Tangled Pursuit Read Online Free Page A

watched Tal and her sister, noting that Tal was taller than most women, although Alexa was only two inches shorter than her. Tal had a lean body that he found himself fantasizing about on far too many nights. Despite her height, she couldn’t have hidden her femininity if she tried.
    Granted, out here in the badlands, women didn’t wear makeup or perfume—especially a sniper like Tal. The scent would carry on the wind, straight to the Taliban. They’d follow it and discover her hiding place. He couldn’t even think about what might happen after that.
    Turning to his breakfast, he shoveled more eggs into his mouth, delighting in the line of sight he had on the woman he wanted in his bed—one way or another.
    Wyatt had always danced away from serious, long-term relationships. Hell, he’d seen too many SEAL marriages fail horribly. A 90 percent divorce rate didn’t offer him the odds he’d need to even consider the idea, which was why he kept his hookups light and short-term.
    He often told himself that he was doing women a favor by walking away in the morning. To lead a woman on by making her think there was hope for a serious relationship would be a dark falsehood. SEALs who were in love, he thought, had to lie to themselves about their odds of keeping a marriage together, given their brutal rotation cycle and the fact that they were often away from home for six months or more at a time. He wouldn’t put himself or a woman he wanted to love through that kind of minefield. Wyatt was always upfront with a woman who interested him—that it was for a night of sex, and that was it. If she agreed, they both walked away satisfied and happy the next morning.
    Wyatt drank his coffee, watching Tal smile at Matt. He’d actually gotten to know Matt very well because SEALs and CAG/Delta Force often worked together on many overlapping HVT missions.
    Because he liked the guy a lot, it only added to Tal’s appeal. After all, someone with as great a guy as Matt for a brother had to be pretty special herself. As the years rolled by, Wyatt counted Matt like a younger brother to him. They worked together often. The Delta Force sergeant was reliable, loyal, and guarded everyone’s back. That counted in Wyatt’s world. Plus, he liked Matt’s easygoing nature, which was a lot like his own. He often teased Matt that he was his twin but they’d been separated at birth and sent to a different family. Matt laughed and agreed.
    Finishing off his eggs, Wyatt turned to the strawberry jam he’d dropped onto his aluminum tray. There was enough there to kill a horse, but Wyatt knew from experience that protein and sugar were two of a SEAL’s best friends when either going on an op or just coming off one.
    Wyatt had been out for twelve exhausting days on a long direct-action mission, or DA, with seven other team members. They had all dropped at least ten pounds in weight, but now they were going to wolf down enough food to make up for it.
    He watched an animated Tal tease her brother and sister and grinned as he saw her issue a rare smile in their direction. He liked her smile. She had an oval face, high cheekbones, and a strong, stubborn jawline. Yeah, she was stubborn, all right. Why wouldn’t she come down off that icy cliff she always sat on and at least be civil toward him?
    Even with her long, black hair in a ponytail, she was all woman. Wyatt knew she pulled at least two sniper ops a month, even though she was in charge of her sniper unit here at Bagram. Tal wasn’t an officer who sat behind a desk; she needed to be out in the field with her people.
    That was another thing he liked about her. And sometimes, he’d gotten lucky and run into Tal and her spotter, Jay Caldwell, out in the Hindu Kush. While Jay was cordial, Tal always seemed pissed off at him because his team was in her territory. He was running through her area, creating a disturbance, she said, messing up her hide, where she was camouflaged and couldn’t be seen by the