Page 28 of Operation Heartbeat

* * * * *

Con woke with a start, skipping over any morning grogginess as he fully registered a very unfamiliar warmth against him. Sophie was plastered against his chest, her slender legs tangled up with his.

If he wasn’t eagle-sharp and wide awake, he’d question the whys. But he remembered the moment she walked into the room with an important find, and how he’d cracked an eye, seen fatigue lining her pretty face, and dragged her into bed, forcing her to sleep.

Only he’d wrapped himself around her and passed out with the careless abandon of a person with much less responsibility on their shoulders.

Now he had to make the difficult decision of whether to wake her up to discuss this important finding or let her continue to sleep.

Listening to the deep, rhythmic breaths, and the sensation of her chest rising and falling against him, gave him the answer he needed.

He carefully disentangled his legs from hers and rolled over, coming up against the pillow barrier that had gotten kicked around and flattened during the night. As soon as he reached the opposite side of the bed, Sophie’s soft voice reached him.

“What time is it?”

Christ. That dusky tone of her voice helped his morning wood almost as much as the echo of her he still felt in his arms.

Even if the golden light filtering through the curtains already told him it was an hour or so past dawn, he passed ahand over his face and glanced at his watch he was rarely ever without. He croaked out, “Seven.”

He scrubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw in an effort to dispel the feel of Sophie’s soft hair that had been caught in the rough growth of his five-o’clock shadow. But moving his arm only reminded him of how it had been curved protectively around her.

He faced the other wall, but he knew when she clambered out of bed. The mattress jostled beneath him, and a second later, she appeared in front of him. After the pool debacle, she’d changed into lounge pants that skimmed over her rounded hips and a dark green tank top that emphasized her figure. Her hair hung in straight glossy strands over her bare shoulders.

Hell. He knew all too well what her skin felt like under his hands…his mouth.

He bit back a growl.

“I found something important.”

“So you said.” He had to get some pants on. His shirt would never cover his massive erection. “Give me a minute and we’ll talk.”

Her eyes widened. The wide depths burned with understanding and that burn shifted to her cheeks. Redness bloomed across her skin—a hook in his gut.

Though she stood close, he jolted to his feet. The move brought his body close to hers—too damn close. Dangerously fucking close.

She quickly backed away from him, and he skirted around her and shut himself inside the bathroom. Relieving himself was out for the moment, so he brushed his teeth and splashed cold water on his face.

Part of him was still aching for a different kind of relief. Sophie was the first woman he’d laid a hand on in a long time. But she’d tricked him, and he was still annoyed by that.

He was a SEAL trained to withstand torture, and he’d been reeled in by some women’s perfume. Goddammit.

When he exited the bathroom, Sophie wasn’t in the bedroom. Con didn’t know whether to enjoy the reprieve or be more irritated that he couldn’t seem to predict her next move.

He yanked his jeans on, and barefoot, walked out into the sitting area. Her attention was already wholly fixed on the computer screen. As soon as he entered, she twitched her head to the sofa cushion beside her.

For a beat, he hesitated.

She flicked her gaze from the screen to Con. “I know you’re used to giving the orders, but I’m asking you to please sit down.”

“Can’t we even do this over coffee?”

She studied him. “I pegged you as a morning person.”

He could think of about ten different ways to peg her.

Damn. He had to get a grip. He didn’t want Sophie—he had been tricked by her damn perfume and his cock got fooled into thinking that having a soft, plump ass nestled against it meant it was getting some action.

He stomped over to the small counter that held a luxury coffee machine. Beside that was a mini bar. For a blink, he contemplated something harder than coffee but then he decided to do the right thing.

---