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She snorted at my statement. “Shows what you know. Well, I don’t have it on me right now. And even if I did, I wouldn’t read it tonight.”
“Why?” I didn’t understand why she was being difficult over this. Once she read the damn thing, we’d be out of her hair.
“That’s my business.”
“But—”
“Did I stutter? What part of my response is hard for you to understand?” she asked with her hands on her hips and defiance in every line of her slim form.
“We’re not leaving town until you read it.”
Moira shrugged like it was no skin off her nose. “Fine by me. Just means you boys will be here for a while. Because I’m not reading the damn thing until I’m good and ready.”
“But you can’t—”
“I can do whatever the hell I want. It’s not up to you, and it sure as shit isn’t up to Evan. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a little more to do before I can leave for the night and stop at the store to pick up some dinner.”
“Wyatt already sent James to the store.”
“Well, that’s something, at least. You should go. Unless you want to stick around and watch the next show.”
“Are you going to be up on stage?” I asked perversely, too curious for my own good. I didn’t know how I would respond to watching her strip and bare her gorgeous body.
Moira’s grin was full of devious mischief. Like she saw through all my bullshit and understood with perfect clarity that I was hot for her. “Not tonight. I only dance now when I want to.” Her gaze roved over me. “I’ll be dancing Saturday night. It always draws a big crowd. You should come.”
I’d never been a guy for strip clubs. Sure, I appreciated women taking their clothes off. But I also preferred the real deal. Besides, being a SEAL had its advantages. I’d used my uniform on more than one occasion to get laid.
“We’ll see.”
She patted me on the shoulder. I felt her touch clear down to my toes. “Oh, honey, you need to loosen up a bit. That pole stuck up your ass is starting to show.” And then she swiveled on her heel, striding away before I could reply. She left me standing there with the choice to either follow her deeper into the club or leave altogether.
I knew better than to approach when the enemy had the high ground. So, taking door number two, I did an about-face and exited the club.
Once I was back on my Harley speeding through town, I realized that my stop had produced more questions than answers. And if Wyatt caught wind of my unscheduled stop, there would be hell to pay. He’d try to follow through on his threat to take me off this op. He could try, but this was too important for us not to finish together as a squad.
For better or worse, we were in this together. We began as a squad and would end as one.
5
The nerve of that man!
Did he really think I would simply follow along because he wanted me to? Because my dead ex decided to play God from beyond the grave.
I finished my tasks, riding my fury.
Ben could go to hell for all I cared. He was so quick to defend Evan as if he had been this paragon of manhood. But I was here to confirm he hadn’t been. Yes, Evan had been a total badass, but that was as a SEAL. When it came to personal relationships with women, myself in particular, he’d been unable to truly commit to a monogamous relationship.
My heart broke thinking that he had deteriorated psychologically to the point he felt he had no other option but to take his own life. But it wasn’t my fault.
I met Evan almost a decade ago in Virginia Beach. He’d been on leave and had visited the strip joint where I worked. After I gave him a lap dance, he bought me a few drinks. We ended up spending the next week together before he had to report back to base. He’d been charming and devilishly sexy. For the first time in my life, I thought I’d finally met someone I could spend my life with.
But I was never the one and only for Evan. Not even when he proposed.
Evan was the total package but had been missing one key element—faithfulness. It hadn’t been in his makeup. He had loved women and they loved him. For a time. Until they realized he committed to a point but couldn’t be bothered with monogamy.
On the way home, I tried to instill a sense of calm within me after Ben’s sudden appearance. Not that it worked.
What had Evan been thinking, sending these letters, having what was left of his troop hand deliver it and stick around until I read the damn thing? It didn’t make sense. After the broken proposal, we continued seeing one another sporadically for years, even when he was married or in a relationship with another woman. But our relationship never recovered.
