“You need to stop trying to make me into someone who’s going to let you down. I know you’ve had a lot of that in your life, but it stops now. I said I was here for you and I am. You can’t push me away, Kayla. You should realize by now that a SEAL lives and dies by his honor. And even if I wasn’t a SEAL, I’d still keep my word. I said I’m going to marry you and protect you both, and I am. We’ve got just as much of a shot at making a go of this as any of my teammates and their wives and fianceés.”
Her heart throbbed. As much of a chance as Bailey and Alexei? Chloe and Ryan? The others? She didn’t know. She’d seen them all together and they were clearly in love.
He leaned forward as if he knew what she was thinking. “Yeah, I know they’re all madly in love with each other—but love isn’t all it takes to make a successful marriage. We don’t have the love part, but nothing says we won’t get there. But if it’s going to happen, you’ve got to stop feeling guilty and thinking you have the power to force me into doing what I don’t want to do. You don’t. I’m committed to marrying you. Stop trying to second guess everything I say and do.”
Her heart was pounding. Those were passionate, heated words. Not words of love, but words of honor. She wanted the love, desperately, but she’d take the honor.
“Okay.”
“Do you mean it?”
She pulled in a breath scented with the odors of delicious food and fresh air. It was sunny out, but shady under the trees, and life at this very moment was good. She needed to be in the moment.
But she couldn’t shake a lifetime of conditioning.
“I’m trying. Very hard. Growing up, the only person I could trust was Bailey. Everyone I’ve ever put any faith in, other than her, has let me down. And I’m not saying you’re going to do it too. I know you’re honorable. It’s me and my stupid baggage, that’s all.”
He leaned over and pressed his lips to her cheek. “That’s an honest answer, beautiful. I can live with that. Don’t ever feel like you have to gloss over what you’re feeling or what you need to say. Just tell me. We’ll figure it out. Now how about we eat lunch and enjoy ourselves this afternoon? No pressure about anything else. Sound good?”
Her heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. And her skin tingled where his breath had tickled it. Memories of the night they’d shared flooded back. His breath on her skin, his mouth doing things that ought to be illegal…
Kayla shivered. “It sounds really good.”
Except she didn’t mean lunch.
They spent the afternoon at the park, pushing Ana around and talking about the logistics of getting married and telling everyone. The day was fine, warm and breezy, and Kayla looked beautiful in the long skirt that fluttered around her ankles. Neo kept dropping his gaze there, feeling like a guy from the 1800s who got excited by the barest flash of skin. It was ridiculous, but he enjoyed it.
Kayla had finally given up and twisted her long hair into a knot at the nape of her neck when it kept blowing around her face. She wasn’t the most talkative person, but he managed to get her talking about work at one point. She loved working with Chloe and the other ladies at the salon. She thought she might like to go to beauty school someday, but she didn’t know if she’d have the time until Ana was older.
Neo listened more than he spoke because he wanted to hear what she had to say. Kayla was younger than him by a few years. She’d turned twenty-three recently, and he was almost twenty-eight. He forgot how young she was most of the time because she seemed mature beyond her years. He knew she’d had a rough childhood, but he didn’t know all of it. He suspected she had more to say about that when she knew him better. He hoped so anyway.
By the time they got back to the car, Ana was asleep in her stroller.
“Let me,” Neo said when Kayla bent down to unbuckle the baby and lift her into the car seat.
Kayla tugged her lower lip between her teeth as he carefully lifted Ana. He knew Kayla feared he’d wake Ana, but he successfully got her into the car seat and buckled in without incident. Kayla double-checked the straps. He wasn’t offended by it. When she was satisfied, she straightened and smiled at him. It was a soft smile.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome.”
Seized by an impulse he didn’t feel like denying, he tugged her against him and dropped his mouth to hers. She didn’t resist. She clutched his arms in her small hands, tipped her head back, and opened her lips.
Neo hadn’t intended the kiss to be anything more than a quick, chaste one. But that opening…
He groaned as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, his body aching immediately as he remembered what it’d been like to be inside her, the silky walls of her pussy gloving him tight. He didn’t know why she twisted him up inside the way she did, but he wasn’t planning to fight it. Not anymore. What was the point? He was marrying her and he meant to share a bed with her whenever she was ready.
She tasted warm and sweet, like the strawberries on the cheesecake they’d split. Her hands slid up his arms to wrap around his neck, trailing fire in their wake. Her body was pliant against his. Melting. As if she too remembered how they’d fit so well together.
He’d tried not to think about that night too often, but he
