“Jesus,” he wheezed out. “Is it just me or does it only get better with us?”

Finally letting go of her wrists, he rolled over and pulled her on top of him. She pressed her face against his chest and hooked one leg over his muscular thighs. They lay there for a few long moments, neither of them speaking, neither of them moving, until Garrett reached down and laced his fingers through hers.

“It was definitely worth the wait,” he murmured, answering her earlier question.

Her heart leaped up and did a little flip-flop. God, she was outrageously into this man. She’d never imagined he could be so tender, so sweet. She wished she could lie in bed with him forever, hold his hand and kiss him and wake up to his sexy face every morning for the rest of her life.

“Let’s stay here forever,” he mumbled, echoing her thoughts.

She stroked his rippled chest and planted a kiss on one flat nipple. “I’d love to.” The image of a refrigerator full of cakes floated into the foreground of her brain. “But I can’t,” she added reluctantly.

She shifted and his fingers instantly curled over her hip. “No getting up.”

A sigh slid out of her throat. “I have to.”

“I forbid it.”

Laughing, she disentangled herself from his embrace and got to her feet. Her legs almost gave out on her, the sweet aftershocks of her orgasm still fluttering through her body. “I’m serious. I have an entire refrigerator of cakes that need to be delivered.” The alarm clock now read ten-thirty. Damn. She was already cutting it close. A lot of the cakes needed to be delivered by noon.

“Can’t you do the deliveries later?” Garrett grumbled.

She smiled at the disappointment flashing in his eyes. “I really can’t. But if you want, you can be my driver and hang out with me all day.”

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Garrett’s cell phone went off. He swore softly, leaning over the side of the bed and reaching for his cargo pants. He fished his cell out of one of the pockets, frowned when he saw the number on the screen and lifted the phone to his ear. “Garrett,” he said briskly.

Shelby watched as he listened to whatever was being said on the other end of the line. He didn’t say much, except a couple “Yes, sirs”, and a quick, “I’ll be right there”.

And then he hung up the phone and the disappointment in his eyes deepened into regret.

“That was my commander,” he told her.

“Oh.” She swallowed. “I take it you have to go?”

He nodded.

“Overseas?”

He was already getting out of bed and fumbling for his clothes. “Probably.”

She swallowed harder. “How long will you be gone?”

“No idea, babe. It could be hours, days, weeks, months…” Voice trailing, he pulled on his pants and zipped them up, put on his shirt and headed for the bathroom.

She heard him turn on the faucet, then flush the toilet. He was gone only for a moment, but a moment was all it took for old memories to launch a tired attack. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d woken up in the morning—or in the middle of the night—to the sound of Matthew’s cell phone ringing. How many times she’d bid him goodbye, only to spend weeks worrying that he’d get shot in the middle of the jungle or get blown up by a land mine. Not that she’d had to worry. Oh no. Matt had been in constant danger, sure, but it turned out most of the danger came from the prostitutes and random strangers he hooked up with in whatever foreign country he’d been deployed to.

Question was, did Garrett share the same habits?

It was an unwelcome thought, not to mention a silly one. Raking both hands through her hair, she leaned against the wall next to the bedroom door for support, wishing she could exorcise the insecurities out of her brain, out of her heart. She had no right to worry about what Garrett might or might not do when he was on assignment. She wasn’t his girlfriend or anything, and besides, seeing as she’d had sex with one of his closest friends last night, she really wasn’t in a position to judge or reprimand.

“I’m a SEAL, Shel.” Garrett’s quiet voice filled the room, and when she lifted her head she saw him standing in the doorway of the bathroom, obviously aware of the distress in her eyes. “When the team gets called, we’ve got no choice but to go wherever they want us.”

“I know.” Shoot. Did he notice the wobble in her voice?

Yep, he noticed. His expression softened as he stepped toward her and pulled her into his arms. His body was solid and warm against hers, his lips soft as he kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be back before you know it. And then we can continue what we started last night, okay?”

“And will you be starting a similar, um, enterprise with someone else, you know, if you meet a woman when you’re gone?” The words came out before she could stop them, and from the flash of hurt she saw in his eyes, she knew she should’ve worked harder to rein in her fear and insecurity.

Garrett’s hands dropped from her waist. “I can’t believe you asked me that.” He turned away from her, heading to the bed where he’d left his cell phone and tucking it into his pocket. “You honestly think that low of me?”

Whoa. When he turned back, the hurt on his face had tripled, his features now creased with both disbelief and anger.

“I…” She tried to find the right thing to say, if there even was one. “The guy I dated before…he used to f**k around whenever he was away, okay?”