Page 17 of SEAL's Surprise Daughter

I’d be leaving as soon as I got things with my daughter sorted out. Charlotte could remain as involved as she wanted in Savannah’s life, and she could also get on with running her business and creating a future for herself independent of me.

Never mind that all I wanted to do was walk over and kiss her again. It couldn’t happen.

Except then it did.

I wasn’t even sure how I ended up back in the kitchen standing in front of Charlotte, who was looking up at me with her big, hazel eyes wide with wonder, but then she was in my arms and my mouth was on hers and it was even better than I remembered.

This time it was longer and deeper and so much hotter. She gasped and clung to me like she’d never let me go, and I swept my tongue into her mouth, tasting her again. Coffee this time. Still sweet as pie. I felt like I was drowning, but I couldn’t get enough. Charlotte had always been tough, even back in high school.

But staying with her now, I’d seen her softer side. The way she cared for Savannah, and the kindness she’d shown me the day we walked on the trail. She might be fierce on the outside but she had a nurturing heart.

I pulled her closer, and she looped her leg around my waist, her robe parting so our bodies were pressed together. I growled low in my throat, and she groaned, both of us clinging and clawing and trying to get more.

Carefully, I turned and lifted her to sit on the edge of the counter, then spread her legs, moving between them and grinding against the heat of her body, letting her know in no uncertain terms how badly I wanted her. My cock ached, threatening to burst through the fly of my jeans. I would’ve taken her then, but a squeak from the living room had us pulling apart fast.

The sounds of our breathing filled the kitchen as we rested our foreheads together. I felt like I was panting, and I could feel Charlotte trembling against me. My blood sang in my veins, urging me to touch her, to bring her back into the moment we were about to share. But no. We had more than ourselves to think about. We had Savannah.

Finally, Charlotte tightened the belt on her robe, then hopped down, her body brushing mine and making me bite back another groan full of want. “Let me just check on her.”

I watched her walk to the living room and pick up the baby, knowing it was for the best. We had no business touching each other, wanting each other like that. And yet I did. Maybe it had been too long since I’d been with a woman.

Or maybe it was just Charlotte, being wonderful.

“She okay?” I managed to force out, the words sounding rough and wrecked to my own ears. “Does she need to be changed? I can do it.”

God. A month ago I’d never have believed you if you’d told me I’d be standing here offering to diaper a kid. Hell, a month ago I wouldn’t have known how. But now everything was different. Because of the woman in front of me and the baby in her arms. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

I’d always prided myself on my ability to adapt. It was one of my greatest assets as a SEAL. Sure, our team planned ahead of time for our missions, but unexpected things always happened in the field. Curve balls. Well, life had thrown me one huge fucking curve ball now, and I was completely mystified as to how to handle it.

Think, dude. Think.

Except I couldn’t think clearly or rationally about any of this, because my emotions were involved now. We hadn’t yet gotten the results from my blood test, but I knew in my heart that Savannah was mine. She looked like me, smiled like me. She even laughed like me. There was no doubt she was mine.

And where did that leave Charlotte? She obviously loved Savannah as much as I did. How would we handle things once the custody case was settled? An unwanted memory of Elijah Harris and his claim rushed back to my mind, and my hackles went up. Guard dog mode activated. No way did I want that guy anywhere near either of my girls.

My girls?

The possessive streak inside me knocked me off my feet.

Finding myself in the living room again, with no idea how I’d gotten there from the kitchen, I sank down on the sofa and raked my hands through my hair. Since when had I started thinking of them as my girls? Probably about when I’d kissed Charlotte the first time. Or maybe it had been after the break-in. Or maybe the day Harris showed up on Charlotte’s doorstep.

Fuck. I didn’t know when it had started. All I knew for certain was that this was all getting out of control, and I needed to stop it. We had to keep our heads on straight to get through what was ahead with Harris.

But I also knew that at some point we’d have to revisit this issue, no matter how awkward it was or how much both of us wanted to avoid it. Because if life had taught me anything, it was that ignoring shit and hoping it would just go away never worked.

That was why I’d come back here in the first place, after all. To deal with all the stuff with my family that I’d tried to wish away but that still roiled beneath the surface. The last thing I wanted was to do the same with this thing between me and Charlotte. We had Savannah to think about now. We couldn’t mess this up.

Which meant we’d talk about it again, sooner rather than later. Just not right now.

Because right now, I needed to get myself together before I did something stupid, like kiss her again and never let her go.

TEN

Charlotte took Savannah into her room to give her a bath, since the baby wipes only went so far in removing that pureed banana smell, and I went back to the kitchen to clean up and get myself back under control. My blood was still slamming through my veins, and my heart felt like a jackhammer in my chest. All over a kiss.

A kiss that could’ve turned into much, much more…

“Hey, Gabe?” Charlotte called from down the hall.

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