Free Claiming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 1) by Kat Cantrell Page A

just like she knew other things about him that she couldn’t see.
    “You can push this all you want, but it’s not going to change anything. I’m not good for you.”
    This called for new tactics. Desperately. Because she wanted his mouth on hers again, wanted to taste his sun-bronzed body, wanted to experience life in all its glory, and Dex was the key.
    “Maybe I need a little bad after what happened.” She waded through the surf, closing the gap between them slowly so she didn’t spook him into backing off. “Maybe I’m jaded and irreparably damaged inside from a horrible relationship, and all I want is a man who will take me up against a wall and screw my brains out, a man who knows enough to shut up and kiss me instead of worrying about hurting me.”
    She risked placing her palms on his pectoral muscles, which were quickly becoming one of her favorite things about him. So hard, so tight, and so protective of what lay beneath—his huge heart.
    His eyes darkened as fast as his jaw went tight. But he didn’t move out of her reach.
    “That’s a crock and you know it, Emma. On the inside, you’re hopeful. Bright and optimistic, or you wouldn’t be here. You’re in the ocean trying to heal yourself. That’s the opposite of jaded. And you deserve to be handled like a fragile piece of glass, not devalued in a course encounter with a jackass who won’t call you in the morning.”
    Emma’s chest filled so fast her head spun. “That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
    His bitter laugh cleared the dizziness in a hurry. “Yeah? You’re a fan of guys who flat out tell you they’re going to sex you up and then disappear? You need a new definition of romance.”
    “Okay.” She cocked her head and zeroed in on his flinty gaze, refusing to let him look away. He wasn’t that guy, and she’d never believe he was. “Then show me what’s romantic to you.”
    He groaned, and her hand vibrated with it. “Why is nothing I’m saying registering with you?”
    “Maybe because you’re not saying the right things,” she suggested. “I have yet to hear what’s so bad about you. What could possibly be so horrible that you not only won’t tell me what it is, you seem hell-bent on making sure I know you’re a one-time thing, when clearly you want something more meaningful?”
    At that, he did step back, and the shutter dropped back over his expression, going so deep that she was pretty sure she’d lost him for good this time.
    “Remember how you had a bad feeling about your ex and it turned out to be so much worse than you’d expected?” he said softly, his voice gravelly with an edge that promised she wasn’t going to like his next statement. “Your track record for getting a sense of who a guy is under his skin isn’t so great.”
    Oh, God. No, she wasn’t and as reminders went, that one was brutal. Dropping her hands as fast as she dropped her gaze, she whirled away before he clued in that he’d just torn a new hole in her gut. “Well, then. Guess there’s nothing more to say.”
    She couldn’t sort out what hurt worse: that he was right, or that the barb had come from the one person she’d thought might be the answer to her prayers.
    Without bothering to correct him—after all, it had been Rachel who had the bad feeling, not her—she waded out of the water, leaving Dex alone in the surf. Over her shoulder, she called out, “Thanks for the moonlit swim.”
    It should have come off jaunty and carefree except for the part where her voice broke. He didn’t respond, nor did he try to stop her. Eyes burning, she walked back to the resort in the moonlight, refusing to shed one single tear.
    And that’s what she got for always trying to see the best in someone… a brutal reminder that she sucked at judging people, and no one had her best interests at heart except Rachel.

    The next morning Rachel bounced out of the bathroom, clearly still on a Klingon-style orgasm high, and