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A SEAL's Kiss
Tawny Weber
Subject: Navy SEAL Petty Officer Aiden MastersCurrent Status: On leaveObstacle: Deploy "Mission: (Fake) Engagement"…without actually falling for his fiancée!The goal of Mission: Engagement is simple–a fake engagement concocted to bring happiness to Sage Taylor's ailing father.The Rules:1) Treat it like a military mission2) Keep the truth undercover3) The "engagement" lasts as long as the professor's health depends on it; and4) No sex…especially with each other!But the incredibly spirited (and a touch quirky) Sage has never been one for rules. Especially when they involve Aiden's rock-hard navy bod and a ton of smokin'-hot sexual attraction. Which means in order to seduce this sexy SEAL, she'll have to completely outmaneuver him….
Subject: Navy SEAL Petty Officer Aiden Masters
Current Status: On leave
Obstacle: Deploy “Mission: (Fake) Engagement”…without actually falling for his fiancée!
The goal of Mission: Engagement is simple—a fake engagement concocted to bring happiness to Sage Taylor’s ailing father.
The Rules:
1) Treat it like a military mission
2) Keep the truth undercover
3) The “engagement” lasts as long as the professor’s health depends on it; and
4) No sex…especially with each other!
But the incredibly spirited (and a touch quirky) Sage has never been one for rules. Especially when they involve Aiden’s rock-hard navy bod and a ton of smokin’-hot sexual attraction. Which means in order to seduce this sexy SEAL, she’ll have to completely outmaneuver him….
“Rule four: no sex. And no situations that might lead to sex…”
That’s it. Sage had had enough.
If Aiden thought he got to call the shots when it came to her and sex, he was sadly mistaken.
Now it was his turn to learn a thing or two.
Sage smiled. A slow, seductive smile.
Then she got to her feet, her fingers skimming her hips, up her waist before she teased them along the sides of her breasts and up to her throat. Aiden’s gaze dropped to her breasts and his own lips tightened. If the fit of his jeans were anything to go by, something else was getting tight, too.
“You go ahead and set those rules,” she told him.
“You saying you won’t follow them?”
“Rules one through three? I’m one hundred percent committed.”
He closed his eyes for a second, then gave her an arch look.
“And rule four?”
“Babe, enforcing that one is all on you.” Then, leaning close, she ran her fingertips over his lips before giving him a wide smile.
“Good luck with that…”
Dear Reader,
I am so excited to share Sage and Aiden’s story with you for so many reasons. I’ve always loved fake engagement stories, and even more, friends-to-lovers stories. A SEAL’s Kiss is both, with a whole lot of sexy SEAL fun thrown in.
One of my favorite parts of this book is the opening chapter. Wedding after wedding after wedding, not only were they fun to write, they were the perfect impetus for Sage’s frantic claim that she, too, was getting married. After all, when all your friends are getting married, they tend to look around to see who is left, and immediately go into matchmaking mode. Aiden only goes along with Sage’s fake engagement claim out of loyalty to her father, but quickly finds himself in love.
I loved putting Sage and Aiden together. These two are complete opposites who find out that they are more alike than they’d ever imagined. I hope you enjoy their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
And if you’re on the web, I hope you’ll stop by and visit! I’ll be sharing insider peeks, recipes and contest fun for this story and others on my website at www.tawnyweber.com (http://www.tawnyweber.com) and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor (http://www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor).
Happy reading,
Tawny Weber
A SEAL’s Kiss
Tawny Weber
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA TODAY bestselling author Tawny Weber has been writing sassy, sexy romances since her first Mills & Boon Blaze book was published in 2007. A fan of Johnny Depp, cupcakes and color coordination, she spends a lot of her time shopping for cute shoes, scrapbooking and hanging out on Facebook.
Visit her website, www.tawnyweber.com (http://www.tawnyweber.com), for great contests, delicious recipes and lots of fun. Or look for her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor (http://www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor).
To the Sassy Sweethearts…
You are all so awesome!
Contents
Chapter 1 (#u128f792e-ed5a-58f0-b000-7a8a06ad250f)
Chapter 2 (#ue88aecff-bbc5-53b1-88d5-ad2dc234f2d1)
Chapter 3 (#ue5c6db51-9555-5ce8-b928-5a4a07fd4747)
Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)
1
Two years ago
WEDDINGS GAVE HER the heebie-jeebies.
Patriarchal rules wearing the pretty mask of traditions and ancient promises that were rarely kept? Definitely not her thing.
A wedding night might be nice, all things considered. Champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex with a man who’d just promised to worship you forever? Not a completely horrible idea.
But to sign your life away to get it? To the same man, day in and day out, ’til death do you part?
Sage Taylor gave a delicate shudder.
She’d rather wear a three-piece suit and give lectures to businessmen on the merits of climbing the corporate ladder through backstabbing, undercutting and sexual favors. Or maybe be staked to an anthill naked while covered in hot fudge.
The only celebrating she wanted that included champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex would come—no pun intended—when she found a guy who could keep it up long enough to worship her until she melted. And who needed forever for that? All she needed was one good night.
Or maybe a weekend.
“What’d you think of the wedding, dear?”
Even though she was pretty sure Mrs. O’Brian couldn’t see the naked all-night-sex images playing out in her imagination, Sage still winced.
