Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker - Cat Johnson Page 0,31

lot in that time.

What a tantalizing image that was.

She continued, “After that time expires, we evaluate if we want to continue. The decision to move forward would have to be unanimous, of course.”

“Of course,” he nodded, and attempted to sound as serious about the parameters of this trail period as she was, even as his cock was ready to burst out of his fly.

As he’d told her, he did like to know the rules of engagement up front. And what an interesting engagement this was going to be.

“Then I guess we should start,” she said, in what might be the least romantic invitation for foreplay ever, but that didn’t affect his hard-on one bit.

Yes, they should definitely start. He had thirty minutes to convince her to spend the whole night with him.

Of all the ways he’d envisioned his boring Friday night going, this particular scenario had definitely not been one of them.

He’d had a tough work-out today and had been happy to get some pizza with the team before heading home to take an ibuprofen for the muscle pain and then crash early.

He wasn’t at all upset his plans had changed.

Taking off his coat, he tossed it on a chair and realized his hands were shaking.

Strange. What the hell was this? Nerves?

He pushed the thought aside. When he turned back he found her sitting on the living room sofa waiting for him.

“We gonna do this here?” he asked.

She nodded. “For the trial period. If we decide to proceed, we can move into the bedroom.”

“Ah. Of course.” He drew in a breath. “All right. Here we go.”

Damn. This was starting to feel more like a selection board review. Only it wasn’t his command deciding the future of his Navy career.

Nope. It was his fake girlfriend making this determination. And what she was deciding—what was on the line—was his sexual future. The extent of his—their—pleasure. Together.

Sex was the one thing currently missing from his life. From his happiness. He had the career he’d wanted since he was a kid. He had the plan to keep his teammates off his ass and hopefully ditch that damn nickname. He’d—surprisingly—found a friend in Alicia.

And after tonight, hopefully he’d have a friend with benefits.

Fake dating plus real sex. It was a perfect scenario. If he could convince her.

Bring it on. He’d never backed down from a challenge and he wasn’t about to start now.

In fact, this might be the most fun challenge he’d ever accepted.

FIFTEEN

She’d made her decision.

Yes, Greg had broken her. Emotionally. Maybe even mentally too.

That text tonight had reminded her of how broken she was. Brought it all back in living color. Proved the cracks were still there inside her in spite of her attempts to heal.

The string of flings and dates since had done nothing to ease that feeling of pain and loss. Done nothing to fix her.

But for some reason, being with Brian during their fake dates helped.

She felt like she could have fun again. No pressure. No future. Just fun.

So why not have fun with him in bed too?

Men had meaningless, emotion-free sex with women all the time. If a man could do it, so could she. And she would.

She was going to enjoy all the pleasures Brian could offer and then act like nothing had happened between them.

If they proved to be compatible, physically, that was. And if he didn’t turn into some sort of ass during—or after.

So on to the grand experiment.

The trial.

She was pretty surprised he’d thought of the idea. But she enjoyed the concept. She certainly hoped she’d enjoy it in many ways.

She patted the sofa cushion next to her as he hovered a few yards away. Finally, he moved, walking around the coffee table and settling next to her.

“Do you want me to take anything off?” she asked.

Brian shook his head. “I can handle it. Later.”

“Okay.” Prepared to get started, she nodded and waited . . . and wondered when he’d be ready.

The seconds ticked by.

“Do you want a drink?” she asked to fill the silence.

“No. Thanks. I’m fine.”

Her offer must have knocked him into action because finally he moved, shifting a bit closer to her on the sofa before settling back against the cushion.

He patted his lap. “Come here.”

“You want me to sit in your lap?” she asked, to clarify what she found a surprising request.

“Yes. Please.” He nodded.

“All right.” She’d expected him to want to be the dominant one. Over her. On top of her. But she was fine with this too.

She stood and