door and Hank’s voice greeting his cousin, she grabbed her mug and headed back into the living room. And nearly dropped her coffee. Standing in the room was the man she’d singed the bedsheets with the night before. The man she’d had a drink with, a sexy dance, and the best sex of her life.
Holy shit!
They stared at each other for a long moment. She wasn’t sure which of them was the most surprised. Or shocked. She knew she should move, but her feet seemed rooted to the floor. She couldn’t stop herself from staring at the man. In an instant she was back in that bed, naked and writing beneath him. And the heat between them was so strong she wondered Hank didn’t see it. Holy hell! This was so not good.
Hank, somehow, seemed unaware of the vibes in the room, turning to her with his mouth curved in a smile.
“Zoe, this is my cousin, Sean Patterson. Sean, meet Zoe Young. She’s a very close friend of Sadie’s, so treat her well.” When they just gaped at each other, he frowned. “Sean? Something wrong? Zoe?”
One of us has to say something or Hank will start asking questions. But all I can think of right this second is the feel of his cock inside me and an orgasm that made my whole body explode. Come on, Zoe. Get it together.
Zoe did her best to shake off the feeling of shock and walked up to the man whose bed she’d left barelya few hours ago.
“Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand. “And thank you for agreeing to take care of this for me.”
That seemed to snap him out of his trance.
“No problem.” He held her hand possibly a moment too long, eyes searching hers, before looking down at the mess on the floor. “Someone sure must have it in for you.”
“And we’re going to find out who,” Hank told him. “No objecting on your part either, Zoe. Sadie would kill me if I left this alone. Sean—oh, wait. Should I be using Bear? Your call sign?”
Sean shook his head. “I left the Bear in Afghanistan. Sean works fine.”
Zoe couldn’t mistake the edge of bitterness in his voice. Afghanistan. Of course. Now the scars she’d seen made sense.
Hank nodded. “No problem. Sean it is. Anyway, when you get finished with everything here, check the car over. And see if you can find prints on anything, like we discussed, especially the car. Park it around the back of the complex. She won’t need it for a few days.” He handed over Zoe’s keys. “Then head on out to the ranch.”
The ranch. So she’d be seeing him again. Today. Great.
She’d already decided that arguing about leaving her car or staying at White Oak Ranch would be fruitless. Not with Hank’s mind made up and arrangements for the car already set in stone. Still, she made one more stab at it.
“Hank…”
Hank held up his hand. “Can’t change your mind now. Besides, if you’ve got anything new, maybe we can brainstorm it and see where to go next.”
Swallowing a sigh, she grabbed her messenger bag and purse.
“Sure. Thanks.”
Hank picked up her suitcase and ushered her out the door.
All she could think was, Holy shit!
Chapter 3
Sean watched his cousin and the woman with him make their way down the stairs from the second-floor apartment, amazed he had been able to put two words together once he’d seen her. All he could think was, Holy fuck!
If only he’d known better when she walked into Red’s. The sex in his life had been mostly with nameless, faceless women, any time he’d had leave. He was married to the SEALs, and all he had room for was good laughs and casual sex. But after last night and this morning, he couldn’t put Zoe Young in either category. The moment she’d walked into Red’s, the parts of him that hadn’t expressed any opinion for months started shouting. His cock had swelled so much he was afraid it would burst the zipper on his fly. Every bit of saliva in his throat dried up so that for a moment his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. It had taken a deep swallow of his drink to handle that.
She was exactly as he remembered from last night. Medium height with an appealingly rounded body that had fit so nicely against his. The jeans she wore cupped her ass the way he wanted to do with his hands. He hardly