"Also?" Levi continued. "You do realize that woman is trouble, right? Because the questions you haven't asked yet are why did she climb that hill and what did she do before she woke you up."
Huh. From the devilish grin on Levi's face, Maddie hadn't been engaging in a little healthy exercise. And he hadn't thought to ask her that. Come to think of it, she wasn't much for exercise, period.
"Tell me," he demanded.
"Nice memo." Levi pointed to Mason's forearm. "By midnight, you're going to get the full effect. H-O-T stood out on the suntanned skin of his forearm in fading neon pink letters. He raised his forearm and sniffed at it. Sunscreen.
"Protection's important," Levi said with mock seriousness. "Next time, take a bath in SPF 1,200 and you won't have this problem."
Hell. He'd been so off his game, waking up and finding Maddie pinned beneath him where-no matter what she'd said-he could have hurt her badly. He'd been trained in all kinds of martial arts and hand-to-hand-combat techniques, so he'd reacted on instinct and now he didn't trust himself around her. Not until he could guarantee he wouldn't hurt her. Even if hurting her was something he'd never do when he was awake, how did he shut down his gut reactions?
Levi slid him a glance. "You like her."
"What's not to like?" He rolled over onto his back, shading his eyes with his arm. Maybe he was getting too old for this shit. His back hurt. His neck hurt.
"I mean like like her." Levi went back to doing push-ups. The man was unstoppable when it came to PT.
"Are we in middle school?"
"If you want to date her for real, date her."
"Are you offering dating advice now?" he scoffed. Levi gave a shoulder shrug and put his right hand on his back before dropping into another set of perfect push-ups. "I've dated recently, which is more than I can say for you."
He started counting off reps.
Following suit, Mason rolled over and straightened his arms, pushing into his first rep. There was no point in wasting valuable PT time.
The thing was, he'd kissed Maddie and enjoyed the hell out of himself. She was someone special, and he wanted the chance at more kisses. And possibly something else, although the else part kind of scared him, almost as much as it made him want to wrap his arms around her and hold on. "We kissed," he admitted gruffly. Levi had never struck him as the kind of guy who did relationships, but he was desperate. At this point he'd take any advice that didn't come from a stupid magazine column.
Levi counted off another ten push-ups, then hit the sand for a breather. Thirty seconds recovery, Mason knew, and he'd do another set. "Where?" he asked.
"Are we girlfriends? Do you really need details?"
Levi gave him a droll look. "I need to know what I'm working with here. Was this a quick-brush-on-the-cheek kind of kiss, or the kind that involves removing clothing?"
Punching his teammate seemed like the more appealing option at the moment. Instead, he finished his own set of reps, welcoming the burn in his arm muscles. "B," he gritted out.
Levi whistled. "Good for you."
"She thinks I'm boyfriend material."
Levi grinned at him. "And that's a problem? I thought you wanted to get to know her."
"She thinks I'm a chef."
Levi shrugged and pushed up. "So? You can cook. It's not false advertising."
Which was splitting hairs. "But I'm not here on Fantasy Island to cook."
"So she gets a side of bonus SEAL. I'm still not seeing the problem."
"I took her laptop," he said through clenched teeth. "There are things I'm not telling her. How do you think she'd feel about that? How would anyone feel?"
Levi sighed. "This would be so much easier if you didn't have a moral compass."
Right. "Not helpful."
"Do you like her?"
Mason examined his arm and the pale words painted onto his skin. He could feel the grin tugging at his mouth. "Yeah. I do."
"So get to know her. See where this goes. Maybe it's just a hookup."
"You think she's using me for sex?"
"Would you be complaining? It's Fantasy Island. Not Uptight Island, Vestal Virgin Island or Not Tonight Dear Island."
"That was-"
"Crass?" Levi switched arms. "Absolutely. But it's also true. See what she wants. Maybe she just wants to explore her options with you, have a good time. In which case, great. The two of you can go enjoy each other and then, when our time's up, you can leave with a clear conscience. But if there's more to it than that and you decide you want to keep seeing her, you'll figure out the logistics later."
"That plan sucks."
"True," Levi acknowledged. "But we both know you're going with it anyhow. Stick with the script and you'll be fine."
"You really think a lousy quiz is going to turn me into the perfect boyfriend?"
Not that he wasn't willing to give it a shot for Maddie, but he was also a realist. He was career military and a SEAL. He was more than a little rough around the edges, and he definitely wasn't domesticated, even if he could cook.
Levi just grinned. "At least you'll get sex out of it, right?"
To hell with PT and push-ups. He launched himself at Levi again. The funny thing was that, in trying to follow the magazine script about being the perfect boyfriend, he was happier than he'd ever been. He liked Maddie. She was funny and brave and bold as hell-and that was before he'd managed to get her into bed. He had no doubts whatsoever that she'd rock his world there, too. But all that sass came with a side of vulnerability. She hid it well, but it was there, and he didn't plan on being the asshole who hurt her more. Levi, on the other hand, was fair game.
"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
Levi twisted, reversing the hold. "You're fixated on kissing. Do it more. Talk about it less."
"Be respectful," he growled, and followed up the order with a second takedown. Levi hit the sand hard.
Maddie was trying to do a job, and he respected that. After all, he was here on a workcation as well, courtesy of Uncle Sam. A lot of other SEALs would have tried to score with her. She was a stunning woman, downright beautiful, her lush curves a whole lot of sexy. Holding back was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Got it." Levi elbowed him. "But I still recommend more kissing."
Yeah. He wanted more kissing, too, but he was also old enough to know that sometimes making out wasn't the answer.
Like Maddie, his ex-wife had been fun and the life of the party. He didn't really know what he was supposed to have done differently. They'd gotten married; he'd shipped out. Maybe his mistake had been believing the paycheck and long-distance love would be enough. Maybe expecting her to wait was unrealistic. But he'd said the words in front of her family preacher and he'd meant them. There was nothing wrong with laughter and a good time. He was all for that. He just didn't have any practice at what came after the "I dos" and was batting zero for one in the department of happily-ever-after. Married at eighteen. Divorced at twenty. His kissing experience didn't count for shit.
8
Mr. Fantasy Fodder continues to live up to his name. I'm a very happy camper, although he still seems reluctant to get naked with me. Is there some kind of secret vacation hookup etiquette that I need to learn? Or does he just think I'm not That Kind of Girl? Because, for him, I totally could be, ladies. Fantasy Island has a secret that I'm about to out for you all. The cocktail menu? Isn't just about getting your drunk on. All those sexy, sexy names are bedroom suggestions. If I tell FF to order me a Long Slow Screw Against the Wall, he's supposed to take the hint and take me up against the wall.
-MADDIE, Kiss and Tulle
AFTER A DAY spent working on her blog, Maddie felt pleasantly virtuous when Mason texted her. Not that the brief You busy? was fantasy fodder. Nope. The fantasy was what had happened the day before yesterday, and although waking him up at the lookout point yesterday had definitely started off on the wrong foot, the end results hadn't been bad, either.
Since she'd just wrapped things up, she'd texted back, Is that an offer?
Her phone vibrated seconds later.
Thought I'd give you a chance to apologize.
Uh-huh. Fingers flying, she mounted her defense.
For what? I've been a good girl.
He responded with a photo of his forearm. Whoops. She'd forgotten about her arts-and-crafts hoax. He might have a point about the need to atone.