SEAL Under Siege (Men of Valor) by Johnson Liz

Author:Johnson, Liz [Johnson, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

Tristan stumbled back as Staci pushed flat palms against his chest, the force of her impact catching him off guard.

“You jerk,” she said.

“Good hit.” He laughed as he caught her wrists in his hands and tugged her closer.

“You let me just keep going on and on.” Her chin bent low. Long hair hanging over her shoulders, she shook her head. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

His smile dimmed as he tucked her hair behind her ear. But he didn’t really have an answer for her. At least not one that made any sense. He couldn’t just tell her how cute she’d been, her eyes so filled with concern.

“You should have stopped me. I sounded like an idiot.” She sighed, still not looking up from the piece of mat between her tennis shoes. “Maybe I am one. A useless idiot.”

His fingers drifted up her arms, until he cupped her elbows. The space between them vanished. Battling the tension around his heart, he skimmed his fingers back down her arms. “You’re not an idiot. And you’re most certainly not useless. I’m a jerk. You’re right. I should have stopped you, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to ask about Robin. I didn’t think you knew who she was.”

“I don’t.”

He held her at arm’s length then, ducking down until he could see her face. Glistening pink lips had all but disappeared as she chewed on them, her jaw in constant motion as she ran her fingers down the side of her face. She refused to look at him, and the band pulled tighter around his chest.

Taking a shallow breath, he shot a glance around the room. When he was certain they were alone, he said, “I didn’t tell Ashley because I didn’t want her to know.”

Big green eyes, filled with curiosity, fluttered up at him. “What didn’t you want her to know?”

“That Robin and I stopped seeing each other.”

As though he’d spoken the invitation, she slipped her hand into his, holding it as though she could squeeze the hurt from his past. “I’m sorry.”

He took a quick step back, suddenly unsure of what to do with the hand she’d captured. He’d had no problem holding her close to comfort her before. But this reversal of roles where she consoled him didn’t sit quite right.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was eager to let go of her hand, either.

He just had to keep himself from getting used to the feeling of having her around. It wouldn’t last forever. It couldn’t.

“Why didn’t you want Ashley to know?” Her words were as gentle as the breath that tickled his arm.

The short version. He could just keep it simple. She didn’t have to know the whole story, the part that still felt like a knife to his chest every time he thought of it. He didn’t want her pity or need her sympathy.

And he most certainly didn’t want to relive his most terrible memory—what happened with Phoebe that made his relationship with Robin doomed from the start.

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