My Best Friend's Navy SEAL Dad: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance Read online

  “Did you?”

  “You need to fix that phone, girl.”

  She’s right. My phone’s battery is busted, just like so much else in my life. But mom wasn’t able to work when she was ill and my diner job doesn’t cover much.

  Mom had to nag me for two weeks to persuade me to buy the secondhand camera.

  “So what do you want to do?” I ask.

  “How about dinner at my place? I’ll cook,” she says.

  “Sounds great. I’ll see you later.”

  “Bye-bye.”

  We hang up and I hand Trent his phone. Our fingertips brush and tension shivers up my arm.

  He won’t look at me, and I’m finding it difficult to look at him. It’s hard to believe that only a few minutes ago he had me pressed up against the car, his lips almost touching mine, like any second he was going to crush me with a kiss.

  “It looks like I’ll be seeing you later,” I say, mostly just to fill the silence. “Angie’s cooking.”

  “She’s always been a great chef.”

  I stop myself from saying, She had to be. Trent and Angie’s mom – Lucy – separated when Angela was a little girl. So when Angela was staying with Trent, she would often cook a lot of the meals.

  “I guess I should get going then.”

  I open my car door and climb inside before he can say anything in reply. He’s looking at me like he did at the diner. Like he’s angry with me, and I can’t stand it.

  It burns and it hurts and it makes me want to scream.

  We were so close to my girlhood fantasy.

  How many times have I dreamed of his lips crushing against mine?

  I start the engine and silently pray that the car doesn’t choke and die, the same way it does almost every time I start this hunk of crap. It’s the most unreliable piece of junk I’ve ever driven, but at least it gets me from point A to point B…

  Just as I’m thinking this, the engine makes a sputtering noise and I drift across the lot, coming to a stop barely twenty feet from where I started.

  I grip the steering wheel and let out a breath, glancing in the rearview to find Trent watching me. His lips are twisted into something between a grimace and a smirk like he can’t decide whether he wants to be angry or glad that we’re going to have to spend more time together.

  I’ve never believed in fate or destiny or anything like that.

  But this is a little suspicious, my car breaking down at the exact moment we were going to leave each other.

  I force myself to let go of the steering wheel.

  I’m holding onto it like I want to break it.

  I climb from the car and look over at Trent, shrugging.

  “I guess it was only a matter of time before this hunk of crap failed me.”

  He nods, striding across the lot. “Let me take a look.”

  I step out of his way, watching as he strides past me, my eyes glued to the broad muscles of his back. I clasp my hands together to stop myself from reaching out and grabbing onto him.

  My womb quivers and sings and cheers inside of me.

  He’s not getting away from us that easily, I imagine her saying.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Trent

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Tessa says, fidgeting in the passenger seat of my car.

  I glance at her briefly as I guide us down the country road, the afternoon sun making everything glisten brightly.

  She won’t look at me. She’s staring out the window, biting her lip, like any second she’s going to explode and let all the pent-up anxiety come tumbling out.

  “No, it’s fine,” I tell her.

  I was right about her car. It’s a hunk of crap, broken in more ways than one.

  “I’ll arrange for somebody to pick it up and take a look at it.”

  She sighs, and I can read the sigh, all the different worries nestled within it.

  “And don’t worry about the cost,” I say on impulse, rage working its way through me when I think about my talented queen wasting her time stressing about this crap.

  “What?” She turns to me, shaking her head. “Trent, I can’t let you do that.”

  You’ll find a way to repay me, I want to roar, but somehow I pull the words back.

  That’s twice we’ve been interrupted when I was going to kiss her, first by Mrs. Pennyworth and then, worse, by the phone call with Angela. Surely that’s a sign that I need to fight my instinct to claim her, batter it down with uncompromising hands so I don’t ruin what we have… whatever the fuck that is.

  What we have?

  I barely know this woman.

  And yet that thought sounds absurd.

  I feel like I know her better than I know myself. She’s going to give me a family. I’m going to dedicate myself to her for the rest of my life.

  “You can and you will,” I say firmly.

  She’s silent for a while, breathing softly, making me think about how she’d sound as I drive inside of her, burying myself to the hilt as I kept my gaze on her to track the way she twitched and shivered and sighed for me.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asks softly.

  I’m thinking that the road is deserted and the forest offers ample shade and privacy. I’m thinking about pulling over and smoothing my hands up her bare thighs, pressing my palm down on the place between her legs, grinding relentlessly until she’s begging for more, more, more until she’s drenching the seat with her release.

  But I can’t tell her that. I have to think of Angela.

  “This is a nice drive,” I say inanely.

  She giggles. “Why do I feel like that’s a lie?”

  I glance at her. She’s smiling. It makes her face bright, young, beautiful.

  Mine.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know. Your tone of voice, I guess.”

  I chuckle, squeezing the steering wheel hard to stop myself from lashing my hand out to her leg.

  The desire to squeeze those shapely thighs, to slide my hand up and up until she’s screaming at me to finger her tight wet slit…

  Fuck, it’s killing me.

