Free Hot SEAL by Lynn Raye Harris

that sent a shiver down her spine.
    “If I’d thought for two seconds you were going to use this particular assignment as an excuse to put your hands all over me, I’d have told Matt I couldn’t do it.”
    Dane leaned back in the booth, his gaze hooded as he studied her. She could feel her pulse pounding recklessly in her throat, and she hoped like hell he couldn’t see it.
    But she should have known that was a fruitless wish.
    His mouth curled in a smile. “Or maybe that’s why you agreed, Ivy. Maybe you like having my hands on you. You used to.”
    “ Used to being the key phrase here.” Oh, why did she have to sound so breathless when she said it?
    He brushed his fingertips along her bare arm, and she shuddered before she could contain the reaction.
    “I’m not going to lie to you. I’m hard—and it’s got nothing to do with used to .”
    Ivy’s breath shortened. “Don’t say things like that, Dane.”
    “Why not? Because it makes you wet?”
    Ivy closed her eyes. Dear heaven, yes, she was wet. Wet and hot and aching for what she knew this man could give her. But sex had never been their problem—and if she went down that road with him, where would it lead this time? How could it possibly end well?
    “How is this helping us do what we came here to do?” she forced out. “We have work to do, and sex isn’t a part of it. Besides, aren’t you just a little bit worried about your career if you start banging random agents on the job?”
    Dane’s gaze was serious. “You aren’t a random agent, Ivy. And no, I’m not worried about my career. This—you and me—is different.”
    Her pulse thumped. “I’m not sure Mendez would agree. In fact, I bet he’d be pissed as hell if we let something escape our attention because we can’t concentrate on the job.”
    “Who said I can’t concentrate?”
    A waitress appeared at their table before Ivy could answer. “What can I get for you two?”
    She was blond and buxom, and she gave Dane a slow once-over. Ivy found herself wanting to smack the woman with her menu.
    “I’ll have a sparkling water with a lemon slice,” Ivy said with annoyance.
    “And you, hon?” the woman said to Dane.  
    He grinned, of course. “I’ll have a Dos Equis Amber. We’ll also take an order of those ahi sliders you got, and some truffle fries. Make that two truffle fries. My girl can eat a whole order by herself.”
    “Sure thing, hon,” the woman said before giving him a wink and turning on her heel.
    “Two orders of truffle fries? How do you know I even like such a beast?”
    “I don’t. But you used to eat all my fries—or did you forget?”
    Ivy’s cheeks heated. “I didn’t forget. But I used to have the metabolism to burn them off. No more. You’re wasting your money.”
    “They’re fries, Ivy. If you don’t eat them, I think I can take the hit to my wallet.”
    He made her want to laugh, but she was determined not to.  
    “Why are you drinking? We’re supposed to be observing.”
    He reached up and caught a lock of her hair in his fingers. Then he twirled it around his index finger while giving her a sexy look that made her ache.
    “I can nurse one beer and observe. If we’re both drinking water and you’re glaring at me like you are right now, we’re not going to fool anyone.”
    She looked down at the menu still in her hand and pushed it across the table. He was right, but damn, how was it that he could be so nonchalant about this whole thing? Her belly was doing backflips at his proximity, and her nerve pathways were lit up like a fireworks display on a summer night.
    Yet he seemed so cool and untouched. And arrogant. Definitely arrogant with that smirk and knowing gaze.
    “What if I didn’t want ahi sliders?”
    “Then order something else.”
    She sat back against the seat, and he pulled her in close, his arm going around her shoulders. She told herself it was part of their cover, but her heart hammered and her skin sizzled and her brain