An Honourable Seduction. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ then he hadn’t returned.

      Swan felt a knot in her throat as she recalled that day. She’d never seen that sparkle in her mother’s eyes again. Swan recalled her mother telling her once that when you met a man who could put that sparkle in your eyes, then you knew he was a keeper.

      Swan often wondered if she would ever find her keeper.

      She had plenty of time. Besides, she needed to rethink her opinion about men first. If what Don had done to Candy wasn’t enough to keep her single, all Swan had to do was remember William Connors, the businessman she had met while working at the hotel.

      At the time, he had convinced her he was a bachelor without a care in the world but claimed that he wanted to make her Mrs. William Connors one day.

      For some reason, Candy hadn’t trusted him. She had a friend who worked for a private investigator check him out. Swan had been devastated when the investigation revealed there was already a Mrs. William Connors, along with three Connors children.

      William had been playing her. He had been a lesson well learned. Her only regret was that she’d shared her body with him. She’d been young, naive and impressionable. He had been her first and he should not have been.

      She was not naive now and she went into relationships with caution and even a little mistrust. Her mother once told her that being mistrustful wasn’t a good thing. Swan knew she would have to learn how to trust again.

      She took another sip of wine. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten there yet.

      * * *

      “So how did things go, Flipper?”

      “Have you met her yet?”

      “Does she have a traitorous face or just a pretty one?”

      “Do you think you’ll be able to prove she’s innocent?”

      Flipper heard the questions coming at him nearly all at once. While unpacking, he had placed his mobile call on speaker to engage in a five-way conversation with his SEAL teammates.

      “I think things went rather well, Mac. And yes, I met Swan Jamison today, Viper. I went into her jewelry store to purchase Mom a birthday gift.”

      Flipper eased open the dresser drawers to place his T-shirts inside. “She doesn’t have a traitorous face or just a pretty one, Coop. The woman is simply gorgeous. Beautiful beyond belief. And yes, I hope to prove she’s innocent, Bane, because Commanding Officer Shields and Admiral Martin truly believe she is.”

      “What do you believe?” Viper asked.

      Flipper leaned against the dresser for a minute and thought about Viper’s question. “Too early to tell.”

      “Did you ask her out on a date?” Coop wanted to know. They could hear Coop’s two-year-old son, Laramie, chattering in the background.

      “No, not yet.” Flipper’s attraction to her had been instant. He’d felt it the moment he looked into her face. Discussing her now wasn’t helping matters. All it did was force him to recall what a beautiful woman she was—a woman he would have to spend time with in order to discover the truth.

      “Then how do you plan to see her again if you don’t ask her out?” Mac wanted to know, interrupting Flipper’s thoughts.

      “I ordered a pair of earrings to go with the necklace I bought for Mom. She has to make the earrings and I’ll make my move when I pick up my purchases in two days.”

      “And if she turns you down?” Viper asked.

      “Not an option. I now have less than thirty days to get this all straightened out.”

      “We should be there with you, watching your back,” Bane said.

      “No, you guys are just where you need to be, which is home with your families. I’ve got this.”

      “Well, some of our families don’t appreciate us being home,” Mac grumbled.

      Flipper rolled his eyes. They’d all heard the complaints from Mac before. After every extended mission, their teammate went home to an adjustment period, where he would have to get to know his wife all over again and reclaim his position as head of the house. Sometimes the adjustment didn’t go over well. Mac had a strong personality and so did Mac’s wife, Teri. “Do we have to send both you and Teri into the time-out corners?”

      “Hell, I didn’t do anything,” Mac exclaimed.

      Flipper chuckled. “Yeah, right. You better get your act together, Mac. No other woman is going to put up with your BS.”

      “Whatever. So what did you notice about the place today?”

      Mac was changing the subject and Flipper decided to let him. “Everything matched the architectural report I was given. Even with the repairs due to the hurricane, there were no major changes. Front door. Back door. High windows. Glass storefront. No video cameras outside. There are several rooms in back. One is being used as a tattoo parlor. I didn’t see the person who runs it. I think I’ll go out tonight and do a little more investigating,” he said, sliding into a black T-shirt.

      “Be careful, Flipper,” Viper said. “Although you might not have seen any video cameras, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

      “I know. That’s why I’m wearing my Pilf gear.”

      Everybody knew how much Flipper liked digital technology. In addition to all the futuristic developments the military used, Flipper had created a few of his own high-tech gadgets behind the scenes. Some had been so impressive the federal government had patented them as Pilf gear to be used by the military. Pilf was the name Flip spelled backward. On more than one occasion, Flipper had been offered a position with the Department of Defense’s Research and Development Department and had turned down each offer, saying he loved being a Navy SEAL more.

      “We don’t give a damn if you plan to parade around naked tonight, Flipper. Be careful.”

      He knew Mac was in his big-brother mode. “Okay, Mac. I hear you and I will be careful.”

      “Call to check in when you get back to the hotel tonight,” Bane said.

      “It will be late and I wouldn’t want to wake up any babies, kids or a pregnant woman. I’ll text everyone.”

      A short while later, wearing undetectable military gear under his clothing, Flipper left his hotel using the stairs.

       Two

      Two days later, Swan didn’t leave the shop for lunch. Instead she accepted Jamila’s offer to bring her something back from the sandwich shop on the corner. Although she’d tried convincing herself her decision to hang around had nothing to do with the fact that David Holloway would be returning today to pick up his items, she knew it did.

      And her anticipation was so bad that every time the door chimed, her heartbeat would kick up a notch, only to slow back down when someone other than him walked in. She checked СКАЧАТЬ