Fire and Rain by Pamela Clare

Author:Pamela Clare [Clare, Pamela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798985435139
Publisher: Pamela Clare

Sean tried to take in what she’d shared with him. She cared for him. She trusted him. She found him sexually attractive.

Well, he returned those feelings in spades.

In fact, he had to admire his own self-control for not dropping the blanket, peeling off her bathrobe, and kissing every lush inch of her sweet body.

You’re the very image of restraint, sitting here in your towel, man.

But where she saw reasons for them to give this a try, he saw only obstacles.

He drew his hand away. “I do care for you, Eden. You’re right about that. You’re beautiful and fun and smart. But it’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“First off, a man doesn’t hit on his best friend’s widow—not in the military.”

“You keep saying that, but I don’t care what anyone else thinks. When I started dating Justin, Coasties told him to stay away from local women because we’re all just looking for a man to get us off the island.”

Sean remembered hearing about that from Justin. “Some people are idiots.”

“Exactly. My ancestors have lived here for thousands of years. In two years, most of the Coasties here today will be stationed somewhere else.”

“Including me.” He let that sink in. “My CO is pushing to advance me. If they do promote me, they’ll almost certainly transfer me somewhere else.”

“But you can ask to remain here, right? That’s what Justin did.”

“I can, of course.” Sean had already planned to do that. He loved living on the island—and he didn’t want to be far from Eden and Maverick. “But you know how it works. In the end, I have to go wherever they send me.”

Her gaze dropped to the table. “Orders, not options. I know.”

“I’m single for a reason.” He knew this wasn’t news to her. They’d joked about it while Justin had been alive. “Life in the military is hard on families. You know the lifestyle. Long hours. Round-the-clock duty shifts. Never knowing when you’ll be called in. Risky SAR and medevac calls. I don’t want to put a woman through that.”

“I know what you do for a living. Does it scare the hell out of me at times? Of course. Is it a deal-breaker? I wouldn’t be much of an Alaskan if it was. I was proud of Justin for the work he did, and I’m proud of you, too.”

Sean said it as clearly as he could. “We can’t be together.”

He saw the hurt on her face—and hated himself for it.

“So, what do you want me to do? Should I go back to treating you like Justin’s best friend, try to forget that I have feelings for you, and pretend that amazing kiss never happened?”

He willed himself to say the right thing. “That’s probably for the best.”

She gave him a withering look. “I’ve played poker with you, remember? I can tell when you’re bluffing. You want me, too. I felt it when we danced together—the way you held me, the way you nuzzled my hair. And I sure as hell felt it in that kiss.

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