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 and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor.

Happy reading,

Tawny Weber

A SEAL’s Kiss

Tawny Weber

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, for great contests, delicious recipes and lots of fun. Or look for her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber.RomanceAuthor.

To the Sassy Sweethearts…

You are all so awesome!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Excerpt

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.

He and Sage’s father tended to become inseparable whenever Sailor Boy was on leave. Discussing the latest theory in quantum physics or evidence of an ancient tribe that’d been discovered in a far-off jungle, no doubt.

Sage snickered, then teasingly shook her head at Nina.

She could have danced naked with every man in the room right there on their table, and they wouldn’t have noticed.

“What?” she teased. “You think my father has no idea I have sex?”

Not that it was a topic of regular discussion. Typical of the Professor, when it was time for the birds-and-bees talk, her widowed father had a local nurse chat with Sage, filling her in on all of the pertinent details.

After which her friends had filled her in on the juicy ones.

“Your dad might know you have sex,” Cailley teased. “But does Aiden?”

“I’m sure he does,” Sage said with an exasperated roll of her eyes, pretending the words her, Aiden and sex in the same sentence didn’t send a naughty thrill to all the wrong places. “The real question is, why would he care?”

“I dunno. The way he looks at you sometimes is pretty intense,” Cailley said, her tone turning serious enough to make Sage twitchy. She shrugged it off, though. Aiden didn’t look at her as anything other than a friend. A flaky, weird friend whose father was his mentor.

“He always looks intense. That’s just Aiden,” Sage said dismissively, focusing on the buffet instead. With all the choices, she wanted to try a little of everything here. Which would be much more satisfying than talking about a guy who even found ways to straighten the straight and narrow.

“Just as well,” Nina replied, filling her own plate with salad, no dressing. “A sexy SEAL might be fun for a fling, but he’d definitely be a bad idea for the long term. I want a guy who’ll be around all the time. Ready and willing to fulfill my every wish.”

Sage laughed, but Cailley gave a dissatisfied grunt.

“You’ve always known exactly what you want,” the blonde said with a heavy sigh.

True. While Sage had no idea what she wanted, and bounced from idea to idea, first in her one-year attempt at college, then later in her varied and sundry jobs throughout the country.

But Nina was totally focused on exactly what she wanted. After graduation, it’d been to get into UC Davis. After college, it’d been to get a job as a viticulture researcher at the local winery. And now, at twenty-five they all knew getting married was next up on Nina’s schedule.

“You know what you want,” Nina said in a soothing tone.

“I don’t think move out of my mom’s apartment and find a job that pays enough to cover my student loans is exactly knowing what I want,” Cailley said, her lower lip shifting into a pout.

Poor Cailley. Unlike Sage, who was happy to move on to the next job when one didn’t fit, Cailley was desperately trying to find that perfect match.

“Hey, I met this guy last week who used to work as a headhunter for a big corporation,” Nina said, snapping her fingers. “He’s got lots of training in career counseling. You should talk with him.”

Her pout forgotten, Cailley gave an excited yes.

“How about you, Sage? Did you want to talk to him while you’re home, too?” Nina offered tentatively.

“A career counselor? No, but thanks,” Sage refused with a laugh, taking her filled plate to a small table and settling in to enjoy the meal.

“You really should. If you don’t, you’ll just keep bouncing around, not getting ahead.”

“I’m fine with that. There is so much out there to see and do and explore.” The possibilities were endless. She wanted to find something that touched her soul. That made her spirit sing. All she had to do was keep looking until she found it. “Why dismiss any of the possibilities until I’ve tried them all?”

“Is that what you say about the guys?” Nina joked.

“Only until she finds the right guy,” Cailley tossed in. “As soon as that happens, Sage will settle down fast.”

Settle down? As in, quit searching for her bliss? Live in one place, for the rest of her life? Do the same thing day in and day out?

Sage shuddered. If that wasn’t incentive to avoid that particular guy, she didn’t know what was.

One year ago

“SERIOUSLY? A twenties-themed wedding?” Sage adjusted her headband, which kept trying to slide over her forehead, making her look like a drunken goth-style flapper. At least her bridesmaid dress was black, the beads glinting in the candlelight to match the blue tips of her razor-cut black hair. “What was Cailley thinking?”

“Well, Eric proposed at that Johnny Depp gangster movie, so they thought it’d be a fun, romantic way to commemorate it,” AnaMaria said, looking much more suited to the flapper theme with her cute red curls and matching lipstick. “You missed all the pre-wedding fun though. They had a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style picnic, complete with vintage cars and barbecue yesterday.”

“I feel horrible about that, too,” Sage said with a grimace. “I’d have loved to see the cars. My dad was talking about it all the way from the airport this morning.”

She didn’t want to admit that she’d barely made it for the wedding at all. Dave, her boyfriend until last week, had hocked her original plane ticket that would have gotten here a week ago. She’d found out the night before her flight was due to leave, then had had to work overtime at the coffee bar all week, call in a few favors and borrow against her next paycheck to replace it. She’d covered the last-minute fare difference by selling Dave’s drum set.

She’d thought she wanted a guy who needed her. That maybe being a part of helping him find his passion was her way to bliss. But there wasn’t much bliss to be found in giving a wannabe diva a free ride.

“So what’s the deal?” AnaMaria asked quietly after a few seconds.

“Deal?” Sage prevaricated. Sharing the fact that she’d just ended yet another unfulfillingly dead-end, soul-dimming relationship wasn’t her idea of wedding fun.

“Yeah. The deal. Just a month ago you were talking about how fun this visit was going to be. Two weeks ago, in between your call for donations to the animal shelter, you blogged about introducing the boyfriend to your friends. So...where’s the hot rock-star boyfriend? Why weren’t you here a week ago? And why do you look so bummed?” Clearly out of breath, but not questions, AnaMaria filled her lungs and looked like she was going to keeping going.

Sage held up one hand before the other woman said anything else and shook her head. This was a sitting-down sort of conversation, so she glanced around.

“Let’s chill,” she suggested, waving her hand to indicate one of the small tables in the corner.

“I don’t think the Seattle scene is really me,” she admitted when they were settled. She ran her fingers over the smooth satin tablecloth, letting the fabric cool her stress. “I thought I wanted something intense, you know. The rock scene, music, the passion of it. But I’m not finding what I need there.”

“Dave wasn’t passionate enough?” AnaMaria asked, scooting her chair closer and leaning her head in, making it clear that she was ready to hear any and all naughty details.

And oh, the details they were. Sage pressed her lips together, then shrugged. Why not? She hadn’t come away with much from the relationship, she might as well have fun now.

“He was passionate about his music. So much so that he could only get it up if his tunes were playing in the background,” she dished, leaning close to offer a wicked smile and a wriggle of her brows. “And mirrors. He liked doing it in front of mirrors.”

AnaMaria’s mouth rounded into an O.

“Well, that’s kinda sexy, right?” the redhead asked, her cheeks as bright as her hair now. “At least, I’ve heard it is.”

It was all Sage could do not to hug her close. For a woman married well over a year to a pretty hot cop, AnaMaria was awfully sheltered.

“The mirrors—plural, by the way—were always angled so he could focus on just him.” It’d been sexy the first time. Interesting the next few as she watched him flex and preen. Sorta like watching her own personal porn film. But the novelty had faded fast.

“Mirrors? Oh my.” Looking baffled, and a little intrigued, AnaMaria waved to the passing waiter, indicating she wanted whatever appetizers he was passing out. When it turned out to be stuffed mushrooms and bacon-wrapped scallops, Sage took a plate as well.

