Free SEALed at Midnight by Cat Johnson Page A

name, was that he knew his own name. But the biggest relief of all was the memory that he was single. Very, very single, so technically it was all right he was enjoying her warmth pressed against him.
    Of course, he wasn’t sure she’d agree since in spite of sharing the same blanket in front of the fireplace they were strangers. But God did she feel good and it had been so damned long since he’d been with a woman.
    That thought only made him grow harder. He closed his eyes and willed his erection to go down. No surprise, it didn’t listen. It was just like the family dog his ex-wife had gotten in the divorce. One glimpse of his leash and the dog wouldn’t be satisfied until after he’d gone out for a walk.
    Thom glanced down at Ginny’s dark head of curls, so close he could detect the scent of smoke from the fire mingled with the same sweet floral hair product his ex-wife used.
    The fact that he didn’t roll away from Ginny and run out the door just from her hair product reminding him of his ex told him this woman was special.
    She stirred next to him, and then turned her head on the pillow.
    “Are you awake?” Her voice sounded sleepy as she whispered the question.
    “Yes.”
    “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
    “Better.” His head had stopped pounding and he wasn’t dizzy anymore. And he finally felt warm. But there was something much more important to tell her. “I remember.”
    “You remember?” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. That’s so great.”
    “Yeah.” He smiled, gazing down at her face lit by the candle on the table. “I’m Thom, by the way.”
    She laughed, a light tinkling of a sound. “Nice to meet you, Thom. What else do you remember?”
    “Well, I remembered that I am in the Navy. I’m stationed in Virginia.”
    She frowned at that revelation. “Then what were you doing here in Massachusetts?”  
    “My parents live here. I was driving to visit them when the storm hit.”
    “We should call them. They must be worried to death.” She moved as if she was about to get up, but that was the last thing he wanted her to do. She felt too good next to him.
    He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. They don’t expect me until dinner. I was planning to surprise them by driving through the night and being there in time for breakfast. In hindsight, that wasn’t such a great plan.”
    “Do you remember what happened to you?”
    “Most of it. I remember my SUV skidding off the road, but I have no recollection of actually crashing or anything else until you found me outside.”
    “Wow. That’s crazy.”
    Not really, but he probably had more experience with traumatic brain injury than she had.
    “I remember some other things too.”
    “Really? Tell me.”
    “I have two kids. Jason and Juliette.” He watched her react to that.
    Her surprise was apparent before she hid it. “Two kids. That’s great.”
    “Mmm, hmm. I’m divorced from their mother.”
    “Oh.” That one syllable seemed ripe with so much. “Do you, uh, have a girlfriend you need to call?”
    He might be rusty and a little bruised around the edges from the divorce, but he knew when a woman was fishing for information and Ginny was.
    “Nope. No girlfriend.”
    “Oh. Okay. I just wanted to check. You know, didn’t want anyone to worry.”
    He smiled. “Thank you for worrying about me.”
    “Sure. Anytime. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.” She bit her lip as she raised big brown eyes to look at him.
    That did nothing to help the situation in his boxer shorts. The way he was positioned, so close, touching her, there was no way she’d missed feeling it.
    He swallowed. “Yeah. Definitely feeling better.”
    “Good.” Her eyes narrowed as her gaze dropped to his lips for the briefest of moments.
    His SEAL training had taught him to read people. Informants. Terrorists. He could detect lies and threats, but that skill transferred beyond the counterterrorism world.
    If he wasn’t completely off base, Ginny