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She looked at him and shrugged. “It’s an apartment. You hungry? I’ve already eaten, but I can find something to make for you real fast while you pack…if you want.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ve got some leftover taco stuff from the other night. The lettuce might be brown, but the cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and meat should still be fine. Besides, it needs to be eaten or thrown away since we’re leaving.”

“On it,” she said, putting her backpack on the floor.

“And feel free to get rid of anything in the fridge that won’t survive the couple weeks we’re gone.”

“Will do,” she said, walking toward his galley kitchen. The apartment was set up much like hers. Galley kitchen, living area, hallway with the two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Casper watched Laryn make herself at home in his place and realized he didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable having her there.

The few times he’d brought other women home, he’d been a little on edge, hoping they didn’t read anything into being there.

Feeling uncomfortable when they touched his stuff, inspected his kitchen.

But with Laryn, he wanted her to touch. To make herself comfortable. To rifle through his things.

Reaching down, he picked up her backpack before heading for his room. He took a moment to soak in the sight of her bag on his bed. It was pathetic, to be so happy about seeing her things in his personal space.

Closing his eyes, he wondered if this was what Nate had felt the first time he’d seen Josie.

Of course, their situation was much different than his and Laryn’s.

His twin and Josie had been prisoners of war in a shithole of an Iranian prison.

But that feeling of knowing deep in his gut that Laryn was meant to be his…

was that what Nate felt, why he’d called Josie “his woman” so soon after meeting her?

It had taken Casper a lot longer, but now that he’d opened himself up to the possibility of a relationship, he was all in. And it felt right.

Shaking his head, he spun around and headed for his walk-in closet.

It was one of the reasons he’d chosen this specific apartment, because the closet in the main bedroom was huge.

He had a lot of flight suits he kept impeccably ironed and carefully hung.

He’d needed the space to store them all, plus his boots and other flight gear.

Now, as he looked around the closet, his brain was mentally rearranging the space to make room for Laryn’s stuff.

Laughing at the way he was getting ahead of himself and realizing exactly how tired he was, Casper got to work packing his own duffel bags for deployment.

The scent of spicy taco meat began to waft into his room as he worked, and once again he felt warmth spread through him.

It had been a very long time since anyone had taken care of him the way Laryn was.

It felt good. Really damn good. He would never take her for granted.

And he vowed to return the favor tenfold.

If anyone deserved to be taken care of, it was Laryn Hardy.

Laryn had taken a chance with packing her bags for deployment and driving to base to wait for Tate to get out of his meetings. But thankfully, that chance had worked out. She was in Tate’s apartment, his kitchen, making him dinner before they’d crash for a few hours.

It made her mind spin to think of how she’d gotten here. And the thing was, she had no idea what she’d actually done to finally make the man of her dreams notice her. But she wasn’t going to question it. She was going to enjoy their time together for as long as it lasted.

Because she still wasn’t convinced this would be a long-term relationship, no matter how badly she wanted that.

The sex was out of this world, and Tate was thoughtful and kind.

But would that change once the threat he thought she might be under was mitigated?

Once they returned from deployment and things got back to “normal,” whatever that was?

She had no idea, so in the meantime, she was going to enjoy whatever stolen moments she had with Tate.

And part of that enjoyment was taking care of him.

Long ago, she used to cook for her father, and it satisfied a need deep inside her to nurture.

He’d taught her everything he knew, looked after her, protected her, was her champion, and she’d done what she could to make sure he understood how much she loved him for it.

Now she’d do the same for Tate. He was exhausted, and he needed to be alert and ready for whatever mission he might be sent on as soon as they landed.

She’d already made sure his chopper was in tip-top shape, and now she had a chance to make sure his body was ready as well.

She could feed him, take away some of the everyday burdens he had, like going through his fridge to get rid of anything that might grow legs and try to walk off while he was gone.

She smiled at the thought as she grabbed the remainder of an open block of cheese and a few bell peppers that definitely wouldn’t survive being in the fridge for a few weeks.

“What’s that smile for?”

Laryn nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Tate’s voice right behind her.

“Jeez! Don’t do that! You scared the crap out of me! Why are you walking around like Mr. Silent, anyway?”

He chuckled. “I made plenty of noise. You were just too engrossed studying my vegetables to notice.”

The words popped out before she could stop them. “I like inspecting your vegetables,” and her gaze flicked down his body toward his crotch.

He laughed even harder and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her around.

Before Laryn knew what was happening, he’d picked her up as if she weighed nothing and plunked her on top of the counter.

He crowded closer, between her legs, and rested his hands on her hips.

They were eye to eye now, and Laryn could see dark circles that weren’t usually there, and the lines around his eyes were more prominent than they’d been that morning.

His hands started to roam, and as much as she craved him, as much as she wanted him, the clock was ticking and they both needed sleep.

She grabbed his hands and shook her head. She tried to look as stern as possible, all while knowing her heart rate had picked up and her panties were getting damp thinking about all the things he’d done to her already.

“Food,” she said. “Then sleep. We don’t have time for kitchen hanky-panky. Did you finish packing?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a small grin. “Duffels are by the door, ready to go.”

“Good.”

Neither moved as they stared at each other. Then Tate spoke. “I want you. But I’m dead on my feet.”

“I know.”

“I know you know, I’m just trying to tell you, badly, thank you for being you.

For picking me up, for making dinner. For not letting me do things I want to do so badly, but wouldn’t be smart.

Like eating you out right here on my counter.

Then turning you around and bending you over my couch and taking you from behind. ”

Laryn swallowed hard and couldn’t stop herself from glancing toward his couch.