“But he was deep in the rock scene, right? You said you couldn’t wait to bask in the creative energy and grungy vibe,” AnaMaria asked after a few bites.

Sage’s lips twitched, wondering if it’d taken her friend all that time to find a safe response, or if she’d been trying to envision a guy who preferred sex with himself.

“In the four months we were together, he joined and left five bands, went through twelve tubes of eyeliner and had to be talked out of jumping off our first-floor balcony three times.”

“First-floor...”

“Balcony,” Sage finished, taking a glass of champagne from another passing waiter. “He liked the drama, but wasn’t a fan of anything physical. Like pain. Or work.”

“Except sex with mirrors,” AnaMaria intoned, grinning before sipping her own champagne.

“Exactly,” Sage agreed, figuring it was better to laugh through the pain. It was that or cry.

Was it too much to want a guy who was dedicated to what he did, had that deep passion for life—and the ability to please a woman without using strange kink? If he just had that, she’d put up with all of the negative qualities. Because if she was learning nothing else on this quest she called life, it was that everyone came with negatives. The trick was to find people who had more positives to balance that out.

Too bad she wasn’t having much luck on that score. She drained her glass in a single gulp, the bubbles hitting her fast.

“Sage, I want you to meet someone,” Nina said, her words as bright as her excited smile. The brunette slid into an empty chair and helped herself to a mushroom from AnaMaria’s plate. “He’s really cute, smart and single. You’ll love him.”

“How’d you know she’s single?” AnaMaria asked, shifting her plate farther out of reach. “Just a week ago she was sharing the awesomeness that was her rocker-boy.”

“He’s not here, is he?”

“So? That doesn’t mean anything where Sage is concerned. She never brings guys home. Even when she says she will, she finds a way to avoid it.”

“You’re right,” Nina said, her tone contemplative as they both turned searching looks on Sage. “Why do you think that is? Maybe she’s ashamed of us?”

“More likely she doesn’t want her guy to know she comes from such a normal upbringing.”

“Or perhaps she knows you’ll make inappropriate comments and embarrass us all,” Sage interrupted, rolling her eyes.

“There is that,” Nina acknowledged with a big smile, taking her next bite off of Sage’s plate. “So? What do you say?”

“To what?”

“To meeting this guy.”

“A fix-up?” Sage asked, cringing.

“Not a fix-up. A date while you’re home. What?” Nina said, her expression as innocent as she could make it. “Were you going to hide at your dad’s the entire visit?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.” She hadn’t actually thought past where she’d snag some work to buy herself a plane ticket back to Seattle. Even though it was time to move on, she still had to pack up.

And figure out where she wanted to go next.

“So, give Jeffrey a chance while you’re here. A date or two. What’s the harm? You might find out you like him.”

“What’s he do?”

“He’s a doctor.”

AnaMaria laughed at the horror on Sage’s face.

“Um, no, thank you,” Sage said, waving both palms in the air to indicate the end of that train of thought.

“Why not? You’ve already tried the Indian chief. You might as well give a lawyer and a doctor a try.”

“He wasn’t a chief. He was a fire dancer,” Sage muttered. “And I’m not interested in professional guys. You know that.”

“I don’t see why not,” Nina muttered before launching into a soliloquy about this guy’s glowing traits.

Barely listening, Sage’s eyes cut across the hall to her father, who was drinking scotch and chatting with the groom’s father. As usual, it was weird to see the Professor without a book in hand. Her earliest memories were of him reading to her. She’d spent her toddler years after her mother had died playing at his feet while he worked at his desk, at home or at the university.

Her every memory of her father was colored by his dedication to learning. His avocation for amassing and honoring knowledge. A worthy goal, and something she was very proud of him for.

But that didn’t mean he was the kind of guy she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Been there, done that. She wanted spiritual instead of cerebral.

“Give him a chance,” Nina persuaded. “He’s really cute. And isn’t it time you tried someone new?”

“Like guys are flavors of ice cream?”

“Hey, you’re the one who’s vowed to avoid vanilla.”

“C’mon, Nina,” AnaMaria said, nudging their friend with her shoulder. “If Sage wanted a guy like her dad, she’d just hook up with Aiden Masters. He’s got all those qualities going on, plus he’s got the best body of any guy who’s ever come out of Villa Rosa.”

They all paused for a second to pay mental homage to Aiden’s hot body, then Nina waved her hand through the air as if dispersing the image from everyone’s mind.

“Aiden isn’t here. And he’s not Sage’s type. Jeffrey is here, and while he might not be the type Sage has gone for in the past, he could be now.”

“No,” Sage decided adamantly. “Maybe I haven’t figured out what kind of guy is perfect for me yet. But I do know what kind isn’t perfect. As much as I adore my father, I don’t want a guy like him. Dedication, focus and intensity are all well and good. But I want more than that. I want passion and creativity and drama.”

“Drama leads to guys jumping off the first-floor balcony,” AnaMaria reminded her.

Ugh. Good point. But Sage shrugged it off, focusing instead on the delight of building her vision.

“I want a guy who makes me shiver with his insights,” she expanded, staring at the white wall as if the image of that guy would coalesce there. “One who has excitement and dedication and a soul-deep hunger for exploring the depths of the human experience.”

AnaMaria and Nina exchanged glances, then Nina shook her head.

“If I were you, I’d settle on great sex.”

“Sex?” Sage repeated with a baffled look. How could Nina equate sex to a spiritual nirvana?

“Sure. With the right guy, you’ll get all of that and an orgasm. Shivers, excitement, and deep exploration. What more does a girl want?”

Sage contemplated the last few months of mirror-focused sex and sighed.

What more, indeed.

Two weeks ago

“AFTER ALL OF YOUR YEARS of plotting and planning, of saving bridal magazines and making lists, you eloped?”

“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” Nina said, looking so content Sage couldn’t even teasingly chide her. “Besides, I didn’t think you could get back until summer and I didn’t want to wait that long to become Mrs. Jeffrey Philips.”

“I can’t believe you married my doctor,” Sage said, laughing as she wandered through Nina’s new living room. Filled with thick carpets, rich wood and silk-covered furniture, it was posh to say the least. She wasn’t surprised that after less than two weeks her friend had already unpacked and settled in. Nina was good at that.

“Well, you weren’t going to date him. I figured I’d give it a try,” Nina said, stretching out on the divan with a contented look on her face.

“You said you’d never marry a guy who had a job that might come before you, remember? I can’t imagine a doctor doesn’t put his career in the top slot.”

Nina’s shrug was as luxurious as the room itself. Clearly priorities were adjustable if the bank account was big enough.

Hey, that might not be her way, but Sage couldn’t fault her friend. At least she knew what she wanted. Unlike some people who had spent over a decade claiming they knew what they wanted—even if whatever that was changed from year to year.

Sage pushed her hand through her hair, recently dyed back to her original golden-blond. After three months of bouncing from job to job in Sedona, Arizona—the woowoo capital of the desert—she’d finally accepted that she actually had no idea what she wanted. Or where she wanted it.

So she’d done what anyone would do. She’d slinked home without a word to anyone. She’d hoped to sneak into her father’s house and hide until she’d figured out what was missing from her life. But she’d run into the new Dr. and Mrs. Philips at the airport, of all places.

“You realize now that I’m settled, you’re the last one of our circle still single,” Nina pointed out, inspecting her manicure as if checking to see if she were up to the coming task of taking care of that little problem.

“No. No, no, no,” Sage protested, sinking into the chair opposite her friend and offering a look of horror. “No fix-ups. You married the last guy you tried to fix me up with, which should tell you how bad you are at matchmaking.”

“I have other guys in mind this time,” Nina informed her. “I’ve been making a list since Cailley’s wedding.”

