Code Name: Nanny (SEAL and Code Name #5)(88)

The woman was good, he thought dimly.

Without breaking the kiss, Gabe pulled her between his legs. Purely as a test, he told himself. To see how convincing she could be.

She tilted her head, studying him intently. “I’d like having more sex with you.” She traced his lips slowly with the tip of her tongue, and that one amazing move almost made Gabe forget this was purely a performance.

“Does that feel like I’m distracted?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute or two,” he said hoarsely. Despite all his control, his hands rose to her breasts, coaxing her nipples to hard points.

She made a ragged sound of pleasure, and Gabe kept right on touching her until she moaned again and her fingers dug beneath the waist of his pajamas.

He managed to stop her hand before it found its mark. They needed distance, he thought grimly. Anger would make her back off.

“Not bad,” he said hoarsely, “but your emotional tone was all wrong. You kissed me like a freshman on a first date.”

Summer stared at him. “I kissed you like—”

“No one in their right mind would believe we’d had sex before.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You big, arrogant—”

“But it doesn’t matter. We’re leaving in less than an hour.”

She took a sharp breath and glared at him. At least she didn’t look vulnerable and uncertain now, Gabe thought. That was the good news.

The bad news was she looked as if she might shoot out both kneecaps if he said another word. He made a production of checking his watch. “I have to shower, then I’ll meet up with Izzy and see you downstairs.”

“You want to know what you can do with your emotional tone, Morgan?”

“Sorry, no time.” Gabe closed the bathroom door quickly and heard a thud as her shoe hit hard. The outside door slammed shut a moment later.

He ran a hand through his hair. Thank God she’d gotten angry. One more gut-wrenching kiss and he’d have stripped her naked while they took the long road to oblivion all over again.



All the way down the hall, Summer kept waiting for her heart to stop pounding.

Had she lost her mind? This was work, and emotions had no business intruding.

In a blur she walked through the lobby, dodging bags and early arrivals while she continued to berate herself. In all fairness, it wasn’t Gabe’s fault that she’d tangled her body around him in sleep all during the night. It wasn’t his fault that she’d practically melted all over him during one of her steamier fantasies.

She took an angry breath, sidestepping a group of American tourists who were awaiting a tour departure. Why did the wretched man refuse to admit that his knee was bothering him? Summer was certain his movements had been jerky when she’d first come out of the shower.

She smiled at the waiter, who showed her to a table overlooking the crowded lobby. After a cursory glance at the menu, she chose oatmeal and coffee for herself, then placed Gabe’s order, explaining that her husband would join her shortly.

Her stomach tied up in knots. She had no experience with relationships or the kind of passion she’d experienced with Gabe. Her coworkers back in Philadelphia called her coolheaded, even stoic, but behind her back they called her a variety of nasty names that involved the word ice.

Yet Summer felt anything but cold remembering the things Gabe had done to her in the night. In fact, every nerve clamored for her to go back upstairs and maneuver his lean, hard body exactly where she wanted it.

Hammering her brains out.

She closed her eyes and made a hopeless sound. Maybe she was just punchy from adrenaline and lack of sleep.

Summer realized that a man at a nearby table was staring at her. She looked away, avoiding his eyes, and noticed that two tables away another man was showing equal interest.

Why? Was her sweater crooked? Did she have food on her face?

Bewildered, Summer checked the mirrored column near her table, stunned to see a stranger with glowing cheeks and sexy, mussed hair. All of it came courtesy of Gabe and the amazing sex that had kept her up half of the night. That was no illusion.

But what happened to them now?

Torn by indecision, Summer watched the waiter arrange plates on the table. She couldn’t pretend what she felt for Gabe was limited to their work. Her breasts still stung from his stubble and her thighs ached from the force of his slow, powerful possession.

But Summer was a woman who never, ever lost control. She didn’t groan men’s names and claw their chests in the middle of hot, out-of-control sex.

Until last night. Until Gabe.

She closed her eyes, remembering how she’d sprawled over him in her sleep. She’d bit him and clawed him, but afterward she had curled up against him, feeling absolutely secure and protected in his embrace.

Though they were barely more than strangers.

Light-headed, she stared at the eggs and oatmeal cooling on the table. She had to end this emotional turmoil now. She refused to confuse good sex with lasting commitment or love. Only a fool would make a mistake like that.

Gabe knew that, too. That had to be why he’d criticized her, to remind her they were playing a role and nothing more. He was right, she realized sadly.

But it hurt. Oh, how it hurt.



Gabe appeared in the doorway and spotted Summer. Awareness punched him in the chest even though he’d seen her only ten minutes before. They’d just have time to eat before they met Izzy, and he realized he was ravenous.