Read The Navy SEAL's Christmas Bride for Free Online

knew just how to do it.
    “You don’t have to wear lingerie when we sleep together,” he called out as he came up behind her.
    Sarah visibly startled.
    “I’d probably just tear it off of you anyway. Although that could be fun. Do you like getting lingerie torn off you, Metlin?”
    She picked up speed.
    “I bet you do. I bet you have a whole stash of cheap lingerie in a special drawer just so guys like me can tear it off of you.”
    “I don’t sleep with guys like you.”
    “You don’t sleep with handsome, strong, intelligent men?” He kept pace with her.
    “I don’t sleep with ignorant, ugly horn-dogs.”
    “I may be ignorant about what makes you tick, Metlin, but I’m working on that. And I might be a horn-dog, but that’s something you’ll come to appreciate in time. But I’m not ugly. Ruggedly good-looking, yes. Ugly, no.”
    “You sure are full of yourself.”
    “You know how it is, a beautiful woman like yourself.” He shrugged. “If enough people tell you how great you look, you come to believe them.”
    She stopped cold. Dan executed an awkward twisting two-step on his snow-shoes to keep from crashing into her. “What the hell? Why’d you stop?”
    “Because the only people who’ve ever called me beautiful are the assholes who want to get in my pants so they can say they’ve bagged me. They’re so threatened by my capabilities—afraid they can’t beat me head to head athletically—that they need to prove they can master me in the sack. Is that what this is about, Hemmins? Do you feel the need to fuck me so that you can assure your inner man-child that you’re still really all that?”
    Dan was taken aback. A one-night stand was the last thing he was after. He had a feeling a relationship with Sarah could hold his attention for a long time.
    “Just like I thought—you’re the same as every other asshole out there,” she went on before he could say a word of what was on his mind. “Well, head’s-up, hero. I’m not impressed by your Navy SEAL status. If I was allowed to try, I’d pass every test they could throw at me. And I’m not impressed by your super-hero looks. I care about character, kindness and honor far more than I care about muscles. I’m not looking to be your holiday fling. The next time I get involved with a man it will be for the long haul. So just…forget about me, would you? Just leave me alone.”
    She jogged off, leaving Dan speechless. There was pain behind those words—real pain. Some asshole had hurt Sarah—he was sure of it. And her inability to try out for the SEALS—or rather, the Special Forces, in her case—must have hurt her even more. He stood still, his breath fogging the air as he tried to picture how he’d feel in her shoes. What if he’d tried to become a SEAL and been told to go take a hike?
    He’d have been furious.
    He began to walk slowly, thinking it through. Was that why Sarah had such a chip on her shoulder? Because she felt like she’d been held back?
    Was that why she was leaving the military?
    It made sense.
    She must be sick of guys trying to bed her to prove their superiority, too.
    But that’s not what he wanted to do, he thought as he got moving again. He was teasing her so hard precisely because he did respect what she had accomplished, and he was flirting with her so baldly because she turned him on. He jogged after her. When Mason had suggested Sarah as a possible partner in his adventure course, Dan hadn’t taken him seriously. His clients would want to feel they were getting the real deal. They’d want to be taught by men who’d served in elite squads themselves. In his mind, Sarah didn’t fit the criteria.
    But maybe he was wrong. Maybe there was a place for a woman as accomplished as she was proving herself to be. She could attract a female clientele he hadn’t even considered. He decided to test her a few more times before approaching her with an offer, though. She was strong and she was fast, but it took a lot