Page 44 of Fire and Rain
Her entire family lives here. She has four sisters. She and Maverick will be fine.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, he rejected it. He’d been the one to help her through the paperwork relating to Justin’s death. She’d askedhimto go with her to Crab Fest. He’d stayed with her when she was sick.
So, you think she needs you. Is that it?
A part of him shoutedyesin answer to that question. Then another thought struck him, hitting him square in the chest.
If you’d done your job, Justin would still be here. She wouldn’t need you at all.
Fuck.
Swamped by a mixture of grief and guilt, he poured the detergent and fabric softener into their dispensers and slammed the washer door.
“I hate laundry too, but go easy on the machine, man.” Trey walked in behind him with a basket of dirty laundry.
“Right. Sorry.”
“Haven’t seen you for a couple of days.” Trey dumped his laundry in the machine, not bothering to sort it. “Did you meet some island hottie and mess up her sheets?”
“Eden and Maverick had scarlet fever. She could barely stay on her feet. I took care of Maverick so she could sleep.”
“Holy shit. Scarlet fever? I heard that’s going around base. Are they going to be okay? What about you?”
“They were both doing a lot better this morning. The doc who saw them gave me prophylactic penicillin so I wouldn’t catch it.”
“You’re a regular Florence Nightingale. I’ll call you Flo from now on.”
Sean shook his head. This was the sort of thing that caught on and stayed with a man through his career. “No, really, don’t.”
“Okay, Flo, whatever you say.”
“Not funny, man.”
“Are you kidding, Flo?” Trey called after him. “It’s hilarious!”
Back in his quarters, Sean got busy cleaning, trying to keep his mind off Eden but quickly realizing that was a losing battle. Images from the past twenty-four hours slid one after another through his mind. Eden so sick she could barely stand. Eden asleep, Maverick in her arms. Eden laughing when he’d asked to borrow her book.
The day he’d spent at her place hadn’t been the least bit romantic. It had involved sickness, a grumpy toddler, and dirty diapers. But somehow it had felt…right.
Sean had never given a thought to being a father. He wanted a lover as much as the next man, but he’d chosen to focus on his career instead. There was a freedom to fitting everything he owned into a few duffel bags and moving from place to place—no attachments, no obligations, no worries beyond the job.
But taking care of Eden and Maverick yesterday had brought him a kind of satisfaction he hadn’t known before. They hadneededhim.Shehad needed him. And some part of him had responded.
You want her.
Sean threw himself into scrubbing his shower stall, trying to ignore the direction his thoughts had taken. When that was done, he walked down the hall to the laundry room and tossed his wet laundry into the dryer. Then he went back to his quarters, stripped, and climbed into the shower, his thoughts drifting back to Eden.
You want her.
Hell, yes, he did. But he’d be lower than a snake’s asshole if he moved in on his best friend’s widow. What kind of man did that?
Even as he rejected the idea, he couldn’t keep her out of his mind. Lush curves. Slender brown legs. Big hazel eyes. And those lips…
His body responded, his cock going hard, arousal heavy in his groin.
He gave in, stroking himself to a quick climax, the release intense.
Afterward, he dried off, dressed, and sank onto his bunk, guilt setting in. He was stronger than this. He was better than this.
