Page 39 of Desolation

The sadness that I saw in her eyes lingers slightly as I make my way back to the table. She smiles at me and it causes my stomach to turn. It’s a weird feeling, one I’ve never had before. The connection I feel between us burning deep in my gut. I’m tempted to reach out and grab her hand as I sit down but I refrain from the gesture.

“Thank you,” she says before taking a sip of her margarita. “So you were in the Navy?”

I nod. “Served for eleven years.”

“As a SEAL?”

I shake my head and look out to the ocean. “No. I didn’t go to BUDs until I was twenty-two. Which is probably for the best. I was an asshole and cocky as they come. I don’t think I ever would have made it through BUDs when I was eighteen.”

She lifts a brow at me. “You are still a cocky asshole.”

I smirk at her. “Ladies like it.”

She guffaws. “Maybe the young girls but there is no woman who enjoys it.”

I lean forward so I am only inches from her face. “That’s not what the women say in the bedroom.” I pull back and see a flush hit her cheeks.

She takes a long sip of her margarita, avoiding eye contact with me.

“Mari, come on, what happened to the feisty comeback? You telling me the men in your life don’t like to take control in the bedroom, make you submit to your own wants and desires?”

She sits back and sets her margarita down as a fire takes over her eyes. “Who’s to say I’m not the one who takes control in the bedroom and brings boys like you to their knees?”

I rub my thumb over my lip as I stare at her. “Baby, I’m all man.”

She throws her head back in laughter and I watch her slender throat, thinking of the marks I could leave on it. “How old are you anyway, Landon?”

“Thirty.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask with a scrunched brow.

She shakes her head and bites her lip, and it’s tempting as hell. “You look a lot younger is all.”

“You into the cougar thing? Am I too old for you?”

She rests her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her folded fingers. “Unfortunately, you are.”

“Dammit,” I joke.

She smiles at me and that feeling returns to my stomach.

“So eleven years in the Navy, what made you leave?”

I choke on words not sure what to say. Almost everyone I know is a SEAL or a former SEAL, they all know what happened. I could go for the lie I tell the few who don’t know, make up something about an injury but for some reason I don’t want to lie to her. But I don’t want to tell the truth either.

Luckily, we are interrupted by our food. Her question unanswered as we both dig into the massive plate of tacos I ordered.

Mari bites into one of my favorite tacos, the Riptide. It’s a mix of barbacoa and chorizo, with a shit ton of heat, a crunchy sweet slaw, and a cooling avocado crema. I swear I see her eyes roll back into her head as she chews.

“Oh my God. I don’t think I ever had anything this good before.” She shoves the rest of the taco in her mouth and I swear it looks like she is about to orgasm. And I am mesmerized by it.

“That one is my favorite.”

She uses her slender fingers to wipe at the crema left at the corner of her mouth. “I can see why. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a taco that packs that much flavor. Just don’t tell my mama, she would hate it if she found out her tacos don’t reign supreme.”

“Your mom love to cook?”

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