He pulled out of her driveway and headed for his house. He needed to change before heading to base. He ran three miles every morning with his trainees, and he’d never been late. He glanced at the clock. The guys wouldn’t know what to think. Hell, he didn’t know what to think.

He dragged a hand over his face and thought about the last ten hours. He’d never had that with a woman before. That closeness, that feeling—both physical and emotional. He wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t want it again. It was going to be torture to keep his hands off her, to resist her now that he knew how it could be between them.

So don’t resist.

And what? Be a boyfriend to her? A husband? He didn’t do that. Relationships. Monogamy. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was the kind of guy who woke up in sweats from bad dreams. He couldn’t be like Beck. He didn’t have that seed planted inside him. He failed people. His father. Xander. He made suck-ass decisions. He couldn’t trust himself. If he failed Huntley, that would be the deepest cut yet.

Inhaling a deep breath, he vowed to let her go before it got any more complicated than it already was.

Chapter Ten

Two days went by before Huntley saw Cullen again.

He’d sent her a text the previous night explaining they had night drills. She knew they occasionally conducted training exercises that simulated wartime scenarios. That he thought to text her at all should have mollified her, but it did little to quell the ache of not seeing him or alleviate the tangle of her thoughts churning in aimless circles in an effort to figure out what they were to each other now.

She texted him back and invited him over on Friday night. Beck and his new girlfriend were coming over for dinner. Kenna would be going back to Georgia with him, and Beck had decided to stay a little longer and help her pack her things.

Cullen had texted back that he would join them but might be running late. She glanced at the door all through dinner, wondering if he really was going to make an appearance.

He finally arrived when she was serving dessert, his hair still damp from a shower. She inhaled his soapy scent and the faint whiff of deodorant as he passed her into the dining area, and all her girl parts quivered with longing, eager for an encore.

“Hey, man.” Beck rose and clapped him on the back, pulling him close in one of those half hugs guys did. He motioned to Kenna. “This is Kenna. My girl.”

Even Cullen smiled over Beck’s dreamy tone as he grasped Kenna’s extended hand. “Nice to meet you.

Cullen’s gaze lifted back to Huntley and a giddy tingle spread throughout her.

“I can cut a piece of lasagna for you,” she offered. “Or would you like a piece of cake?”

Cullen’s gaze slid over her, warming her everywhere. “I’ll have a slice of cake.”

Desire slicked through her, tightening her skin. Her bones felt like pudding beneath his gaze. Why did it feel like he was asking for something else?

“A cup of coffee, please, too, if you have it.”

Nodding, she turned and disappeared inside her small kitchen that suddenly felt too cramped and hot. She told herself it was overly warm from the lasagna she had baked for two hours, but the oven had been off for more than an hour now. Her hands shook as she fetched a mug from the cabinet.

When she turned, she yelped, nearly dropping the mug in her hands to find him directly behind her.

“Sorry,” he murmured, his shoes thudding on the tile floor as he stepped close, so close she could count the tiny flecks of gold in his brown eyes. He didn’t look sorry. No, the directness of his gaze said a lot of things, but it wasn’t an apology.

“S’kay,” she murmured, palming the smooth mug in her hand. The counter’s edge cut hard into her back. He didn’t seem in any hurry to step aside for her. “You just startled me.”

“A little jumpy?” His eyes scanned her face.

She shook her head and then nodded, undecided on what she was, but figuring it was okay to admit the truth. She was jumpy around him, and standing this close made her feel like she was coming out of her skin.

Stepping forward to pass around him, she sucked in a breath as her front brushed the hard wall of his chest. Lust shot through her. Even though she wore a blouse. Even though he wore a soft cotton T-shirt. Her breasts tightened, the tips reacting on memory, pinching into tight, needy points.

A hiss of breath escaped him. At the sound, a steady calmness came over her. He felt it, too. He wanted her again.

She turned her back to him, slicing into the chocolate cake she had baked yesterday when she was going out of her mind thinking about him and needing a distraction. She cut four generous slices, setting each one down on a dessert plate. She covered the cake with the glass dome with one hand, lifting an icing-coated finger to her lips. Before she could lick her finger clean, Cullen’s long fingers wrapped around her wrist.

He leveled a searing gaze on her, intent and hungry for something that definitely was not cake. Her chest squeezed so tightly it ached. She watched him, her eyes wide, as he lifted her hand to her mouth. He brought her index finger into his mouth, sucking the chocolate-coated fingertip. She gasped and his eyes darkened. He made a low growling sound of satisfaction. Her stomach dipped and twisted as he circled her finger with his tongue, licking off every last bit of icing.

“Need help with the cake, sis?” Beck called from the other room.

She jumped guiltily at the sound of her brother’s voice. Mortification fired her cheeks as she thought about him in the next room. Her brother walking in on her getting her finger sucked by his best friend wasn’t exactly on her things-to-do list. She pulled her finger free and hastily collected three plates. Eyes still trained on her, Cullen picked up the last plate of cake and followed her out of the kitchen, only to find Beck and Kenna locked in a scorching kiss that made her want to spoon out her eyes. As much as she adored her brother, there were some things you just didn’t want to see.

She cleared her throat and they withdrew from each other, both looking like they wished they were alone in a bedroom and not in her kitchen. She could understand that. Her finger still tingled from Cullen’s mouth, and that wasn’t the only part of her tingling.

She passed around the cake.

“Mmm, delicious,” Kenna said after taking her first bite.

“Hunt knows her way around a kitchen,” Beck volunteered.

She shrugged self-consciously. “Well, Grandma didn’t let me leave Georgia without copying down all her recipes.”

Her brother nodded at Cullen. “Surprised Hunt didn’t fatten you up while I was gone, Cullen.”

Cullen dug into a huge mouthful of cake that would have been four bites for her. “If I didn’t run so much, she would have.”

They finished their cake in silence. Plate empty, Beck leaned back in his chair, his fingers trailing in the ends of Kenna’s dark strands. “Have you given any more thought to what we talked about, Huntley?”

She felt the weight of Cullen’s gaze on her and shifted uneasily. “A little,” she replied vaguely, knowing he was referring to her moving back to Georgia.

“It’d be nice to have you near us.” Her brother draped his hand over Kenna’s bare knee. For a moment his gaze got lost there, like that pretty knee was all he wanted in this world. Huntley risked a quick glance up to find that Cullen was watching her with almost equal intensity.

She quickly escaped his stare, looking back at her brother and Kenna. They were an “us” now. A lump formed in her chest. She was happy for him … and envious.