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I shake my head. “Fuck no. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long ass time.”
“But you’re wary of relationships?”
I nod, searching for the words to make her understand. “There’s no major heartbreaks or any shit like that in my past. Just never met a woman who makes me want to settle down.”
I can admit, at least to myself, that when I think of Sophie, my mind automatically puts her into distinct roles in my life.
“Ah,” she smiles, nodding as if she understands. “You’re a perpetual rolling stone.”
“No. Maybe.” I grin, and she laughs. “When I was a SEAL, my life was always in flux. A different mission and location, none of which I could ever talk about. But now, things are different.”
She studies me again after the waitress takes our order, and I wonder what the fuck she’s thinking, but she doesn’t say anything for a long damn time.
“Do you miss being a SEAL?”
“Nope. Our government’s too fucked up to be blindly following orders. I do miss my brothers, though.”
“I think I’m starting to understand you, Tank.”
“Yeah? What do you think you understand?”
She flashes a smile, not offended by my tone. “You want to help people, to do the right thing, but you want to be sure it is the right thing. You are a good guy, and you’re trying hard to pretend you aren’t. Why?”
I shake my head. “I am who I am, Soph. The worst thing you can do is turn me into something I’m not.”
“Oh, I see you who you are quite clearly. Maybe even better than you do.” She takes a sip of her coffee and sighs heavily. “And you know what? So far, I like what I know about you. A lot. Maybe even too much.”
A breath catches in my throat at her words that echo my thoughts. I want her more than I should, and I’m not sure that having her is the right thing. For either of us. Sophie deserves more than what I can offer. She deserves the sun, moon, and stars. More than the chaos that trails behind me.
But dammit, she’s smart and funny, wicked smart. A woman who has no problem laughing at herself. “Too much?”
She nods. “Yeah. Too much.” Her lips curl into a smile, and she looks away briefly. “But I want this.”
Me too. “This?”
Sophie nods. “Whatever this is,” she says, motioning between us. “It’s fun and exciting, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.”
“Next?” I lean forward, her eyes on mine. “What happens next is just between you and me, babe.”
We finish breakfast and toss the seagulls some leftover hash browns. Every fucking thing about this woman calls to me in a way I can’t explain, a way I’ve never experienced before, and I’m sure I’m out of my depth with her.
Capturing my attention, she grins slyly, a glint in her eyes. “You know, Tank, most guys I meet are like elevator music—just background noise. But you? You’re the kind of song that gets stuck in your head. The good kind.”
A laugh rumbles in my chest. “Oh, is that so? Well, tell me, what genre am I?”
“Rock with a hint of jazz. Unexpected, captivating.” She flirts back, eyes shimmering in the dim light.
Pulling her closer, the world around us seems to blur. “Ever thought about writing song lyrics, Sophie?”
“Maybe,” she teases, her voice barely above a whisper, “if I have the right muse.”
Her lips graze mine, sending electric shivers down my spine. “You think we’re both a little crazy about this?”
“Absolutely,” I say, brushing her hair behind her ear.
She smiles, an aura of innocence surrounding her. “Good.” Our pace slows, neither of us in a hurry to part ways.
The scent of coffee and freshly baked pastries fills the air as we pass a small coffee house. “You smell that?” I ask, breathing it in.