  “You can read my tone of voice now, can you, Snapshot?”

  She giggles. “Snapshot?”

  “I thought that was what everybody called you,” I banter.

  “Yeah, when I was like fifteen and obsessed with those disposable cameras.”

  I shrug. “I think it’s cute.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “Watching you today, seeing how intense you are about your work, I respect that. I respect how seriously you take it. You’ll make it your career one day, Tess. I know you will.”

  Because I’m going to support you, I almost tell her. Every step of the way, I’ll be there. You won’t have to go through this alone.

  “Thank you,” she says quietly. “But I’ve sort of accepted that it might just be a hobby. I mean, I’d love it if it was my career. But I’ve got to be realistic, you know?”

  “No,” I snarl, with more passion than I intended. “I don’t fucking know. I saw how much you care about it. Out there, every second you were with your camera, it was like… shit, Tess, it was like the real you was coming out.”

  I need to stop.

  But I can’t.

  We’re meant to be together.

  “I’m thankful I got to see it,” I go on, unable to stop as if something else has taken over me.

  “Trent,” she whispers, a moan beneath her voice.

  She folds her arms across herself, hugging tightly, causing her breasts to bulge around her forearms. I’m glad I’m driving so I can’t look at her for too long.

  “I know,” I say, my voice gruff.

  She lets out a hollow laugh. I can feel her looking at me, searching for answers.

  “You know? What do you know?”

  “I know we can’t do this,” I snarl. “I know it’s wrong.”

  She flinches and lets out a short breath, surpr
ise laden in the noise, as though she can’t quite believe what she’s hearing.

  “What?” she says.

  I laugh gruffly. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on here, Tessa. Ever since I stepped into the diner, I’ve wanted you. I know you can tell. I know you feel the same.”

  The quality of her breathing changes, getting airier, more high-pitched, the same way she’ll sound when I’m driving up between her thighs and claiming her in the way she deserves, needs to be claimed.

  “Is this a joke?”

  “A joke?” I growl, fighting the urge to whip the car into a hard turn, drive us deep into the forest, and finding a quiet spot to show her just how much I’m not joking.

  “Yeah. I don’t understand why you’d say that.”

  “Because it’s the truth. What did you think I was going to do before Angela called? I was going to kiss you, Tess. I was going to kiss you, hard, because I can’t fucking fight this anymore.”

  This is coming out wrong, jumbled, and messy.

  I shouldn’t be saying any of this.

  The SEALs taught me better than this. They taught me discipline, and right now I’m being very undisciplined.

  I should quickly tell her that it was a joke, salvage whatever I can from this situation.

  But I can’t stand the idea of my woman thinking I’d toy with her like that.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she gasps.

  “You feel the same,” I tell her matter of fact. “Either that or my instincts aren’t what they used to be. When I was leaning into you, getting ready to claim those kissable, pouting lips, I saw how badly you wanted it. I saw how badly you needed it.”

  “Yes,” she whimpers, again with that moaning quality to her voice.

  My cock gets somehow stiffer, pressing against my pants, the helm super-sensitive and engorged. I have to focus ridiculously hard to stay on the road, to resist the overwhelming impulse to pull us off to the side of the road so I can claim what’s between those luscious thighs.

  Her legs are driving me insane.

  “But we can’t do anything about it?” she says, making it a question with a lilt at the end of the sentence.

  Yes, my seed roars inside of me. We can. We have to. I can’t live without her. I need to put a baby inside of her.

  “We have to think of Angela,” I say with an effort, the words feeling wrong as they leave my mouth.

  She clasps her thighs. I’m guessing it’s a nervous tic, but I really wish she wouldn’t…

  No, that’s not right. I want her to keep grabbing them, to squeeze her legs, compress them and turn them red under her grip, it’s making it so damn difficult to focus on the road.

  “This really isn’t a joke?” she murmurs.

  “No,” I snap fiercely. “I’d never joke about this, Snapshot. I can’t explain it. When I walked into that diner and saw you standing there, sexier than a dream in that tight-fitting waitress’s outfit, I knew I had to have you. I knew you were mine. I knew I’d never be able to think about anybody else for the rest of my damned life. I’ve never felt this way about a woman. I never dreamed I could. But…”

  “But Angie,” her voice cracks. “This feels like a dream.”

  “It’s real. It’s happening. But we have to be strong.”

  “I feel the same,” she whispers. “I’ve always had a crush on you, Trent. But when you came to the diner yesterday, it all came barreling down, so hard, so real. I’m having crazy thoughts…”

  She trails off, turning to her window, staring as if she can find some solace in the passing trees. We’re almost back at Youngstone now and my body tenses at the thought, as though getting ready to rebel and turn us back toward the hiking trail.

  “You’re thinking about us starting a family together,” I growl.

  “Pull over, Trent,” she says.

  “Why?”

  “Please. I need to breathe. I can’t—this is all too much.”

  I bring the car to a stop at the side of the deserted road, driving under the spindly shadows of the trees.

  She steps out and paces in front of the car, her hands clasped in front of her.

