“This is one of those circumstances.”
She walked gracefully up to him on those heels. “What are you talking about?”
He realized he was babbling.
He picked up her hand and very gently kissed her palm. “I’m shaking.”
* * *
Her palm still tingled from his mouth, a full, sensual mouth that had captured all of Sienna’s attention. She was angry at herself for letting his incredible charm seduce her, but the man oozed sex appeal. Any woman would be affected, so it must be okay to be a little dazzled.
Except she didn’t want to be dazzled. Hadn’t she promised herself that she wouldn’t cross over the bridge from San Diego to Coronado to club? The Navy men were either intense warriors or arrogant jerks. She wanted safe and comfortable men who stayed home on the weekends.
Besides, traveling from port to port didn’t interest her. Oh, no, that was not for her. She liked San Diego, a city she knew. She liked being a cop and it was another reason to stay away from Navy types. She couldn’t build a career if she was constantly moving.
They entered the glass elevator that would take them on a scenic ride to the top of the high-rise where the club was located.
When Sienna walked into the club, the music was pumping, and people were on the dance floor gyrating to the beat. Both Lana Dempsey and Kate Quinn were already sitting at their usual table. Sienna could feel their eyes following them the moment they entered the club even though she was across the room in the bar area. She left A.J. with a quick goodbye. Sienna sat down heavily.
“I can see why you were late. Yowza! Who’s Mr. Yummy?” Lana asked, taking a sip of her drink. Lana had delicate cheekbones and a full mouth. Her long, brown hair and a smile that lit up a room gave her a sharp, no-nonsense quality, but Sienna knew Lana was tough. She was one of the few women firefighters that San Diego employed. Not only could she carry one hundred pounds on her shoulders down ten flights of stairs, but she was also a certified EMT, had her diving certification card, and possessed so many other certifications Sienna had lost track of them.
“Just a guy I happened to mistakenly think was a burglar. I arrested him.” Great, now she’d have to talk about him when she was supposed to be relaxing. Lana was a pit bull when she got her perfect white teeth into something.
“Wow. Nice eye candy.” Lana popped a pretzel in her mouth, without removing her gaze from A.J.
“Lana, stop staring. He’s a Navy tough guy with a brother I’ve got to question. He needs a ride back to where I picked him up.”
“He’s Navy? Have you seen him in his whites? A guy is so sexy in uniform. You should see Sean when he puts on his blues,” Lana said, searching through the snack mix in the bowl on the table until she found another pretzel, then she dropped it into her mouth. Every other word out of Lana’s mouth was about Sean O’Neill. Sienna wished she would just admit she wanted to date the guy and get on with it.
Sienna gave Lana a withering look. “No. I just met him today.”
Lana smiled and lobbed a pretzel at Sienna. “So, consider it your lucky day. How long has it been, Sienna?”
“Too long,” Sienna exhaled heavily. “But I promised myself no Navy guys.”
“Why not? It’s a wham-bam-thank-you-sir.” Lana snickered. “It’s no big deal. He’s hot.”
“A SEAL is too adventurous for my taste.”
“And six feet, two inches of hard-packed muscle, devastating Latino looks, and great eyes. Sounds like a terrible hardship.”
“He does fit the profile for a hot fling, but I have so much work to do.”
“For Pete’s sake, Sienna, take a freakin’ chance. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. Stop doing everything by the book and break some rules.”
“Look who’s talking. Lana, you know all about dangerous, forbidden relationships. You’ve been drooling over that coworker of yours since I met you, and you’ve done nothing about him.” The words were coming out of her mouth before she had a chance to engage her brain. She would never bait her friend this way, but Lana’s dare to go after A.J. made Sienna nervous and oversensitive. Sienna couldn’t help but lash out. There were so many emotions just beneath her skin, emotions she had no intention of acknowledging.
It didn’t help that A.J. scared her to death way deep down inside. He had easily gotten beyond the first barrier she put up against men like him. And she was petrified to let him have a crack at any of her other barriers, to open herself up to the kind of hurt he was sure to bring her. Two people could not be more different than they were. He was adventurous and she was as conservative as they came.
“Are you challenging me to go after Sean?” Lana asked, raising her brows and effectively breaking into Sienna’s thoughts.
Oh, no…Sienna knew that look. “No, Lana…” Sienna said.
“You think I’m afraid of him sexually?” Lana bit her lip and studied Sienna’s face. “You don’t think I’ll take this dare? Do you?”
“I didn’t say that. Can’t we just relax, have a drink, and listen to music?”
Lana’s eyes were sparking with anger. “You think I can’t seduce Sean.”