentrated on the horizon.

  “Give me another ten minutes and we’ll drop anchor,” Mason shouted over the roar of the engine.

  Skylar saluted him from her seat and rechecked her lifejacket.

  “It’s not coming off.”

  She raised her voice. “Just making sure.”

  Flattening his lips, he cocked a brow at her. She pretended to sit on her hands, and then grabbed the oh-crap bar beside her.

  He couldn’t help but grin at her as he cut the engine.

  The roar of the engine died down until he could actually hear the slosh of the waves and seagulls crying out in the air.

  Bomber made his way to Skylar while Mason went to the front of the boat to drop the anchor. He returned, taking off his shirt as he got closer.

  “Be sure to put on more sun block as the day goes by, or you’ll burn.”

  As he passed by her, she reached out and touched him. He froze in place as her fingers drifted up his ribs.

  “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday,” she read out loud. “What’s that from?”

  He ignored the surge of desire for her as she stood and began to inspect every single tattoo on his body. “Seal motto.”

  “And the anchor?”

  “Emblem.” His clenched his jaw as she slid her hand along his shoulder, tracing the twin skulls. “I got another one on my ass. Wanna feel me up there, too?”

  Her hand fell away. “No need to be pissy.”

  “I’m not pissy. I’m…I’m ready to get in the water.”

  “Taking a few minutes to tell me what your tattoos mean is going to prevent you from doing that?”

  She had a point, but he was this close to stripping off her lifejacket and that tiny green bikini she’d worn. He blew out a breath at the image.

  The bikini left little to the imagination, yet all he wanted to do was slide the bottoms to one side and untie the top, spend a few hours making them both feel good.

  He swore. “I’m going in.”

  “What about Bomber?” she asked, clearly confused and unaffected by touching him. Maybe she didn’t find him attractive. Maybe all the flirting she’d done was because she felt sorry for him, or the fact that he was the only man their age on their street.

  Okay, so they were the only two people at all on their street.

  The water was cool and refreshing when it hit his body. He surfaced quickly, just in time to see Bomber jump in, followed by Skylar.

  Except she held her nose. She came bobbing back to the surface, her hair plastered to her head and face. He treaded water and got closer to her, pushing back the wet strands.

  “Thank you. My hair is such a pain. Too short to put up in a real ponytail, yet too long to not be in my face.”

  “I like your hair.” Wow. Way to impress her, Mason.

  She smiled, her white teeth flashing. “So what now?”

  He shrugged and grabbed hold of Bomber. “We float.”

  “And then what?”

  “You want an itinerary?”

  “No. I thought you’d have floats or we’d ski or something.”

  “You know how to waterski?”

  “No.”

  Color him confused.

  “I thought I could get you to teach me.”

  He eyed her. “Do you even know how to swim?”

  “I can float,” she said cheerfully. “Plus, you said this lifejacket will keep me floating.”

  “I did?”

  “You did.” She got a slightly panicked look on her face. “You said I would be safe. I’m trusting you with my life.”

  His protective instincts rose at that admission. She’d jumped right into the water that was at least twenty to forty feet deep without knowing how to swim because she trusted his word. Damn, it was humbling. And powerful.

  “I know, baby. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Oh,” she breathed, clearly relived.

  He swam closer to her, pulling on Bomber and grabbed her strap as well, tugging her to him. “When I was a SEAL, I was the breacher.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The guy who cleared the way for everyone else.”

  “Sounds important and scary.”

  Nodding, he continued talking, “It was the first few time, but after that, I didn’t think of my life. Only my brothers.”

  Her green eyes searched his face. “Is that how you got your scar?”

  “Mission in San Salvador. Shrapnel got me.”

  She touched his chest, a millimeter over his left nipple. “Here?”

  “Afghanistan.”

  Another light touch and his gut clenched. He didn’t want her to stop touching him. “This one?”

  “Fell out of a tree.”

  “On a mission? I thought SEALS did water stuff.”

  “I got it at my nana’s house.”

  She burst out laughing.

  Bomber started swimming for the boat. Mason helped him back in, while keeping one eye on Skylar. “I think he’s had enough.”

  “That’s sweet of you to put a lifejacket on him.”

  “It’s the responsible thing to do.”

  “Then why aren’t you wearing one?”

  He didn’t want to answer her, so he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her into the air. She squealed and threw her head back, her arms stretched wide, and began to laugh.

 
He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

  “Put me down. It’s cold up here.” Their gazes met and what he saw in her took his breath away. He lowered her into the water.

  “You’re very strong.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

  “Lifting girls out of the water without drowning yourself?”

  “Yeah.” He winked at her, and she shook her head.

  “Is this the real you, right now?”

  He glanced away, watching as pelicans flew in a straight line and then dove into the water. “I guess.”

  “I like him.”

  “Don’t get too used to it.”

  After an hour of playing in the ocean, Skylar’s lips started turning blue. “Time’s up, mermaid.”

  “I want to stay.”

  “It’s too cold.”

  “Even for you?”

  “Yes,” he lied.

  “Okay.”

  Once he’d gotten them both back in the boat, he pulled her to a standing position. Her teeth chattered as he unfastened her lifejacket.

  “We’ll put this back on once you warm up, okay?”

  She nodded, cold water dripping from her hair. Her nipples were hard little points. He could see the outline of them, and damn if he didn’t get hard.

  “I thought the ocean would be warmer than this.”

  He grimaced at her ice-cold skin. “Not the Atlantic.”

  “But we’re in the South,” she protested as he wrapped a large towel around her shoulders.

  “Not far enough.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. “I want warm water.” His eyes dropped to her mouth. She had a sexy mouth; lots of things could be done with a mouth like hers.

  “Gulf is warm.” Hot. Wet. Hell, he could get her hot and wet right here. He could slide her bikini bottoms to one side, slip his tongue inside of her—

  “Let’s drive your boat down there.”

  He jerked his gaze from away from her mouth. “You want to spend a week with me on a boat, sleeping below decks?”

  “Can’t we stop in ports and sleep in a bed?”

  A bed? Did she mean one for each or one for them to share? Not that it mattered. They would never take a trip like that. A trip like that would require too much one-on-one time. Too much one-on-one time might make him do something stupid.

  Like make love to her.

  Like fall in love with her.

  And this was why he should keep to himself. He knew how Lawson men were—once they found the one, there was no stopping them. But he wasn’t ready for the one. He wasn’t even a whole person yet. He had nothing offer. Nothing to support a family, unless he counted his military pension and disability.