Close to You

“How much longer until the restaurant is done?”

“Just a couple of weeks. The floors are going in today. It’ll be mostly finishing work for a bit, and rehabbing Mia’s kitchen. Odds and ends.”

“I’m so excited,” I reply. “You guys have done great. What’s next?”

We spend the next hour talking about work, until he pulls up to the gate of the Naval base. “You don’t have to bring me with you. You can drop me off at the hotel.”

“No need, this will only take a minute,” he replies, and asks for my driver’s license to show the armed guard at the gate. We’re cleared through and he drives to a simple building and parks. “Come on.”

Once we’re inside, he’s recognized by several guys, and Landon waves or says hello as he leads me to an office where a man in uniform is sitting at his desk. He waves us in.

“It’s good to see you, Palazzo.”

“Sir,” Landon replies, his Navy voice sounding very hot. “Do you have the paperwork?”

“I do,” the man replies, and opens a file, then sets one paper before Landon. “I’m sorry you had to come all this way.”

“It should have been handled,” Landon says, sounding not pleased at all. “Are you sure this is the last of it?”

“It is.” Landon signs and passes the paper back. “Thanks for coming in.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

And with that, we turn right around and leave. We’re back in the car less than ten minutes after we parked it.

“We seriously came all the way up here so you could sign one piece of paper?” I ask.

“Gotta love the Navy,” Landon replies grimly. “Shall we go find lunch?”

“Maybe we can check into the hotel early?” I suggest, my wheels turning. “The men in that office recognized you.”

“I was stationed up here for a couple of years,” he replies. “Some of them worked here then.”

“Do you miss it?” I ask, turning in my seat so I can see him.

“Living up here? No. The weather is worse than in Portland.”

“That’s not what I mean. Do you miss the Navy?”

Landon sighs and rubs his fingers over his lips. “There are days that I miss it a lot,” he replies honestly. “I miss some of the guys. There are things about Italy that I loved. And it’s only been a couple of months, so I guess it’s safe to say that I’m still adjusting.”

He pulls into the hotel parking lot before I can ask any more questions. We check in and find our room, which is nicer than any room I’ve stayed in before.

“You booked us a suite,” I say in surprise.

“Might as well make it worth the drive,” he replies with a wink, then pulls me to him and hugs me close. “Okay, spill it. What’s going on in that gorgeous brain of yours?”

“What if I’m just a stand-in for the Navy? I don’t want to be a replacement to keep you busy because you’re sad about what you lost.” I can’t believe the words came out of my mouth. I look up to find Landon frowning thoughtfully, watching me closely. “I’m not saying that that’s how you’re making me feel. You’ve been so great. But the thought is there. I just don’t want you to wake up one morning and realize that this thing between you and me has been fun, but it’s served its purpose.”

“Come here.” He takes my hand and leads me to the sofa on the far side of the room, and doesn’t just sit next to me, he tugs me into his lap and wraps his arms around me tightly. “Cami, it’s recently occurred to me that joining the Navy and moving away was a replacement for you.” My gaze whips up to his in surprise. “You were too young for me, and going into the Navy was the right thing to do, but you were what I wanted. I had such a crush on you.”

“No way.”

He raises a brow. “I’m not lying to you. I won’t lie to you. You didn’t know because it was easy to keep my feelings to myself from thousands of miles away.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, sweetheart. I’m simply trying to reassure you that you are not a replacement for the Navy, or for flying. Do I miss it? Sometimes, yes. But I have you. I have my family, and a job that I surprisingly enjoy for now. I’m not discontent, and I don’t want you to think that I am, even for a minute. You are way more than a diversion, Camille.”

I grin. “I hate that name.”

“I don’t.”

I drag my fingertips down his face, feeling as if the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. “I’ve always envied the way you take risks.”

“I probably take too many risks,” he murmurs. “And you rarely take them at all.”

“That seems to be changing lately,” I reply, and grin as a genius idea occurs to me. I kiss his cheek, then his neck. “Maybe you’re a bad influence on me.”

“Oh, I can pretty much guarantee that’s true,” he replies, then sighs when I nibble on his collarbone. I slip off his lap and onto my knees, between his legs, and lift his shirt up, exposing his stellar abs.

“These are delicious.” I lick him, from sternum to navel, and smile when he groans. My fingers slip inside the waist of his jeans, then unfasten them and spread them open. He’s already hard. “No underwear?”

“You’ve been a bad influence on me too,” he replies, his blue eyes hot with lust. He licks his lips as I drag my lips from his scrotum, up the thick vein in his cock to the head, and then I lick him lightly. “Holy shit.”