A Little Harmless Military Romance Bundle (A Little Harmless Military Bundle) (8 page)

“There are some fresh pastries in the kitchen, and Mal is brewing some coffee.”

She left, and he dropped his head back on the pillow. The scent of her was still in the room, and he probably would never smell that spicy perfume again without getting aroused. He knew she was still hoping for something, and dammit, he wanted to give it to her. But he couldn’t trust himself. Not with his issues, or with her.

With a grimace, he sat up and stood. He hobbled, ignoring the pain shooting through his leg and the cock stand she had left him with.

* * * *

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on between you and Kade?” Deke asked.

Shannon choked on the sip of water she had just taken. She coughed a few times before gaining control.

“Sorry. I’m sometimes a little too blunt for my own good.”

She shook her head and patted her lips with her napkin.

“No, really, I grew up with a lot of men in the house. One of them is Mal, who is not much different than you.”

She took another sip of water and wiped away a couple of tears.

“Are you going to answer the question?” he asked just as bluntly as before.

She couldn’t help but smile. From her experience, military men were always much more tenacious than other men. "Why do you ask?”

He rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sandwich. "He didn’t look too happy when we left, and well, I feel like I’m poaching on his goods. We have a good working relationship, and I don’t want this to get in the way.”

She raised one eyebrow. "Poaching on his goods? I’m not sure I like that phrase.”

“Beg your pardon, but I didn’t ask.”

She threw her head back and laughed. From the moment they had left her house, she had been delighted by Deke. If she wasn’t in love with the surly idiot she’d left behind, she definitely would be interested in him.

“That’s a pretty sound,” he said, his gaze resting on her lips.

“Why thank you.”

“So, quit screwing around and trying to avoid the question.”

“I’m not sure what we are.”

He nodded. "I had a feeling.” He sighed. "Well, I was hoping that there would be a chance. I knew he was all moony-eyed over some woman when he returned from that wedding.”

She set her elbow on the table then settled her chin on her hand. "I have a feeling you don’t really want a chance. And it has nothing to do with me being Mal’s sister or the fact that I am somewhat involved with the other idiot my brother brought home. Sure, you’d flirt with me, have a little romance, even take me to bed. But I have a feeling that you’d be out the door and I would be out of your mind before your next mission.”

His lips twitched. "Well, why do you think that is, Ms. Dupree?”

“I do love a Georgia accent, Mr. Berg.” She took a sip of water. "Well, I think you’re carrying a torch for someone.”

He looked stunned and blinked at her, those ridiculously long eyelashes catching her attention. It was really a shame both of them were tangled up with someone else. He was a delicious man to look at.

His cheeks turned ruddy and she couldn’t believe he was blushing. He cleared his throat. "That’s not true.”

“Aha, I’m right. You’ve been here before, yes?”

He nodded. "On my honeymoon.”

Her heart did that little dance it did at the romance of it. "So walking around here with me has really bugged you, hasn’t it?”

He made a face, and she laughed.

“You still have the hots for your ex?”

He sighed. "God, don’t tell her that. We can’t be together.”

Shannon heard the longing in his voice, and her heart did that little jig again. Who would have thought that the Viking was such a romantic?

“Is she married again?”

“No.”

“Had the change?” she asked.

“What?”

“You know, decided she was really a man instead of a woman?”

“Good God, no.” He shook his head. “And I thought Mal was bad.”

“She’s not in jail, I am assuming. What’s stopping you, Seal?”

“Just one of those things.”

She shook her head. "It isn’t ‘just one of those things.’ Not if walking around here brought your honeymoon back to you. You still want her. I thought Seals had more balls than to sit around and say that it isn’t good?”

“We’re not good together.”

She frowned. "The sex is bad?”

“Lord in heaven, you have a mouth on you.”

She laughed again, delighted she’d made him blush. God, was there anything sweeter than a hardened military man who was still in love with his ex-wife? She didn’t think so.

“What I mean is we are...combustible. But not just in the bedroom.”

“Ah, the temperament. Comes with the passion.”

“If I had known I was going to face the inquisition while we were out, I would have made sure to not take the pain pill.”

“I guess Mal didn’t tell you about me.”

“Other than you were single, could handle yourself, and well, that you’re pretty.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You added that last one in.”

He smiled. “Okay, I did.”

“I guess Mal didn’t tell you the nickname my brothers gave me, did he?”

He shook his head.

“I was known as the informer.”

He waited for a second, and when she didn’t continue, he asked, “The informer?”

“Yes. We had a big family: four boys, two girls, and a mother who worked by my father’s side to get the business going. When my mother worried about the boys, she always let me go with them. And if I didn’t, she made sure I got to question them. I can get an answer out of anyone.”

“Is that why Mal let you go with me alone?”

She snorted. “First of all, Mal doesn’t let me do anything. I stopped answering to a man the day I turned eighteen. Secondly, I don’t think so. See, knowing my brother, he’s going to go catting around after a few of his lost loves. He’s not ready to settle down yet, so I know he will go to the women he knows won’t get clingy.”

Deke rolled his eyes. “Talk about someone who’s carrying a torch.”

She zeroed in on that statement. “Do tell.”

Deke’s eyes widened almost comically. “No. No way. I am not ratting out an officer to his sister. I’ll never live it down.”

“Spoilsport.”

“I would rather be called that than whatever the team would invent to pay me back for telling you something.”

“Why don’t we go do a little more walking? I need to stop by my bar. I just need to make sure there aren’t any problems.”

“I think I can handle that.”

