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And this time he stole a quick glance at the bride. Lucia wore a curve-hugging gown that proved his teammate was a damn lucky man. His teammate should be thanking his lucky stars that he waited for the real deal versus a quickie Vegas wedding. Jack looked at her long enough to see amusement sparkling in her eyes.
“Functional.” He glanced back at Natalie as a mental picture formed in his mind. Her wrists bound by the gray length currently wrapped around her waist. The long skirt pushed to her hips. His teeth drawing aside her panties…
“Excuse me,” he said and turned away from Cade’s gorgeous bride. He needed to get out of here before his imagination drove him crazy with crystal-clear fantasies featuring the woman he couldn’t have, the one who’d run away from him, from happiness, from any hope of a future.
He stopped by the bar. He held up his empty beer and signaled for another. Ronan was deep in conversation with Cade’s father, so Jack stood to the side. Alone. And drank.
“Jack.”
He turned and spotted Natalie heading straight for him wearing the expression she generally reserved for unruly sailors at Bottom’s Up. The dress flowed around her and her eyes shone with determination.
So damn beautiful.
She stopped in front of him with her chin held high. “We have one more night on the same side of the bar.”
“One more night,” he repeated. He allowed his gaze to drift to the bands of fabric covering her breasts and disappearing behind her neck. “It’s not enough,” he added. He refused to be her one-night escape. Not after she’d pushed him away, sending a loud and clear signal that he wasn’t enough for her.
“But it’s a start,” she said, her dark eyes locked with his, her gaze so bold and unwavering that his body responded and sent blood rushing south. “I dare you to join me in my room.”
He set his beer on the bar. The woman he’d dreamed about for years, wrapped in a dress designed to torture him, had invited him to her bed. They might not make it beyond the entryway, but still, he couldn’t walk away from her offer.
Except she’d walked out on him once and it had hurt like hell. He didn’t want to retrace his steps down that path.
“How do you see this ending, Natalie?” he asked softly.
“Happy. I hope.” She ran her palms down her sides, smoothing the dress over her thighs. One glance and he saw her hands tremble from nerves. She could take on a room full of brawling sailors and soldiers, but fighting for her own happiness scared the shit out of her.
Cade’s words had been running through his head like a neon leaderboard since their hike.
She doesn’t let people in because she’s afraid the sky will fucking fall if she does. She expects the worst. Natalie sees a future with you as impossible for her.
And now she was here, asking him to take a chance on her. To take a chance on them. There was a chance it would end the same way as before. A moment of pleasure, and then she’d walk away from him again. But he’d seen soldiers in the field claim victory because they found courage when it mattered most, and he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t give Natalie that same opportunity.
“You’re on.” He reached out and took her shaking hand, ready to follow her down a path labeled happily ever after. God help him if the signs were mislabeled and they were headed for a clusterfuck. “Darlin’, I accept your dare.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Holding her skirt with one hand and the Sizzling Secrets bag with the other, she surveyed her hotel room one last time. She’d asked Jack for a few minutes to “freshen up” and he’d agreed to wait in the hall, buying her time to set the scene. Now, she was ready to reach for a future with Jack—if she wasn’t too late.
He’d accepted the dare. That was a step in the right direction, wasn’t it?
She placed her hand on the knob and drew a deep breath. She could do this. She could open the door and hand the charming SEAL a bag of black silk ties and say “take me.” That wasn’t hard. And this time, when he stripped away her physical control, she would face her fears head on and win.
She cracked the door and peered through the narrow opening. She kept the bag behind her back. He’d stripped off his black bowtie. But he looked close to perfect, standing there with his white tuxedo shirt open at the neck.
“Planning to let me in?” he asked. “If we’re taking this dare into the hall, I’m warning you now, there are security cameras.”
“No cameras,” she said. “I need you to close your eyes.”
He raised an eyebrow, but then he followed her request.
She drew a deep breath. It was now or never. She took his hand and led him into the room.
“You can open your eyes now,” she said.
He obeyed, and she watched as he surveyed the suite. Rose petals covered the bed. She’d taken the time to fold the blankets down, leaving the crisp white sheets littered with red petals. A bottle of champagne rested in a bucket on the nightstand. And a pair of flutes stood beside it.
His gaze shifted to the carpet where she’d created a path of long-stem roses leading to the bed. Every detail screamed romance. And oh God, maybe it was too much. But she’d wanted to show him that she was looking beyond tonight. He could bind her to the bed and she’d still be here in the morning.
