Free The SEAL's Secret Heirs by Kat Cantrell

room while pretending to watch TV on a Saturday night. It passed for a date in a place like Royal, where teenagers could either get in trouble sneaking around the football stadium with filched beer or hang out under the watchful eye of the folks. Usually Kyle and Grace had opted for the latter, at least until her parents went to bed. Then they got down to some serious making out.
    He’d never been as affected by a woman as he’d been by this one. Even just a kiss could knock him for a loop. The memories of how good it had been washed through him, blasting away some of the darkness that had taken over inside. She’d always been so eager. So pliant under his mouth.
    All at once, he wondered if she still tasted the same, like innocence laced with a warm breeze.
    â€œGrace,” he murmured. Somehow his arm had snaked across the back of the rocker, closing the small gap between them.
    Grace’s brown eyes peeked out underneath her lashes as she watched him for a moment. Maybe she was wondering the same. If that spark would still be there after all this time.
    â€œHow long will it be until Liam and Hadley are back with the girls?” she asked, her voice low.
    â€œLater. Don’t worry. We won’t miss them.”
    â€œI, uh...wasn’t worried.”
    She licked her lips, drawing his attention to her mouth, and suddenly that was all he could see. All he could think about. Her lips had filled out, along with the rest of her face. She’d grown into a woman while he’d been away, with some interesting new experiences shining in her eyes.
    All at once, he wanted to know what they were.
    â€œI’ve been wondering,” he said. “Why did you become a social worker? I seem to recall you wanted to be a schoolteacher way back.”
    That was not what he’d meant to ask. But she lit up at the question. And the sunset? Not even a blip in his consciousness. Her face had all the warmth a man would ever need.
    â€œI did. Want to,” she clarified. “That’s what I majored in. But I went to do my student teaching and something just didn’t work right. The students weren’t the problem. Oh, they were a bit unruly but they were fourth graders. You gotta expect some ants in the pants. It was me. There was no...click. You know what I mean?”
    â€œYeah.” He nodded immediately. Like when he hit his stride in BUD/S training on the second day and knew he’d found his place in the world. “Then what happened?”
    â€œI volunteered some places for a while. Tried to get my feet under me, looking for that click. Then my mom calls me and says a friend of hers needs a receptionist because the girl in the job is going out on maternity leave. Would I do her a huge favor for three months?”
    As she talked, she waved her hands, dipping and shaping the air, and he found himself smiling along with her as she recounted the story. Smiling and calculating exactly what it would take to get one of those hands on his body somewhere. He wasn’t picky—not yet.
    â€œTurns out Sheila, my mom’s friend, runs an adoption agency. She’s been a huge mentor to me and really helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. See, I love children, but I don’t like teaching them. I do like helping them, though. I ended up staying at the agency for four years in various roles while I got my master’s degree at night.”
    â€œYou have a master’s degree?” That revelation managed to get his attention off her mouth for a brief second. Not that he was shocked—she’d always been a great student. It was just one more layer to this woman that he didn’t know nearly well enough.
    â€œYep.” She nodded slowly. “The county requires it.”
    â€œThat’s great.”
    â€œWhat about you? I know you went into the military but that’s about it. You went into the navy, Liam said.”
    â€œI did.” He