Flash Bang: A Summit Seduction SEAL Novel (The Summit Seduction SEAL Duet Book 1) Rachel Robinson (grave mercy .txt) 📖

feels the need to say it, but I nod. “You’re a great dad, and it seems you’re a great human, too. That’s where you’re earning the points at the moment.”

I lick my lips. “And what about this?” As I ask the question, I let my fingers skirt against her hand on the bench seat. “Does it factor in?”

Maeve gasps. “It does. One-hundred percent.” She meets my eyes. “Were you going to finish eating or should we go to my house now?”

My gaze dances across her face, down to her chest, and then to the restaurant to find the waiter. “Now. Let’s go.”

Her next breath is deep and full, and it rattles me so much I’m not going to be able to stand up for the next five minutes. My cock is at attention, ready and waiting. I throw up my hand when the waiter looks my way.

“Check please,” I call out.

CHAPTER SIX

MAEVE

The damn dog ruined our plans. When Lincoln and I got to my house, Shadow escaped through the side door before I could put a leash on her. Ramona gave her a name after animal control said she wasn’t chipped. We did the stray-dog hold at my house since they were full. My home has become their home. It’s clear now that Shadow has a death wish and perhaps running around airports is something she does for fun instead of an accidental one-off escape situation. Ramona loves the dog, so now I’m forced to care about her, too.

I squint my eyes against the darkness as I see an outline race between trees in the distance. I turn to Lincoln. “Listen, you don’t have to stay while I chase this dog. Rain check?” It pains me to say it because thinking about seeing him at work next week chills my skin and ignites my core. I want him so badly that every particle of my being is vibrating in his direction. That’s just it, though. It has to be. It’s just a sexual connection so strong it sometimes feels alive. “I’m just going to search around the forests near the house for Shadow. She’ll turn up. No need for you to waste your time out here. Go on home to Turner.”

Lincoln looks amused and handsome as hell in the moonlight. “What kind of man do you take me for? You think I’m going to let you search out here by yourself? Turner is asleep already. I have nothing but time tonight.” He gazes around, pointing his face toward the night sky. “It’s beautiful out here. I didn’t even realize there were houses back here. I drive by this road all the time.”

“Trying to keep it a secret so they don’t develop the devil out of it like the neighborhood down the street.” It’s a sprawling development that has thousands of houses and no privacy. I did pay more for my property because of the seclusion and the acreage I bought around it to guarantee said seclusion. Also, the mountains and forest that wrap my wooden, modern oasis. Lincoln steps in front of me and vanishes into a copse of trees as I watch.

He calls back to me, something inaudible, I don’t know what he’s said as I make my way into the safety of the floodlights nearer my house. Wrapping my arms around myself, I curse my friend and her dog. I finally made a bold decision about a man since Rexy, and that man is currently galloping through my back yard instead of my vagina. Typical Maeve Ahern luck. Anything I can’t control is my Achilles heel. My best friend’s rowdy dog now falls into that category. Looking up to the stars for a second, I try to clear my line of thought. Rexy shouldn’t be here now, not when I’ve made the decision to lock him away and get on with my life.

Lincoln emerges from the brush and thick tree line carrying Shadow. The dog is not the carry kind of dog, she’s big, so it looks funny. His smile is wide as he closes the distance between us. “Caught myself a coyote. Where do you want it?” He smirks, the dog licks his face, and even if I’m annoyed, the sight is pretty heartwarming.

I tell him to follow me to the house and open the door and show him the laundry room to the side. The dog has a bed in there and normally stays there, even with the door open, when Ramona isn’t here. After Lincoln walks past me, something catches my eye in the distance. Something tall and moving—a shadowy human figure looming. My heart races in response and fear prickles my spine. Your mind is playing tricks on you, Maeve, I think. It has to be a real coyote. I inhale a deep breath as Lincoln sets the dog down in the laundry room. I close the glass door and lock it.

“You okay?” His voice breaks me from my terror.

“Living in a glass house has some downfalls.” I clear my throat. Literally. It’s mostly windows. “Thought I saw something out there for a second.” Someone. Turning, I face him and smile. “Just the wind, I suppose. I need to call Ramona and tell her what her awful canine just did. Want to come upstairs for a nightcap?”

“Is that what they’re calling it these days? A nightcap?” Lincoln’s smile warms my body. Every last square inch. “If you’re inviting, I’m accepting.”

My pulse calms as my body’s response distracts my attention away from the shadowy figure that was almost definitely not a coyote. “Come on up. I’ll give you a tour.”

“This house is really a piece of work.”

I relax even further. “I worked with an architect for months to get it how I wanted it.” Those were dark months, after Rexy died. I threw myself into the house as a distraction. Lincoln follows me upstairs to the main living level and is admiring the large open space that overlooks the forest where we just