Seducing the Marine. Kate Hoffmann

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      Will brushed his hood off his head and held up his hand. “It’s me. Will.”

      Olivia pressed her hand to her head. “Good Lord, you scared me. What are you doing out here?”

      “I didn’t want to wait inside,” he muttered. “How’s Benny?”

      “He’s fine,” she said softly.

      “Is he? Or are you just required to say that?”

      “I’m required to say that,” she replied.

      “Is it serious?”

      “Yeah, if it’s what I suspect, it’s serious. But not life threatening. And that’s all I can say. How did you get here?”

      “I walked,” he said.

      “It’s freezing out. The windchill is dangerous and you’re still recovering.” She drew a deep breath and shook her head. “You need to get yourself a car.”

      “I can’t drive,” he said. “My vision is still a little wonky from the concussion.”

      She studied him for a long moment, then nodded. “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee?”

      “I’d rather have a drink,” Will said.

      “Well, I can’t drink since I’m on call until midnight. But I suppose I could find something nonalcoholic to enjoy.”

      “Coffee is good,” he said. “I don’t sleep anyway, so what the hell. I’ll live dangerously.”

      She reached out to start the SUV. Will watched her, his heart slamming in his chest. He relished the attraction between them and the desire that had raced through his veins the instant he’d kissed her. And though there could be no future in anything they shared, that wouldn’t stop him from wanting her. She was like a drug, a wonderful high that made him feel human again.

      Then he reconsidered. Could he be so selfish? To take what he wanted without offering anything in return? He’d lived in a world of moral ambiguity for such a long time, Will wasn’t sure what was right or wrong anymore. “You know, maybe we shouldn’t do this.”

      “We shouldn’t have coffee? That’s all this is, Will. Just two friends.” She glanced over at him. “We have a new coffee shop in town. It’s really nice. And warm. Why don’t we go there?”

      He cleared his throat. “Maybe I should just tell you what I came here to say.”

      “All right,” she said. “And then I have a few things I need to say myself.”

      “You go first,” Will said.

      “No, you go. I can wait.”

      He took a deep breath and nodded. “All right. So.”

      “So,” she repeated.

      “I guess I want to say that...I shouldn’t have kissed you. I don’t know what got into me, but I regret what I did. And—and I don’t want you to think that I expect us to take up where we left off.”

      “It was just a kiss,” she said.

      “Yeah, but— It just—” It had meant something to him, Will mused. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it had moved him in ways he couldn’t explain. “I didn’t want you to think I had some plan to seduce you. That wasn’t why I kissed you.”

      “It’s okay, I understand. It’s been over for years. And I know you’d never try to take advantage. I guess I’d just like to be...friends?”

      “You really think that’s possible?” he asked.

      Liv nodded. “Yes, I do. Well, maybe not if you keep kissing me. Or sneaking into my car and scaring the crap out of me.”

      “I’m not going to do that again,” he assured her. “Sneak into your car, that is. I make no promises about the kissing you.” He couldn’t resist flirting with her. It wasn’t quite the same rush he’d gotten from kissing her, but it was close.

      “Well, I think we can have a cup of coffee without tearing each other’s clothes off. As friends. Old friends.”

      “Absolutely,” he said. He put his seat belt on and she started the Lexus. She pulled out of the hospital parking lot and headed back into town.

      “Does it feel good to be home?” she asked, her gaze fixed on the swirling snow.

      “It’s strange. This town is familiar, yet different. Like you.”

      “I feel old. Please don’t tell me I look old.”

      “You’re beautiful,” he murmured. “You do look older, but it suits you.”

      “You look different, too. Manly,” she said with a soft laugh. “You’ve filled out.” She stole a sideways glance. “Elly didn’t tell me you’d been shot. Twice.”

      “She doesn’t know,” Will said. “It happened a long time ago. And it wasn’t serious. Unlike with the bomb, I was in and out of the hospital in a week.”

      “Tell me about the bomb,” she said. “You suffered a head injury?”

      “An IED exploded behind me. I was wearing a bomb suit, but I was thrown about fifteen feet into a stone wall. I had head trauma and a detached retina. A bunch of broken ribs, a cracked vertebra and a punctured lung.”

      “An IED? What is that?”

      “Improvised explosive device,” he explained. “A homemade bomb.”

      “And this bomb suit. You wear it all the time?”

      “No, only when I’m defusing bombs. It’s made of Kevlar and weighs about eighty pounds.”

      She gasped softly. “That’s what you do? You defuse bombs?”

      Will nodded. “Yeah. I’m in an EOD unit—explosive ordnance disposal. That’s my MOS. My military operational specialty.”

      She pulled the Lexus over to the curb and when she turned back to him, Will could see tears swimming in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what to say. Had he caused this? Will reached out and cupped her face in his palm, brushing away her tears with his thumb. “Why are you crying?”

      She shook her head and glanced away, but he forced her gaze to meet his. “Why?” he whispered, his heart aching at the pained expression on her beautiful face.

      “Because there was a time when I could have talked you out of taking such risks. And now I wonder if I’m the reason you take them.” She drew a ragged breath. “Please tell me you didn’t choose that job because I sent you that letter.”

      “I did choose it. But I chose it because it was a great opportunity and the pay grade was good.” He shrugged. “I save a lot of lives. And a lot of limbs.”

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