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though, figuring the guy could bait his own hook for this little fishing trip.
“Rumors like the one that says that your success with the ladies is nigh on legendary,” the other man continued in a musing tone. “Can you believe it? Legendary.”
“Well, you know what they say about rumors, don’t you?” Seeing where this was going, Gabriel’s grin was as sharp as his tone was casual. “They’re like smoke.”
Jackrabbit pulled a face before nodding. “And where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
“I like serving with a guy who thinks fast.”
“I heard a lot of other rumors tonight. Wonder how hot they are.”
“You looking to start your own gossip site specializing in Navy news?”
“Nah, just getting to know the guys I’ll be serving with. It pays to have a good handle on the team’s successes, right? And on their failures.”
“You keep digging around in those rumors, you’ll hear one sure truth.” Gabriel’s smile turned deadly. “I don’t fail.”
“Then you won’t mind a little bet based on one of the rumors I heard?”
His instincts said to tell the guy to get a different hobby.
But Gabriel’s entire world revolved around his service to the SEALs. Which meant he put his team ahead of everything. So making peace with this idiot for the good of morale before they went into training was the right thing to do.
“What’s the bet?”
“I heard that for all your legendary prowess with women, you’ve been shot down in flames by one particular lady. Tessa Monroe, who, if I hear right, is as wild as she is sexy.” Jeglinski’s smile turned mean. “That had to bite, being turned down by a woman like that. Even worse to have her blowing you off like I saw earlier. Damn, man, those were some cold looks she was sending your way.”
Not bothering to wonder who had spread that bit of news, or resent that it was true, Gabriel focused instead on keeping his expression amused as he waited for the rest.
“So here’s the wager. I’ll bet you can’t get the sexy Tessa Monroe into bed. Given that we’re gonna be busy for the next few months training in the Pacific, I’ll even give you until Irish says ‘I do.’”
So pissed he actually saw little red spots dancing through his vision, Gabriel had to call up every bit of control to keep from grabbing the guy by the throat. He wanted to pound the guy so hard they’d have to change his call sign to Flatrabbit. Who the hell was this idiot, objectifying women that way? Talking about Tessa as if she was a piece of tail or trampy frog hog who chased SEALs for sex.
“Bro, you might want to do a little studying. One of the reasons for my legendary success with the ladies is probably beyond your comprehension, but it’s rather simple.” Gabriel stepped forward, getting into the other man’s space with a chilly smile made all the colder by his icy tone. “It’s called respect. I never offer them anything less.”
“Does that mean you’re backing down?”
Disgusted, Gabriel turned on his heel and strode away without bothering to answer.
A quarter hour later, he stood on the beach at the base of the mansion’s steps, hands shoved in his pockets as the sight of the ocean soothed away his anger.
He’d learned young the dangers of losing control. Whether it was because of anger or alcohol, the damage was the same.
Jackrabbit was an ass, but Gabriel recognized his type. A small dog protecting its territory did the same thing. Yapped challenges it couldn’t meet, trying to look tough. He’d back down once he’d accepted the new order of things. And now that Gabriel and Scavenger were assigned to Coronado permanently along with Irish, that new order could begin.
“Look at you, out here all by your lonesome.”
The ocean washed over the words, the evening air trying to carry them away. But it didn’t take his SEAL training to recognize a female voice.
His mouth almost dropped open when he saw who it was.
“Tessa?”
“Hey there,” she said with a smile that sparkled with more than just a greeting. “It’s so pretty out here. Much nicer than all that stuffy air in there.”
Tessa tilted her head toward the manor, but her eyes didn’t leave his face as she descended the last few steps to join him in the sand. As soon as she did, her feet sank and she grabbed hold of his arm as if she were keeping her balance.
“Mmm, you are in peak condition, aren’t you?” she said as her hand wrapped around his biceps and squeezed. “I don’t think there’s a bigger turn-on than a man with a rock-hard body. And you are quite...hard.”
She let the last word drop off her lips on a sigh, her expression appreciatively seductive.
Gabriel frowned.
What the hell was she doing?
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
Still holding on to him, she bent one slender leg to slide off her shoe, then, the sky-high heel dangling from a strap, she shifted hands to remove the other one.
Gabriel watched the moonlight skim over her bare legs, whimsically wondering if she’d turn into a mermaid if she got too close to the water. Or, more likely, into a siren.
“Everything is just fine,” she said once she’d carefully set her shoes, one upright next to the other, on the bottom step.
This was the first time he’d seen her barefoot. A wave of protectiveness washed over him when he realized how tiny she actually was. Her personality was so big, her sexuality so intense, that it was easy to overlook her size.
Then she smiled, her lips curved and enticing, her eyes glinting with sultry amusement as she speared her fingers into her hair, lifting the dark curls before letting them fall to her shoulders again. Her pleasure at such a simple, yet sensual act sent a shaft of heat straight to Gabriel’s dick.
With any other woman he’d figure this was an invitation.
But Tessa wasn’t any woman.
“So what’s the deal? You were bored in there?” he mused randomly.
“Actually, I’m here to see if you wanted to play,” she said in a sexy tone. She slid her hand over his arm again, the brush of her fingers echoing her words’ husky caress.
“Play?” he repeated, his eyes narrowed.
“Play,” she confirmed with a teasing smile.
Sure she was.
And he was the one being played.
Even if the board was being run by a master he could still see the signs.
And Tessa Monroe was most definitely a master. At games of all kinds. And at running.
He debated calling her out on the move. But the deliberation only lasted a moment before he acknowledged that the risk was high and the payoff low. If he pointed out that he could see the game, she’d probably skip out again. It was probably what she was expecting.
As he stared down into her face, so delicate, yet so vivid, he realized that he was starting to understand her.
Gabriel knew the minute Tessa could pigeonhole him, she’d dismiss him. That was what she did with men. He understood her, since in many ways she was his own mirror image.
Just sexier.
She was also wickedly protective of her friends, appeared to value nothing more than loyalty and had a sweet streak he was sure she’d deny. And since despite her obvious misgivings, she’d agreed to be Livi’s maid of honor, she clearly put her friends’ feelings over her own.
The