Baby Love (The American Soldier Collection 14)

She went to walk past him, and he grabbed her arm.

“Atlanta,” Corona barked, but he didn’t listen. Nina gasped at the feel of his firm hand gripping her upper arm. What was really intense was the attraction she felt to Atlanta, despite his nasty attitude. Her entire body felt on fire.

Their gazes locked.

He stepped closer, their bodies collided, and she gasped.

“If you’re staying here in our house, you better accept the fact that we’re in charge of you. And what we say goes,” he told her firmly.

She was practically shaking she was so angry and aroused by his ability to get under her skin like this.

“And you better accept the fact that you don’t know me, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some soldier of sorts defame my name, my reputation, with lies and misconceptions. To set the record straight, I don’t even date, so I won’t be ‘shacking up’ with the locals, as you accused me of trying to do. I’m not afraid of you, Atlanta.” She yanked her arm free.

“You should be,” he said after her as she climbed the porch steps and walked past Corona. Jessup didn’t move out of the way.

“What? You want to start with me, too?” she snapped at Jessup.

He gave a smug expression and stared down at her breasts then into her eyes. “Watch it, sweetheart. You’re playing with fire.”

Nina grunted and pushed past him and into the house. She wanted to punch something. She, of all people, who rarely got angry or wanted to explode on a person. She absorbed the scent of their cologne, the masculinity of this damn house and how enticing it was. how enticing they were. She was so inexperienced when it came to men, when it came to feeling attracted to more than one man at the same time. She gulped down the fear as she climbed the steps and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She slammed the door closed and then plopped down on the edge of the bed. She growled again, and then saw her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror that stood by the dresser. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest was all blotchy, and damn it, her nipples were hard. She gasped, stood up, and hurried to the mirror. Sure as shit, her damn nipples were pressing against the camisole she wore. She clenched her eyes closed and wanted to cry. They noticed. They had to have noticed. Now they would think she was easy and that she was gullible.

Shit, shit, shit.

She ran her fingers through her hair, and she evaluated the situation and her reaction. Then she zoned in on her body and the effects Atlanta, Freedman, Jessup, and even badass, grumpy, serious Corona had on her. She felt her pussy spasm, and her thighs tremble. This was what she never experienced before with any man who flirted with her at Bailey’s, or at the Copper Pot. This full-body feeling, in which every ounce of her being was affected, aroused, and primed for their touch.

She was in a heap of trouble. She couldn’t face them. Not until tomorrow. Maybe.

* * * *

“What the fuck happened?” Corona asked as they stood outside on the front porch.

Atlanta ran his fingers through his hair and then looked out at the open land. Freeman chuckled.

“She’s a beautiful, young woman with a fantastic body, Corona. What the fuck do you think happened?” Freeman said, and Atlanta didn’t look up. Corona looked at them all, even Jessup, who sat in the chair and put his leg up on the railing.

“What happened?” he pushed.

“She was flirting and acting shy,” Atlanta barked.

“That’s not how I saw it. She is shy, not acting shy, and when that blond touched her and moved the hair from her cheek, she shuddered at his touch,” Freeman explained.

“What? Some guy touched her, and you allowed him that close?” Corona asked. He was more than concerned. His men were losing focus on watching over Nina.

“We hesitated. It won’t happen again,” Atlanta said and pushed away from the railing.

Corona stopped him from leaving the front porch.

“I know she’s a beautiful woman. Young, maybe not so experienced. But we all are experienced, and she’s a job, a responsibility. Getting this all twisted up into something personal isn’t smart. We’re active duty. In a few weeks, we’ll be heading out for another job. You know that. Plus, with this situation here in Salvation and the fact that someone got to Nalia and took her, we may be taking Nina back to Chicago. That means someone else will most likely be assigned to her.”

Atlanta’s eyes widened. “Maybe it’s better that way.” He walked away.

Corona looked at Freeman and then Jessup. Freeman glared back at him and spoke in a tone so serious Corona knew things had already changed because of Nina.

“I don’t want someone else assigned to her. She may not even be in any danger. Storm hasn’t called or said that they came up with anything in the investigation,” Freeman said to him.

“I’m looking into things right now. Storm and the others are focusing on Nalia, for obvious reasons.”

“We do as we’re told. She’s screwing everything up. We’re supposed to be getting a break, and instead, she has everyone fighting and on edge,” Jessup stated to them.