She swallowed harder. “How long will you be gone?”
“No idea, babe. It could be hours, days, weeks, months…” Voice trailing, he pulled on his pants and zipped them up, put on his shirt and headed for the bathroom.
47
Elle Kennedy
She heard him turn on the faucet, then flush the toilet. He was gone only for a moment, but a moment was all it took for old memories to launch a tired attack. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d woken up in the morning—or in the middle of the night—to the sound of Matthew’s cell phone ringing. How many times she’d bid him goodbye, only to spend weeks worrying that he’d get shot in the middle of the jungle or get blown up by a land mine. Not that she’d had to worry. Oh no. Matt had been in constant danger, sure, but it turned out most of the danger came from the prostitutes and random strangers he hooked up with in whatever foreign country he’d been deployed to.
Question was, did Garrett share the same habits?
It was an unwelcome thought, not to mention a silly one. Raking both hands through her hair, she leaned against the wall next to the bedroom door for support, wishing she could exorcise the insecurities out of her brain, out of her heart. She had no right to worry about what Garrett might or might not do when he was on assignment. She wasn’t his girlfriend or anything, and besides, seeing as she’d had sex with one of his closest friends last night, she really wasn’t in a position to judge or reprimand.
“I’m a SEAL, Shel.” Garrett’s quiet voice filled the room, and when she lifted her head she saw him standing in the doorway of the bathroom, obviously aware of the distress in her eyes. “When the team gets called, we’ve got no choice but to go wherever they want us.”
“I know.” Shoot. Did he notice the wobble in her voice?
Yep, he noticed. His expression softened as he stepped toward her and pulled her into his arms. His body was solid and warm against hers, his lips soft as he kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be back before you know it. And then we can continue what we started last night, okay?”
“And will you be starting a similar, um, enterprise with someone else, you know, if you meet a woman when you’re gone?” The words came out before she could stop them, and from the flash of hurt she saw in his eyes, she knew she should’ve worked harder to rein in her fear and insecurity.
48
Heat of the Moment
Garrett’s hands dropped from her waist. “I can’t believe you asked me that.” He turned away from her, heading to the bed where he’d left his cell phone and tucking it into his pocket. “You honestly think that low of me?”
Whoa. When he turned back, the hurt on his face had tripled, his features now creased with both disbelief and anger.
“I…” She tried to find the right thing to say, if there even was one. “The guy I dated before…he used to fuck around whenever he was away, okay?”
“No, not okay.” A muscle twitched in his handsome jaw. “I’m nothing like Matthew—yes, I know all about Matthew, your Marine, and yeah, I’d heard rumors that he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. But I don’t do shit like that. I don’t screw around on women I happen to care about.”
“Garrett…” The fire in his eyes made her reconsider. Closing her mouth, she simply sighed and waited for him to get it all out.
“You think I’d say everything I said, about wanting you, about how crazy I am about you, and then turn around and fuck a stranger? Never mind that I’ll be on the job, most likely in a remote corner of the world where the only women I’ll encounter would rather strap bombs to their chests than fuck Americans, but damn it. You think I’d do that to you?”
She drew in a long breath, suddenly feeling ridiculously foolish for comparing this man to her ex. Garrett might have a wild past, but she believed him when he claimed to have been celibate for the last year, and in that year, he’d shown up at the café almost daily, buying lattes he didn’t even like just so he could see her. And last night…God, last night he’d actually watched her have sex with his best friend just because he wanted to let her have the fantasy, because he wanted to be with her. And the way he kissed her…it was packed with way more emotion than anything she’d ever experienced.
Damn it, she really was an idiot.
Obviously Garrett agreed, because he was already making a swift move for the door.
“Fuck this,” he muttered. “Obviously our friendship this past year has taught you nothing about me. Obviously everything that happened last night—and mere minutes ago—didn’t
49
Elle Kennedy