Bodyguard SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 8), Paige Tyler [best classic books txt] 📗

him and Peyton. Something he didn’t want to screw up. For the first time ever, he found himself wanting more from a woman than a good time. It was one of those stop-the-presses kind of moment. He liked Peyton—a lot—and he couldn’t help but wonder if that meant he needed to take things slowly with her.

He found Peyton standing at the counter in the kitchen, her back to him as she squirted whipped cream into two mugs of hot chocolate. He stopped, watching her from behind as she worked. The sight of those sexy little shorts and the tank top bunched up just enough to reveal a little glimpse of skin at her waist almost made him groan. It was scary that he could be so attracted and aroused by a simple flash of flesh like that. The urge to step forward and run his fingers across that tiny sliver of perfection was damn near impossible to resist.

But he did. Because he wanted this to work out. And he doubted it would if they ended up naked on the kitchen floor.

“Sprinkles?” she asked suddenly.

Noah looked up to see her looking at him over her shoulder, her eyes warm and playful. The smile curving her lips was sensual, making him question his decision-making process.

“In your cocoa,” she added.

He jerked his gaze from those sinful lips down to the mugs, trying to comprehend what the hell she was talking about. It took a second for his mind to recalibrate and finally notice the little plastic shaker bottle of chocolate flakes in her hand.

“No. Thanks,” he finally managed to answer. “I prefer my hot chocolate straight.”

Peyton laughed, taking a moment to shake a few of the chocolate sprinkles onto the top of one of the whipped cream covered mugs of cocoa before handing him the other one. She took a quick sip, leaving the most adorable trace of cream on her upper lip.

Regardless of his earlier plan, he didn’t try and stop himself. He merely set his cocoa on the counter and bent his head to swipe the whipped cream away with his tongue. The taste was so sweet he groaned out loud. And the delicious favor had absolutely nothing to do with the topping.

Peyton’s mug joined his on the counter and then her arms were around his neck, dragging him down for a deeper kiss.

The sounds she made as they kissed, the feel of her breasts pressing against his chest through the thin material of her tank top, and the wiggle of her tongue had Noah hard as a rock all over again and ready to tear the towel aside and take her right there in the kitchen.

That’s why he broke the kiss and stepped back.

Seeing the confusion and disappointment on Peyton’s face was a like a punch to the gut, but he took a deep breath and steeled himself.

You’re a SEAL, dammit. Stand up and say something before you ruin this.

“Why did you stop?” she asked softly.

“I didn’t want to stop.” Mouth twitching, he glanced down at the hard-on fighting to push its way through the towel wrapped around his waist. “I think that much is obvious.”

Peyton looked down, a smile curving up the corners of her lips, but only for the barest fraction of a second. Then she was frowning, looking more confused than ever.

“Then why did you?” she asked

It was impossible to miss the hurt and uncertainty there in her voice so he stepped closer, resting his hands on her hips. He hated the very thought that he could ever cause her even a second of pain.

“Because I’d like to take this slowly,” he said.

She seemed even more confused than before by that declaration. Probably because guys weren’t supposed to worry about stuff like that. They were supposed to worry about getting down to it. Right?

“My gut is telling me that we could have something amazing if we took the time to let it happen at its own pace,” he said. “So, while I love kissing you, I’m willing to back off a bit to see what else we could be—besides naked.”

Peyton gazed up at him for a long time and he was sure she was about to smack him…or call him crazy. Or both maybe. But then she smiled.

“I guess I can be patient for something amazing,” she said.

Picking up her mug, she turned to walk out of the kitchen only to stop and look at him over her shoulder.

“But don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

The words were a sultry whisper that raced straight from his ears to his cock and he had to reach for the towel to keep it around his hips as his hard-on did its best to fight its way free. And he was pretty sure Peyton saw it all before she disappeared from view.

Sighing, Noah picked up his cocoa, taking a long gulp of the hot liquid. SEAL training might have taught him how to deal with nearly every situation under the sun, but not this one. And when it came to Peyton, he was clearly in over his head.

Glancing down at the towel wrapped around his waist and the tent still being pitched there by his hard-on, he let out a snort.

“Come on, dumbass, let’s get you back in the shower. It’s obvious I won’t be getting any sleep with you around and I don’t see you going anywhere without a whole hell of a lot of cold water.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

NOAH RESTED HIS hand on Peyton’s lower back as they walked toward the restaurant. She was so excited she was nearly skipping across the parking lot in her wedge heels and little black dress. While Noah had never said the word date this morning when he mentioned the SEAL promotion party tonight, as far as she was concerned, that’s exactly what it was. A date with her bodyguard-turned-maybe something more.

Maybe something amazing.

Last night had been like something out of a fairytale. She’d come downstairs to tell him again how much