Free Navy SEALs Complete Series: 3 Books + 3 Novellas (Tempting Navy SEALs) by Lora Leigh Page B

continued. “What makes you think he won’t?”
    “She won’t let him.” A tight smile curved Joe’s lips. “She’s had a taste of adrenaline, Grant. A taste of danger. She likes it. She likes it real well. And she’s damned good at the job.”
    He knew the signs, knew the fire that burned in the eyes and in the soul. It made her careful, but it pushed her, madeher eager for the job. Given a few more years, a little balance and experience, she would be a damned good agent.
    “You’re a bastard, Joe,” Grant accused, his voice low, sad. “You’ve really sunk, man. You knew what you were doing when you let her come in, didn’t you?”
    “Did I know McIntyre would follow?” he asked knowingly. “Yeah, I knew. Just like I made sure she was in the right place at the right time when I needed him. I’m good like that.” Maneuvering it had been a bitch, though.
    “You’re evil like that.” It wasn’t a compliment. “He’ll kill you if he finds out.”
    “So?” If McIntyre found it, then it meant the operation had been completed successfully. That was all that mattered. Nothing mattered but the mission.
    “You scare me sometimes, buddy,” Grant whispered. “Sometimes you really, really scare me.”
    “I’ll watch your ass.” That one was a given. Always.
    “I’ll watch yours,” Grant promised. “But, brother, one day, payback is gonna be hell.”
    Joe was already paying.
     
    Morganna saw the shimmer of color just beneath the awning of the small shed out back and knew that Clint was parked there.
    He was watching over her. A sad smile reflected in the window as Morganna sat tucked into the wide frame, knowing he couldn’t see her, that he was unaware that she was watching him even as he was watching her house. And she bet he didn’t even know why he was sitting out there.
    Clint would excuse it, just as he always did, but in his eyes she would see the truth. He was as helpless against what he felt for her as she was against her emotions for him.
    Maybe in a way she could almost understand his determination to keep her out of the line of fire, away from danger. If she could keep him home and safe, then she would have done it years ago. But the one thing she understood aboutClint was the fact that he was a warrior. He believed in what he did; all the way to the bottom of his soul he believed in it.
    Just as she believed in what she was doing.
    Clint may have made certain she was no longer working this case. Morganna had no doubt that Commander O’Reilly wouldn’t prefer a trained SEAL, familiar with the role he was playing, working it. But he would place Morganna somewhere else.
    Perhaps it was time to request an assignment outside of Atlanta, she mused sorrowfully. She could tell Reno what she was doing now; it was too late for him to stop her. He wouldn’t like it, it would hurt him, but he would accept it.
    And if she left Atlanta, then the chances of seeing Clint again would be nearly zero. At least slim enough that maybe she could find a life outside the constant hope she managed to keep alive in her heart.
    She loved him. She had long ago grown used to the fact that she would always love him.
    And she was terribly afraid Clint would never change. He would always fight what he could feel for her. And he would always insist on attempting to save her from herself. As though she were a child rather than the woman who ached for him nightly.
    She touched her hand to the window, her gaze never leaving the dull shimmer of color beneath the awning. He had shown her more of himself tonight than she had ever seen in him before. She had felt his kiss, his touch, his passion, and the need for more burned inside her with a ferocity she couldn’t fight.
    She had fought too long to allow Clint to take this from her, though. This was different from the parties he had dragged her away from and the boyfriends he had frightened off. This was her life, and if he didn’t want to share it with her, then he