Page 17 of The Night Ride (SEALs on Wheels #3)

Chapter twelve

It’s really happening. Oh my god!

Aiden Miller, the object of all my affections and daydreams, the man I’d been crushing on since I was fifteen was flirting with me. Me!

Inside I was doing back flips. While outside I was playing it cool. Sexy even.

He’s such a dreamboat. I could stare at him for hours. Days even. Secretly I had stared at the picture of him with my brother for hours on end. He’s even more handsome now. A little rough around the edges but it was a damn good look on him.

When I looked him in the eyes, I was home in a way I’d never been before. And I could only thank my lucky stars I’d been sitting when he approached me because my legs had turned to limp noodles and didn’t want to work.

And he was laying the charm on thick. I’d never felt so beautiful in all my life.

I hadn’t realized he would be here tonight. Nor that my brother would stand me up. He said he would be late and to not wait for him. My brother skipping out on our night at the bar together wound up being a godsend.

Because Aiden Miller was hitting on me and slathering it on. I knew he was a guy’s guy. He had to be, or he never would have become a Navy SEAL.

God, he smelled good too. Just sandalwood soap and him, not covered up by cologne.

I knew he was trouble the moment he started talking. But it wasn’t just his words, it was the way he looked at me. Like a woman grown, and one he would like to know in the biblical sense.

I couldn’t think of a man more fitting to give my virginity.

He was a hero, defending our country and putting his life on the line every day.

He was one of the guys in my brother’s unit.

I sent them care packages with homemade cookies.

I knew each guy’s favorite and always made sure to bake the ones they liked.

I’d even learned to package them appropriately to ship them halfway around the world so that they remained fresh.

My brother loved my snickerdoodle. Lucas enjoyed my chocolate chip. Wyatt was all about my lemon cookies. And Aiden, he adored my peanut butter.

Never in a million years had I ever believed Aiden would look at me with such startling heat. My skin sizzled beneath his forthright gaze. As the night progressed, my heart turned over in my chest.

He’s the man of my dreams. Literally. I’d been dreaming about him since I was fifteen.

“Dance with me.” He rose from the barstool and held out his hand.

There was no way I would refuse him. I took his outstretched hand.

I was zapped by an electrical current of sexual energy.

It buzzed through my body. I stood, but he didn’t back away, our chests brushed against one another.

He was tall, a good six foot and at five-two, I had to crane my neck.

But then, I could look at him all day every day.

He led me onto the dance floor, threading our way through other couples until he found a spot for us.

He stopped and drew me into his muscular arms. His hands found their home just a smidge above my rear. I looped my hands around his neck as he pulled me close. His eyes were a thing of beauty, steel-blue that always made me think of the lakes back home.

But in his eyes, I saw my future.

The laughter and love we would share. The home we would make. I would be there to greet him every time he returned from a dangerous mission overseas. And he would hold me at night, where I would rest safe within the circle of his arms.

He was everything I wanted. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever believed it would be possible. Yet, he was here with me now, a small smile curled his full lips as he led us in a slow dance while a Patsy Cline song played on the jukebox.

I’d never wanted to sink into a man more. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone.

“You’re so beautiful. I’m not sure what you’re doing with an old geezer like me.” His lopsided grin shot straight into my heart.

“I think you’re perfect.” I couldn’t stop the admission if I tried.

Flames smoldered in his steel-blue gaze. His callused hand cupped my nape, tilting my head to his liking.

“You think so, huh?” he murmured low, the vibrations of his deep bass hummed through my chest and my nipples beaded.

“I do.” It felt like we had been crafted for each other. The rest of the world around us dimmed until it was just the two of us dancing together.

We could have been on a street corner in Paris or a club in Miami. The location didn’t matter. What mattered was us, here and now, as one song bled into another. The surrounding people changed but neither of us moved away. His arms felt like home and where I belonged.

I wasn’t sure which one of us moved first. It might have been mutual. Because our lips neared until our breaths mingled. At the last second, I closed my eyes. His lips brushed mine. Gentle at first, testing, and then deepened. I leaned in, surrendered to the sweeping tide of need.

He kissed me and the world stopped. Everything around us disappeared. We were in our own bubble. I didn’t know where he began, and I ended. All I knew was that I never wanted it to end. How could I when it felt like I had been waiting for him, for forever it seemed?

The music changed and yet we remained, locked in an embrace.

It was timeless.

It was true.

I clung to him as joy burst forth within my chest. For I knew he was the only man for me.

I held on tighter. His job, his life, was dangerous, and I understood a fear unlike any I had known.

He could die on some distant shore, another casualty in the line of duty.

Yet there was nothing casual about this when the mere thought of him not existing was capable of bringing me to my knees.

I didn’t want to be in a world where he didn’t exist.

“What the fuck?” growled a familiar male voice.

Aiden ripped his mouth from mine. “What the hell, dude? Why are you interrupting?”

I blinked and watched my brother get up in Aiden’s face. “Because it’s my sister.”

“Sister?” Aiden’s brows rose nearly up into his hairline. And he glanced at me with horror dawning in his eyes.

All the warmth, all the desire, drained from his eyes as if it had never been, and in its place was the impenetrable, unshakable soldier. He glanced at Evan, nodded. “My apologies. I didn’t realize it was Beth.”

In minutes I went from soaring at the highest heights where it felt like I touched the sky only to plummet and crash into barren bedrock with my heart bleeding out.

He didn’t realize it was me. All the dreams I’d clung to, that had gotten me through the hard times, a field of dreams I’d wished with all my heart and soul to be real went up in flames.

“Yeah, well, you should have. That’s no excuse.” Evan snarled, bumping into Aiden like he was egging him on for a fight.

“No, it’s not. I should have asked her name first.” Aiden backed away with his hands up and regret in his eyes.

“What? You didn’t even…” Evan narrowed his eyes and pointed at Aiden, “don’t come near her again or we’ll have a major problem.”

I had had enough. This was my life. My brother didn’t get to control who I was with. “Evan, you don’t get to dictate my life. I’m an adult with my own life.”

Evan shot me a hard glare. “Don’t even speak right now. You don’t get to whore yourself out when you’re under my roof.”

I jolted like Evan slapped me. How could he say that to me? Me of all people.

The one who was dateless in high school. The one who guys didn’t see until I decided that I no longer wanted to carry around the extra weight. And the one who had always been awkward and a bit out of place in the dating hookup culture because it’s something that didn’t fit me.

Aiden glanced my way and opened his mouth to say something. But Evan snarled, “Get the fuck out of here before I drag you out, Petty Officer Miller.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Aiden replied through clenched teeth. With a last glance at me, Aiden swiveled on his heel and walked away.

He just walked away as if tonight had meant nothing to him. When it had meant everything to me.

Tears slid down my cheeks as my heart shattered on the dance floor.