Love Me Better by Kit Smart

I’m a hopeless romantic with a dirty mind and high standards. I want to be treated like a gentleman in public, ravished in private, and loved for all eternity.

I guess that’s not a bad thing.

But sometimes it really kills me inside, because I’ll probably never have that fairytale romance.

I’m a bonafide war hero, I’m a good looking guy—I can give Prince Charming a run for his money in my dress uniform, I’ve been involved in more rescue missions than I can count, and I am well versed in all the social niceties including dancing, and making certain my partner enjoys herself with me in bed.

But an explosion, innumerable surgeries, months of rehab, and a cupboard full of medications have taken their toll on me, and my body is no longer what it once was.

It’s complicated….uncooperative.

And squarely at odds with my desires.

I’d made my peace with it…

…focussed on my job as Chief of the NSU; contented myself with saving the world; made damn certain that I had little time or energy left for thoughts of love and relationships.

Everything was under control.

And then impossible, impetuous, lionhearted Almost Special Agent Seri Hunt walked through my office door.

And every cell in my screwed up body started screaming for a happily ever after.

What a plot twist he was…

Being removed from SERE—literally one of the very last courses I needed to complete before I can graduate from training— and being assigned to run an elaborate window dressing operation for a covert unit with no official designation, knocked me for a bit of a loop.

I mean, nobody signs up for a life of espionage thinking that their organizational skills are going to be the thing in demand do they?

Still, a fair chunk of life is about how you handle the plan B, so I’ve decided to roll with it.

(Not that I have a choice.)

The scope of the Andersley ‘Courage After Fire’ Operation is something else though—something much bigger and more complex than I could have imagined.

Despite my experience, it would have set me back on my proverbial heels a bit, even without the added complication of having to work closely with the objectively attractive ginger and bonafide war hero in charge of the covert unit.

The chemistry between us is undeniable despite the fact that Owen Bishop-MacQuoide, has the lion’s share of his attention focussed elsewhere, and can be, a touch, well, cantankerous.

I haven’t even received a briefing on the do’s and dont’s of getting involved with a colleague yet.

…presumably that comes somewhere after SERE training and before graduation.

I never actually expected it to be an issue.

Men are like busses after all; there’s a new one every ten minutes.

There’s no reason to get hung up on one particular guy.

It’s not like Prince Charming and Happily Ever Afters are an actual thing thing.

…nonetheless…

… I haven’t stopped wanting to drag him off to bed since the moment we met.