Baby Needs a Hero – Sneak Peek 2

Part 2: The Bond Job

Chapter 7 Excerpt, Samantha’s Point of View

“Thank you for holding me and for letting me sleep,” I said.

“All my pleasure.” He whispered the words. The mood between us had definitely shifted.

I stared into his eyes, wanting him more now than at any time since I’d met him.

“You might need to change your life trajectory,” he said, continuing our conversation about life choices. “Or you might just need to rest. When’s the last time you took a vacation?”

The question surprised me, both because it shifted the mood again, and because I didn’t even think about vacations. “We have down time between missions, and—”

“That’s not vacation.” He pulled me against him. “Right now, probably as we speak, Bennet and TJ are hashing things out. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the safe place they’ve chosen for you to reunite with your team.” He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear. “But tonight, you’re off the grid. Not on call. Not on alert. You can relax. Finally rest, even if it’s just for a few hours.”

I snaked my arms under his shirt and over his bare back. “As a medical professional, I can attest there are more ways to relax the body than just rest.”

He slid his hands under the sweatshirt and undershirt I was wearing and pressed his big, warm palms into the small of my back. Endorphins rushed through me and flooded me with pleasure and need. “As a non-medical professional, I can assure you I’m aware.”

His mouth hovered near mine.

“One thing,” I whispered. “You never told me whether you’re married.”

“Never married, and currently not dating, unless you count the fix-ups my sister keeps foisting on me. And you’re not married, but are you dating anyone?”

I froze. I had always been comfortable with my decision to casually date multiple men, no expectations, no strings attached. Now, for the first time since I’d made that choice in med school, I didn’t want to admit that side of me. But Evan had been so honest with me, I couldn’t lie about something so important.

“As far as dating,” I began.

Evan went still and waited.

“I do date. Several men. With my career and all the things I can’t share with anyone, monogamy feels…” Oh hell, where was I going with this? “I have friends, mostly doctors—well, they’re all doctors—who also aren’t interested in settling down. It’s like a roster.”

He stared at me, barely blinking those beautiful, golden-brown eyes. “A roster.”

I nodded.

He nodded, too. “Okay. No judgment.” He pulled away from me. “But I don’t think I want to join a roster.”

The way he said the word, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t want to join one, either. I laid my hand over his pounding heart. “I’m sorry, but I had to tell you the truth.”

He laid his hand over mine. “I know. I appreciate it.”

He narrowed his eyes, thinking. Considering. Or so I hoped. Raw lust showed on his face, with his parted lips and dilating pupils and shallow breaths. He wanted me as much as I wanted him, and he was on the brink. I wanted to say something to push him over the edge, but I didn’t know what that would be.

So I waited.

He finally spoke. “A roster is out for me, but I have been known to indulge in the occasional one-night stand.”

“One night?” That hardly seemed like enough time to explore the electric attraction between us, but one was infinitely more than zero. I nodded and slid onto his lap, straddling him.

He wrapped his fingers in my hair. I leaned into his chest and inch by inch, moved my mouth toward his. Outside, the night went silent. Inside, the air crackled around us. And then we touched, lip to lip. I went lightheaded again, dizzy from his scent in my nostrils and his hardness between my legs and his mouth moving over mine.

You can read Baby Needs a Hero, a tie-in story to book 3 in the Agents of HEAT series, exclusively in the Heroes with Heat and Heart 2 anthology. Order today, read it on June 23!