Free Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) by Rylie Roberts

reach his eyes. When he ducked out of sight, he called out, “Are you hungry? I can order something. What would you like?”
    Rolling to her back, she stared up at the ceiling, listening to the faucet in the bathroom. Why was she so relieved that he didn’t want her to leave? In the matter of just a few minutes, she’d been so blissed out she never wanted to leave his arms. Seconds later, he had her heart plummeting with worry. Now she wanted to give herself a high five because he wanted her to stick around.
    Honestly, for her, this had never been merely a one-night stand. She’d had the hots for that man for years, but he didn’t know that and clearly hadn’t felt the same way. Pushing to her side of the bed, she rose, going toward the bathroom, whispering to herself, “Maybe I shouldn’t have given it up so quickly.”
    “What would you like?” he asked, startling her. Connor had his shorts in his hand, shoving one foot through. She lost herself, staring at him. He was literally the hottest guy she’d ever seen. She was in so much trouble. At the bathroom door, she dropped her head back between her shoulders and looked at the ceiling as she answered.
    “Anything really. No sour cream or tomatoes.”
    She needed to find perspective in a major way. He totally knocked her off balance anytime he was around.
    “Want margaritas?” She could tell by his voice that he’d turned toward her. He had to be looking at her naked bottom. That got her moving. Once around the corner of the bathroom, she saw the tangled mess of her hair and groaned as she began finger-combing the strands.
    “Probably shouldn’t. I have an early call tomorrow,” she called out, reaching to shut the door.
    “Okay.” His voice was close, and he appeared in the doorframe, holding her purse. This felt very similar to him opening the bathroom stall door on her. He clearly had no space boundaries.
    He came in, placed her purse on the counter, and stood behind her while circling a hand around her waist. She gave her hair one last hurried run through with her fingers before looking up at him. She stared at him in the mirror as he pressed his body against her back. His face was serious and their gazes connected as he leaned forward to place a kiss on her jaw, right below her ear. “You’re beautiful.”
    “You’re the beautiful one,” she said, lifting a hand up to reach his buzz cut when he nuzzled her neck. “You’re a very handsome man and this body… Do you work out all the time?”
    “I work out a lot. It’s a good stress reliever.”
    “Where does relentless come from?” she asked about the tattoo on his arm.
    “I’ve been called that my whole life. I finally decided it was probably true, so I inked it.”
    Connor leaned back, the quietness returning as they continued to stare at one another. She assessed his mood to be different yet again—somewhere between happy and serious. Somehow working out fell in the same off-limits category as discussing his work in the military. Mental note made.
    “It’s surprising you aren’t in a relationship,” he said, changing that subject on his own.
    “Nope, no relationship,” she said and turned, wrapping both her arms around his waist.
    “Good, I don’t want to have to kick some guy’s ass,” he said after a second of silence, the humor back in his voice.
    “So these muscles can back up what they represent?” Her hand circled one of his biceps, squeezing the hard muscle. He surprised her when he hooked a knuckle under her chin and lifted, her face. His lips right there, waiting for a soft kiss. Mental note on that too. He liked being affectionate.
    “I’d rather be a lover than a fighter.”
    It took a second with his serious expression firmly in place before she barked out a laugh.
    “Well, if you’re half as good at fighting as you are a lover, you got yourself a winner there too.” That earned her another kiss and those knuckles sliding across her cheek before he turned,