LITMIR.BIZ

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rate of 120, and absolute faith her training meant that even if she got distracted by talking, muscle memory would get her through the workout.

      But right now her smile was as shaky as her knees. Her heart was beating so fast and loud that she was light-headed, and her muscles were going into meltdown.

      All it had taken was a single touch from Super Hottie.

      Or...

      Um, what had he said his name was?

      Livi wet her lips, about to ask, when she realized she was still shaking his hand. No, it’d been so long now that she was just holding his hand.

      Could she be a bigger dork?

      Her cheeks warming, she let go and stepped back. It took all of her resolve, and the image of her mother’s glare, to keep Livi from turning heel and running out of the room. And she’d thought she’d overcome her shyness? Ha. Making a complete ass of herself with the sexiest man she’d met in forever pretty much burst that illusion.

      Then she forced herself to stop. This was simply resistance. Maybe a dash of humiliation, but mostly resistance. Muscles weren’t built without it, she reminded herself. See it as a strength-training exercise.

      Rallying to the self-lecture, Livi took a slow, subtle breath, pulling the air all the way down to her belly button. She let it calm her, soothe the edgy nerves. Another breath and she was able to pull on her meet-the-press persona, complete with toothy smile.

      “Most people call me Livi,” she told him before inclining her head toward his friend, who appeared to be arguing with Tessa.

      But... Men never argued with Tessa.

      “I’m surprised he recognized me in this getup,” Livi said slowly, distracted by the other two. “Actually, I’m surprised he recognized me at all. That doesn’t happen very often.”

      “Romeo has a special knack,” Super Hottie said with a friendly shrug. “I keep telling him he’d be a great spy, but his memory is pretty selective.”

      “Romeo?” Tessa stopped whatever she was debating so fiercely to interrupt. She gave Super Hottie’s half-dressed friend an amused look then flicked her finger over the feather behind his ear. “And here I thought you were Tonto.”

      “And here I thought angels were sweet,” the man called Romeo shot back.

      Livi’s confused glance bounced between the two of them. Tessa seduced men. She didn’t argue with them. And the only guy Livi had ever seen go toe to toe with her usually charming friend had done so because he’d wanted to wear the feather boa in a dance number.

      What was going on?

      Frowning, she looked at Super Hottie askance. He gave a baffled shake of his head.

      “So what do you do if you’re not a spy?” Livi asked Romeo, with a bright smile, trying to smooth over the social awkwardness. An odd change since she was usually the one causing it.

      “I blow things up.” His smile coated in charm, he leaned back, draping one arm over the back of the chair. “Irish here does push-ups.”

      Oh, the images.

      Livi’s heart did a happy bounce just thinking of Super Hottie in a plank position, biceps and triceps bulging as he pressed. Up. Down. Up. Down.

      Whew. She wet her lips and wished she had a glass of water. Iced, preferably.

      As much to try to erase the tempting visual from her mind as to stop the conversation before it moved on, Livi waved her hand in the air.

      “Hold up. Romeo? Irish? I have trouble believing your mother looked at your sweet baby faces and decided to give you those names.”

      Romeo gave a snort that could have been taken as amusement if not for the quick flash of bitterness in his eyes.

      Super Hottie flew to the rescue so fast Livi wondered if she had been imagining things.

      “Romeo and Irish are call signs, nicknames, if you will. It’s a Navy thing, or rather a military thing.” Super Hottie offered a smile that rivaled his friend’s in charm. “I’d rather you just called me Mitch, though. And he’s Gabriel, if you were looking for something else to call him.”

      “I’ve got a few other things in mind,” Tessa muttered.

      Mitch. Livi was too busy rolling Super Hottie’s name around in her mind to do more than give her friend a quick elbow jab.

      “So Gabriel blows things up,” Livi said, her eyes locked on Mitch’s bright blue ones. They were hypnotic. Seductively hypnotic. “What about you, Mitch? What do you do?”

      Me, she wanted to suggest. I’d like you to do me.

      But for once, her bone-deep shyness came to the rescue, keeping her mouth shut before she blurted that out.

      “I’m a bit of master of everything. You name it, I’ve probably done it.”

      “Is that so?” Livi murmured, her mind rapidly compiling a list of things he might have mastered. Since most of them involved him being naked, her smile turned naughty. “Tell me more.”

      “Why don’t you name a few and we’ll compare notes.” Coming from any other guy, she’d consider that to be a pickup line. But Mitch looked as sincere as he did amused. He was so nonthreatening, he scared her.

      Or maybe that was the desire pounding through her body.

      She wet her lips, wondering how to find out.

      Before she could come up with any ideas, Tessa’s words caught her attention.

      “Livi can beat that. She is the push-up queen.”

      Frowning, Livi looked at her best friend. Had she missed the coronation?

      “I bow to her majesty’s prowess. But Irish is still the best.”

      Was he? He was busy watching the debate between Gabriel and Tessa, so Livi allowed herself to stare. He definitely had a great body. She could see enough of his muscle definition to give a nod to the Navy for a job well done. A great body was one thing. Knowing how to use it was another.

      Been there, done that, had the divorce papers to prove it.

      She was pretty sure Mitch knew what to do with his. A guy as hot as he was, as focused and intuitive? He had to, right?

      “You want to bet?”

      “Name the stakes, Angel.”

      “Anything you want says that Livi can beat Mitch at push-ups.”

      Livi blinked as the words filtered through her fantasies of what Mitch might do if he focused on her naked body.

       What?

      She shook her head then did a mental replay.

      “What?” She gave Tessa a baffled look. “What are you talking about?”

      “Just pointing out that you’re in great shape and you rock at push-ups.” Tessa shrugged. “Why not prove it?”

      “Maybe because I’m dressed like a snack cake.” Then Livi muttered out the side of her mouth. “Or maybe because I don’t want to? Besides, you’re in great shape, too. You prove it.”

      “You’ve got a bodysuit on underneath.” Ignoring the rest, Tessa frowned. Obviously she was more focused on beating Romeo at whatever private game they were playing than on Livi’s wants.

      “You’re seriously challenging my guy to a push-up contest?” His teeth flashed white against his bronze skin before Gabriel threw back his head and laughed. “Angel, he’s a SEAL. Best of the best. I know your girl is good, but she can’t be that good.”

      A SEAL?

      Livi melted a little inside.

      He

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