who the f**k pays that much money for shoes?”

Carson drifted over to the edge of the bed, where a very naked Shelby was still straddling Garrett’s lap. With a faint grin, Carson dipped his head and planted a light peck on Shelby’s forehead. Garrett immediately experienced another flicker of jealousy, but he smothered the irritating emotion.

“I just want to say that you, Shelby, were absolutely incredible. I’d also like to say we’ll do this again sometime, but I highly doubt Garrett will agree to share next time.”

Carson chuckled. “He likes your freckles too much. Not so much your fancy coffees, but he totally digs the freckles.” He moved away from the bed. “I’ll see myself out.”

With a mock salute, Carson left the room. A moment later, the sound of the front door latching echoed throughout the apartment.

And then there Garrett was. Alone with Shelby. Naked with Shelby. Just like he’d always dreamed.

He shifted his gaze back to her gorgeous face, wanting to kiss her again, but her perplexed expression made him reconsider. “What did he mean about you not liking my coffee?” she asked slowly.

Garrett managed a noncommittal shrug. “Nothing. Carson rarely makes any sense.”

He tried to stroke one of her amazing br**sts but she swatted his hand away.

Then she crossed her arms over bare br**sts, as if covering herself up would force him to have this conversation. He almost laughed. She had no idea how distracting her body was, covered up or not.

“You don’t like my mocha lattes,” she blurted out, her eyes widening with horror.

Garret sighed.

“But…you buy one practically every day you’re not at the base or off on assignment.

You’ve probably spent hundreds of dollars buying coffee from me. And the cakes—” She gasped. “Do you even like cake?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, Shelby, I like cake. And yes, I might prefer good old black coffee to the elaborate concoctions you sell, but…”

“But what?” Her voice was soft.

“But I’d drink antifreeze if it gave me a chance to see you, all right?”

Something dawned in those dazzling blue eyes of hers. “You come in just to see me?”

“Afraid so.”

“Because we’re…friends?”

He sighed again. “That too. But mainly because I have a huge f**king thing for you and I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you for about a year now.”

The silence was so great you could hear fifty pins drop. His admission had obviously stunned her, because she just sat there, staring at him, her firm thighs cradling his still-hard dick. The silence dragged on for so long he wondered if he should repeat the words, maybe in a different language this time since she honestly didn’t seem to comprehend what he’d said.

She spoke before he could. “You have a thing for me? Even though you think I’m vanilla?”

He blinked. “What? Who said—aw shit, I knew you were listening in the doorway when I was talking to Carson.” He searched her face, suddenly wondering if…had she actually…? “Did you bring us up here to prove something to me?”

She didn’t answer, but the telltale blush on her cheeks said it all.

“Jesus, Shelby!”

Frowning at his harsh tone, she crossed her arms tighter over her chest and said, “It wasn’t the only reason. I really did want…I’ve always…it was a fantasy of mine, okay?”

She looked defensive as she said it. “Maybe it makes me a big slut in your eyes, but I’ve always wanted to experience…you know, two guys.”

Now she just looked embarrassed. She tried to climb off his lap, but Garrett gripped her hips and rolled them both over so that she was lying on her back and he was propped up on his elbow, looming over her. Again she attempted to wiggle away from him, so he simply quieted her with a long kiss. She gave a sharp intake of breath before kissing him back, her warm tongue sliding into his mouth.

“I’m not judging you,” he murmured when he pulled his mouth away. “And I don’t think you’re a slut, not at all. I just don’t want you to think that you need to, you know, screw my friend in order to make yourself more appealing in my eyes. Truth is, you’ve always been pretty damn appealing to me.”

“Then why didn’t you ever say something?” Her eyes were soft as she reached up and touched his chin. “I’ve been flirting with you for a year, Garrett. You could’ve given me a sign that you were interested.”

She’d been flirting with him for a year? Jeez. Maybe if he hadn’t spent so much time trying to figure out a way to ask her out he would’ve picked up on that flirting. As it was, he felt like a complete idiot for missing the signals she’d apparently been transmitting his way.

“I didn’t want you to think I only wanted sex from you,” he finally confessed.

“So all that stuff about my freckles and me not being into kinky sex…?”

“That was Carson trying to convince me you weren’t interested in me because of my reputation for being a, uh…”

“Man-ho?” she supplied.

He leaned down and kissed the mischievous smile right off her lips. “My man-ho days are over. I was serious when I said I want to be with you.”

“This, coming from the guy who just watched his best friend have sex with me.”

“I’ll admit, that made me jealous as hell,” he said gruffly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “But I thought…well, like you said, it was a fantasy of yours. And now that you’ve gotten it out of your system, maybe we could focus on my fantasy.”