Page 12 of Rescued by a SEAL

He wanted to reach out and caress her bare arm. Feel that soft skin beneath his fingertips. Assure her that she had nothing to worry about with him. Not now and not ever.

She was working though.

And they weren’t out on a date or at a party getting to know one another. He shouldn’t be wanting to reach out and comfort her at all. Not here anyway. Not right now. “That I did,” he agreed. “And now I’m back. Nature of the job,” he added with a shrug. “They send us out, and we never know when or for how long.”

“Yeah, I wondered since I hadn’t seen you around….” Her voice trailed off.

“We were sent out on an op,” he said in a low voice. “Unfortunately, we don’t get much notice, or I would’ve let you know you wouldn’t see me in here for a while.”

“Oh.”

A hint of amusement trailed through him at her uncertainty. Did she really think he hadn’t been interested?

His gaze found hers. “We never know when we’ll get called up or how long we’ll be gone. Hell, even if we did, I couldn’t share the details. But just because I wasn’t here didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about you.”

A smile spread across her face. “Since your friends weren’t around either, I thought maybe that you guys must’ve all had to go somewhere. Either that or you were all avoiding me,” she added, a twinkle in her eyes.

She stepped slightly closer to him as a group of young sailors walked by, heading toward the bar, and he inhaled her clean, fresh scent. She inexplicably smelled like the ocean—like sunshine and sand. Maybe a hint of coconut mixed in. Hell, he’d give anything to pull her closer so he could feel her soft curves against him and inhale that intoxicating scent.

One of the guys accidentally jostled her as he made his way past, and Mason let himself steady her, his fingers running over the bare skin of her upper arm.

She flushed at his touch, stepping back only after the guys cleared the area.

Interest and arousal flared within him at the way she reacted to his simple touch.

Hell, he’d love to have her over him. Under him. In every and any way imaginable. He’d love to take her back to his place, strip off her clothes, and slowly explore every curve of her body.

Her waitressing uniform certainly wasn’t meant to be sexy—but something about the way her top hugged her breasts and her jeans clung to her like a second skin had him incredibly attracted to her. Not to mention uncomfortably aroused.

Clearly she was fit and in shape. With just the right number of womanly curves to tempt him without even trying.

“Were you having trouble with your car again?” Mason asked, watching as her pink lips parted in surprise. “I asked our waitress earlier if you were working tonight, and she said you had to call out.”

“Oh, something came up,” Taylor said lightly. “But I don’t actually have a car right now. It’s uh, getting repaired. Sort of,” she added, again looking flustered. “My friend gave me a lift.”

“It’s in the shop?” Mason asked raising his eyebrows.

Taylor shifted uncomfortably. “I just need to arrange to get it back. Listen, I need to get orders from a few tables. I’m already late for my shift, and it’s filling up fast in here tonight. I’ll have to catch up with you later, okay?”

Mason nodded, something about her answer not sitting right with him.

Maybe she couldn’t afford whatever repairs she needed? Hopefully she wasn’t using the same tow-truck driver who’d jerked her around before. He was still pissed as hell she’d been charged $400 just for a tow.

“Do you need a lift home later on?” he asked. “The guys and I will be hanging out here a while, but I can swing by afterward so you don’t have to worry about a ride.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. “I’ll just catch a ride with one of the other waitresses later. I don’t want you to have to go through the trouble of coming back.”

“It’s no trouble,” he assured her. “What time do you get off?”

“I don’t get off until one a.m.,” she said, flushing again slightly. Her brown eyes locked on his. “Is that too late?”

“For you? Not a chance,” he said with a chuckle. “And I don’t have PT in the morning, so we’re good.”

“All right. I’ll see you later then?”

“Yep,” he confirmed. “I’ll be back here at oh-one-hundred.”

She wrinkled her brow in confusion, looking cute as hell as she did.

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