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Since Mitch could hear the tears in the other woman’s voice, too, he could only nod and vow to get revenge on Romeo.
“I’ll meet you out front in five minutes,” she called to Tessa, giving Mitch an apologetic look.
He waited until the door closed, then tilted her lips up to meet his. She tasted so good.
Too good.
It was probably just as well they’d been interrupted. He didn’t want their first time to have been some tacky backroom bar encounter, fast and furious against the wall. Livi deserved much better than that. But he knew he wouldn’t have been able to resist her taste if she’d stayed.
“Rain check,” he said against her lips.
“Okay.” Livi leaned closer and traced her tongue over the join of his lips.
There came another loud thump on the door.
This time they both groaned as they separated.
“I don’t think your friend is waiting out front.”
“She doesn’t take orders very well. But she really is upset. I should go,” Livi said, her voice heavy with regret.
Mitch was tempted to ask if she always put everyone else’s needs ahead of her own, but that would have been rude. And he figured one orgasm and the intention to strip her bare in a storeroom were the limits to his rudeness for the night.
So he stepped back, holding out a hand to help her down. Livi cupped her fingers around his but didn’t move.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Will I see you again?” she asked hesitantly.
“Of course,” Mitch assured her, surprised she’d asked. Not because of her stunning looks, drop-dead body and adorable personality, although those were all major factors. But because he wasn’t a sleaze.
But she couldn’t have known that. Mitch had to remind himself that despite how close he felt to Livi, they’d only met tonight.
“That’s right.” Her smile bloomed. “You owe me a date.”
“That’s a bet I’m looking forward to paying. But, unfortunately, I can’t right away.”
Ready to get her number and set up a date for the following night, Mitch glanced at his watch. And clenched his teeth as reality smacked him upside the head.
“Damn it,” he muttered. At her questioning look, he grimaced and said, “I’m due on the east coast tomorrow. I have to go by the base, get my orders and catch a plane.”
“Ah.” Her smile was agreeable, her nod perfectly understanding. And her eyes filled with skepticism. He didn’t need to be a mind reader to see her doubts, to know she’d figured he’d blow her off.
Showing impeccable timing once again, Tessa chose that moment to pound on the door.
“I guess I’ll see you sometime.”
He understood her suspicions. Navy guys weren’t known for sticking around. Not because they were dogs, although every branch of the military had their share fit for kenneling. It was because they were deployed for long periods of time—months, years—in submarines, on ships, in other countries.
That sort of lifestyle didn’t lend itself to dating, let alone to having relationships. It was irresponsible to pretend otherwise.
Mitch looked into Livi’s big brown eyes and couldn’t resist, though.
“I’ll see you when I get back in town,” he promised. “In the meantime, tell me your number.”
She rattled it off.
“Aren’t you going to write it down?” she asked with a frown as she slid off the crate.
“I never forget things that matter,” he promised. “I’ll call you when I get back.”
“Will you be gone long?” she asked, her fingers rubbing the sleeve hem of his shirt so her knuckles slid over his bicep.
He wasn’t going on a mission, per se. Nothing about his trip was top secret. Still, Mitch didn’t share any details of what he did. An overcautious habit, perhaps, but a habit nonetheless.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
Unable to resist one last kiss, he pulled her into his arms and gave himself over to whatever in the hell this was between them.
Lust. Desire. Passion or a trap, he didn’t know.
All he knew was that he’d never felt anything like this before.
Mitch slowly ended the kiss, his fingers brushing her cheek before he released her.
“You’re so sweet,” he said with a smile. “I never realized how addicting that could be.”
Then he did what he’d spent his entire life training to do.
He walked out and didn’t look back.
LIVI’S LIPS WERE still tingling an hour later.
Tucked into her comfiest jammies, Livi sank onto her couch and sighed with pleasure. Mitch Donovan had the most incredible mouth. What else could it do? Was he a kiss-you-everywhere kind of guy? Derrick hadn’t been. She had a feeling there was nowhere Mitch wasn’t willing to go.
“You look like a cat with a mouthful of canary feathers,” Tessa said as she brought Livi a bowl of freshly cut fruit and Greek yogurt. “So go ahead. Dish. What’d the sexy SEAL have to offer?”
Livi opened her mouth, but no words came out. Pressing her lips together, she frowned.
Between training, taping and touring, she’d spent the last year with burlesque dancers, strippers and, for a memorable couple of weeks, drag queens. All the while she’d listened to them and her crew exchange salacious stories, share intimate encounters and dish naughty details.
She finally had something worth sharing, and the words wouldn’t come out.
Not for the first time she wondered what was wrong with her. Why couldn’t she just put it out there, the good, the bad and the ugly? Or in Mitch’s case, the incredible?
“I can’t believe you were so rude,” she said instead. “I’ve never interrupted you like that. I’m pretty sure this means you still owe me.”
Tessa grimaced but didn’t deny the claim.
“So you cut your flirting short,” she said instead, setting her own fruit and yogurt on the table. “It’s not as if anything between the two of you had a chance of going anywhere.”
“A kiss and a date,” Livi reminded her.
Tessa scowled.
“You’re not really going through with that, are you? It was a tie. There’s no way anyone can expect you to pay double when you essentially won.”
“Mitch didn’t lose,” Livi said, running her tongue over her bottom lip as she remembered him making that point.
“He didn’t win, though. So nobody has to pay.” Tessa threw her hands in the air and paced from one end of the living room to the other. Unlike Livi, she hadn’t changed out of her costume. Even dressed in colorless white, she contrasted clashingly with the soothing shades of lilac and pool-blue of the room.
“Nobody?” Livi ventured. “Or you?”
Tessa stopped mid-pace, her glare hot enough to melt glass.
“Okay, what’s the deal?” Livi demanded, straightening with her shoulders back and chin high. As if great posture would allow her to win the argument. “I’ve known you for eight years and in