She released all the pressure on his chest, her heart lurching.
“My stepfather and mother are frantic. My brother’s commanding officer called. He’s officially UL.”
“But I thought you said he wasn’t UL on Friday.” She removed her leg and got off him. Standing, she offered him her hand.
“On Friday, he wasn’t, but he didn’t report for duty on Saturday.” He looked at her hand warily, but then placed his in hers. With his help, she hauled him to his feet.
Having complete control over him on the mat was preferable to standing in front of him. He was taller than her and made her feel every inch a woman. Sienna explained, “You and I both know that coincidences rarely happen. I was very eager to talk to your brother because he was parked in that area and he’s in the military. It seemed to me that there was a good chance he’s somehow involved.”
“So Friday, you were using your calm, cool, I-just-want-to-question him tone to keep me from being alarmed.”
He ran his hand through his hair and for the first time, Sienna saw the worry before he masked it. She wanted to console him. She had the overpowering urge to touch him but refrained. “I’ve read your brother’s file. He’s a model Marine. Doesn’t seem like the type who’d be involved in stolen weapons.”
“He’d die before he’d betray the Corps. He wouldn’t ever worry my mother, unless…” He trailed off, this time unable to hide the worry in his eyes.
Sienna finished for him. “He was unable to call.”
“Right.”
Sienna took a cleansing breath, stubbornly holding on to a little bit of her anger. “I don’t like it when you go behind my back. Okay.”
“I won’t apologize for trying to help my brother and I’ll do it any way I can.”
“Just stick to the rules from now on and we won’t have any friction.” Sienna turned away from the sheer magnetism of the man and walked over to pick up her boxing gloves.
“Rules and regulations can hamper your thinking. Sometimes you have to think outside the box,” he said softly, coming to stand behind her.
He was going to be difficult and troublesome. There was no getting around it. She turned and poked him in the chest. “Let’s get one thing straight between us. On this investigation, it’s my way. There will be no hotdogging. You will follow my lead.”
He studied her with an unnerving, assessing look, as if he were seeing something no one else could see. Sienna swallowed and released his gaze, an unsettling flutter of awareness unfolding in her chest.Never back down, her brain was telling her.Let him know who’s the boss.But for the first time in her life, she tried to retreat. He crowded her.
“I did a pretty good job of following your lead last time we were together,” A.J. intoned, his voice a husky rasp.
He was still watching her with a smile on his face, but it was an odd, distracted smile, as if his thoughts were focused on something else. Faltering under his intense scrutiny, she backed toward the gym exit that would lead her to the showers and safety.
A shiver ran down the full length of her spine. “Now that you’ve shoved your way into this case, it wouldn’t be smart to engage in any…”
Sienna didn’t realize that she was close to the exit until her back hit the wall.
He held her gaze, the glimmer in his devastatingly blue eyes intensifying. “Hot sex?”
“Exactly. I didn’t expect to see you again.” She had nowhere else to go and A.J. pressed against the length of her body.
“But you wanted to.”
“Yes, I did,” she said reluctantly.
“So why let a good thing go to waste? You know where I stand. I’m a Navy man through and through. And you…” He hesitated.
“I’m what?” she asked warily.
His eyes dropped down to her mouth and Sienna’s heart did a full gainer with a twist. “You want to stay in your safe little world, but you got a taste of what it’s like to step outside those barriers, and you liked it. Didn’t you?”
She swallowed when the back of his fingers caressed her cheek. He cupped her chin and tilted her head up. “Yes, I liked it. It was exciting. So, what are you proposing?”
“You and me. Together until it isn’t fun anymore.” His thumb rubbed along her full bottom lip, her body thrown into sensory overload by his soft caress against her hot, moist mouth.
Sienna huffed in a breath, trying to breathe around the sensations he evoked in her. “Sounds really tempting, but I do have something to confess.”