Free Forever Bound by Noelle Adams Samantha Chase

can take my chances and deal with the razzing he’ll no doubt give me when I’m done.
    I took a deep breath. “Okay, so I kind of kissed one of the teachers.” And then I waited.
    And waited.
    And waited.
    “Was it a dude?” Cole asked.
    I couldn’t help but laugh. “No. It wasn’t a dude. Kristin’s a fourth-grade teacher, and her daughter’s in my class and…”
    “What the hell’s the matter with you?” Cole snapped. “You kissed one of the kid’s moms? Who does that? Is she married?”
    “No. No!” I said more adamantly. “Her husband died a couple of years ago. He was a SEAL.” Dammit . “She’s been dogging me since I arrived here and checking up on me, and I kind of thought she was a bitch but…”
    “Just because she’s hot doesn’t mean she isn’t a bitch.”
    “Shut the fuck up! You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”
    “Ah…so it’s like that, is it?”
    “What? Like what?”
    Cole growled with disgust. “I am getting so tired of you guys all doing this. It’s bullshit.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?”
    “Okay, let’s backtrack for a minute. This woman…”
    “Kristin,” I reminded.
    “Yeah, whatever,” Cole said dismissively. “Kristin’s been watching you and ratting you out and whatnot but you’re attracted to her. Am I right so far?”
    Unfortunately.
    “I’ll take your silence as a yes. So you’re attracted to her and you kiss her. What’s the problem then?”
    “She took off as soon as it was over.”
    “Maybe she had someplace to be.”
    I shook my head, even though Cole couldn’t see it. “No. It was more than that. She was a little freaked out and just sort of took off and left me standing in the middle of the damn parking lot feeling more than a little shell-shocked.”
    “That good, huh?”
    “I’ve got the whole weekend to drive and find you and kill you,” I sneered. “Remember that.”
    “Yeah, I’m scared.” Cole paused. “So what has you more freaked out—the fact that you kissed her and she took off or that you kissed her and it was more than just a kiss to you?”
    “Shit,” I muttered.
    “Please, I’m the one sitting here playing Dr. Phil. You don’t get to mutter anything.”
    “It…it felt like more. It wasn’t a calculated thing. One minute we were talking and the next…I just had to kiss her. I know we were in the middle of the parking lot, and I know that she’s a single mom and a widow and all that, but…I’m totally screwed here. I don’t know anything about her, and she’s not like any other woman I’ve ever pursued. I think I scared her off and now I’m not going to know anything about her.”
    “Uh…that’s not completely true.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “New software? Hello? Do you not remember my reason for this call?”
    “I bet you’re sorry you volunteered to call me now, aren’t you?”
    Cole chuckled. “More than you know.”
    “So…what? I should investigate her a little? Is that what you’re saying?”
    “It can’t hurt. Maybe if you know a little bit more about her, you’ll have an idea on how you want to proceed and if you want to proceed. You may not find out everything that you want to know, but you may find out enough to decide what happens from here. Think about it.”
    How could I not?
    ***
    Two hours later and my head was still spinning.
    From everything that I could find, Kristin Andrews was your typical all-American girl. A do-gooder. Someone who played by the rules, paid her bills on time, and never had a speeding ticket. She was a local girl who married her high school sweetheart and was primed and ready to live a fairytale life complete with kids, a white picket fence, and living happily ever after.
    And then her husband had died.
    I read the news reports and even managed to find some military records that weren’t out there for public knowledge. Nicholas Andrews was a SEAL and damn good one. What had happened to him was an accident.