That sounded ominous enough to send a chill down Sage’s spine. A list that long meant Nina was determined. A determined Nina was a pain-in-the-ass Nina. And Sage just couldn’t deal with it right now.

Not while she was fighting the horrible suspicion that everyone had been right about her for years. That, instead of being a free spirit in search of bliss, she was really a wishy-washy flake who’d never be satisfied with anything.

“That’s sweet of you to think of me,” Sage said quickly. “But I’m not available.”

“Of course you are.”

“No. I’m not.”

Nina gave a pitying click of her tongue, as if Sage thinking she had any say in this was funny.

“You need a guy. I’m going to find you one. The perfect one,” Nina stated. “Even if we have to go through dozens to get there. Which is fine, since I have a lot of options on my list.”

Good God. Sage shuddered. She had to stop this. Now. There was no way she was going to get her head together and figure out why her life was so blah if she was fending off blind dates.

“I’m not available,” she insisted. Maybe if she pretended to have a boyfriend, Nina would leave her alone.

“Why? Because you’re dating some schmo who you’ll dump in two weeks? That’s fine. I can wait.”

“He’s not a schmo. He’s a great guy. The perfect guy.” After all, why would she date an imaginary guy who wasn’t perfect?

“Who?”

Sage shrugged, trying to look coy while her mind raced. She wanted Nina off her back, or she’d be fending off fix-ups from her, AnaMaria and Cailley until she left town. But she was lousy at lying. She was a great dancer, though, so hopefully sidestepping would be enough.

“Is it serious?”

“I wouldn’t say serious,” Sage prevaricated.

“Then you are okay to date other guys.”

“Although we are talking marriage.” The words flew off Sage’s tongue before her brain even realized they were an option.

She wanted to grab them back. Marriage? Her? Nina was sure to laugh in her face, grab her phone and arrange Sage’s first fix-up date before she’d even unpacked.

Before she could grab, or think up a better lie to cover up her first lie, Nina flew into a sitting position, going from mellow to shocked in a single breath.

“Who? Who’s the guy?” Eyes narrowed, Nina shook her head. “The perfect guy, who you’re crazy enough about to stick with for more than five minutes, and willing to consider marrying, which means introducing him to your father and friends.”

She made it sound like that guy didn’t exist.

Sage frowned. She might have a point.

Then, like a lightbulb flashing on, she had it.

“Aiden.” She gave Nina a triumphant smile. “Aiden Masters and I are engaged.”

* * *

FEELING A LITTLE SMUG and a lot relieved to be off the matchmaking hit list, Sage walked into her dad’s house, calling his name as she moved through the rooms.

She’d emailed last night to tell him she’d be here today. When she’d gone straight from the airport to Nina’s, she’d texted to let him know she’d be a few hours. His lack of reply hadn’t worried her. He always read her notes, but rarely replied.

But his lack of presence in his own house was starting to make her twitch.

She reached the study and stopped short, frowning.

She always found him in the study, buried in books, papers and his own brilliant thoughts.

Where was he?

“Dad?” she called again, heading back to the front of the house. “Are you here?”

“Sage?” Coming from the kitchen, her father pushed a hand through his hair, sounding confused. “When did you get home? I wasn’t expecting you.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

It’d only been eight months since she’d seen him. What had happened? He looked horrible. Like he’d lost weight, color and half his life force. Her feet felt like they were glued to the floor with dread as he shuffled over to wrap his arms around her. Instead of being engulfed in the usual bear hug, it was like being patted down by a skeleton. And what did he mean, he wasn’t expecting her? Her frown deepened and a heavy knot took hold deep in her belly.

Before she could comment, another man joined them in the foyer.

“Dr. Brooke?” she said in greeting, sounding as confused as she felt. She thought that while her father respected their neighbor as a skilled oncologist, he also considered the guy as boring as dried mud. Now they were coffee buddies?

“Sage, I’m glad you’re home,” the doctor said, his expression gravely relieved.

“What’s going on?”

She looked from her father to the doctor then back again.

“Dad?”

“Sweetie, I’ll explain everything,” he promised, patting her icy hand. Despite his horrible appearance, he looked like he’d just won the lottery, discovered a time machine and had spent the weekend with a roomful of exotic dancers, combined. His huge smile was at direct odds with the dread in her belly.

“But first, sweetie, I want all the details of your great news. I hear we’re having a wedding.”

2

The present

AHH, VILLA ROSA.

He’d been gone quite a while. Two tours and his last couple leaves spent in sunny places meant he hadn’t been back in well over a year. Long enough that Chief Petty Officer Aiden Masters wondered why he still considered Villa Rosa home. Or if he did.

For a guy that spent most of his life on a naval base, transferring from the east to the west coast and back and called an APO his mailing address, home was an odd concept.

There were plenty of odes to coming home in literature. Hell, Odysseus had spent two decades obsessed with the task. Movies were sold on the theme month after month. People made a big deal out of it all the time.

But for Aiden, coming home was a mystery. Was he supposed to feel nostalgia over crossing the city limits of Villa Rosa, just because he’d spent time here as a kid? Or was that special feeling reserved for the little corner of Idaho he’d been born in, even though he hadn’t been there since he was two? Was familiarity a qualifier to calling a place his own? Was it longevity, since he’d lived here longer than any other place? Maybe the fact that he owned a little cottage on the outskirts of Villa Rosa? More for a place to store his parents’ things than because he wanted a tax write-off.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t sentiment. Aiden was too smart to make decisions based on vague feelings of longing or silly emotions.

Yet, that morning he’d left Coronado Naval Base with a vague plan to take the first plane heading somewhere hot. But he’d hit the airport, and found himself asking for a ticket to San Francisco instead. From there, he’d rented a car and drove the three hours north.

And he still wasn’t sure why.

He just knew something was missing, off.

What, he hadn’t figured out.

Yet.

Driving through the narrow, familiar streets, Aiden watched the people, recognizing many of them. So if he was home, as per some definitions of the concept, why was he still so unsatisfied? What the hell was wrong with him?

Stopped at a red light, he scrubbed one hand over his face and sighed. Or maybe he’d just sleep. Damn, he was tired. This last mission had been a bitch. Rough enough to have him entertaining the rare thought of hanging up his naval uniform and doing something else.

Something chill.

Like sleeping.

That could be the fact that other than zoning out on the hour-long flight, he hadn’t had any shut-eye in about two days. No biggie. Aiden was used to operating at peak efficiency under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Still, sleep would be good.

Or maybe his bunkmate, Castillo, had been right when he’d told Aiden to go get laid on leave.

Sex had definite appeal.

But sex in Villa Rosa? Not such a hot idea.

He returned a couple of waves, even though he didn’t know the people’s names. Of course, they probably didn’t know his either. In a town the size of Villa Rosa, waves didn’t tend to be personal. They were more a random greeting offered to friend and stranger alike. Or a warning that yes, they’d seen his vehicle and were noting his license number. Just in case.

Or maybe too much time in the Middle East, facing distrust, destruction and despair had gotten to him.

Maybe that’s why he’d felt the need to see this place. Because nothing in his life was personal, and he was starting to wonder why.

Including sex.

His stomach growled, making itself heard over the Stones pounding out of the radio. A timely reminder that once he reached the cottage, his cupboards were gonna be bare.

So when the light turned green, he turned left instead of going straight, deciding to get a few things to tide him over. At least until tomorrow, when he’d visit the Professor and get some real food.

Thinking of the old guy made him smile. It’d be good to catch up. Visit. Talk about things that required brains, not brawn. Get his ass kicked at chess and expand his mind a little. He could always count on Professor Lee Taylor for all of that.

