SEAL's Desire (Alpha SEALs Coronado #1) - Makenna Jameison Page 0,29
but she wasn’t used to doing so with an attractive man just a few feet away. And guys had it easy—just unzip and go. She’d literally be pulling her pants down out here. Not that she thought Blake would come anywhere near her. He’d been nothing but a perfect gentleman so far.
Finishing her business, she hurried back to where Blake was sitting, hoping she wasn’t blushing furiously. “Chili or cheese tortellini?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t think I could eat any of that. After not having much food in my stomach the past several days, I don’t think it would sit well.”
Blake nodded. “Fair enough. There are some crackers and sides with them,” he said, opening one of the packages. He held up a few smaller packages, letting her pick what she wanted.
“I’ll have the crackers and fruit if that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay,” he assured her.
She took the things from him. “I just feel bad for eating your food. Sleeping in your tent,” she said, gesturing to where the tarp was still set up. “I’m used to being organized and prepared, and right now, I mostly feel helpless.”
“There’s no need to feel helpless. I’ve got food to share, and like you said yesterday, there’s food out here in the rainforest, too. It’s not like we’re in the desert with nothing but sand for miles.”
“Good point,” she said, fumbling with the plastic covering the crackers.
“I got it,” Blake said easily, his eyes on her bandaged wrist. He handed the open package back to her. “And I came in with a whole team of men. It sounds like you were basically out here by yourself, right?”
She nodded, taking a bite of the cracker. “Aside from my guide. It didn’t seem safe otherwise,” she hastily added.
“You were smart. And look, I admire the hell out of you for flying down here alone to do research. Plenty of women I meet back at home can’t stand to have a hair out of place or lipstick not perfectly smeared on.”
“Applied,” she said with a smile.
“Applied, smeared, whatever,” he said with a chuckle. “They’re more about their makeup than anything else. I just meant you’re different than the women I know—in a good way,” he assured her.
“Where are you meeting these women if you don’t mind my asking?”
Blake shrugged. “The bar. The beach. Just going out with my buddies.”
“Well there you go. I’m busy working most of the time. Sure, I go out with my colleagues occasionally for drinks or dinner, but it’s not to meet men.”
“So you don’t have a boyfriend?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
She laughed. “Why does that surprise you? I meet other professors of course, but a lot of them are either already married or too stuck up for my taste. I don’t need to waste my time with men I’m not interested in.”
“Huh.”
“Come on. It shouldn’t be that surprising.”
“I suppose not. I’ve wasted plenty of time with women I’m not interested in though.”
Clarissa burst into laughter, shaking her head.
“What can I say? I’m a red-blooded American male.”
“I’m just too busy to date much I guess. Or I just haven’t met the right type of men.”
“So you’re not dancing on bars with your girlfriends,” he joked.
“Maybe in another lifetime,” she said, rolling her eyes. Blake laughed, and the deep sound of it reverberated right through her. She was attracted to him, she realized. They were different in many ways, but he was down to earth like her. He loved the outdoors. He was smart even if he wasn’t an academic, and she felt comfortable and safe with him.
If only she could meet a man like Blake back home.
“You said you brought camping gear. Do you camp back in Texas, too?” he asked.
“Not in the summer,” she said. “Texas heat is brutal.”
“Don’t I know it,” he agreed. “San Diego has amazing weather. You can camp right on the beach out there if you want.”
“Seriously? I’ve never camped on a beach before.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I usually prefer the forest myself.” He shrugged. “I’m on the beach plenty of times with my friends, so I appreciate the change of pace.”
“You guys camp together?”
“Mostly on missions. Usually I go by myself back home. What can I say? I’m around those other guys 24/7 on ops. None of the women I meet are into camping. I don’t mind the solitude sometimes.”
She nodded, looking at him curiously. Blake seemed to only date women who were nothing like him. Who apparently were all about their looks