Page 21 of The SEALs' Single Mom Baby Surprise

The thing is… I don’t believe in coincidences.

Someone has her information. It stands to reason that someone likely followed her on her ride home. I’m just wondering if it’s our bad guys checking her out or her ex causing trouble.

“It was nothing. There's no reason to waste the rest of your night here.”

I shrug at her. “We deal with dangerous people, Sloane. And the person who came to see you yesterday is connected to those people. I could guard you better from inside, but I can guard you out here just fine.”

And I plan to, no matter what she says.

The wind blows, and she steps forward instead of back toward the building. Tension draws tight between us.

I want her to invite me inside. I want to see what her place looks like, how she moves in it, how she interacts with her daughter. I want to sit on her couch and talk to her.

Too many questions linger on my tongue. Too many of them have to do with why she’s here and her ex.

Her hair is wild across her face, but she makes no move to brush it away as she peers up at me. “What are your usual assignments, Rhett?”

My fingers itch to tuck her loose hair behind her ear.

The wind blows again, and she’s nearly against my car, so I turn to block the wind from hitting her. Cold wafts up the bottom of my jacket. It’s good, staving off the rising heat in my center.

“The kind where someone usually dies.”

Sloane hugs herself as she looks away.

That’s right, sweetheart. What we do is serious. What’s happening to you is serious. Let us protect you.

But when her eyes lift again, she’s assessing me and all of the thoughts evident on my face.

Anger lingers in Sloane, but her curiosity is winning out. “Fine. Stay here all night if you’re convinced, but don’t signal danger to my daughter by waiting out here on my porch like some macho power play. She’s seen enough to make her scared without your adding to it.”

Yeah, that might have been a bad power play on my part. I’ll make it worse if I lean in and kiss her right now, and I want to. The stern set to her features warns me off.

She’s still searching me as I tip closer, another gust of wind at my back.

I nod. I don’t want to scare her little girl, but I will if it will keep her safe. We’re just not there yet.

She nods back, blinks at me for a second, and then marches away. “There’s a public bathroom at the corner gas station. It’s open all night.”

That has me smiling even though she doesn’t look back.

I settle back in my car and try to stay warm. The coffee helps.

But it also spins a series of daydreams about breaching the apartment building and catching Sloane in the hallway outside her front door, curling a hand around her waist, and drawing her close. I fantasize about how warm she’ll feel against me, the front of our bodies pressed together.

How her mouth will part, and I’ll swoop in to take the kiss I’ve been craving all day.

I’m surprised by how strongly I’m pulled to her. I’ve been attracted to plenty of women since my wife left me, but none that made me want them as badly as this.

The images help keep me warm, even though they don’t drift far beyond a little kissing and cuddling.

It’s disconcerting.

Nothing happens overnight, but around six thirty A.M., her daughter knocks on my window. Her eyes are big and bright, and she looks up at me with the same kind of curiosity her mother does. When I glance up, I catch Sloane waiting at the building’s door, holding it open with a hip, her arms crossed.

I crack open the door to talk to her, and she easily fills the space.

“Well, hello,” I greet her.

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