Parking in front of the small grocer’s, Aiden pocketed the keys and headed for beer and cereal. All he’d need, he decided, to last until he could hit the old guy up for eggs Benedict in the morning.

“Well, well, look at the soldier boy.”

Aiden glanced over as a bruiser the size of Lieutenant Castillo and twice as ugly sauntered over. It took less than a second to place him. Two years older than Aiden and three grades behind, the star of the football team had a reputation for being an ass to the ladies.

“Aren’t you supposed to wear a little white uniform or something, Soldier Boy?” the guy asked as he reached Aiden.

“That’s sailor, not soldier, and I’m off duty,” Aiden responded quietly, sliding the guy a sideways glance that didn’t pack any more punch than he’d offer any other asshole who was in his way.

The guy blinked a couple of times, then shifted a step to the right, putting a little distance between them and lifted both hands as if in surrender.

“Dude, no offense. Just wanted to stop you and say congratulations,” the guy said, slapping Aiden on the back. His just-this-side-of-nasty grin and the extra force of that slap were in keeping with Aiden’s memory of him being a dickhead. “You caught yourself a wild one. Good luck taming her.”

Taming who?

Aiden didn’t ask, though. He had a policy against engaging dickheads. Instead, he offered a dismissive smile and kept moving toward the grocery store.

He didn’t make it through the automatic doors before he was grabbed by a very large, very plush woman who he thought he might have taken a piano lesson from once in first grade.

Before he could ask what the hell was up, she started babbling and blubbering at the same time, pulling him into a hug that smelled like cinnamon rolls.

“Oh, Aiden, I’m so happy for you. Congratulations. You’re a lucky man.” She leaned back to pat his cheeks with both of her plump hands, smiling so wide he didn’t have the heart to let her know she was crazy. “After all this time, you’ll have a family again. Such a blessing.”

He’d been seventeen when his parents were killed. He was thirty years old now. Hardly a helpless orphan then, or now. So what was she talking about, he’d have a family? Afraid to find out, Aiden smiled instead and mumbled a thanks. His stomach growling, he quickly extricated himself and headed into the store.

A minute later, six-pack in hand, he headed for the cereal aisle.

“Aiden? Aiden Masters?”

Hanging his head, wondering why he’d thought Villa Rosa was a good place to rest, Aiden sighed then turned. A little of the edgy exhaustion faded at the sight of Sergeant Gary Davis, a local cop and a great guy.

The two men came together in a solid chest-bumping hug, shaking hands and grinning at each other as they took stock of how each had held up over time.

“I haven’t seen you since you stood as best man at my wedding.”

Right. Gary had married that little redhead, AnaMaria.

“What’s that been? Two years,” Aiden calculated. “I wanted to make it back last year for Eric’s wedding but I was on duty.”

On a rescue mission gone miserably wrong, Aiden remembered. They’d lost one guy, almost lost another to the aftereffects. He ground his teeth at the memory, trying to shrug off the tight bands of stress gripping him. Brody Lane was back on duty, engaged to be married, even. The team was solid. Carrying the weight of missions past only weighed on a guy, Aiden knew. So, as he always did, he made himself focus on the here and now.

Which was his high school buddy, who was nodding, his grin widening as if he were thinking of just how good those couple of married years had been.

“Guess we’ll be celebrating your wedding soon, right?”

Huh? Aiden squinted, wondering if his old friend had taken a few head shots. He’d have thought Villa Rosa was a pretty mellow place, but you never knew.

“I’m impressed,” Gary said, shaking his head as if baffled was a better term. “If there was a pool over whom everyone thought was least likely to marry, I swear it’d have been a tie between the two of you. And now you’re getting together?”

Again...huh? A surreptitious sniff assured him that Gary hadn’t taken to drinking on the job.

So what the hell was he talking about?

Before Aiden could ask, the radio on Gary’s belt crackled. The sergeant responded, then gave Aiden a gotta go look.

“Congrats, man,” his buddy said as he headed down the aisle. “I know some people think she’s a little weird, with all the traveling and crazy jobs she’s had. But she and AnaMaria are tight, so I know how great she really is. And her father must be thrilled. He’s always had a soft spot for you.”

A thrilled father. Crazy jobs and traveling.

No longer needing to ask what everyone was talking about, Aiden’s gaze shifted to the front of the grocery store, where he could see the highest hill in Villa Rosa through the gleaming plate glass.

Sage.

As always, just her name invoked a gutful of mixed feelings. Exasperation, affection, lust.

Damn, what’d she done this time?

Handing the beer to a passing stock boy, Aiden made a beeline for the exit, not stopping to talk to anyone on the way to his car.

Professor Lee Taylor had been a lifesaver to a ten-year-old brainiac geek with more IQ points than social skills, who was too advanced even for the gifted program. Realizing that ten was just too young to take classes alongside college students, the Professor had created a special curriculum and tutored Aiden himself. He’d shown Aiden the thrill of expanding his brain, of accepting his mental skills. He’d welcomed him into his home, first at fifteen when Aiden hadn’t wanted to follow his parents to New York, then at seventeen when his parents had been killed in the Twin Towers. He’d provided a touchstone, been a mentor and always given Aiden a sense of acceptance.

And then there was his daughter, Sage.

Three years Aiden’s junior, she was about as opposite in personality of her father as the sun was from the moon. But like the Professor, she’d welcomed Aiden into their family with a no-strings open-armed sort of acceptance. Despite her father’s focus on his protégé, she’d never shown any jealousy. Rather, she’d seemed relieved that her dad had found someone like Aiden, taking the pressure off of her.

As a thanks for that, she’d spent a good portion of the last two decades driving him crazy.

So Aiden no longer questioned why people thought he and Sage were engaged. He knew the prodigal daughter must be home and for reasons probably only clear to herself, was up to something. He just had to find out what.

And then decide what he wanted to do about it.

Knowing better than to prejudge, or even try to guess about anything Sage did, he kept his mind clear of questions as he made his way up the hill to the Taylor house. He parked behind a handful of cars in the circular driveway. As soon as he opened his door the sound of laughter and splashing water hit him.

Not bothering with the front door, he made his way around the house toward the pool. Set a few hundred yards away from the house, the Professor had built the waterfall-inspired feature as a treat for his daughter when she’d decided she wanted to be a mermaid. Not to swim, or for sunbathing. That wasn’t whimsical enough for Sage.

And knowing his daughter’s love of socializing—something that baffled both the Professor and Aiden alike—he’d built it big, with ample room for entertaining and a large gazebo at one end.

It was around that white open-aired building that most of the crowd gathered.

And there, like the most exotic flower in the garden, was Sage. Aiden had a special radar when it came to her. Call it an eye for trouble, or the fact that despite his best efforts to keep her out, she always snuck into his sexiest fantasies. It didn’t matter that she looked nothing like the last time he’d seen her, or that her back was to him, it didn’t take him more than a glance to pick her out of the crowd.

Rather than pitch-black and edgy, her hair was back to her natural blond, waving halfway down her back. Even from behind, her tall, slender frame was as familiar to him as his own. And her laugh rang out, the welcome home he hadn’t realized he was waiting for.

As usual, she was surrounded by people. A few he recognized from the social events he’d attended from time to time while home on leave. A few he knew from school.

None of them mattered.

It was hard to pay attention to anything, anyone, since Sage was wearing a bikini.

A couple of teeny, tiny turquoise scraps of fabric that covered little, but did a great job of drawing attention to the curves between the material.

When whoever she was talking to gestured, Sage quickly turned.

