by Cat Johnson
“Hey, Darci. Come on in.” Brody’s words set Chris’s heart pounding.
He half expected Brody to be fucking around, and only saying that to tease him. But Darci stepping into his home, for the first time in all the years he’d known her, proved otherwise.
She hesitated just inside the doorway as Brody closed the door behind her. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Chris put his beer down on the side table and stood.
Brody glanced from one to the other. “I, uh, got something I need to do.”
When he’d disappeared down the hall toward his bedroom, the only place he could go since their place was so small, Chris said, “You wanna sit down?”
“Uh, sure.”
“I’d offer you a beer but that’s the last one. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I don’t want a beer.” She sat on the edge of the sofa in the seat Brody had vacated. “I think we need to talk.”
Talk. That didn’t bode well. If she’d thrown herself into his arms or broken into tears, he’d have thought he had a chance. But her cold, hard statement of the fact they needed to talk didn’t instill all that much hope in Chris.
Sitting again, he reached for his beer and took a long swallow. “Fine. Talk.”
Whatever she said, he’d deal with it.
Hell, dating a bunch of women might be fun. He’d set up a profile on one of those sites. He was a good-looking guy. He’d likely have more dates than he had nights in the week.
“I need to ask you a question.”
Him? He was an open book. Chris shrugged. “Sure. Go ahead.”
“Why haven’t you ever had a serous girlfriend or been married?”
“I have had serious girlfriends. What makes you think I haven’t?”
“I never saw you with anyone.”
He snorted out a laugh. “That’s because by the time I met Rick and you I’d learned there was no way to make it work while being active duty. Do you know the divorce rate in the teams?”
She shook her head.
He could supply that answer for her. “Some estimate it’s as high as eighty-five percent. Hell, look at Thom and his ex-wife. That was a big ol’ mess.”
“And what about the years since you retired?”
He smiled, but it was with sadness. “That’s easy. That’s because I was waiting for you.”
Her eyes widened. “But you never asked me out.”
“Sure, I did. Just last week, I did. You laughed at me.”
“Because I thought you were kidding.” Her voice rose high.
“There’s truth behind every joke, darlin’. You just gotta look for it.”
“I’m sorry.” She bit her lower lip as her eyes filled with tears.
Cussing beneath his breath, Chris planted his bottle on the table and moved to sit next to her on the sofa. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
She raised a tearful gaze to his. “You hate me now.”
He laughed at that. “No, I don’t. I swear to you, I don’t.”
Chris raised his hand to her face and brushed away one tear.
She met and held his gaze through her tears. “So what now?”
The question surprised him. He wasn’t driving this bus. She was. “You tell me.”
“Well, I’m not dressed to go out, but maybe we could stay in. Watch a movie. Order food.” Darci lifted one shoulder.
Chris shook his head. “Don’t go out with me just because you feel bad. Or guilty. Or hell, grateful you didn’t die on that boat.”
“I’m not. Chris, honestly. It’s not any of those things.”
Wishing he could believe her, he said, “Prove it.”
She moved in closer and pressed her mouth to his.
He leaned back and shook his head. “No. Not with sex. We’ve done that. It didn’t mean anything to you. You made that clear.”
“But it did mean something. I didn’t want it to because I really didn’t believe you were the kind of guy who could settle down. But it did mean something.” She reached up and touched his face.
God, how he wanted to believe her. He let his eyes drift closed and absorbed the feel of her hand against his skin as well as her words. He opened his eyes as saw the sincerity in her gaze.
She continued, “Everything you do means something to me. I like when you make me laugh. I love how you knew exactly what to say and do to calm my nerves. I like that you can fly a plane. And how you take off your guns as casually as if they were your socks or your belt. I love how you make me feel safe and protected. And it was amazing how you always made me feel wanted. How you couldn’t be alone with me without taking me to bed. I miss that.”
She talked pretty good when she wanted to. Every word out of her mouth was like another light being turned on, chasing away the darkness that had eclipsed his heart.
“Yeah, I miss that last part too.” Feeling lighter than he had all week, Chris smiled and teased her.
Darci frowned. “I’m pouring my heart out to you and you’re joking?”
“Hey, I thought you like when I make you laugh. Come here.” He pulled her closer. She let him wrap her in his arms.
