Page 97 of Tate
Fact was, she’d wanted Ford Marshall in her arms since the day she’d seen him walk onto the deck of the USSSan Antoniofor his rookie op. Kitted up, looking dangerous and powerful, his mouth a grim line of determination, so much fierceness in his expression—if anyone could get it done, it was Ford Marshall.
He made her believe, all over again, in honor.
So, as he kissed her, she cast aside all the noise in her head and wound one arm around his neck, the other under his arm, molding herself to his lean, work-honed body. Warm, powerful, and everything she’d imagined.
He tasted of the champagne they’d toasted with and smelled of his aftershave, and she liked the way he had no whiskers to slow her down. Truly, there was probably no romantic finesse to the way she moved her mouth against his in a sort of desperate urgency.
Wow, she needed him. Wanted him. And she didn’t care if she might be breaking rules and breaching walls and turning to shambles any hope of rebounding back to just friends.
Oh, who was she kidding? She wanted Ford’s arms around her like she wanted her next breath.
Teammate.
Coworker.
She slid her arms around his back, pressing her hands against those wide shoulders.
He ran his hands into her hair, drew his thumbs down the side of her face in a soft caress, then dropped his hands to her shoulders, leaning back from her. “Scarlett.” He swallowed, breathing hard. “Um, okay…”
He backed away, holding up his hands as if suddenly afraid to touch her. “You gotta know that I’ve been thinking about that for a very, very long time. And I’m all in…as long as you are.”
Her heart was thumping, the desire to pull him back to her nearly taking possession, but somehow his words thrummed through.
All in.
Wait. What was shedoing? She had plans. A new career waiting for her.
No, she couldn’t get involved in a tug-of-war between love and career.
Career had to win, if she wanted to live a life different from her mother’s.
Especially since this was Ford Marshall. Oh, this could be a very bad idea because sheknewFord. When he went all in, it became a get ’er done mission for him, no backing down, and the last thing she needed was him telling her how to live her life.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, backing away. “I shouldn’t have?—”
“Wait—Red. Listen. I get it. It could get complicated, but I can do complicated?—”
She held up her hand. “No, Ford, it’s not that…or only that. I…uh…” She sighed. “I put in a package to transfer rates to Rescue Swimmer. It’s a five-week certification in Pensacola. If I want to, I can go on to be an Aviation SAR and deploy from a chopper.”
He was such a warrior, he barely stiffened, barely drew in a breath at her words.
Barely. But she felt it.
Then, a hard swallow. “So that’s what that chatter about the SEAL training was about.”
He shook his head and walked away from her.
The air rushed in, chilled by his distance.
“Why?” He turned and stared down at her, so much concern in his eyes, it rattled her.
“Because I…I hate sitting on the sidelines?—”
“You’re hardly sitting on the sidelines! You’re my eyes out there. You saved my life, Scarlett. That’s hardly doingnothing.”
“I…want to do more. Be more. I want to…”
He blinked at her, and no, she couldn’t say it because it sounded crazy.