Aiden desperately hoped his moan was only in his head and not aloud. Because oh, baby, she was gorgeous.

Her breasts filled the bikini top with a generous bounty, her curves an ode, he knew, to her yoga discipline and not any sort of diet. Already pale gold, despite it only being spring, her skin seemed to glow. To beckon. His fingers itched to touch.

His desperate need for her always took him by surprise. As was his habit whenever he saw her again, he had to warn himself to keep his distance. No touching, no lusting. He knew from experience that it’d only take a few minutes, an hour tops, before the message sank in.

All that SEAL training for command over his body came in handy for this kind of thing.

Because Sage Taylor was strictly off-limits.

As if hearing and mocking his thoughts, she clapped her hands together with her usual exuberance at the sight of him and hurried barefoot across the lawn.

The crowd followed.

At least, Aiden thought it did. There was a blur of bodies moving behind her bikini-clad form. But he was so busy trying not to drool and commanding his erection to stand down that he wasn’t positive.

Damn, she had gorgeous legs.

“Aiden,” she called when she was a few yards away. Her smile as wide as her legs were long, she threw out both arms as if to hug him from across the yard. “I didn’t realize you were coming home.”

There was something there beneath the bright smile and enthusiastic tone. But before he could figure out what, she was close enough that her scent wrapped around him. A mix of fresh grass, some sort of incense and the faint aroma of flowers.

“I hear you’re causing trouble again,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “Isn’t that always more fun if I’m here to appreciate it?”

“Me?” she asked with a laugh, pressing one hand against her lush chest and making him want to whimper. “When have I ever caused trouble?”

“When haven’t you?” he responded with a grin of his own.

“I’m innocent, I tell ya,” she claimed as she reached him.

“Right. Like I’m dumb enough to believe that?” He fell into the easy, teasing banter, knowing the faster they reestablished those friendly boundaries, the faster his body would get the message.

“Aww, you sweet talker, you.” Her eyes, a few shades lighter than her swimsuit, danced with glee. But they were shadowed, hinting at worry and stress. Two things he’d never associated with Sage.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, glancing behind her at the people slowly making their way toward them.

“Like I said, I didn’t realize you were going to be home so soon,” she told him, frowning a little as she too looked at her posse.

Since he hadn’t realized he was coming home either until that morning when he’d changed his flight from Aruba to San Francisco, he was sure that was true. But that wasn’t what was bothering her.

“Sage?”

“I’m sorry, babe,” she said, a hint of something in her husky tone that put his senses on full alert. “I know you wanted to keep it a secret. But I’m so bad at that kind of thing, and when Dad asked, I just had to tell him our news.”

“What news—” Before he could finish his very reasonable question, Sage threw herself into his arms with enough force to catch him by surprise.

Not over the move.

He’d come to expect anything and everything from his mentor’s daughter over the years.

But over the desperation that had her body tight and her hands shaking as they curved over his shoulders. She was in trouble. And not simple trouble, this time. His body tensed, his hands going to her waist as much to comfort as to hold her in place so he could inspect her face.

As soon as he touched her, tiny explosions of need shot through him. Ignoring them, he tried to read her expression and figure out why she was pretending to be happy when she looked so deeply miserable.

Lucky for him his body was good at multitasking.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his words low.

He looked at the small crowd gathered behind her. Before he could ask why everyone was wearing a cheesy grin and staring like he’d just won a Nobel Prize, Sage moved even closer.

Plastered that sweet—oh, God, she felt so sweet—body against his in a way guaranteed to command his full attention.

Then, before he could push her away or even demand an explanation for the crazy public behavior, she planted that full, usually babbling mouth on his.

And Aiden forgot everything.

His demand for information.

His reasonable argument.

Her tongue slid, hot and tempting, over the seam of his lips.

And he straight-up forgot his own name.

* * *

YUM.

Aiden Masters wasn’t just hot to look at, Sage realized as she sank into the hard expanse of his chest.

He was hot to kiss, too. And tasty.

Her mouth moved over his with as much curiosity as delight.

How much had he learned in the last ten years?

And how much of that learning would he be willing to show her? Despite the way his body had stiffened—and not in a way that a girl hoped for—she still wanted to find out.

Mmmm. She let the sensations sweep over her, breathing in Aiden’s scent, crisp and heady over the smell of chlorine and fresh-mown lawn. Her fingers slid, just a little desperate, over the round hardness of his biceps, and she shivered a little wondering what else he had that might be just as hard.

This was Aiden. They were friends, which meant there were boundaries that should be respected. That she shouldn’t be thinking this kind of thing about him, or doing this kind of thing to him, didn’t matter. This was for show, and sometimes putting on a show meant getting into the role. Besides, her body was desperate for a distraction, her mind more than willing to shut down its freaked-out thoughts while she reveled in a little sensual delight.

Before she could revel too much, or find out what other hard things he had to offer, Aiden pulled away. She almost pouted at the loss of his mouth. The cool sweep of air made her shiver as he put distance between their bodies.

Before she could protest, or do anything else that would most likely embarrass them both, Aiden tilted his head behind her. As if freed from a spell, the murmurs and laughter of her guests hit her with a reminder of why she’d blurred that boundary.

“We should talk,” she said in a low, husky whisper, hoping anyone who heard would take it as sexy talk.

“Ya think?” His words were pure sarcasm, but the indulgent amusement in Aiden’s hazel eyes warmed her like a friendly hug. He might be irritated, and with good reason, but he’d go along.

She had to get him alone to explain, though.

Which wouldn’t be easy, she admitted as they were suddenly surrounded by people.

Nerves, something she’d rarely felt until this last week, gripped tight. Sage took a deep breath, trying to envision soothing energy pouring over her. But between the expression on Aiden’s face and the bodies crowding around, all she got was more nerves.

Didn’t it figure that the one day she’d been unable to handle the company of her own thoughts any longer, Aiden showed up. This meeting—and explanation—would have been so much easier without an audience.

“Hey, I’m gonna steal Aidan away for a while,” she said, turning to face the crowd with her fingers tightly wound around his. To everyone else it probably looked like they were holding hands. But Sage, and probably Aiden, knew it was to keep him from stealing himself away.

“Lovebirds.”

“So cute.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Sage rolled her eyes, gripping Aiden tighter when she felt him start to pull away.

“You guys don’t mind, do you?” she asked, her tone making it clear that it didn’t matter if they did or not. “Go ahead and enjoy the pool. We’ll join you later. Maybe.”

With that, and to a roar of laughter and suggestive words, she tucked her arm into Aiden’s and pulled—or yanked, rather—him around the house toward the lanai.

“Wonder who’ll teach who the most? The soldier boy or the party girl?”

She tugged harder on Aiden’s arm when his footsteps slowed, not sure if he were more likely to take offense at being called a soldier instead of a sailor, or the implication that she was a slut.

Probably the slut thing. Aiden had beat a kid up in the fifth grade for calling her stupid. Then there was the time in high school when some guy had thought there was a direct correlation between Sage studying art and her need to see guys naked.

“C’mon,” she murmured. “Just ignore them.”

“You gonna fill me in on the reason for the dumbass remarks?”

“Mine? Or theirs? Because I can only truly explain my own actions,” she said, keeping her tone light and teasing as she continued to pull him around the house.

“Sage.”

She heaved a huge sigh as they rounded the corner and got out of view of the guests, and, she noted with a quick glance, her father’s study window.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she said earnestly, lifting her free hand toward the heavens as if to say it wasn’t really all her fault. “I really didn’t expect you home. Dad said he visited you months ago and you were talking about surfing. So I figured you’d be basking in the sun somewhere, or you know, chasing babes on a beach.”