“Did I prove I want to be with you for you and not from guilt or whatever?” Her words were muffled by his shoulder, but he heard them.
“Yeah. You proved it.”
“And?” She pulled back enough to look at him.
“And, I’ll let you kiss me now.”
She opened her mouth and drew in a breath, about to launch into a rant, he was sure.
He laid one finger across her lips and said, “And we can watch a movie here and order dinner in, or anything else you want to do but we’re gonna tell Rick and everyone else we know that we’re dating. Seriously and exclusively dating. I’m all in or not at all. You agree to that?”
“Yes.” Darci met him in the middle for a much too brief kiss before she pulled back.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Brody’s here. We can’t get too, you know involved with him in the next room.”
Chris blew out a laugh. If she only knew how many times he heard his brother getting busy with some woman through the wall. He angled his head and yelled, “Brody!”
“Yeah.”
“You need to make yourself scarce for tonight.”
“Chris!” Darci slapped his arm. “Don’t say that to your brother.”
“Too late, darlin’. It’s already done.”
Brody came out of his bedroom and stopped by the sofa. “I see you two are getting along fine.”
“Yup.” Chris smiled.
“Brody, you don’t have to leave—” Darci began.
“Too late. I already made plans to hang with Thom tonight. He gets all lonely when he can’t visit his new girl up north. It’s my good deed for the day.” Brody’s gaze cut to Chris. “And I left you another present in the bathroom cabinet.”
“Thanks.” He needed what Brody had left him, since he’d used up the last of the gifts in Florida.
“See you.” Brody grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.
When he was gone, Darci turned to Chris. “What present?”
“Nothing. Just him cutting up. So, what do you want to watch?”
Darci pursed her lips. “I think I’d like to watch you showing me your bedroom.”
He was surprised but not about to object to her suggestion. He stood and pulled her up with him. “That sounds good to me. But I’m taking you out to a real dinner soon.”
“Okay.” She let him lead her down the hall.
“And we’re going to the movies too. Some real sappy chick flick that you’ll love and I’ll hate.”
“Really? Why?”
He stopped walking and turned to face her. “Because that’s what women make the men in their lives do. I’m in for the full boyfriend experience. All of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Darci smiled. “All right. You got it.”
“Good. Oh, and tell me next time you’re about to
have PMS so I can bring you chocolate and ice cream.”
She laughed. “You’re crazy.”
“Yup. I’m crazy about you.” And he’d never been happier. “But actually, don’t bother telling me about the PMS. The way Rick complains about you every month, I’ll be able to figure it out by myself.”
“What?” Her voice rose high.
He grinned just as Darci’s cell phone rang. She glanced down and said, “Oh, look. It’s my loving brother.”
“Give me that.” Afraid she’d get him in trouble with Rick, when they were already going to have enough issues thanks to his being with Darci, Chris grabbed the phone out of her hand. He hit to answer. “Hey, it’s Chris.”
“Chris? Did I dial you? I was trying to call Darci.”
He drew in a breath and braced himself. “You did. This is her phone.”
“Why are you answering it?”
“She’s here with me.”
“Where’s here?” Rick asked.
“My place.” Chris saw Darci fold her arms and watch him. Apparently he was on his own.
“Is something wrong? Christ, she’s not having PTSD from the assignment, is she?”
“No, she’s good. Um, we’re together.”
“I know. At your place. What I can’t figure out is why.”
“No, I mean we’re dating.” Chris braced himself for Rick’s reaction.
“You? And Darci?”
“Yup.”
“You drunk?”
“No, I’m not drunk.” Chris laughed as Darci’s mouth fell open at what she heard.
“My sister, Darci. And you. Dating.” Rick repeated what he was obviously having trouble believing.
“Yes.”
Rick was silent for a second. “Since when?”
“Since today officially. But I guess it kind of started in Florida.”
“Did you get hit in the head on that boat?”
“No.”
“Huh. Does this mean you’ll be around my house more often?”
“I hope so.”
“All right. Good. Maybe we can finally stick to a workout schedule.”
That was it? All Rick cared about?
“Yeah, maybe. So we’re good?” Chris asked.
“Of course, we’re good. What did you think? I’d be mad?”
“Yeah.”
“Hell, no. It’s not like you’re Zane. And it’ll be nice to have the men outnumber the women in my house.”
