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Mainly, he hadn’t wanted to be seen as special.
The day he’d enlisted in the Navy, he’d discovered he was just another sailor. He might have joined the elite SEALs, but especially there, he wasn’t anything to write home about, because every man was the best, and no one was treated as though they were “better than.”
He’d found home.
And he’d found Petra.
For some reason, that brought his mind right back to Trinity. Damn woman wouldn’t get out of his thoughts.
As if on cue, her pretty BMW SUV rolled into what would be the parking area of Harvey’s B&B.
She flew out of that vehicle as if it were on fire. Her blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with a few strands dangling around her face. Her pale-blue eyes sparkled against the flames reaching toward the clear night sky.
And those damn freaking wedge heels, or whatever they were called… She was going to break her neck running on gravel like that, but of course, she managed to make it look graceful.
“Sorry, I’m late.” She waved something over the topof her head. “But I think I might have found something out there today.”
Keaton closed his eyes and counted to ten, promising himself he wouldn’t argue with her tonight—but knowing he’d break that promise the second he lifted his lids.
CHAPTER 2
Trinity skidded to a stop,breathless. Her gaze locked with Keaton’s, and her heart dropped to her stomach, lurched back up, and lodged in her throat, pounding like a pulsating balloon.
She’d long gotten past being slightly fearful of Keaton. Not of him, but afraid of her feelings for the man. He wasn’t anything like Fenton. Not even close. She knew that, but she couldn’t trust herself around Keaton. The attraction was palpable.
Even if he didn’t share it.
Every time she saw him, it was the same thing.
You’re going to get yourself killed.
You’re reckless.
Or her favorite.
Don’t go alone. I’ll go with you.
Right. The man was always working, and it was worse since he’d been promoted to head of the Fish and Wildlife Department of Calusa Cove. When he wasn’t busy with that, he was running tours for the airboatcompany he owned with his buddies. A couple of times, she’d agreed to his help, but it had been on his terms, and she wasn’t one to sit around and wait.
She was an experienced scuba diver. Much to her mother’s dismay, she’d been doing it since she was fifteen. She knew the dangers. Prepared for them. It wasn’t unheard of for someone with her level of expertise to go on a solo adventure. It was actually quite a common practice.
Keaton was just being controlling and, well, Keaton.
She’d learned over the year she’d known him that he was a bit of a rules guy and a safety nut. Perhaps not totally strange for a man who had once been what most considered a thrill-seeker. But she would have expected that behavior more from Hayes, the firefighter, or Dawson, the cop.
“What’s got you all excited?” Keaton stood, reaching for the photograph in her hands.
Instinctively, she pulled it to her chest.
He arched a brow. “You don’t want me to see that?”
“Oh. No, I do. Well, I’d rather they all look at it first, tell me what they think, and then you can tell me I’m crazy and lecture me about scuba diving on my own like I’m a toddler and you’re my daddy.”
“Let the record show I did not start this argument.” Keaton snatched the picture right from her fingertips. “What am I looking at?”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a jerk?”
“Yeah, you, every time I see you.”