“So you knew I’d be on leave this month?”

“Of course,” she said with a shrug, not sure why he sounded so surprised. She always kept track of his schedule. That’s how she knew he was safe. “But I didn’t think you’d be coming home. If I did, I’d have warned you.”

The Spanish tiles, warmed by the sun, were smooth beneath her feet as they crossed onto the lanai. As soon as his boots hit the stone, Aiden pulled his arm from hers and, his frown ferocious, shifted his hands to his hips and gave her the evil eye.

“Warned me? Instead of some drunk slapping me on the back and congratulating me on my score? Or the lady at the grocery store whose name I don’t know hugging me and weeping over my upcoming blessing?” He gave a low growl when Sage’s lips twitched, so she tried harder to keep the smile from escaping. “Then I get here and instead of a simple explanation, you throw your almost-naked body on me and start a public make-out session?”

“Did you like it?” she asked, as much out of curiosity to feed that tiny seed of hot desire still burning in her belly as to buy some time.

“Why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on,” he shot back. The stubborn set of his chin and irritation in his gaze told her he’d reached the end of his patience.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she took a deep breath through her teeth. How was she supposed to tell him? Did she ease in with the engagement news, or explain about her father’s health first? He wasn’t going to take either well.

Before she could decide, she heard the back door open and shut.

Her heart sank toward her bare toes and a now-familiar pain started throbbing in her temple. How was she supposed to handle this? She blinked fast to clear the tears from her eyes, not willing for her father to see her upset. Or to doubt for a single second that his most cherished hope might not come true.

“Please, just go along. I promise, I’ll explain everything soon,” she whispered, noting her father’s footsteps coming closer. “It’s for my dad.”

Aiden’s eyes flicked over her shoulder, then met hers again. He’d only looked away for a millisecond, but she knew from his frown that in that brief glance he’d seen enough to worry him. Good. A worried Aiden was a quiet Aiden. And she needed him to be quiet until she convinced him to go along with her plan.

A plan that’d been so simple when she blurted out that she was in a serious relationship to get Nina and her matchmaking off her back.

One that’d stayed pretty easy when her father, hearing the news, had jumped all over like it was the answer to all of his prayers. After all, how difficult should it be to pretend she and Aiden were engaged? People always expected crazy from her. And Aiden wasn’t going to be around.

The ease of her plan had frayed at little at the edges over the last week. The million questions and suggestions about the upcoming fantasy wedding were bad enough. But between trying to process her father’s illness and dire prognosis, balanced by his excitement over the news about her and Aiden, she’d been wondering if she’d made a mistake.

And now?

Her plan was looking about as smart as the rocks beneath her feet.

As great as it’d be to hand it all over to Aiden to take care of, Sage knew this scenario had all the makings of a disaster.

Not because it was a crazy idea.

Or that Aiden wouldn’t go along.

She sighed, looking at his hard, deliciously muscled body. A body that she was still tingling over plastering herself to. Not listening to a word they said, she watched Aiden greet her father, his soft lips tempting her with every move.

Nope.

It wasn’t that the plan was bad, she realized.

It was that she wasn’t sure she could resist taking advantage of every single sexual possibility it presented.

3

WHAT THE HELL was going on?

Sage kissed him as though she’d realized he was the answer to her every sexual fantasy, and now she looked as if she was about to fall apart.

While he could handle the kiss—even if that kind of thing was strictly off-limits—the falling apart was a definite cause for concern.

And the Professor looked like... Well, Aiden looked again. He’d rarely thought of the other man as aging. Sure, in the twenty years since they’d first met, there was a little more silver at the temples and the once-robust physique was showing some softening.

But now the old guy appeared to be three steps away from death. Gray-tinged skin seemed to sag from his bones and he looked as though he’d lost twenty pounds and half his hair in the couple of months since Aiden had seen him.

Suddenly feeling as sick as his mentor looked, Aiden’s gaze cut to Sage. The quick, tiny shake of her head made it clear she didn’t want him to ask questions. He debated. He didn’t like waiting, and would definitely prefer to get his information from the Professor. The straight facts, untainted by the emotions emanating from his daughter.

Sage’s lips trembled and Aiden sighed. He’d never been able to resist her. Even when he knew better. Even when he had no idea why she drowned herself in the emotional depths she did.

This time was no different.

As if she’d read his mind, and he was never one-hundred-percent sure she couldn’t, Sage gave a relieved smile.

“Daddy, would you mind if I stole Aiden away for a little while? We haven’t seen each other in so long. I know you need to talk with him, but, well...” The words trailed off as she heaved a sigh deep enough to challenge her bikini top and Aiden’s resistance.

Then, either for effect or to try and make his libido explode, she sidled closer, plastered herself against his side and wrapped one arm through his so her breast pressed against his bare bicep.

Aiden bit back a groan. An instant erection over his mentor’s daughter while the older man was standing there was poor taste, to say the least.

“I think I should speak with Aiden,” the Professor said quietly, not looking any happier about the idea of what he had to share than Aiden knew he was going to be to hear it.

“Daddy, please,” Sage said, hitting three syllables on that last word. She threw in a fluttering of her lashes and stopped just short of sticking out her bottom lip. “I know it’s important, but can it wait just a little bit?”

His face set in deep furrows, the older man only hesitated for a second before his expression changed from determined to relieved.

“I think I’ll take a short nap, then. We’ll all meet for dinner?”

He waited for Aiden’s nod, then gave them both an indulgent smile before slowly making his way inside.

Sage waited for the door to close before she shifted away. She didn’t let go, though. Instead, after a frown at the sliding door her father had gone through, she tugged him around the corner of the house to the French doors, grabbing what looked like a silk towel off the patio chair as they went.

“You know, if your dad had ever been able to resist that big-eyed pleading look, you might not be having to explain what hugely fabricated make-believe story you’ve dragged me into,” Aiden said, letting himself into the family room, crossing the Persian carpet to close the double doors before turning to face her. “Again.”

“Again? You say that like I’ve dragged you into tons of make-believe situations,” she protested, shaking out the fabric, then shifting it this way and that until he realized it was a dress and she was looking for the hemline. He wished she’d hurry, since the sooner she found it, the sooner she’d put the damned thing on.

“Shall I make a list? We could start with prom, when you told everyone I was your date so you could get out of going with that football player you didn’t like anymore.”

“I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Besides, you had fun taking me to prom,” she claimed.

Fun? Maybe.

But it’d also been his first introduction to torture, realizing that Sage was everything he found sexy in a woman, and completely off-limits.

Which put that night at the top of his most-regrettable choices list. For a Special Forces officer who’d served multiple missions during wartime, that was saying something.

“Sage.” Through playing word games, he wanted information. And his expression made it clear he was going to get it.

“You can be such a grump,” Sage said, pulling a silky dress of some sort over her head. He should have been relieved when the mossy green fabric covered all that tempting flesh. That he wasn’t, he figured, was due to her not giving him his usual buffer time between his typical instant lust for her and the point when his well-honed discipline kicked in.

“A grump who’s engaged to be married, apparently,” Aiden pointed out. Better to take control of the conversation and get right to the point. Otherwise who knew where this discussion would meander.

Despite the worry still etched on her forehead, Sage clapped her hands together and gave him a pleased smile. Why he’d expected her to look ashamed was beyond him.

“Oh, good. You’ve already heard. That makes breaking the news to you easier.”

Aiden tilted his head to one side and shook it a little, wondering if that’d shake his brain cells into the same odd configuration as Sage’s apparently were.

“Do you regret nothing, ever?” he asked in wonder.

