“Yep, but I deal in naval intelligence. I work a boring eight-to-four out of the base, but I’ve got a bunch of personal days saved up that I can use if we want to take any day trips.”
“Day trips?” She laughed, and the sweet sound tickled his heart. “What kind of stuff are you planning to drag me into?”
“Anything you want. Might as well treat this like a vacation, no? We can check out the sights, drive up the coast, hit Malibu, Catalina, spend a day in LA if you want. So yeah, sightseeing, exploring. I’m even willing to let you drag me to every department store in the state if it means you’ll stay.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want me to stay so badly? You don’t even know me.”
She was doing that cute nibbling thing to her lip again, and he couldn’t stop himself—he reached out, grasped her chin, and swept his thumb over that pouty lower lip.
Claire’s breath caught. Her brown eyes widened before going heavy-lidded with desire.
Oh yeah, this woman wanted him. He hadn’t missed the way her gaze had gobbled him up when they’d first met, and today he’d seen her checking him out more than once when she thought he wasn’t looking.
“I want you to stay because you fascinate me.” His voice was so hoarse he had to clear his throat before continuing. “I want to get to know you.”
He traced her cupid’s-bow mouth with his finger, enjoying the way her breathing quickened.
“Why do I fascinate you?” she murmured, making no move to wiggle out of his touch.
“I don’t know. You just do,” he said simply. “I guess it’s because…well, truthfully, I don’t spend time with many women like you.”
“Women like me?”
He smiled sheepishly and dropped his hand from her face. “You know, the non-airhead type. The women I’ve dated, or the ones Dylan and I bring home, they’re usually all about living in the moment, having a good time for a night and then moving on. That’s not to say they’re ditzy or dumb, but they certainly aren’t serious, you know what I mean?”
“And you think I’m serious?”
“I think you’re…pretty f**king amazing, actually. You’re smart, ambitious, funny, sexy—”
“You think I’m sexy?” Her face took on that pinkish hue again.
“So sexy.” He met her eyes. “And look, I ain’t gonna lie—I’m attracted to you. But I also know you’re in a vulnerable place right now and I promise I won’t take advantage of that. I really just want to spend more time with you. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun with a woman.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “What about Dylan?”
“What about him? He’s the one who asked you to come here in the first place, and I just spoke to him and he said he doesn’t mind if you stay.”
Fine, so maybe Dylan’s exact words had been leave me out of it but Aidan was going to take that as the green light for Claire to stick around.
When Claire shifted in visible reluctance, he gave her the impish grin he’d perfected over the years. “Come on, you know you want to.”
She scowled again, but her lips were twitching with amusement. “Jeez, I bet those dimples got you everything you wanted when you were growing up.”
“Yep, and they still do.” The grin widened. “So what do you say? Will you stay?”
Her indecision hung in the air between them. He could see her brain working, feel her resolve crumbling.
“Okay, you win,” she grumbled. “I’ll stay. But just for another day or two.”
Triumph coursed through him, though he knew it would take more than a day or two to get Claire where he wanted her—naked, moaning and sandwiched between him and Dylan while they drove her to new heights of arousal.
Of course, he would need to work on Dylan too, but that wouldn’t be difficult, considering the hunger on the guy’s face whenever Claire was in the room.
Still, it was going to take more than his dimples to make this happen. He’d definitely have to up his game, but fortunately, he’d always been very, very good at games. And this was one he had every intention of winning.
Chapter Seven
It took three days for Aidan to reach a conclusion: he was sharing space with the two most stubborn people on the planet. Although Claire had indeed stuck around, getting her and Dylan in the same room proved to be impossible. They went out of their way not to spend more than five minutes together, and Aidan was growing frustrated with their childish antics.
To make matters worse, Dylan was going to bed early and waking up before dawn because his SEAL team was running training missions all week. He’d been crashing on the pullout couch in the office so he wouldn’t disturb Aidan with his comings and goings, and the grueling demos left him beaten and exhausted when he got home, so even if they had been sharing a bed, Aidan knew sex wouldn’t be on the table.
As a result, he was so sexually frustrated he felt like a teenager with blue balls after his girlfriend refused to do more than neck. Being around Claire was pure torture. Not being with Dylan was even worse.
Needless to say, it was time to shake things up.
“Hey, guys? Can you come in here for a sec?” he called from the master bedroom.
Since Claire was right across the hall, she popped her head in the doorway within seconds, looking cute as hell in denim shorts and a red tank top, with her hair tied in a low, side ponytail. The two of them had spent the morning at the pier having lunch at a bistro that overlooked the water, then gotten ice cream at Aidan’s favorite place in San Diego. Cash McCoy’s girlfriend had turned him on to the place, and Claire had absolutely loved it, demanding a taste of every unique flavor in the store.