It was way too high for her feet to be on the floor if she was draped over the back of it.

And thinking about having no leverage, no control over their lovemaking while he took her from behind, was almost enough to rip off the T-shirt Tate had put on and say to hell with her plans for them both to get as much sleep as possible .

“Damn, I love that look in your eyes,” Tate said.

Then he leaned his forehead against hers.

“Rain check. I want to make love to you on every surface of this apartment. The shower, here on the counter, the couch, the desk in my spare room, and my bed. Especially my bed. But we have all the time in the world for that. I’m looking forward to simply holding you as we sleep almost as much. Almost.”

Laryn let out a huff of breath. “Yeah.”

He still didn’t move. His eyes were closed as his forehead stayed on hers.

“Tate? Did you fall asleep?” she whispered after a long moment.

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

That made her smile again. “Food. You need to eat.”

“Yeah,” he sighed and reluctantly straightened. “Thank you, Laryn. Seriously.”

“You’re welcome. Scoot back so I can get down.”

Instead of moving, he tightened his hold and lifted her from the counter to the floor.

“Want to give me some room here?” Laryn asked again, as he stayed plastered to her side.

“Nope.”

She rolled her eyes but, deep down, she loved having him so near.

She managed to dish up the taco salad she’d prepared for him and, by unspoken agreement, they both stood in his small kitchen while he ate leaning up against the counter.

It didn’t take long. He was either hungry or more than ready to go to bed. Probably a little of both.

“Go get ready for bed. I’ll be there in a moment. I just want to wash the dishes and put them away,” Laryn ordered.

“Leave them.”

“No way. Not when we’re leaving for who knows how long.”

“Fine. But if you’re not in my bed in five minutes, I’m coming to find you. ”

“Promise?”

To Laryn’s surprise, the expression on his face wasn’t teasing. He stared at her with a look so intense, it took her breath away. “I’ll always come for you, Laryn. Now that I’ve seen what I’ve been missing, I’m planning on making up for lost time.”

“Tate,” she whispered.

“Five minutes,” he repeated, then turned and headed for the front door. He double-checked the lock, then did the same to the locks on the windows.

She realized he probably did that every night. It was a little OCD, but she didn’t mind. As a single woman, she did her part to follow as many safety protocols as possible herself.

Laryn’s rush job on the dishes wouldn’t impress anyone, but she was eager to see Tate’s bedroom, his bed. She’d imagined it in her head for so long, she wondered if it would live up to her fantasies.

She noticed for the first time that her backpack wasn’t on the floor where she’d left it, and she smiled as she headed down the hall.

Peeking into the bathroom, she saw her bag there on the counter.

Knowing her five minutes had more than passed, she rushed through getting ready for bed, changing into her shortie shorts and tank top she liked to sleep in.

She wasn’t sure how tonight would go, if Tate would keep his hands to himself or if she would.

It seemed whenever they were near each other, especially in a bed, it was almost impossible to keep from touching.

Taking a deep breath, and trying not to feel ridiculous for the few extra seconds she took to smooth some of her cookie lotion on her legs and arms—and even her boobs—she made her way to the main bedroom.

Tate had left a small lamp on to one side of the bed, and everything else was in shadow when she walked in.

The bed was a king, which she wasn’t surprised about.

It took up quite a bit of the floor space.

There was a dresser, taller than it was wide, with a couple framed pictures on top.

A large window with dark curtains, which had been pulled closed, an open door that led to what looked like a huge closet, and that was about it.

After the cursory look around, her gaze was drawn back to the bed, and the man on it. Tate had gotten under the covers and they were pulled up to his waist. His chest was bare, and she wondered if he was wearing any pants or underwear. His eyes were closed and it was obvious he was fast asleep.

Her heart turned in her chest. He was so exhausted, he couldn’t even wait five minutes for her to come to bed.

She had no doubt he’d probably had plans for her when she got there, despite their earlier talk.

Even if she’d claimed they both needed sleep, she couldn’t help but guess he wouldn’t be able to hold back once they were in bed.

Honestly, she was a little disappointed, but no way in hell was she going to wake the man. The lives of who knew how many SEALs and Deltas relied on Tate being at the top of his game when he got behind the controls of his chopper. And that included being caught up on his sleep.

Stepping forward on silent feet, Laryn clicked off the light on his side of the bed.

He didn’t even stir. She walked around the bed and slowly, carefully climbed onto the mattress.

She wanted to moan at how perfect it was.

Not too hard or soft. It was literally exactly the kind of mattress she preferred.

She could’ve stayed on one side of the bed, it was literally big enough that they didn’t have to touch when they slept. But she wasn’t that strong.

Scooting closer, Laryn gently pressed herself against Tate, smiling when she realized he was wearing a pair of boxer shorts. It was funny, because so far she’d only known him as a briefs man. She figured they gave him more support when he was wearing his flight suit.

It felt extremely intimate to learn the underwear preferences of the man she’d crushed on forever, but also very satisfying. As she slowly lay her head on his chest, he stirred. Moving his arm so it was around her and holding her against him tightly.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “So tired.”

“Shhhhhh. Sleep,” she murmured.

He sighed deeply, then stilled.

Laryn smiled against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She’d never been a good sleeper. She jerked at every little noise, worried about people breaking in, thought about things she should’ve done during the day…

wondered what Tate was doing. But at that moment, she had no thoughts in her head other than how comfortable she was and how safe she felt.

She was obviously just as tired as Tate, because she fell asleep in minutes, more content than she’d been in a very long time.