[When SEALs Come Home 04] - Heated by Anne Marsh

“plenty of guys complained about the sameness of the days. Every day that ended in y , we had the same tents, same sand, same faces. You try to be all Zen about it, but the fighting becomes a welcome relief. A change-up to the same old same old.”
    “I don’t mind things staying the same,” she said, just in case he thought she was bored enough with her day-to-day to make a sex tape.
    He leaned over and sniffed her. “You’re not wearing the same perfume.”
    While he, on the other hand, smelled like fresh air and sawdust and Joey. She tried and failed to imagine him at Macy’s men’s counter, picking out scents. He wasn’t a cologne guy, except she somehow knew that if she gave him a bottle of the stuff, he’d wear it. Don’t think about civilizing him. Don’t think about keeping him , she told herself. Joey was fun and he was sexy, but he wasn’t a keeper. If she wanted her walk on the wild side, he was the perfect man for the job, but once their walk was over, he’d keep right on walking.
    Out of her life.
    “You want to discuss my choice in scents?” Because that wasn’t her first choice in conversational topics.
    She snuck another peek at him. She might be okay with a temporary man. Joey was a crème brûlée kind of man, the perfect treat but too rich for an everyday diet. He was funny, flirtatious, and sex on a stick. If she gave him the go-ahead, he’d rock her world in bed and she’d be a happy, happy woman for a few weeks. She had a feeling that he’d handle their breakup as smoothly as he did everything else. They’d drift apart or he’d have work calls, but there wouldn’t be a dramatic fight or fireworks. She could work with that.
    “I like the way you smell.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Do you want me to say more?”
    Please.
    “I’m a cheap date. I use those little cards that fall out of my magazines.” She wasn’t good with words or flirty exchanges, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t change who she was, even for him. She might want to have more fun, but she was still the same person she’d always been.
    ***
    J oey obviously didn’t read the same magazines that Mercy did. In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d picked one up. While he didn’t necessarily want to smell like roses himself, perhaps she was onto something. He made a mental note to stock up the next time he was standing in the supermarket checkout line. Or maybe one of the Donovan ladies could hook him up. He could save a tree and time.
    “What else is in your magazines?” From the grin on Mercy’s face, she’d only confessed to half the truth. He had secret methods of getting women to talk, so he tickled her gently, nipping her waist with his fingers. She shrieked, and he caught her plate, setting it carefully beside her. There was no point in wasting a perfectly fine piece of chocolate cake.
    “Sex tips.” She smacked his shoulder. “Don’t do that.”
    He hadn’t seen that answer coming. “I need to start reading more.”
    She reappropriated her cake and took a large bite. “God. That’s good. Do you need the help?”
    “It’s not help. It’s intel.” Although, apparently, he could just ply her with chocolate and maybe she’d come that way. Or he could cover them both with the sweet stuff and see what happened...
    “Really?” She made a disparaging sound. “Sounds like an assist to me.”
    He jerked his thoughts back to the present.
    “Why do you want to sleep with me?”
    “I’ll buy you a mirror.” He snuck a crumb of cake off her plate.
    She looked amused. “I’m giving you fair warning. Try that again and things are going to get ugly.”
    “Duly noted.”
    “And I’m still waiting for your answer.”
    “Eat your cake,” he said. He wasn’t sure why he wanted Mercy so badly, only that he did. They were all wrong for each other in some ways—and so very, very right in others. Winning an invite to her bed topped his