2

“You didn’t have to get rid of them,” her friend Jen complained. “The blond one was smoking hot.”

“You know she’s on a man ban,” Emerson reminded her. “No men until training is over. She has to focus.”

Jen rolled her baby blue eyes. “Sex doesn’t ruin your focus, Viv. If anything, orgasms help keep your head clear.”

Emerson laughed. “Yeah, clear and empty. As in vapid and devoid of logical thought. Viv doesn’t need any distractions.”

“Men that look like that are the best kind of distraction. Maybe you’ve been a lesbian for too long,” Jen suggested.

“I didn’t realize there was a time limit on my sexual preference, Jen. Care to share what it is?”

Jen shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but I know my own time without a penis-induced orgasm reached its limit long ago. Pretty sure our Vivien here has gone even longer than I have.”

Vivien laughed. “Both of you can stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here, jerks.”

“So how’d you snag the table from Tall, Dark, and Broody?” Em asked.

Vivien glanced over to where the ink and muscle–covered man stood lining up his next shot on a nearby pool table. No denying he was temptation on legs. All that barely contained power would probably blow a lucky woman’s mind when he unleashed the full force of it on her.

“I bet him Kat would rather do me than him.”

Jen laughed, but Emerson frowned. “Considering Kat’s a lesbian and you know that since she hooked up with me two nights ago, it was kind of a shady bet to make.”

Vivien waved her hand. “It’s called covering your ass. I only make bets I can win. You know that.”

“Yep. Playing it safe is your middle name,” Jen said in a tone that dripped with sarcasm.

Vivien swallowed her last sip of beer, wishing she’d grabbed another. “I am safe. My job might be dangerous but I follow protocol. I wear protective gear daily. And I practice safe sex.”

Jen practically snorted out loud. “And when was the last time you had sex, fair maiden? Because I’m pretty sure you’ve been revirginized this past year. I think the weatherman has an official term for it. What was that word he used that reminded me of your sex life? Oh yeah. Drought.”

Vivien peeled the blue-and-silver label from her bottle, wadded it up, and threw it at Jen’s head.

“Peeling the labels from drinks is a sign of sexual frustration,” Jen offered. “Just sayin’.”

“Technically, abstinence is the safest sex you can practice,” Em offered.

“And the most boring,” Jen added. “Seriously. The Chase guy? Definitely looks like he knows his way around the female anatomy.”

The three of them watched him take his time lining up and sinking his next shot on the pool table. Vivien drank in the sight of his jeans stretching across firm thighs and a damn near perfect backside.

He continued running the table while his friends seemed content to drink their beers and make small talk with a few women standing nearby. Something about the way Chase remained centered on his game, to the point that not even the raucous laughter of bystanders distracted him, made Vivien wonder what it would feel like to be at the center of that much singularly focused intensity.

Heat crept up her spine and warmed her neck. It made her hot and bothered just imagining it. His eyes had been a unique shade of liquid topaz that darkened when they were narrowing in on her. Like caramel swirling in whiskey.

And his hands. Hot damn those hands were masculine perfection. Large, powerful, just enough veins showing to be manly but not so many that she suspected steroid use. No, Chase’s muscles were all natural, hard-earned, the good old-fashioned way. This was an Army bar and she knew it. Chase and his buddies had military written all over them.

“Viv?” Em reached over and handed her a cocktail napkin. “You got a little something there.” She wiped her chin and laughed. “Pretty sure it’s drool.”

Vivien tossed the napkin back in Em’s direction and stuck her tongue out. Not the most mature display, but she was feeling off-kilter. “I can appreciate that he has a certain appeal. If you’re into that sort of thing.”

Jen nodded slowly. “Yeah, that thing being muscles, model good looks, and a big, thick—”

“Ego,” Vivien supplied for her, remembering his refusal to admit he’d lost the bet until she’d proven him 110% wrong. “He seemed like a complete stubborn ass. And I’m stubborn enough all on my own.”

Her friends smirked but said nothing more about the sexy soldier. Which was good, because Vivien had enough trouble keeping her mind off him as it was.

After drinking and talking about everything from work to their next girls’ trip to the beach, Em slid out of the booth. “I’m going to grab us another round of drinks and let Kat know we can give her a ride home if she needs it. Her car is a piece of crap.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s the only reason you’re volunteering us as the local Uber this evening,” Jen teased.

Vivien smiled absently but didn’t comment. She was still in a trance watching the ink on Chase’s arms dance as he worked his way around the pool table. A brief image of tracing that ink with her tongue appeared in her mind.

Jen snapped her fingers in front of her face. “So Em’s getting some tonight. Want to go play pool and see if you and I can’t nab us dates for the evening?”

“I told you. Man ban. My assignment here is already intense enough without adding unnecessary testosterone to the mix. You know that.” Vivien glanced longingly at where Chase stood chalking his cue.

“Ugh.” Jen blew her brunette bangs up with a sigh. “All work and no play makes Vivien a dull girl. I’m going to mingle. It’s almost closing time.”

Before she could stop her friend from ditching her, Chase’s gaze collided with hers and locked on its target. Breathing suddenly became a challenge. She bit her lower lip, imagining for just a moment what it would be like to give in, to saunter over to him and tell him to take her home, show her if he was all talk or if he could back it up.

It had been a while, but she knew a thing or two about a thing or two. She knew what it would take to bring a man like that to his knees.

Dirty talk.

Descriptive details.

Dark promises she could spend the entire night fulfilling.

As if he could read her thoughts, he jerked his head toward the back of the building. Discreetly so only she noticed the subtle movement.

Her mind shouted a warning to look away but her body had already made its decision.

Maybe Jen was right. The man ban could begin tomorrow.

It was one night. She was about to be completely consumed by intensive training for the next eleven weeks. She’d probably never see him again after tonight.

What could it hurt?