“Since what?”
“Since that night.”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” I said.
“Good. I have something for you.”
“What?”
He dropped down to one knee. My heart started hammering in my chest. “I figured I’d make a proper farmer’s wife out of you. What do you say?”
“Yes,” I gasped, staring down at the ring he held. “Yes, Travis. Oh my god, yes!”
He slipped the ring onto my finger. I was surprised that it actually fit. He wrapped me up into his arms and kissed me hard.
I wanted to be a farmer’s wife. I wanted to be his wife, my farmer, my SEAL, my bad boy. He was still a part of the Navy, but they were phasing him out of active duty, as per his request. He wanted to do something a little less life-threatening, he said, now that he had more than just his own life to worry about.
It was me and him. It was exactly what I wanted. The sun rose over the horizon, spilling beautiful morning sunlight across us as he kissed me hard beneath our peach trees.
“Now,” he grunted into my ear, “let’s work on getting a baby in you.”
I laughed and then fell into his kiss, lost in his body and his arms.
I wasn’t going anywhere. I was his, always would be his, no matter what.
I wanted him, all of him, as much of him as I could and more.
Bastard SEAL: A Bad Boy Military Romance
Prologue: Tara
It was a dream vacation.
I’d never been outside the country before. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’d never been far outside my small town of Dayton, Indiana, let alone to India.
But there I was, surrounded by dizzying color. I climbed off the bus and turned toward Lindy, grinning hugely. “Isn’t it amazing?” I asked her.
“And hot as hell.” She fanned herself with a brochure, smiling. “But paradise.”
I laughed as we were ushered with the other guests into the front of the large resort and hotel where we’d be staying for the next ten days.
I couldn’t afford this place, and neither could Lindy, but on some totally freak whim, I’d decided to enter an essay contest at school. The topic was why we needed to be more global, and the grand prize was two tickets to an actual Indian resort.
Somehow, I won. Maybe the readers that day were really busy and just grabbed me at random, but I had really won. I’d never won anything in my entire life, let alone a free trip to paradise.
But as we followed the porter across the marble floor and through the dim but beautiful hallways, I knew it was for real.
The hotel itself was huge and split into three sections. We were staying in the middle section, which boasted its own restaurants, pool, bars, and more. I planned on posting up next to that pool for the next ten days and doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and swimming. There was also the ocean, of course, though my pale skin didn’t do great in direct sunlight.
Lindy tipped the porter as he opened our door and placed our bags inside. The room itself took my breath away. Marble floors, big closets, a flat screen TV, and a balcony. Two big beds and an enormous, modern bathroom just ensured that I could never complain about anything this whole trip.
Lindy collapsed onto the bed. “I am so tired, but all I want to do is dance,” she said.
I laughed. “Already?”
“Already!” She squirmed on her bed as I began to unpack. “I can’t stop myself.”
I opened up an information packet from the hotel and began to skim. “Looks like there’s a club here,” I said. “Opens at ten. Think you can make it?”
“Of course I can make it,” she said. “I’ll just take a little power nap now and then be fresh at ten.”
She was fast asleep in ten minutes flat.
I smiled to myself as I finished unpacking. Lindy was my best friend from college, a girl I’d met my freshman year. It was now the summer before senior year, and we’d both just turned twenty-one. We had high hopes for the upcoming year, incredibly high hopes. Lindy said it was supposed to be our year of one thousand hunks, which I think meant that I was finally going to lose my virginity.
It had been too long. I wasn’t really waiting for any specific reason, mostly just for a guy that felt right. But I could finally drink legally, so I should probably work on finding that right guy.
I sighed and stretched out on my bed. Lindy was snoring pleasantly beside me.
Just a quick nap and then we’d explore paradise together.
The club’s music boomed through my ears. I yawned, completely exhausted. Lindy was drinking half heartedly next to me, and I was basically sipping my wine like a machine.
We’d both overslept of course. When I woke up, it was already eleven and Lindy was drooling on her pillow. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of waking her up, and of course she had to make us get dressed and head down to the club.