A SEAL's Pleasure

Mitch followed his lead to where Pauline had the tall, quietly shy SEAL cornered. From the look of it, she was actually petting his chest.

“She’ll eat him for breakfast,” Mitch proclaimed, looking both amused and a little worried.

Over their friend’s pending sexual education? Or the weirdness of watching all of the elements of his life mix together? Yet another reason to keep life to a single element, Gabriel figured.

“We should rescue him,” Mitch said, starting to rise.

“Nah.” Gabriel shook his head before Mitch could get to his feet. “It’ll be good for him. A guy needs to push his comfort zone now and then.”

“She might suck the comfort right out of him,” Mitch muttered with a worried frown.

“Some women do that,” Gabriel mused, his gaze cutting across the room to lock on Tessa again.

She was so damned sexy, her smile wide and bright in a way it never was when she looked at him.

Time to change the game, he decided.

He’d played it with amused distance already, and all that’d done was let her get a hold somewhere in the back of his mind.

As he listened with half an ear to Mitch talking, he realized that since Tessa was like no woman he’d ever known before, he’d have to take a different approach in dealing with her.

He was simply going to have to pursue her. That he’d have her went without question, since it was obviously the only way he’d get her out of his system.

He was a man who knew how to strategize, how to plan and how to win.

And he never, ever gave up.

Since Tessa wasn’t on board with his plan, he’d see her as a mission.

A target to be assessed, evaluated and overcome.

He’d figure her out.

He’d have her—on his terms.

Then he’d do what he always did.

Walk away, leaving both of them satisfied.

3 (#u8a805dca-8a4c-55af-890d-d0f373eb3fd6)

TESSA DIDN’T CHECK to see if Gabriel was looking her way. She didn’t have to. She knew his eyes were locked on her. She felt the heat of his interest all the way to her belly, where desire curled, unwanted, in a tightly coiled fire just waiting to explode.

Ignoring the edgy call of desire, she smiled and dished out friendly greetings and easy small talk as she worked the room. This was what she did. Socialized, flitted and fluttered, leaving a trail of lust and smiles behind. And if she did it with a little stress still weighing her down, well, hey, nobody else had to know that.

Not that anyone would. Nobody ever looked deep enough to see more than the outer package anyway.

Except Livi.

Still, Tessa gave it her best shot by amping up her smile and focusing on keeping her body at ease as she slid into the chair next to her best friend.

“Hey, you,” Livi greeted. “I was starting to wonder where you were. Pauline was talking about sending out a search party but I convinced her to wait until appetizers.”

“Thanks for saving me that.” Tessa pulled a face at the idea of Livi’s über–control freak of a mother coming in search of her. She wasn’t sure if that would have been better or worse than Romeo.

“Champagne?” a waiter offered.

After a quick glance at the glass, Tessa gestured to Livi’s flute of sparkling cider.

“I’ll have what she’s having,” she decided, giving him a warm smile that almost made him fumble the tray.

“What’s wrong?” Livi asked, her brows drawing together.

“Wrong? Why is it wrong that I’m keeping my pregnant friend company in her drinking choices?” Tessa said with a shrug.

That sounded much better than admitting that she couldn’t quite bring herself to celebrate what she was sure was going to be a painful mistake on Livi’s part. Marriage itself was bad enough. But marriage because she was pregnant? To a military guy?

“Since when do you drink the same thing I do? You’re upset. I can tell,” Livi said with a worried frown. Then her gaze slid past Tessa, the striking blonde’s eyes sharpening a little. Tessa didn’t need to turn around to know that her friend had just spotted the reason for her irritation.

“Are you and Gabriel at it again?” Livi asked, her frown deepening as she shook her head. “I don’t get it. I’ve never seen anyone argue with Gabriel except you.”

“But he’s so easy to argue with,” Tessa intoned. At Livi’s impatient look, she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I wasn’t arguing with him. Really. An issue blew up at the magazine this afternoon that has me a little edgy is all.”

Not all a lie, Tessa mentally defended, since she hadn’t actually argued with Gabriel. A covert threat to whack him with the pool cue didn’t an argument make. And she had ended her workday with drama.

Usually, Flirtatious was a source of pleasure for Tessa. The magazine she’d founded with Jared Welch and Maeve Bannion was a huge success not only for her ego, but for her bank account.

But like sexy men, even a great career had its irritating moments.

“What did Jared do?” Livi asked, correctly honing in on one of the sources of Tessa’s troubles. “You need to watch out, Tessa. I know you think you’ve got a handle on him, but he’s a snake.”

“Please.” Tessa laughed. She wasn’t worried about Jared. Between her and Maeve, they kept him in line. Mostly. “When has a man ever got the better of me?”

She deliberately kept her gaze locked on Livi instead of searching the room for Romeo. Talk about ruining her reputation. She didn’t want anyone thinking she was nervous over a guy, even a guy like him.

“Jared would like nothing more than to ride on the tails of your success until he found a way to shove you out of the equation,” Livi said slowly, her eyes locked on Tessa’s face. “You’ve been getting more and more attention, syndication of your articles is picking up and you’ve had some amazing interviews.”

All true. Tessa was one hell of a writer. Oh, she knew Jared liked to tout her as a journalist, but she had no illusions. She wrote very fun, sassy and sexy pieces that all centered around the games between women and men. Flirtations, as the magazine’s name suggested. One Hundred and One Ways to Flirt Your Way to Success, Top Five Pick-up Lines for Savvy Women and The ABCs of Mastering the Sexual Playground were just a few of her recent submissions. Hardly Pulitzer-worthy topics, but they suited her talents and personality, they were extremely popular and they were fun to write. All key reasons why she loved her job.

Jared wouldn’t mess that up. Would he?

Tessa rubbed a finger against the throbbing in her temple, wondering when men had shifted from being a delightful pastime to being a pain in her butt.

“I’m filming a yoga segment tomorrow,” Livi said. “Why don’t you join in? A little balance, a little positive energy, it’d be good for you. I could use a toned body in belly-baring workout gear to bump the ratings.”

Tessa considered it for a moment. A nationally renowned fitness celebrity with a string of successful videos, Livi had just secured a contract with a fitness cable channel to air her new live workout program that she’d titled Stages, for women at every stage of life.

If there was a frustrated, irritated and inappropriately horny stage, Tessa was the girl to represent it. She was also the woman who knew better than to give in to that particular cocktail of emotions since it only led to trouble.