  Even now – when I should be focused on how clearly upset she is – I can’t stop from devouring the sight of her ass in those denim shorts. My balls pulse and the tip of my cock feels like fire against my pants, like any second I could explode.

  I won’t, obviously. I won’t waste a single drop of my seed unless my woman is involved. I’ll explode into her tight slit and flood her with my children. Or I’ll slather it across her big beautiful breasts, or her make round ass glisten with my release.

  “How did you know that?” she cries, wheeling on me when I step from the car.

  “Because I feel the same,” I say passionately, striding over to her. “I can’t explain it. I can’t even try to explain it. But I feel the same. My body’s telling me to have children with you, Tess.”

  “Mine is too.” We pause close to each other, so close I can feel the heat radiating from her like an invitation. “How is that even possible?”

  I bare my teeth, somewhere between a smirk and a grimace. “How the fuck should I know? But I feel it. I need you. I…”

  She turns away as I lean in, letting out a shivering breath.

  “Angie,” she says as if the word costs her a great effort.

  “I know,” I growl, my heart thundering in my chest. “I know, I fucking know. We have to be strong.”

  She turns to me and I stride right up to her, inhaling the scent of her, washing through me with incredible force. I try to tell myself it isn’t intoxicating, that she isn’t driving me feral, she isn’t making me forget my daughter.

  “Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now?”

  I tuck a rebellious strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. She shivers at my touch, her lust visibly moving through her.

  “It’s hard, Tess,” I snarl. “I want to be strong. I know I need to be. But when I think about you meeting a man one day, settling down with somebody else, this rage grips me, rage like I’ve never felt before. Because you’re mine. I don’t just want you. I need to claim you. You belong to me. No other man is ever allowed to touch you, or even look at you in a way I don’t like.”

  She bites her lip, looking so innocent my cock almost explodes.

  “I want that.” She lets out a moaning breath. “But we have to be strong.”

  “I know,” I say, leaning down and bringing my lips to hers.

  I know, but I can’t.

  Not when she’s looking at me like that, with lust shivering across her face, captivating every part of me, making her look like a gift just for me.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Tessa

  We’re standing at the side of the road. A deserted road, fine, but anybody could drive by and see what we’re doing.

  But as Trent crushes his lips against mine, I forget about the road and how wrong this is. I forget about my best friend and I sink into the kiss, moaning as he slides his hands up my thighs and grips onto my hips, pulling me close to him.

  His solid manhood presses against my belly as he growls, our mouths opening and our tongues moving together, swirling around each other in a crazy dance of lust.

  I move my hands up to his shoulders, my head feeling light and hazy from the contact, the tingles moving around my mouth and across my face, down my neck, and all over my body.

  He pulls me even closer, my breasts pressing against the solid mass of his body, my hard nipples grazing his muscular chest.

  “Fuck, fuck,” he growls, stepping away.

  Even if it’s the right thing to do, my chest aches, and my anxiety pulses.

  I turn away, staring at the trees, letting out a laugh that doesn’t mean a freaking thing.

  Nothing’s funny here.

  He said he needs to claim me, make it so no other man can touch me.

  It’s what I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.
r />   “We shouldn’t have done that,” I say.

  “I know.” He paces over to me, his chest heaving. “I fucking know.”

  I gasp when he lifts me off my feet, grabbing my ass in greedy handfuls and pushing me up against his car.

  Our lips part and our tongues magnetize to each other, as though urges deep within our bodies are directing our movements now, making it impossible for us to resist each other. I move my hands through the iron of his hair, my center tingling, my clit throbbing.

  “Fuck.”

  He puts me down and steps away, shaking his head.

  “Not here. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if another man saw you like this, all horny and sexy.”

  “What would you do?” I whimper, straightening my shorts from where his possessive hands had moved them.

  He stares at me, his intense green eyes gleaming.

  “Nothing good. No other man ever gets to see you like that, Tessa. Fuck. Let me take you somewhere. I need to taste that hot pussy of yours. I need to make you come for me.”

  But Angie, I want to scream, but the words won’t come out.

  “I… I don’t know if I can do that,” I say, my heartbeat seeming to pound in my skull.

  He walks up to me again, but this time he stops a few inches short, flinching as if it’s difficult for him to stop.

  “You want it. I want it. Just once.”

  “Just once?” I say, laughing. “Really, Trent? Do you really think we can do that? But that’s not even the problem.”

  “Tell me,” he says firmly, in a tone of voice that leaves no room for argument. “What is it, Snapshot? What’s wrong?”

  I turn away from him, gazing at the sun-dappled road, almost wanting somebody to drive by so I don’t have to tell him the truth.

  “I’m not going to impress you in bed.”

  I have to force the words out past the shivering of my voice. Everything is moving so fast, and yet it feels so right, I feel as if I’m living in a fantasy land.

  He laughs gruffly. “Let me be the judge of that, Snapshot.”

  “No,” I say firmly, wheeling on him. “I know I won’t. Because I’ve never… what I’m trying to say is…”

  He steps forward and takes my hands, wrapping them in his large protective mitts, staring at me with a certain green fire in his eyes.