Navy Seal Seduction. Bonnie Vanak

hiding her thoughts. The man could smell anxiety from miles away.

      “She’s only upset because it was the waste of a good chicken for dinner.”

      He did not smile at her little joke. She walked over to the counter to peer out the window. Fleur was outside, playing jump rope with the two other little girls who had accompanied her into the compound. Their mothers worked at the mango factory.

      Lacey turned, studying her ex. Her gaze fell to the curve of his spine against the tight white T-shirt, the muscles on his back, down to the pistol tucked into the leather holster.

      Jarrett was walking, talking security. He wouldn’t have fallen asleep at the gate. He’d have tracked down the trespasser and squeezed out the information about who wanted to scare her.

      He rose off the chair, all six feet, three inches of muscled male. Her heart pounded faster.

      “I think I’ll have a look around your house before I start on whatever manual labor you have assigned to me.”

      For a big man, he had a quiet, graceful stride. She supposed it came from the nature of his work. And he was very security conscious. Lacey watched him check all the downstairs windows. Funny, she’d always felt safe when he was home.

      When being the operative word.

      But before he’d left for a mission, Jarrett had always ensured that the house was tight and secure, the alarm system working and emergency contacts within easy reach.

      Jarrett went to the front door and ran a hand over the edge then jiggled the lock.

      He turned, dusting off his hands.

      “One well-placed kick could knock down this door.”

      “We’ve never had anyone try. Usually they’re more polite and open the door.” She tried to hide the worry he’d put into words. When she’d been alone with Rose, she never worried about sleeping here. Now that she had Fleur, she constantly worried.

      “Lacey, I don’t like it,” Jarrett began.

      She held up a finger as her cell phone rang. Lacey’s heart sank as she answered and heard the news. Frightened by the spreading violence in the city, one of her best donors was packing his bags and heading back to France.

      More and more wealthy donors were pulling out. Her chest constricted. She had to ship out jam and make good on her new contract or she’d lose all her profits.

      She crooked a finger at Jarrett. “Come on. I have work for you.”

      They walked outside, down the dirt path that led to a large, wood-frame shed where she packed the marmalade. Lacey fished a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

      He picked up a jar of jam with the labels she’d made on her computer. Lacey took it from his hands.

      “This one’s crooked. I’ll save it for the house.”

      “You always were a perfectionist.” Jarrett smiled at her and the power in his smile made her weak. That smile...it was what attracted her to him long ago. Not his great, killer bod or his quiet intellect. That 10,000-watt smile. When he turned it on her, giving her his full attention, she felt like the center of his universe. She, who had been ignored by a father more interested in his business and a mother more concerned with her society parties, mattered the most to this man.

      Lacey set the jar on the shelf among those she’d intended to keep, her heart squeezing painfully. Jarrett had another lady who came first—the Navy.

      Duty before love.

      They walked into the room. Jarrett’s gaze went from the stacks of crates and packing to a bottle sitting by the table. He went to the empty bottle, turned it upside down. There was a set of keys beside the bottle.

      Her temper rose as she grabbed the keys. “Now I know why Pierre didn’t see anything.”

      Jarrett sniffed the bottle. “Doesn’t help when your security guard has been drinking all night.”

      “Job hazard in this country. I’ll have to fire Pierre. Total security fail. Damn it.”

      He raised a dark brow, and the cynical expression on his face kicked in all her defenses. Maybe he perceived this as evidence she couldn’t hold her own out here, even though she had done it for years.

      “One bad call in giving a guy a chance doesn’t make it a total failure.”

      She blinked in surprise at his understanding and sought to regain her lost composure. “I’m not upset about that. I’m mad because that was a damn fine bottle of wine I’d been saving.”

      His full mouth quirked in a sexy little grin. “That’s the spirit. I’ll find you a new security guard, screen him and have him start right away. I’m sure there are guys Ace can recommend on the island.”

      Her mind zipped through the figures it would cost. The type of security Ace would recommend would strain her already screaming budget. “Things are a little tight in the pocket...”

      “I’ll pay for his salary.”

      “I don’t need your help,” she started. Jarrett raised a brow and she sighed. “All right. But I’ll pay you back after I get the check from the restaurants that ordered the mango marmalade.”

      “Deal.” He whipped out his cell phone and sent a text.

      As he tucked the phone away, his relief was obvious. “You’ll be doing me a favor, Lace. If you had someone on that front gate who knew how to hold a weapon, a trained professional, I could sleep at night.”

      “Me, too. Maybe. Lately that’s a challenge, even with a glass of red wine.”

      Jarrett smiled, looking lost in thought.

      “Remember when we made the wine after I came home from the tour of Iraq?” He stepped closer, ran a hand down her arm. She shivered with pleasure at the contact.

      “I remember how drunk you got me.” Her voice dropped. “I remember...what we did afterward.”

      Jarrett’s gaze grew heated. “Every time I cracked open a bottle of wine, I remember what I did with you. Every single moment.”

      Lacey hurried through the room, her body tingling. She had to put him at a distance. So many memories, and here he was before her, like a gift she never asked for.

      A gift that could lead to heartache all over. She didn’t need this heartache.

      And even if Jarrett Adler meant to stay for the foreseeable future, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t risk falling in love with him and ruining her life again.

      This time it would be different. He wasn’t going to stick around, anyway. He’d get the call to return to base, and return to being a SEAL. Men like Jarrett Adler never did stick around.