Command Control

“Erotica?” Logan glanced at the book in his hand. On the front cover was a practically nude woman lying on a bed. A man in leather pants stood next to her, holding a whip. It looked like an image out of a men’s magazine, not something he’d find on the shelf in his hometown. “Mount Pleasant sells erotica?”

“Not much,” she said grimly. “But what they do have is pretty good.”

She stepped toward him, close enough for him to smell a hint of her soft floral scent—not overpowering, but enticing—and reached for a book on the shelf above his head. The side of her breast brushed his arm, sending a red-alert signal through his body.

“If you’re looking for a classic romance, this is one of my favorites.” She held out a copy of a Jane Austen novel.

He shook his head. “Read that one in high school. It wasn’t for me.”

She placed the book on the shelf and turned to him, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “To find the perfect romance, I’ll need to know a little bit more about you.”

Was she hitting on him? It had been so long since he’d played that game, he wasn’t sure of his next move.

Tired of sitting on the sidelines waiting for his life to restart, he decided to take a chance. What was the worst thing that could happen? She’d walk away leaving him with a hard-on he wasn’t sure he was ready to act on? At least he’d have felt something other than loneliness and grief.

“Not much to tell. I’m home on leave.”

“You’re a soldier?” Her smile widened. “Let me guess. Special Forces.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He couldn’t tell from her reaction if she was one of those women who jumped into bed with a man because he wore a uniform or ran in the other direction. Part of him hoped it was the former. “Army ranger.”

“No kidding?” Laughing, she scanned the shelves before selecting another paperback. “This one should be just right for you.”

She handed him the book. The cover showed a man’s naked chest with dog tags hanging around his neck.

“He’s a soldier, a SEAL, and she’s a nurse,” she said. “They have hot sex, overcome a few challenges and fall in love.”

“The hot sex part sounds good.” He set the book back on the shelf. “But I’m not looking for a fairy-tale ending.”

She handed him back the first book. “Then maybe you should stick with erotica.”

Her fingers brushed his, sending shock waves through his body. He let her hand linger a moment, not wanting to let the feeling go. Logan glanced up at her and saw the heat in her eyes. He knew he’d made the right call. Whatever was happening here wasn’t one-sided.

He shook his head. “I’m not into whips.”

“So just hot sex?” She turned back to the bookshelf and he instantly missed the physical connection. He wanted her hands on him and it didn’t matter where.

He watched her index finger tap her lips as she scanned the books. His gaze zeroed in on her mouth and for a second all he could think about was what she would taste like.

“Just sex,” he managed.

“I’m sure we can do better than ‘just sex.’ Don’t you want to leave yourself open to new experiences? We can find something wild that doesn’t include whips.”

“Don’t think I’m ready for that,” he said truthfully. He was in uncharted territory—flirting with a mysterious stranger. He should probably walk away now before it went any further.

But his feet refused to move. Excitement and anticipation pumped through him for the first time since he’d set foot in Mount Pleasant. If he couldn’t ship out with his team, maybe this was the next-best thing.

“But plain old hot sex I can handle,” he added, praying that wasn’t a lie.

She hesitated for the first time since he’d entered the store. Had he said the wrong thing? Gone too far?

“Are you going to walk away without telling me your name because I’m not into whips?” he asked, hoping to spark the laughter he’d seen in her eyes just moments ago.

“What if I told you I could convince you to give it a try?” The uncertainty disappeared, but hell if her expression wasn’t serious.

“Are you really into—”

“No, I was teasing. Whips aren’t my thing,” she said smiling. “And I’m Sadie.”