She nodded. “And maybe we’ll stop at a voodoo store, and I’ll buy something to make you talk.”

“Don’t even think about it. I have a healthy respect for that shit.”

Laughing, she patted his hand.

“If Kade screws this up with you, I want first dibs at a date.”

Amused with him, with the solemn expression on his face, she smiled.

“You’re the first man I’d call.”

· · · · ·

“So, how long you in town for?”

Mal smiled at Verna, and Kade tried not to cuss. He really hadn’t wanted to come to the bar, but Mal had insisted, telling him he needed to get out of the house. He knew his friend was right, but it didn’t mean he wanted to sit there with the skanky woman wrapped around Mal like he was a life preserver on the Titanic. And he didn’t want to be in Shannon’s bar.

“We only have a week of leave. So not long. Just needed to get out of Virginia, and I wanted to check on my sister. Has she been seeing anyone?”

Verna shook her head. "That new restaurant owner from down the street has been sniffing around. He’s one of the Augustins. But she shut him down. She told me he was just trying to scope out the competition.”

“Are we talking about Beau? He has always had a thing for her. When we were in high school, he used to follow her around like she was the goddess of New Orleans.”

Verna laughed, and Kade took another quick drink of his water. The woman’s laugh was equal to nails on a chalkboard to him.

“I could see that. She said it wasn’t that, but man he moons over her. Well, speak of the devil.”

He followed the waitress’s line of vision, and his heart did that little skip. The bright yellow dress she wore was made of some kind of flimsy fabric that clung to her generous curves. It dipped low between her breasts and stopped just above her knee. She was laughing at something Deke said, and dammit, he couldn’t help the way the air backed up in his lungs.

“Looks like they had a good time,” Mal said.

Indeed it did. Her face glowed with happiness as she looked up at Deke. He leaned closer and said something to her. She laughed, and although it wasn’t loud, he could hear it. It wrapped around his heart and gave a little tug. She was out having the time of her life with one of his buddies. Meanwhile, he had been stuck with Mal and the waitress from hell. He was drinking the damned water because the lazy woman had yet to get him another beer. She spotted them, and he felt her attention stay on him a moment or two longer than it had on Mal. They walked over to the table.

“I had a feeling y’all would be out. Did you do anything more interesting than entertain Verna?” Shannon asked.

“There isn’t anything more interesting than that,” Mal said, sending the waitress into peals of laughter.

“Verna, you need to get back to work. I have a feeling that both of these Seals need another beer.”

She made a face, but she did it all the same.

Shannon settled in the chair next to her brother. Chief took the chair next to her and acted as if he had a right to sit there. Between them. He shot a look at Kade, but then turned his attention to Shannon.

“Really, Mal, the woman is an idiot,” Shannon said.

“Why do you keep her around, then?” Mal asked as he scooped up another handful of snack mix.

“When you aren’t around, she’s a pretty good waitress, and I don’t have the patience to train someone else right now. She might not be the brightest bulb, but at least I don’t have to work with her anymore.”

“She’s not stupid,” Mal said.

“She went and got a two-for-one tattoo and was amazed that they spelled her name wrong on one of them. Really, who has their name tattooed on their own ass? I’ll tell you, an idiot.”

Deke chuckled. "It isn’t like you couldn’t find another woman in this town. It’s filled with them.”

“Yeah, Deke had a couple of women practically slobbering on him at the voodoo shop. It was embarrassing. I thought they might use a love potion on him.”

She leaned back in her chair, and Deke put his arm over the back of it. Like they were a couple.
Fuck
. He told himself for the millionth time that he didn’t have a right to get mad, but dammit, Deke wasn’t her boyfriend. He wasn’t anything to her.

“So, I was trying to talk him into a night on Bourbon Street, but he claims he’s an old, tired man,” Shannon said.

“I said I would enjoy a nice, relaxing dinner with you. Not some loud bar with a bunch of tourists,” Deke said.

His flirtatious tone had Kade grinding his teeth. He read the signs. Chief had shifted his chair closer, leaned into her, as if they were on a date. As if he had a right to touch her. Kade felt his temper rising, but he fought it. He was pretty sure Shannon wouldn’t be happy if he embarrassed her by re-breaking Chief’s arm.

“What’s on the agenda tomorrow?” she asked.

“I plan to follow you around like a puppy dog,” Chief said.

Her eyebrows rose slightly, but she didn’t say anything. If the red haze of anger and jealousy hadn’t blinded him, he would have noticed that she was surprised by Chief’s behavior. It was lost on him. All he saw was his friend coming onto the woman he had been in love with for too long. He did the only thing a Seal could do—other than shoot Chief.

Kade stood and walked around the table. Without a word, he grabbed Shannon by the arm and hauled her up.

“That’s enough of that,” he said.

Kade said nothing else as he dragged her out of the bar. She complained all the way, calling him many names in English and Creole. Some he knew, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know the others. When they reached the street, he scanned it for her convertible and found it easily. He started to drag her along to it, but she dug in her heels and forced him to stop.

“What in holy hell are you doing?” she asked, loud enough that people passing took notice.

He turned to face her and couldn’t think. Right now, he was so damned aroused and irritated, his brain just would not form words. Besides, she was a sight to behold when she was angry. Her face was flushed. Her green eyes were spitting daggers at him, and dammit, she was breathing heavily. With each breath she took, the delicate flesh rose about the flimsy neckline of her dress.

“You do not drag me out of a bar like you own me. I am not into he-men who think they can order me around. Just who the hell do you think you are?”