“Regret? What’s to regret?” Suddenly as serious as he’d ever seen her, her face grew ferocious and her eyes fierce. She threw both hands in the air. “My father is dying, Aiden. Hearing that you and I were engaged was like giving him a huge dose of hope. Even his doctor said it’s been great for him. Why on earth would I regret that?”

It was like taking a mortar shot to the gut.

Fast, painful and devastating.

For a second, Aiden couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t begin to process the immensity of her words, of what they meant.

Clearly not quite the way she’d planned to break it to him, Sage slapped her hand over her mouth, her expression horrified. Then her eyes filled with tears. Before he could decide if he should hug her or run, she held out both hands as if to say wait. It only took her a couple of breaths to regain her composure, then she sank onto the couch and gestured that she’d wait until he had processed it all.

How did someone prepare for this kind of hit?

He was trained in war. He was skilled in strategy and stealth ops. He’d learned early into his career with the SEALs to build into every relationship the strong possibility of an abrupt goodbye.

Hell, his career had been founded on loss.

But this?

This was something different.

Suddenly feeling as if his entire world was made up of destruction and death, Aiden pushed his hand through his short-cropped hair and tried to gather his thoughts.

Self-pity and drama wouldn’t help anyone, least of all the Professor. And as Sage had already made clear, finding ways to help the older man was their top priority.

“What’s the diagnosis?” he asked quietly, finally ready to hear the details.

“Stage three pancreatic,” she said hoarsely, watching her fingers twisting the fabric of her dress instead of meeting his eyes. Her way of keeping control of her emotions, he knew.

He needed to research this cancer. See what studies had been done, what treatments were offered. Perhaps there was something experimental they could explore.

But hope and a positive attitude would go further than any treatment, Aiden knew. An oncologist specializing in rare forms of cancer, his own father had shared more than one story about miracle recoveries based on nothing more concrete than optimism and faith.

“Tell me what you’ve done,” he finally said, dropping into a wing-backed chair and gesturing that he was ready to deal with whatever she could dish up.

“It all started when Nina—who just eloped, by the way—tried to fix me up with some guy,” Sage began. By the time she’d wound her way around to how her father had heard about their fake engagement at the same time he was telling her the news about his illness, Aiden was shaking his head in awe.

Despite the craziness, it actually all made perfect sense. Well, Sage sense, which was usually perfect in hindsight.

“So that’s how we ended up engaged,” she said with a deep sigh. “I’ve tried to find a way to wriggle out of it, but you’re so great in my father’s eyes that nothing I’ve said will convince him that you aren’t perfect. For me, even.”

“For you, even,” he repeated, laughing helplessly and admiring Sage’s easy acceptance of her own flaws. “Now that’s saying something.”

“It’s making him happy,” she said, looking down at her tangled fingers and giving a sigh heavy enough to break a heart. “It’s giving him hope and a purpose. I cringe every time he mentions the wedding, but he glows. How can this be a mistake if it helps him get better?”

How, indeed.

“What if he expects an actual ceremony?”

She was shaking her head before he finished the words.

“He knows I won’t get married while worrying about his health. That’d be bad juju.”

Aiden’s grimace quickly shifted to a rueful grin. Looked like all that new-agey stuff she was obsessed over might pay off.

“And the exit plan?” he asked. Never commit to a mission without a clear way out.

“When he’s better, and cleared by at least two doctors, we realize that we aren’t suited. I’m thinking we blame your career choice,” she said, batting her eyelashes and giving him a look so sexy and persuasive that he was nodding before he realized what she’d said.

“What? Why my career?”

“Because I don’t have one.” For a second, her lower lip poked out in a cute pout. “And before you suggest we blame it on me being too flighty, I’ve always been that way. He’s not going to believe you changed your mind over something that’s always been a fact.”

It took Aiden a second or two to follow that logic, but once he did, he had to admit she was right.

“Okay, fine,” he said grudgingly. “We can blame my commitment to being a SEAL. Statistics will support that claim.”

Hopefully a few of his team would beat the odds, since two were recently married and one newly engaged. But military and marriage weren’t a good bet under most odds. Factor in the added issues of Special Forces, with the extra dangers and secrecy, and the odds got a little longer.

“Ahhh, statistics,” Sage said fondly. Then she rolled her eyes. “A nice fallback and one my father will undoubtedly let himself believe. But we all know that I’m not statistically correct.”

“Are you any kind of correct?” Aiden asked in exasperation.

She pondered for a moment, her fingernail tapping on her lower lip in a way that made his mouth water.

“I’m sexually correct.”

“You do sex correctly?” he clarified before he could stop himself.

“Oh, God, no,” she said, laughing. “How boring would that be? I’m sexually correct in that I’m the perfect sexual orientation for all of my sexual preferences.”

Aiden had to sigh.

It was that, or drop his head into his hands and groan.

What was it about Sage that let her take a completely crazy statement, twist it into knots so it made perfect sense, and turn him on all at the same time?

He’d always found smart women sexy.

And Sage, God help them both, was brilliant. Twisted, flighty and very out there. But, his body insisted as it hardened in appreciation, definitely brilliant.

* * *

SAGE BIT HER LIP, trying not to laugh aloud at the frustrated expression on Aiden’s face. She’d never in a million years have allowed her imagination to venture into a scenario that had her father fighting for his life, and his battle dependent on she and Aiden pretending to be in love.

But since they were there, she was starting to think this might actually be kinda fun. Or at least, fun enough playing with Aiden to distract her from the terror dogging her every thought.

“Okay,” he said, waving his hand as if trying to erase all of her crazy comments. “Time to get serious.”

“Ahh, then you’re taking charge now,” she murmured.

He shot her a look that said she was stepping outside the serious line, and had better behave. Sage was tempted to ask if he’d spank her if she didn’t.

But she was afraid she might like his answer a little too much.

“If this is going to work we have to see it as a mission,” Aiden said, his words clipped and his tone cool. Official, she realized, leaning forward and clasping her hands together in anticipation. She’d never seen Aiden in military mode. This should be fun.

“Are you listening?” he asked, giving her a narrow look, his dark eyes assessing her seriousness.

As tempting as it was to tease him, Sage managed to keep her expression sincere. After all, she wanted this to work more than anything. Well, except for seeing him take command. That, she was really looking forward to.

“Of course I’m listening,” she said, gesturing with a finger wave that he keep it coming. “We’re on a mission. Of course, I’ve never been on a mission before. Unless you count those two months I belonged to the Commune of the Sacred Light up in Seattle and tried to convert the pescatarians to pork. You know, the other white meat.”

“I thought chicken—” Aiden cut himself off with a shake of his head, then gave her a chiding look. “Do you want us to successfully pull off this fake engagement or not? Either you call the shots, or I do.”

The tight knot that’d tangled her heart and guts so miserably the last week loosened for the first time. Not just because Aiden was home and taking charge. But because finally, here was someone who could actually distract her enough to keep from worrying every single second.

Diving into the distraction, she debated suggesting they share the shots, preferably out of a tequila bottle. But she figured that’d go over about as well as the pork idea had. Although Aiden probably wouldn’t threaten to roast her over a barbecue like the gang at the commune had. Who knew living on just seafood could make hemp-wearers so bloodthirsty.

“Call away,” she instructed, waving one hand regally as she leaned back on the couch and got comfy. Better him than her. She wasn’t so good at the making-rules thing. Mostly because she never cared about following them. But rules and Aiden? Peanut butter and jelly.

Something he was clearly aware of, since rather than looking surprised, he instead gave a nod to indicate he’d expected nothing less. Mulling with his chin low, he got up from the chair. He paced two steps to the right, clasped his hands behind his back like a general plotting a coup, paced two steps to the left, then faced her again.

