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“Always nice to hear.” He lets go of my hand and throws an arm possessively around a woman who looks a few years older than Carys and Emerson. “Well, guys. We’re getting out of here for now. The keys are on the counter. Don’t fuck the place up, okay?”
“Love you, Dad.” Emerson kisses her father’s cheek, then Jack thanks him too before Stone and his woman leave.
“Holy shit. Your dad’s Stone Madden?”
Everyone in the room cracks up, but Carys takes pity on me and links her arm through mine. “Come on, Coop. Let me show you my room.”
“Ooh,” Emerson calls out.
Carys pushes me in front of her, shaking me out of my shock. “Shut up, Em.”
The first floor is a mostly open concept with an eat-in kitchen and a family room. At the top of the stairs, there’s an open loft looking over the first floor, then a long hall with bedrooms on either side. She opens the farthest door to a white bedroom with white curtains and white furniture.
“That’s a lot of white.”
“Yeah. But it all comes with the place, so I’ll just add some color in. This way I don’t have to buy furniture. Nothing in the dorm is mine except my papasan chair.”
I can’t help but open her curtains and check the locks on the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony. “How did you get one of the rooms with a balcony?”
“Stone said ladies got the first choice, so Em and I picked the rooms next to each other. Theo and Jack are the two across the hall.” She moves to the other side of the room and opens a door. “Look. I even have my own bathroom, so I figure Mom can’t be too pissed about me sharing the house with guys. It won’t be that different from the dorms.”
I step outside onto the balcony. “Sure, it won’t. I wouldn’t go with that rationale, but I doubt your mom will have a big problem with it. Let her know how close I am and that I’ll keep an eye on you.” Even those words burn like a bitter pill as I say them, because I’m promising her mom I’ll protect her, when in reality, I want to corrupt her.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Cooper.” She joins me outside and leans against the wrought-iron railing behind her, and I have to fight the urge to drag her closer to me.
“I know that, Carys. Trust me.” Babysitters don’t have these kinds of thoughts about their stepsisters.
Stepsister. Maybe if I keep reminding myself of that little fact, it’ll make this easier.
“And you’re leaving.” Disappointment lingers in her tone. Can she possibly be feeling the same way I am?
Instead of dragging her to me, I move in front of her and run my hands up the warm skin of her arms, needing to touch her.
“I am, but not yet, and Trick and Linc are just a few houses down once I’m gone. If you need anything, call them.”
Her eyes close, and her chest rises on a deep inhale. “When are you leaving?”
“Two weeks.” I slide her hair away from her face and wrap my hand possessively around the back of her neck. My thumb rests at the pulse point on her throat. Her heart is racing in sync with mine.
And I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted any woman more than I do now.
It’s wrong in so many ways, yet something about it feels completely right.
Like it’s the most important thing I’ll ever do.
All my goals over the past five years have been structured to get me here. The Navy. The SEALs. Being a part of DEVGRU and being a Tier 1 operator is what I’ve got my sights on. This sniper training is my next step.
And I feel like I’m being torn in two right now. I need to be here. Need the time to figure out what this is—this current stretching between us. The attraction, which I’ve so easily pushed down for more years than I’m willing to admit, has exploded into so much more, and I’m not sure how it happened or why. But there’s no denying it’s there. And judging by how Carys’s pulse is pounding out of control, she feels it too.
Her hands dance over my shoulders before they skate down my arms, and my instincts are telling me she’s right here with me.
“Carys... where are you?” Emerson’s voice drifts through the open doors onto the balcony, and Carys pushes me away abruptly.
“We’re out here, Em.” She stumbles around me on unsure footing but slips away when I reach out to steady her. She goes back into the bedroom, leaving me to watch her go.
What the fuck am I thinking?
Maybe the timing for this training couldn’t be better.
