Then Cole saw her. Every corpuscle in his body contracted into a tight ball.
She was his.
Her hair was down. Lying softly across her bare shoulders, the tips trailed between her shoulder blades. She wore an exotic sundress of reds, greens and golds that made her eyes shimmer like molten liquid. Never had her eyes seemed so erotic, so luminous. Possibly because of the makeup brushed across her lids, her cheeks, the gloss puckering her all too kissable lips, but he suspected the look had more to do with an internal beacon she emitted. One every ounce of testosterone within him responded to.
Sitting with a group of nurses, corpsman, Suzie and the ship’s other medical officer, she had a brightly colored drink in front of her and a happy look on her face.
A little too happy a look.
She laughed at something someone said, leaned over and laid her head on Suzie’s shoulder for a brief second in a very non-Amelia type gesture. Way too relaxed, way too touchy.
Cole frowned. How long had she been at the bar?
Her gaze lifted, clashed with his, sent conflicting signals that said Come and get me if you think you’re man enough and Go away, you’re not wanted at the exact same time. No woman had ever sent stronger mixed signals.
Cole chose to go with the first option. He was definitely man enough and he definitely wanted to come and get her. Still, he wouldn’t rush. He’d found her. He’d take his time, savor the building sexual momentum and make his move when he was ready.
Of that, neither of them had any doubt. Was that why she drank? To lower her desperately clung-to guard? To have something to blame come morning light?
He didn’t like the idea, but there was nothing he could do about it other than make sure she was sober by the time they got back to the hotel. No way would their first time be with her drunk. She’d come to him of her own free will.
Peyton and the others Cole had entered with joined Amelia’s group, pushing up another table and chairs.
Amelia’s lips parted and her gaze dared him to join them.
Shooting her a smile that revealed nothing and yet promised everything, he crossed to the bar, was greeted by more colleagues and ordered a beer.
He swapped stories with a friend he hadn’t seen in over a year that was serving on a battleship in their battle group. He bought a beer for a crew member, turned down three offers to dance from women he didn’t know and only occasionally glanced toward Amelia.
Each time he did, he found her watching him. And tonight, for the first time, she didn’t bother to look away when he caught her.
Her big brown eyes boring into him, tracing over each feature as if trying to figure him out, to figure out why he hadn’t tossed her over his shoulders and carried her back to his hotel room. If only she knew how desperately he wanted to do that, yet that same desperation was what held him back. He wouldn’t lose control. To do that would just be foolish.
A captain, full of himself, presented himself to her, strutting like an inebriated peacock.
“Dance with me, pretty lady,” he slurred, bowing in grand gesture and drawing a couple of chuckles from others at the table.
Amelia’s gaze slid from Cole to the man. Slowly, she shook her head back and forth, declining his request.
He didn’t leave, though, instead cajoling her to change her mind, flashing smiles and phony compliments. The room was too noisy for Cole to make out exactly what he said, but he’d have to be blind to miss Amelia’s reaction to the flirting and her subsequent reconsideration of the man’s request.
No.
Cole left his bar stool, cleared a straight path to Amelia’s table, his gaze never leaving his quarry.
Distracted by the man, she hadn’t noticed his approach, but her tablemates had. Suzie smiled, giving him a “what took you so long” look. Sitting to Amelia’s right, Tracy elbowed her.
“Hey!” Amelia protested, glancing away from the captain to the nurse. “What was that for?”
Her brows lifted expressively, the
woman gestured toward Cole. He didn’t move, just stood, feet spread wide, arms at his sides, ready for whatever she threw at him.
“Oh.” Her full lips rounded in surprise.
Or feigned surprise at any rate.
He’d just been had. She’d had no intention of dancing with the man, just of making him jealous, making him come to her. She’d played him.