“It’s lovely,” Sage said, leaning down so the elderly woman could brush a parchment-dry kiss over her cheek. Not a lie. She’d never lie, especially not to the woman who’d taught her to read. But lovely was one of those nice, safe statements that could cover so many things.
Like the weather, with its bright sunshine and cool breeze. Just right for a springtime wedding in a winery.
Or the bride, one of Sage’s oldest and dearest friends, who looked so happy she glowed almost as bright as the sunshine.
Or the wine, Sage noted, taking a sip from the glass a passing waiter handed her.
“You made a lovely bridesmaid,” Mrs. O’Brian noted, holding her own wineglass up to peer at it with a connoisseur’s eye. “I’m sure your father was thrilled to see you at the altar. Any chance you’ll be there again soon? Perhaps wearing white?”
“Me? White?” Sage wet her lips, nerves dancing in her stomach. The soft green satin of her bridesmaid dress was as close to wedding accoutrement as she wanted to get. And pretty much as close to wearing white as she warranted. But that wasn’t the kind of thing you told a seventy-year-old woman at her niece’s wedding. “Um, well...”
“Sage? AnaMaria wants more pictures,” Nina Wagner said, tucking her arm through Sage’s. The other bridesmaid looked the part much better than Sage ever could. Of course, with her sleek black hair and model looks, Nina was at home in the strapless satin sheath in a way that Sage, with her dreadlocks and multiple piercings, could never appear.
“Ahh, pictures,” Mrs. O’Brian said with a wave of her hand. “Go, go. Smile pretty, girls.”
Sage went, went, as fast as she could move in the foot-pinching stilettos.
“You looked scared,” Nina said, laughing as she pulled Sage across the room toward the buffet.
“She thinks I should be getting married,” Sage said, shivering at the thought.
“That is scary.” Her arm still tucked tight through her best friend’s, Nina laughed even as she scanned the crowd, scoping out the possibilities. Probably looking for a groom of her own.
At her friend’s low hum of appreciation, Sage followed her gaze across the room.
As usual, Nina had scoped out the best-looking guy in attendance.
Chief Petty Officer Aiden Masters. Otherwise known as the geeky guy Sage had grown up with.
A protégé of her father’s, Aiden was chronologically three years Sage’s senior, and mentally thirty years older. But growing up he’d been a social infant compared to her natural ease with people. So while her father had nurtured his mind, she’d figured it her job to keep him from becoming a stodgy old man before he was seventeen. Clearly, from his ease at moving through the crowd, she’d done her job well.
It wasn’t just that he was one of the tallest guys there. Or that the contrast of his short black hair and hazel eyes stood out against the vivid white of his military uniform. It was that Aiden Masters was hot.
Under that uniform was a body that sent women into fantasy mode. Fantasies that, for some bizarre reason, most of them seemed to want to share with Sage. Worse, though, was when one of them managed to make their Aiden fantasy into reality. They liked to share that, too.
Sage was all for reaping the kudos on a job well done, but hearing about Aiden and other women tended to make her teeth hurt.
And the idea of Aiden and Nina?
Um, no.
No way.
Their energies wouldn’t match, nor did their personalities. For all her matrimonial goals, Nina was the eat-’em-up-and-toss-them-aside type. And Aiden, well, he might be a navy SEAL, but he still needed protection from some things.
“Aren’t we supposed to be joining AnaMaria for pictures?” Sage asked, turning her head toward the bride and groom who were posing under a grapevine arbor across the lawn.
“I just said that to rescue you. Have you already forgotten the cheesy chorus of photos that were taken before the ceremony?”
“How could I?” Happy to have distracted her friend, Sage made a show of grimacing and patting her cheeks to see if they’d recovered from all that smiling yet. She glanced over her shoulder at Mrs. O’Brian. The elderly woman was now in deep conversation with a group of people, giving their wine the same assessing looks, definitely not checking to see if Sage was really getting pictures taken. Still, Sage hated lying. Even little lies, since they were like snowflakes. Put enough of them together and they snowballed. And usually hit you splat in the face when you were least prepared.
As if hearing her thoughts, Nina rolled her eyes, pulled her cell phone out of the tiny purple purse hanging from her shoulder and wrapped her arm around Sage’s waist. Heads together, they smiled pretty and Nina snapped the shot.
“There. You had your picture taken. Now can we get on to the good stuff?”
And this, Sage realized, was what she’d missed about being home. Three months hiking through Tibet was awesome. She’d worked with a charitable organization focused on bringing health care to the women there and had been so touched, she’d written daily blog posts on her website, Sage Advice, that she’d later sold as a series of articles to three magazines to pay for her trip home.
But as great as that’d been, nothing could beat good friends who knew you inside out and had a history that went back to kindergarten.
“What’s the good stuff?” Sage asked, still smiling as she inspected the buffet. As to be expected for a Northern California winery wedding, the tables were heavy with appetizers of local produce, cheeses and gourmet delicacies.
“Your love life, of course,” Cailley Heath, the third bridesmaid said as she joined them, choosing a juicy red strawberry off the fruit bouquet shaped like a heart. “I want to hear all about sex in Tibet.”
“Shhh,” Nina hushed. When both Sage and Cailley gave her confused looks, she tilted her head toward the nearby table where two men were sitting, their heads together in serious discussion. Ahh, Aiden had found his other half.
