Page 86 of Hot Shot

“My pleasure.” He kisses my shoulder, balls up the towel and cloth and tosses them aside, then yanks the covers back up over both of us.

I snuggle in, rubbing my cheek on his chest. “Mmm.”

“Christ, Carrie. You’re insatiable.”

I smile. “Just with you.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe things are getting a little too serious here. We’ve been sleeping together for a couple of weeks now and it’s getting to be almost an addiction—I need him. I can’t get enough of him.

“So you were engaged.”

Marco’s body tenses. “Yeah.”

“How long ago was that?”

“It ended about two years ago.”

“Why?”

“She married someone else. I came home from Afghanistan to plan our wedding and get married, and discovered I was too late.”

“Shit. Really?” My stomach drops and I lift my head to look at him. His face is neutral, but the corners of his mouth tighten. “What a bitch.”

He huffs a short laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

“How could someone do that?”

“She said she couldn’t deal with all the time I was away. The separation. The worry. She didn’t like being alone.”

“She had to know that was part of the deal. That was your life.”

“She knew. I guess it was just harder for her than she thought it would be.”

“She didn’t deserve you.” I hesitate. “Did you love her? Gah. Never mind. Of course you did, if you were going to marry her.”

“Yeah, I loved her. When I found out she’d married someone else, I was pissed.”

“Not heartbroken?”

He twitches one big shoulder. “That too, I guess.” He closes his eyes, his mouth grim. “Mostly pissed, though. But then . . . I knew it wasn’t meant to be. I had this crazy idea that we’d get married and have kids and a house and . . .”

Have the family he lost.

My heart aches for him, an ache that goes right to my marrow. I touch my fingertips to his rough cheek. “Her loss,” I whisper. “She’s not just a bitch, she’s stupid.”

“Ha.”

“She wasn’t wearing a ring tonight.”

“Nope. Apparently they’re done.”

My chest goes cold. “Is that why she came to see you?”

“She didn’t say that, exactly.”

“It is. Now she realizes she screwed up. She wants you back.”

Marco doesn’t answer, still lying with his eyes closed.

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