“Okay, then, here we go. The obvious goal of the mission is to offer peace of mind to the Professor.” He waited for Sage to agree, which she quickly did, then gave an answering nod. “Which, to him, is the concept of both of us being settled and happy. Marriage, as he’s hinted at from time to time over the last decade, is his ultimate goal.”

Say what? Her father had dropped plenty of hints to her over the years. Hints she’d laughed at. But he’d tossed a few at Aiden, too? To the same reaction? She frowned. It was one thing for her to think they were totally unsuitable and the idea of them as a couple was funny. But she was oddly insulted that Aiden felt the same.

Then it hit her that this mission, as Aiden was calling it, was something her father really, really wanted. It was so important to him, and it might be the last thing he ever asked of her.

Suddenly all of the other things he’d ever asked bombarded her. That she come home for Christmas. That she get a degree. The three weeks he’d spent nagging her to see a dentist to make sure her tongue piercing wasn’t going to ruin her teeth. The concern he’d shown over the guy she was dating. Any guy, she realized. He’d been concerned about them all. To the point that, somewhere after her twentieth birthday, she’d stopped letting him meet them. All because it’d been easier than worrying about making her father happy.

What did that say about her? And how much longer did she have to worry about his happiness? Her chest too tight to pull in a deep breath, Sage bit her lip and tried to keep from crying.

“Sage?”

She took a shallow breath, trying to get air to her lungs. The pain was too much, though. She debated putting her head between her knees. But while she wasn’t averse to a head between her knees, she didn’t want it to be her own. Nor did she want to explain why it was there to Aiden.

Because that’d be admitting fear. Admitting that she didn’t believe that smiles and positive energy and this crazy scheme were going to be enough to pull her father through.

“Sage?” Aiden asked again, stepping over to lean down and peer at her face.

“I’m okay,” she croaked.

“What’s wrong?”

Unable—unwilling—to explain, she shrugged and waved at Aiden to keep barking out rules.

He narrowed his eyes, stepping closer as if he were going to offer comfort. Then, since he probably didn’t figure mission leaders were supposed to hand out hugs, he frowned instead and gave her a nod.

“If we’re going to succeed, we both have to be completely committed to whatever means necessary to fulfill said mission.”

Blinking back the tears that were burning her eyelids, Sage sniffed and forced herself to focus on Aiden instead of her morbid thoughts.

A good choice, since he made for a great view. He was so cute, all serious and intense. Unable to resist, Sage widened her eyes and asked, “Will that include night-vision goggles, matching camo outfits and secret passwords?”

“Maybe,” he said without even a hint of a smile. “But more to the point is that we both agree that we’ll give this one hundred percent. If you want the Professor’s mind at ease, it’s going to take focus and effort.”

Sage frowned. Neither of which he seemed to think she had. Needing a few seconds to process that, she leaned back, tucking her feet under her. The nubby fabric of the sofa scraped gently over her bare toes, contrasting with the silk of her skirt.

“This isn’t a whim, Aiden. This isn’t an experiment or a fun lark. This is my father.” She paused, as much to swallow the tight ball of fear in her throat as for effect. “I’ll do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to bring him comfort and to keep him from worrying. So if Mission Marriage is the answer to his peace of mind, consider me in.”

He gave her a look so intense and searching, she felt like he’d just scanned her every thought, delved into her secrets and checked her pockets for loose change.

If he could package that, TSA would pay a fortune.

Sage shifted, angling her feet under her butt to keep herself from getting up to run from that look. Or, more to the point, from discovering what he’d found. Or worse, what he hadn’t.

As usual, he didn’t say.

Instead, he shook his head, then instructed, “Let’s call it Mission Engagement. Neither of us is crazy enough to think we’re marriage material.”

Sage blinked a couple of times, trying to process that kick in the gut. She wasn’t marriage material? As in, he didn’t think she was marriageable? Or was she simply not what he wanted in marriage?

Not sure why she cared, since marriage—especially marriage to someone like Aiden—was the last thing she wanted, Sage frowned.

Whether it was intuition, that he caught the look on her face or he was just in a hurry, Aiden waved his hand as if turning the page. Then he followed it up with lifting two fingers in the air.

“Point one is that this is a mission. Which means point two is that we agree that to better ensure the success of the mission, the truth of the situation would be kept between just the two of us. Under no circumstances is anyone else to know that this is a fake engagement.”

“So you wouldn’t actually want to marry me, but you don’t want anyone to think you’d fake our engagement?” she clarified.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t want to marry you,” he corrected, pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. His brow furrowed, a frustrated look in his eyes as he shrugged. “But wanting something doesn’t mean you should do it. That’s kindergarten one-oh-one.”

“I must have napped through that lesson.” Her own more casual shrug shifted the loose fabric of her dress so it slid down one shoulder.

Something flashed in his eyes as his gaze followed the silk’s slide. Something hot and wild and edgy enough to make Sage’s nerves tighten and heat swirl low in her belly. Then he blinked and the look was gone, leaving Sage wondering if celibacy was causing her to hallucinate.

The hot warmth between her thighs and the delicious tightening of her nipples weren’t just her imagination, though.

“So marrying me wouldn’t be so bad?” she teased, her words low and husky, a hint of flirty enticement in her smile.

“Of course it would.”

Huh?

“You said...” The words trailed off as she shook her head. Debating her many failings in his eyes wasn’t going to help them comfort her father. “Forget it. You were outlining the mission rules. Go ahead.”

“Okay,” he said, his gaze narrowed as if he were checking something off his mental list. He gave a short nod before continuing. “Rule three, the mission time frame is completely dependent on the health of the Professor. The mission is not complete until his health is completely recovered, or, well, until it’s no longer necessary.”

Nausea swam through Sage’s belly at his hesitation. Unwilling to acknowledge it, she tilted her head to the side, focusing instead on the way his shirt emphasized his biceps. Tight, hard round muscles that made her mouth water. That, she decided, was a much more enticing focal point.

“That means we’re both fully committed, Sage,” he said, his tone making it clear he didn’t think she was hearing him. Since he might have already recited the Gettysburg Address for all she knew, he had a good point.

“Fine, yes,” she agreed quickly. “We’re fully committed.”

“This might not be accomplished in one leave, or this month. Or even this year. I have to go back on duty, and you’re going to be, well, wherever you’re going to be.”

“Here,” she decided then and there. “I’m here until my dad is well again.”

“All the more reason to make sure you’re following rule three then.”

“Fully committed?”

“That means you’re pretending you’re engaged.” He paused, giving her an arch look. She was pretty sure she knew where he was going, but decided it would be more fun to make him spell it out. So she offered a blank look of confusion, adding a flutter of her lashes for good measure.

“I know this is going to be hard for you, but unless you can handle it, we might as well find an alternative now.”

Not so amused any longer, she ceased fluttering.

“Handle...what?” Hard and handling were giving her a lot of ideas.

“You have to be able to commit to keeping to the spirit of this engagement for the duration. That means no sex. You can’t keep bouncing from guy to guy.”

Bouncing? Sage was tempted to inform him that she was going on eight months with no sex and managing fine. But that wasn’t the kind of thing a girl wanted to admit to a guy who was currently making her wonder how many licks of his tongue it would take to get her off.

At least, not until they’d spent a little more time together, and she’d figured out what it was about Aiden that was suddenly making her hot and crazy.

“I promise, any sex I have will be within the accepted confines of our engagement,” she swore, one hand in the air.

“That’d be rule four,” he said quickly. “No sex.”

“I just said I wasn’t going to cheat on you. Even if the cheating was really fake.”

“I mean no sex between us.”

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