Page 71 of The Moments You Were Mine

I raised a brow. “Are you being nice because you got your way?”

His eyes twinkled, crinkling at the corners as he fought off a smile.

“I’m usually nice. Believe it or not, my team thinks I’m the calmest, most easygoing of the entire group. You’re the only one who makes me growly.”

The way his voice deepened at the end of his admission had that longing inside me flaring to life again. And because I didn’t want him to see it, I looked away first.

“Okay, Baywatch,” I taunted.

He huffed out a half laugh. “I should never have told you they called me that.”

“You do remember the time you acted exactly like Parker Stevenson and his pals at the beach, right? You rescued that woman flailing around in the water as if she was being chased by a shark when it was only a fish.” I tried to say it with a straight face but ended up hiding my mouth behind my hand.

“She clung to me like a koala cub.”

“I overheard her friends saying she’d found out you were aSEAL and decided the whole damsel-in-distress routine was the way to your heart.”

He flushed, a delightful blush I rarely saw, and it sent curls of pleasure through me.

I shoved his shoulder with mine and said, “You took her home.”

His eyes grew serious. “Not the way you’re implying. I caught on soon enough to what she really wanted. She wanted the movie ending, the prestige of having a Navy SEAL’s ring on her finger, but she didn’t really want me, and I certainly didn’t want forever after with her. The women I take to bed know exactly what I’m offering. One night. That’s it.”

“Big bad SEAL showing his lack of courage again,” I said.

“Excuse me?” His eyes widened in surprised confusion.

“Love takes courage, Parker. Risking yourself in a relationship takes bravery. You have to give part of yourself to the other person and hope they’ll keep it safe. You say you don’t want anyone waiting for you, that you don’t want anyone to be hurt if something happens to you on a mission, but really, your one-night-only rule ensuresyou’llnever get hurt either.”

He didn’t like I’d called him out on the truth, and so when he snapped back at me, I didn’t take it personally, even though the words stung. “And how’d the risk work out for you with JJ?”

I just gave him a small shrug. Then, I moved away to retrieve the bagged lunch from my saddlebag. “You didn’t get a meal from the kitchen. You can share mine.”

“Fallon.” I heard the apology in his voice, but he didn’t say more.

I was glad he didn’t. I needed the Parker who pissed me off or the friend I could tease with me today. Not the one I wanted in my bed. It was the only way I’d get through him being on the ranch without continuing to humiliate myself more.

Chapter Twenty

Parker

OUT OF NOWHERE

Performed by Canaan Cox

FOUR YEARS AGO

HIM: Will is officially in love with his new baby boy and in hate with Althea. She’s a money-grabbing cheater. This is the exact reason I’ll never be in a serious relationship.

HER: Not everyone’s relationships turn sour. Not every woman is after something. Your parents and my dad and Sadie are perfect examples of forever after working out.

HIM: Rare species, soon to be extinct.

HER: Only if humanity lets it.

HIM: I’ll never understand how you can be so positive about relationships when your family is the perfect example of how fucked up they can be.

Minutes passed.