“What?”
“The girl that turned you off relationships. What was her name?”
He squirmed and rubbed the back of his neck. Clearly, the topic made him uncomfortable. “Shelby. We were engaged.”
“What happened?” She’d seen that name someplace. Where was it? Oh yeah—MacGyver’s cell phone. Her name was above Travis’s. That made her number one. Did that mean MacGyver still loved her?
“She wasn’t happy with my choice to become a SEAL. A short hitch to serve my country was okay but making a career of it or getting too close to the bombs that were sending men home in pieces—not so much.” MacGyver’s brow furrowed as he spoke. “The irony was I’d made the decision to come home and stay. I was standing on American soil when her letter finally found me. She married someone else, someone that would be there for her twenty-four/seven.” He shrugged, obviously embarrassed by the emotions that resurfaced with her memory.
Kellie laid her hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry. That’s tough. You still love her, though?”
MacGyver looked at her as though she’d spoken in a strange language. “No. Hell no. Why would you think that?”
“She’s your number one favorite on your phone. I just assumed.” What else was she supposed to think? Was he stalking her?
“A reminder that forever is only in fairy tales and relationships aren’t worth the heartache they’ll eventually bring.”
Wow! He was serious. “So…friends, huh?”
MacGyver brightened. “I’m telling you, friends with benefits is the way to go.”
Kellie smiled, though his explanation made her strangely sad. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but you need to let go of your bitterness. Seriously. Every relationship has a different ending. Yeah, yours sucked but, if you weigh every woman on the same scale Shelby broke, you’re going to miss out on something with substance, MacGyver.”
In silence, he looked toward the window, and his jaw ticked as though she’d overstepped her bounds and pissed him off.Not for the first time.
Finally, he scraped his hand down his whiskered face and gestured toward her plate, one untouched slice of pizza remaining. “Are you finished?”
When she nodded, he claimed the tray, but instead of leaving as she’d expected, he set it on the nightstand and half-pushed, half-coaxed Chip onto the floor. He stretched out beside her and rolled to his side, facing her. Gently, he threaded his fingers in her hair, and the kiss he gave her was warm and intoxicating. “Just think about it, okay?”
The sadness and longing in his voice destroyed what little determination she had left. She looped her arms around his neck. “I have. I can do friends with benefits, as long as we call it offbeforeeither of us starts having benefits with anyone else. In other words, we’re exclusive for the term of our friendship.”
“Agreed.” Surprise flickered in his expression.
She pulled his lips to hers, and the kiss she gave him was anything but friendly. His groan filled her mouth as his tongue invaded and tangled with hers.
MacGyver pulled back and smoothed his fingers across her jaw. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Are you sure this is what you want?” For a moment, doubt clouded his face.
Afraid her voice would give away her inner turmoil, she smiled and nodded, and his lips closed over hers again. This would end, and it would no doubt hurt like hell, but the happiness he offered until then was a prize she was finding too precious to turn down. When the time came, hopefully her memories would see her through until she could put her heart back together again.
Kellie tugged on the back of his shirt, and he jerked it over his head. She held her arms up, and he did the same with her top. Rolling her onto her back, he knelt over her, while undoing the button of her jeans, and yanked them off, inside out. His gaze roved her body while she lay open for him with nothing on but a white lace bra and barely-there bikini underwear. Lust played over his face as his hands brushed the insides of her thighs, sending a shiver to her core.
“You’re beautiful.” He breathed the words, then trailed kisses where his hands had touched seconds ago until she was vibrating with need.
Kellie fisted her hands in the bedspread and clenched her teeth in an effort to remain still and quiet. She wanted to cry out for more, but there were two men and Pop just down the hall beyond the bedroom door.
MacGyver stopped just short of where she needed him to be and raised his eyes to meet hers with such intensity she couldn’t look away. With a half-assed smile, he teased the edge of her panties where they met her legs, and she lost her ability to reason.
“MacGyver…”
He shushed her with one finger to his lips and a teasing laugh. Shoving the lace fabric aside, he parted her slick folds and inserted two fingers as deep as they would go. It wasn’t enough, and she arched into him with a pathetic whimper. He pulled out and thrust in again, his thumb working her engorged nub with each pass. Barely aware of anything but the rhythm he’d set, the first touch of his lips to her sensitive bud nearly rocketed her from the bed. When he sucked, using his teeth to scrape her, she flew apart in a fiery explosion, his name on her lips.
He left her, and a second later he was beside her naked, a condom already covering his rigid shaft. With one tug, he removed her panties and lifted her so she straddled him. Slowly, she eased onto him, one inch at a time. He reached behind her and unhooked her bra, freeing her breasts.
With a groan, he grasped her and rolled until she was pinned beneath him and he was in control. Lowering his head to her breasts, he licked the pebbled tip before taking as much as he could into his mouth. Kellie ground her hips against him, but he apparently refused to be hurried, giving the same attention to her other breast.
He kissed her lips tenderly and traced her mouth with his finger as he reveled in the green of her eyes. “God, Kellie. You feel so damn good. I could stay here forever.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him deeper. “Are you sure about that?”