“A’ight. You want to talk to Darci?”
“Nah. I needed to ask her if she’d throw my wash in the dryer but if she’s at your place, forget about it. I gotta get back to work. Talk to you later.”
“Later.” Chris disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Darci.
“What did he say?”
“He’s looking forward to having another man around so we’ll outnumber you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Great. Like there wasn’t enough testosterone in the house already.”
“Hey, you won’t be complaining about my testosterone in a minute.”
“Mm, we’ll see.”
“Yes, we will.” He scooped her up in his arms to carry her to his bedroom where he’d show her all the benefits of having him around more often. “Oh, and you have to finish doing Rick’s laundry when you get home.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “He is such a—”
Grinning, Chris dumped her on his mattress and followed her down as his mouth covered hers, putting an end to her ranting, once and for all.
If you enjoyed Kissed by a SEAL, please leave a review. And look for Jon’s story, Night with a SEAL, Zane’s story, Saved by a SEAL, and Thom’s story, SEALed at Midnight, in eBook, print & audio.
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ALSO BY CAT JOHNSON
Hot SEALs Series
Night with a SEAL
Saved by a SEAL
SEALed at Midnight
Kissed by a SEAL
More Hot SEALs coming soon!
Red, Hot & Blue Series
Trey
Jack
Jimmy
Red Blooded (print compilation)
BB Dalton (bonus read)
Jared
Cole
Bobby
Smalltown Heat (print compilation)
A Few Good Men (a RHB novel)
Model Soldier (a RHB novel)
A Prince Among Men (a RHB novel)
Bull
Matt
The Commander
USMC Military Romance Series
Crossing the Line
Cinderella Liberty
Oklahoma Nights Series
One Night with a Cowboy
Two Times as Hot
Three Weeks with a Bull Rider
Fish Out of Water (He's the One anthology)
Two for the Road (In a Cowboy's Bed anthology)
Midnight Cowboys
Midnight Ride
Midnight Wrangler
Midnight Heat
Studs in Spurs Series
Unridden
Bucked
Ride
Hooked
Flanked
Thrown
Champion
Spurred
Wrecked
Maverick Ranch Series
A Cowboy for Christmas
Valentine Cowboys
Texas Two-Step Series
Texas Two-Step
Cowboy Shuffle
The Trilogy Collection
Opposites Attract
Nice & Naughty
Just Desserts
Sex, Lies & Wedding Cake
New Orleans
Private Lies
Gillian's Island
Billionaire Bad Boys
Cat Haus ~ The Complete Story (Parts 1, 2, 3)
Before Cate ~ John’s Story
Cat Haus (Part 1)
Cat Haus (Part 2)
Cat Haus (Part 3)
And More . . .
Olympus (Bacchanal, Eros’s Valentine, Erato, Bliss)
Cat Snips
The Ex Files
Beneath the Surface
The Naughty Billionaire's Virgin Fiancée
Rough Stock
Educating Ansley
Game for Love: Game On
ABOUT CAT JOHNSON
Cat Johnson is a New York Times bestseller and the author of the USA Today bestselling titles Saved by a SEAL (Hot SEALs) and One Night with a Cowboy (Oklahoma Nights). She writes contemporary romance featuring sexy alpha heroes. Known for her unique marketing and research practices, she has sponsored pro bull riders, owns a collection of camouflage and western wear for book signings, and a fair number of her friends/book consultants wear combat or cowboy boots for a living. She writes both full length and shorter works and is currently contracted with publishers Kensington and Samhain.
Join the mailing list at CatJohnson.net/news
For more visit CatJohnson.net
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’ve said it before—it takes a village to write a novel and that was true for Kissed by a SEAL as much as any other.
Thank you to the many who helped in a multitude of ways from proofreading to fact-checking to research, from story details to retailer listings, for answers to questions and for listening to me bitch. The list is long but just to name a few my gratitude goes to Lt. Ryan Wright, Eliza Gayle, Lael Telles, Sean Fitzgerald, Mom, and all those of you behind the scenes who are my rock.
Finally it should be noted that the information in the book American Sniper about the life of Chris Kyle was invaluable in immersing me into the world and mind of the Navy SEAL.
KISSED BY A SEAL
Cat Johnson
Copyright © 2015 by CAT JOHNSON
All Rights Reserved
License Statement
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