And now…now she was cozying up to Aston, who was obviously trying to get her drunk enough so she wouldn’t care if he was married or not.
“Look, although the fondling line is gold,” Carson chuckled again, “maybe it’s time you accepted the fact that she’s not interested. And do you blame her? This place is right near the base. Think of all the Navy personnel—and groupies—who come in here. She’s probably heard all about your reputation, man.”
Garrett clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to hit something, but deep down he knew Carson had a point. He was by no means a saint, and no doubt Shelby had heard some
11
Elle Kennedy
wild stories about him, most of them true. At best, she knew his past was a revolving door of women. Lots of women. At worst, she was aware of his wild streak, maybe even the threesomes, some with none other than Carson Scott, the guy sitting right beside him.
But his reputation was the precise reason why he’d tried taking a different approach when it came to Shelby Harper. He hadn’t been overly flirtatious, hadn’t acted disrespectfully, and he certainly hadn’t made it obvious just how badly he wanted her naked beneath him while he drove his cock inside her and made her scream his name while she came…
Shit, definitely not a good idea to be thinking about stuff like that. He was already hot enough thanks to this heat wave.
Next to him, Carson wasn’t finished with his lecture. “Shelby’s not a wild chick, Garrett. Like you said, she’s nice, wholesome, you know, the kind of woman who’d probably freak out if you suggested, I don’t know, trying something other than the missionary position. She’s got a body that won’t quit, sure, but there’s this whole Pollyanna thing going on. Maybe it’s the freckles.”
“I like the freckles.”
“Yeah, me too. But I’m telling you, women with freckles are ridiculously vanilla when it comes to sex. I speak from experience, man.”
Garrett had to laugh. “Let me guess, your little black book has an entire section reserved for freckle-faced women.”
The other man just grinned, which made Garrett wonder if Carson really did categorize his conquests…nah, even Carson Scott wasn’t that sleazy.
His brain suddenly stumbled over the word sleazy, and he had to wonder if that’s how Shelby saw him. He hoped not, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she thought that.
Even though he’d bid goodbye to his wild ways, his reputation did precede him. So did his rep as SEAL, though Shel didn’t seem all that impressed with his line of work. Most women were ready to rip their clothes off when they found out he was a big bad SEAL, an all-American hero. Yet he got the feeling Shelby viewed his job as a turn-off. Garrett knew she’d dated a Marine a couple years ago and that the relationship had ended badly, 12
Heat of the Moment
which was why he’d always made a point not to talk about his work. Not that it helped.
Seemed like nothing he did impressed the woman.
“You don’t want to have sex with Shelby Harper,” Carson was saying, still sipping on his beer.
He rolled his eyes. “Cuz she has freckles?”
“That, and she’s too fucking sweet. She’s definitely not the type who’d be uninhibited in the bedroom.” Carson laughed. “Can you ever see her going for kinky sex, or hell, a threesome? Shit, I’d love to be in the room and see her face if you ever suggested something like that.”
Another cheer from the front of the café echoed through the room. Garrett shifted his head and saw a couple of petty officers high-fiving over a homerun from the Padres.
Not interested in the game, Garrett turned his gaze back to Carson, but not before he caught another flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly glanced at the doorway leading to the bakery, but it was empty. Okay. He could’ve sworn he’d seen a flash of yellow—Shelby’s clingy little tank top perhaps?—but when he peered into the next room he saw she was by the counter, still chatting with Lieutenant Asshole.
Another wave of jealousy slammed into him like a tsunami, even fiercer than the first. Goddammit. He hated the raw emotion Shelby, with her vivid blue eyes and mouthwatering body, evoked inside him. It killed him, how much he wanted her. All she had to do was bat those long eyelashes in his direction, give him the slightest hint that she was interested, and he’d be by her side in an instant. No, screw by her side. One word—
and the word was yes—and he’d be so deep inside her pussy that neither of them would be able to walk again for days.
The thought made his cock twitch.
Damn, he needed to get out of here. If it weren’t a million degrees out there, he might have left. Gone home, taken a quick dip in his condo’s pool and slid into bed. But spending the rest of the night in the dark, sweating out this heat wave, was seriously unappealing. Shelby’s café was the only place with power, and besides, as annoying as it
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