Officer, Surgeon...Gentleman!

And his career right along with hers.

Where Amelia was concerned, he had a short fuse. Short? Knowing what being inside her felt like, he didn’t have a fuse. He looked at her and wanted to self-detonate.

Which meant for both their sakes he had to establish distance between them right here and now before they destroyed their careers. Before he destroyed the way she felt about him beyond repair.

“Yes,” he told Peyton, moving to the computer, “I think you’d better wait.”

“Cole.” Amelia moved toward him, but he held up his hand. She cast a cautious glance toward Peyton who in turn raised his brow at Cole.

“You mentioned you’d forgotten something?” Cole reminded his friend, knowing Amelia wouldn’t let him just slink away like the fool he was. No, she’d make him confront what happened. Better if that happened without an audience.

Peyton’s lips pursed. “I’ll be just down the hallway.”

He nodded his understanding. Peyton intended to play big brother and make sure Cole played by the rules. Where had his friend been twenty minutes ago when he’d needed a rush of sanity?

When Peyton stepped out of the room, Amelia took another step toward him, but Cole held up his hand to ward her off. The pain in her eyes sucker punched him.

But he had to do the right thing by Amelia. Even if he hadn’t moments ago. Especially because he hadn’t moments ago.

They’d almost been caught. Had it been someone other than Peyton they’d be in trouble already. He cared too much for her to do that to her. He shouldn’t have put her in this position to begin with. But he couldn’t resist her if she actively pursued him. Not when she was everything he wanted wrapped into the most amazing package. Saying to hell with rules and spending the next few days buried inside her was too tempting.

He’d do whatever was necessary to protect her, even if he was protecting her from him, from herself.

Unable to meet her eyes, he turned.

He never should have come on board. Never should have risked hurting her. What would her father say?

John Stockton had made him promise he wouldn’t do anything to put Amelia at risk.

If discovered, the Admiral would have Cole’s head on a platter.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. No, the worst would be living with the guilt of knowing he’d hurt someone so precious to him. Again.

“That was too close,” he began. “You need to stay away from me, Amelia. This can never happen again. It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t want it to happen. Not like this.”

She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re the one who pulled strings to get commissioned on my ship. You chased me until I couldn’t deny what I felt for you any longer. Stay away from you?” Glaring, she snorted. “Is that what you told my sister when you broke her heart, too?”

“I didn’t break her heart.”

“You broke off the engagement. Of course you broke her heart.”

Cole took a deep breath and told Amelia what he should have told her two years ago, but had felt honor bound not to. “I wasn’t the one who broke things off.”

Face tingling with disbelief, stomach roiling with nausea at the regret stamped on Cole’s face, Amelia bit into her lower lip. “Clara called off the wedding?”

His shoulders sagged. With relief? Hurt?

She knew about hurt. She’d just had the best sexual experience of her life end in disaster. Yes, it could have been worse. Peyton could have walked in on them five minutes earlier. They could be facing charges for not abiding by the rules.

“Yes, she did.”

Oh, God. Clara had called off their wedding? Not Cole? Amelia’s brain tried to wrap around his words, around the implications, and couldn’t.

“Why would she do that? She was devastated. She couldn’t have been the one to call things off.” Tears stung her eyes, but she’d die before she’d let a single drop fall. Dear sweet heaven. Clara broke things off with Cole? Why would any sane woman not want to marry him?

She must have seen their kiss. Must have been hurt by such a betrayal. Amelia’s eyes stung. Why hadn’t her sister said anything? Two years and Clara had never spoken of what she’d seen, had given Cole a glowing recommendation just a few weeks ago. Had her sister been giving her permission to love Cole?

“After you and I kissed,” Cole began, “I went to find her, planning to confess, but she called off the wedding before I could say anything.”