Page 50 of The Seal's Promise

He smiled. “No, I need to take my time with you, and I don’t want any interruptions.”

His blue eyes were dark again like the sky before a storm. His desire for her was on full display as he slowly set her back on her feet.

“You’re going to ruin my ability to focus today,” she said as she tried to smooth down her wrinkled scrubs. Then she looked at them both.

“Oh, we look frumpled.”

Dalton looked them both over. “Yeah, we look like I just made you scream my name.”

She swatted at him, but then there was a buzz on her desk phone and she hit the speaker button.

“Brooke, can you find Dr. Hart? We have our first patient. He might be in the gym—I haven’t seen him yet,” Nora said.

“I think he was napping in the supply closet. I’ll find him,” she lied.

He leaned forward and took her chin in his hand. “Good save.” His mouth captured hers and she leaned into the kiss, knowing she wouldn’t get another one until tonight.

“Go, so I can try to fix my face before I’m needed.”

“Your face is perfect,” he replied, and gave her one more kiss then opened the office door.

“The coast is clear,” he said, teasing, then went and grabbed his stethoscope from his office right across from hers before heading out to the hospital.

Brooke let out a deep breath. Holy crap, she just let her schoolgirl crush make her comeagainwithout giving him any pleasure. She had taken recklessness to an entirely new level, but looked down at her watch to see that it read 7:59. At least they hadn’t been on the clock. Even if that could never happen again at work, it had felt like exactly where she needed to be in the moment. She had everything to lose but didn’t care, which meant Dalton was dangerous. The sooner he left was probably for the best, but she was going to enjoy him as long as he was in town.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Dalton

Two Truths and a Lie

“Your shift endsat four?” Wes asked, looking up at the clock on the wall in his office inside the local sheriff’s department.

“No, technically I’m on call until six, but I worked late yesterday and it’s been quiet. I thought you had the day off?”

Wes just shrugged. “Paperwork is endless so a day off is the best day to get caught up.”

“You sure now is a good time?” Dalton asked.

Wes stood to close his office door and Dalton was reminded of how much bigger than him his brother was. At six foot two Dalton was not considered a small guy, but next to Wes and Levi, who each stood another two inches taller and with even wider shoulders to match, he wasn’t the biggest Hart brother. A fact that, in this case, could work against him if Wes decided to pummel him for never telling him the truth about their parents.

“So, what do you really want to talk about, because I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear the details about the property taxes on the pier or the family land,” Wes said, sitting back behind his desk.

“I do if you need to talk it through and want help figuring it out. I know I’ve been AWOL and that I left you with everything to manage and I’m sorry.” Dalton paused in his pacing to look his brother in the eyes.

“Okay, I appreciate your offer. We do need a sustainable plan, so I’ve asked the accountant to run the numbers and look at the option of selling off some of the land to cover the estate.”

Dalton nodded.

“It’ll cut each of our inheritances down, but in order to salvage the main house, Levi’s house, and the pier, we’re likely looking at selling a big chunk.”

Dalton sat in one of the chairs across from Wes’s desk and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “It sounds like we don’t have much choice, so I agree. I’m sorry you’ve had the burden of this all these years.” He looked Wes in the eyes.

“So now that that’s settled, what’s really going on? Missy Shaw seems to be settled in nicely with Gran. I stopped over there yesterday and found Gran sitting in the art studio while Missy painted.”

Dalton’s mouth was dry, but he forced a smile. At least his gran hadn’t run Missy off.

“They’re like two peas in a pod and seem to both be convinced the other one needs them. I’m not sure how you learned that Jedi mind trick, but it worked.”

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