Page 17 of Slippery When Wet

When I’d dared her to check the back gate, I’d been positive she would call my bluff and send me to hell. What kind of creeper would just be waiting around across her street? I’d kept looking around, sure the police would be called and I’d be surrounded.

But when her end of the line went quiet and I heard her footsteps, I got out of my truck and hurried over. I had no idea what she’d been thinking. Part of me had half a mind to pull over and toss her over my lap and spank her ass until it was a pretty shade of pink and my handprint marked her pretty cheeks. I was a stranger to her. What was she doing taking me up on leaving her home, not letting a soul know where she was going and who she was leaving with? But as her daddy, knowing she trusted me that much, believed in me that much when I knew how she overthought and triple-checked everything she did, was fucking humbling. It was a gift I’d appreciate. Always.

Her head rested on my shoulder, my arm tight around hers while my fingers played with the tips of her hair. I pulled into a parking lot, and that had her sitting up, looking around.

“What is?—"

“Relax.” I chuckled.

It was a bar. A small biker bar on the outskirts of Poppy Beach that was close to my house. “Abel, I was just kidding about wanting to—" I heard the panic in her voice.

“You trust me?” I asked, and she nodded but kept talking.

“Abel, I do, but I’m not really dressed to go for a drink.” Her eyes were wide behind her thick dark-framed glasses.

“Oh, I know, honey.” My eyes dropped to the cute nightwear set she was wearing. The scoop-necked light blue tank left nothing to the imagination. The thing was painted on her, and it was more than obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. Not that she needed one with the way the top held her tits in place. Just the right amount of cleavage peeked through and made my hands ache to cup them. To take what she offered and tease her until she was a squirming mess in front of me. The top was paired up with plaid boxer-like shorts that hit above her knees and the cutest pair of bright blue crocs with various little charms stuck to them.

She was like a dream come true.

“Abel…” she whispered. I turned the truck off and moved to look at her, reaching for her hand like I had the right to touch her. You do. She’s yours, a possessive voice perked up.

“When I first moved here, this was where I found myself every night,” I shared. “I probably shouldn't be sharing this yet. I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of drunk.”

“I don’t.”

“I’d just left the Navy and…” I sighed. “It was hard,” I admitted. “I missed my brothers, my buddies, the order my life had. And I was in pain.”

“Pain?” Her eyes filled with worry. This was where I had to share and hope to god that even though I was slightly damaged, she’d somehow find me worthy.

“I was honorably discharged after a mission went bad and I paid for it with my knee.” I patted my left knee with my free hand.

“What happened?” I opened and shut my mouth. I had talked it out in therapy and with Dan, but that was it. I didn’t talk about what took me out of doing what I loved to anyone else. Not my parents, not my actual blood brother, no one.

But the thing was, Abby wasn’t just anyone. She is the one.

“We were on a mission, and it turned bad. Shit happens.” I paused, trying to find the right words. “One of the guys on my team was shot after our tank was overturned. I went after him and carried him to safety.”

“Abel,” she whispered, the concern in her voice so fucking translucent, so damn genuine it struck right through to my soul.

“I didn’t know the pain I felt was because I’d torn my ACL. Maybe it was the adrenaline or whatever.” I shrugged. “Either way, after it got checked out, I was put out to pasture.” I tried to lighten the mood. But from the way she was looking at me, she wasn’t going to let me.

“It hurt you to leave.” I was an observation, not a question.

“I loved what I did. I loved serving my country. I’d worked hard to be a SEAL,” I shared. Her body turned more toward me, moving closer, like she didn’t realize she was almost on my lap.

“You miss it,” she noted, and maybe a year ago, I would have agreed with her.

“Not anymore,” I answered honestly. “I have my business and friends here. I’m content with my life now.” Especially with her sitting next to me.

“So, this was one of your spots? When you first moved here?”

“It was. Anyhow, I got to know the owner, and he asked if I could paint the outside.”

“Oh?”

“That’s what I wanted to show you. Just give me a sec.” She nodded. A soft expression covered her face, and I hurried out, quickly setting up my spur-of-the-moment surprise for her.

A little bit of the shyness I had seen when I’d approached her at the pool had settled into her gaze by the time I returned and opened the passenger side door. Without saying a word, Abby simply took the hand I offered and slipped out of the truck. We walked toward the truck bed, and she stopped mid-step when she noticed what I’d done.

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