Scarlett Red: A Billionaire SEAL Story, Part 2 (In the Shadows) by P.T. Michelle Page B

he grips my hand once more. “I’d like to spend more time with you.”
    All I can think about is Sebastian. How he’d ruined me for all men. Nathan had been a bandage. One I thought I could slap on, and with enough time, he would heal the gaping hole Sebastian left behind after our one mind-blowing night together.
    I shake my head and pull free once more. “I’m sorry, Bash. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    His brow furrows, frustration evident. “It’s a fucking perfect idea and you know it.”
    I step out of his car and shut the door, feeling as if I owe him some kind of explanation. Yes, the chemistry is there “in spades” as he put it. He doesn’t deserve this. “You remind me too much of someone from my past.”
    When I start to turn away, he demands in a low tone, “Was it that good? Or that bad?”
    “Both,” I answer honestly, then walk away as thunder booms overhead.
    On my way to my room, I get a text from Nathan.
     
    Nathan: I want to talk to you. It’s important.
     
    Me: Talk later.
     
    Nathan: Need to talk now, but you’re not here.
     
    Ugh. He must be at my apartment. What could be so important?
     
    Me: I’m out of town. Will call when I return.
     
    Once I get back to my room, I don’t even turn on the lights. Instead, I instantly strip and head for the shower. Miraculously I manage not to cry while I let the hot water wash away the festival’s dust clinging to my sun-kissed skin.
    I automatically pick up the bar of soap, but then put it back. The same with the shampoo. By the time I’ve towel-dried my hair, the storm is raging outside. Thunder rocks the floor and lightning illuminates the room in a strobe-light effect. A heavy wall of rain rushes against the window, its fury thrashing against the glass.
    I walk over to my suitcase in the darkened room and slip on a pair of clean underwear, then I unzip the extra compartment in the suitcase and pull out a folded jacket.
    My fingers trace over the supple expensive leather before I slide my arms inside and sigh at the brief arousing feel of the coat’s lining rubbing against my bare nipples. I tug the cushioned high-back chair over to the window and sit, glad the sheer curtains give me privacy but allow some light in the otherwise dim room.
    Leaning against the chair’s side arm, I tuck my knees against my chest and push my nose into the jacket’s leather collar. Inhaling deeply, I exhale a sigh of relief that it still smells like Sebastian. Well, the seventeen-year-old boy he was when he gave it to me that night in the pouring rain eleven years ago. I’ve always been careful not to use perfumed products right before I slip into his coat. His smell has faded over time, but I would hate for the leather to lose the unique masculine scent completely.
    I’ve taken Sebastian’s jacket with me wherever I go, but it’s only when I’m feeling particularly alone that I pull it out. Today definitely qualifies.
    “Why can’t I let you go?” I whisper as silent tears fall. I know fundamentally why, but it has been three years since I felt his touch. One would think I would’ve moved past the pining stage by now, that I shouldn’t let one person occupy so much space in my head.
    Protector, benefactor, lover…my obsession. That is what Sebastian has become.
    And now that I’ve met a man who could possibly push him to the back of my mind and make him a distant memory, I’m sitting here alone in the dark, wearing his jacket. How fucked up is that?
    I sigh toward the ceiling and clasp the coat tighter around me, letting the constant rush of the rain outside work its magic on my mind that doesn’t want to settle.
    Closing my eyes, I listen to the steady beat against the glass and allow myself to embrace the memory of the night I lost my virginity to the only man I’ve ever fully trusted. The only man I completely submitted to in heart, body, and mind. My skin flushes as I mentally summon the feel of his hands on my skin, the