Second Chance SEAL(91)

Finally, after about an hour or two of riding, we wound our way back into the main compound. We dismounted and a couple of workers took the bikes, parking them and cleaning them off.

“Looks like I won,” Hartley said to me as we headed back toward the main building after a short debrief.

“Looks like it,” I said, smirking at her. “What’s your prize?”

“Just the honor of beating a badass SEAL.”

“Okay then. Consider yourself an honorary badass.”

“I’ve always been a badass; you just didn’t know it.”

I laughed as we came back into the main building. Brock was standing behind the counter, looking dumb and big as usual.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“It went great,” Hartley said, flashing him her best disarming smile. That girl seemed to know instinctively when to turn her damn charm on.

“Hey, can I get a map of the area back there?” I asked Brock.

“Huh? Oh yeah. Sure.” He grabbed a little map from behind the counter.

“You mind showing me where those mine shafts are?”

“We’d love to show people what we saw,” Hartley said.

He glanced at me. “You’re not going back there, right?”

“Of course not,” I said. “We’re not dumb. This is just to brag to the buddies, you know.”

“Sure.” He began circling a few spots. “These are the ones you saw.”

“What about the ones we didn’t see?” Hartley asked, leaning against the counter.

Brock smiled at her. “Well now, there are a few of those, too.”

“Any of them fun?”

“They’re all fun, if you know what you’re doing.”

“Do you know?” Hartley asked.

“Course I know. I grew up here.”

“Wow. That’s so amazing. Can you show me some cool ones?”

“Well, there’s this one and this one. And this one here is deep as hell. People don’t go down there, but we do sometimes.” He circled a few spots and Hartley nodded along. “Maybe I can show you them one day. What you say about that?”

“I’d love it, Brock,” Hartley said, taking the map from him. “Call me.” She quickly walked out the front door.

“Wait. Your number?” he asked, but she was already gone.

“Thanks,” I grunted, and then followed her out.

Watching that was like seeing a master musician performing at the height of her power. She’d gotten all that information from him absolutely effortlessly. All she’d had to do was lean forward on that counter, show off a little cleavage, flash a little smile, and let him see her muddy, beautiful skin. Brock had fallen for it like the dumbass he was.

But fuck was she good. I’d thought I was going to have to get that stuff out of him myself, but she’d picked up on what I was doing immediately. My cock was half hard in my pants from watching it.

“How’d I do in there?” she asked as we climbed into the car.

“Fuck, Hartley. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that little performance got me very, very hard.”

She blushed and laughed. “I take it I did a good job.”

“You did a great fucking job.” I wanted to reach across the car and grab that thick hair of hers, pull her toward me, and kiss her hard.

Instead, I started the engine. “Let’s go clean this fucking mud off,” I said.

“Sounds good to me, badass.”

I grinned at her. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be fun, but I’d still had a fucking blast with Hartley. She was brave and funny and outgoing, and riding through the woods with her was the most fun I’d had with a woman in a long damn time. Normally it was all fucking, but Hartley wanted to make me impress her, as crazy as that was.

I was about to pull out of the parking lot, smiling to myself and buzzing with want for Hartley, when suddenly a person appeared next to the car.

I looked up and blinked, taken completely aback.

It was like seeing a ghost. She smiled at me, leaning down and squinting into the car at me. She waved, her long hair blowing in the wind, looking like the last time I saw her.

Jane Caldwell knocked on the window, looking curiously at me through the glass. I wanted to hit the gas and get the fuck out of there as my past came rushing back at me.

Instead, I rolled the window down and got my shit together.





Chapter 11





Hartley





She was tall and blond, the girl who knocked on the window. She was thin and beautiful, almost like a model. She wore tight jeans and an old T-shirt, and she somehow made them look incredible. Her eyes were deep sea green and she had this expression on her face, playful and coy, that made me sink back into my seat.