Pleasing Her SEAL

Not that he minded his current circumstances, since he was curled around her naked body, right after she’d served up the orgasm of the century. Hell, part of him wanted to grab his cell phone, text the guys and ask if they could believe what had just happened. Which probably meant he should surrender his man card on the spot, but Maddie had been amazing. They’d been amazing together. Which would just make getting up and leaving her alone in bed that much harder.

Yeah. He was pretty much screwed, and not in the good way, either.

10

MADDIE OVERSLEPT, WHICH was Mason’s fault. First he’d done all those crazy things with the Popsicle, then he’d loved her until she’d fallen asleep. She probably should have been embarrassed that he’d worn her out but, hey, it had been in the best possible way. She looked forward to doing it again.

Unfortunately, the man in question had slipped out at some ungodly hour. If she’d been back home, she’d have been just going to bed, and instead he was getting up. When she’d protested—and, admittedly, she hadn’t been all that coherent because dark o’clock was her conversational nadir—he’d brushed a kiss over her forehead and said the magic incantation. Work.

So what if she already felt a gnawing ache at his absence and missed the feel of his warm, strong arms around her? Don’t be ridiculous. You have plenty of work yourself. With her time on the island winding down, she needed to wrap up the rest of her blog entries. She’d covered the villas, the food and the romantic cocktails. Today was wedding day, except, when she finally woke up early in the afternoon, she had a message from reception telling her that the Guzman party had canceled and wouldn’t be getting married after all. Unfortunately, no other nuptials were scheduled for today or even for the rest of the week. Which meant she was SOL unless she could find some faux stand-ins.

The island was quiet and nearly deserted when she stepped outside. There was plenty of sun, though, so her shots would come out. Julieta had wanted a sunset ceremony and the day was perfect for that. She’d shot the other woman a quick sympathetic email. She didn’t know what was up, but she hoped Julieta was okay and that Mr. Guzman hadn’t broken up with her right before the wedding. Or maybe the bride-to-be had gotten cold feet, their private plane had broken down or any one of a dozen other reasons that still left Maddie in the lurch, looking for a replacement couple.

Unfortunately, she kept mentally casting Mason as the groom, which wasn’t a good thing. He was like the fish she didn’t get to keep and had to throw back. Sex with Mason had been out-of-this-world perfect. Who knew Fantasy Island could live up to its name? Or that her stoic chef would be so very, very good at role-playing? He made her feel like the center of his universe—that elusive, intangible something she’d craved watching other people’s weddings. She’d never met a guy who would do anything for her, up to and including Mr. I’ll-Buy-You-Lobster-And-Break-Up-With-You.

Things seemed different with Mason. She was different. Sure, the sex was awesome, but that wasn’t all. He listened to her. And, underneath his tough-guy exterior, he was one big sweeter-than-candy marshmallow.

She trudged over to Ashley’s villa and banged on the door. She needed a model, and Ashley was a pretty single girl. When her friend didn’t answer right away, she banged again.

“Is there a fire?” Ashley pulled open the door, looking slightly disheveled. She wore a gray tank top and cotton shorts that revealed how seriously toned the woman was. She was also barefoot, her nails pink with white polka dots.

“Not yet. I need your help.”

Ashley didn’t hesitate. “Hit me.”

“I need photographs of a beach wedding and my bride canceled on me.”

Asking for favors sucked, but she needed these photos.

“You can say no,” she rushed to say. “Participating is completely, one hundred percent optional.”

Ashley nodded, and relief swept over Maddie. Her wedding would be a go. “Got it. What am I doing?”

“Getting hitched.”

Ashley grinned. “I think you should give me a ring if you’re going to pop the question. Since I doubt you’re asking me, who am I marrying?” She looked down at her pajamas. “And do I get to change first?”

“Thank you.” She babbled more words, shoving a plastic bag of clothing at Ashley. “The groom is TBD, but I’ll have one for you. I promise.