The thought brought a sting of pain to her heart, along with a jolt of disenchantment. It really did bother her that Seth still hadn’t warmed up to her kids, even after nearly a month of being in their lives.

“Has he spent much time with them?” Andre asked.

“Not really. I mean, we stayed at his house when our place was being renovated, but his schedule is kind of messed up, so either he wouldn’t be home when the twins were awake, or he’d be sleeping during the day after being gone all night. He’s a SEAL,” she said hastily, when her explanation earned her two suspicious looks.

Ginny’s distrust instantly transformed into delight. “A SEAL? Oh, hell yes, Miranda. That’s so hot and I’m so jealous.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just because he’s a SEAL doesn’t mean I should marry the man. Actually, I have a feeling if I even brought up the word marriage he’d run screaming in the other direction.”

“Commitment-phobe,” Andre said knowingly.

“Kid-phobe,” she reminded them. “Seth doesn’t want to be a dad. He didn’t explicitly say it, but it’s fairly obvious he has no intention of ever having children.”

“Maybe that’s because he hasn’t spent a lot of time with them,” Ginny pointed out. “It’s easy for people like us to shake our heads and say ‘what the hell is wrong with that guy?’ but we hang out with children of all ages every day. Not everyone has the same opportunity. Is he an only child?”

Miranda nodded.

“Okay, so he didn’t have any younger siblings running underfoot. And he’s in the military, surrounded by men and women his own age or older.” Ginny shrugged. “He probably has no idea how to talk to kids. They make him uncomfortable because he can’t relate to them.”

Andre joined in, his tone grudging. “She has a point, boss. A lot of people can’t interact with children. If you don’t have any of your own, or aren’t in a kid-friendly environment, then chances are you don’t know how to handle being around them.”

They raised a good point, and Miranda grew quiet for a moment as she let it all sink in. Heck, maybe Ginny and Andre were right. Maybe it wasn’t that Seth didn’t like children. Maybe he simply didn’t know how to relate to them. She remembered a time when she hadn’t known the first thing about kids—but she’d had to learn pretty damn fast once motherhood had been prematurely forced upon her.

“So, what, you think I shouldn’t write him off just yet?” she asked uneasily.

Ginny’s head tilted pensively. “I don’t know. I’m just saying that if it’s the kid thing that’s holding you back, maybe you should get him to spend some more time with Soph and Jase and see if he starts feeling more at ease with them.”

She supposed that wasn’t a bad suggestion. If she wanted something more serious with Seth. But did she? She’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t settle for anything less than a reliable partner who was willing to give their relationship 100 percent. She needed someone who would always be there, someone who wouldn’t let her down, who wouldn’t let her children down. Because she wouldn’t be the only one getting attached to the man she brought into their lives. Sophie and Jason would get attached too.

But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to be more open about this thing with Seth. They’d spent a lot of time together over the past two weeks, in and out of bed, and she truly did enjoy his company. She loved arguing with him, loved curling up against his broad chest, loved how when she talked about people or places in Vegas, he knew exactly what she meant because he’d grown up there too.

Would it really be so terrible to lower the shield around her heart? Just a little bit?

Battling a mix of uncertainty and trepidation, she finally put an end to her troubling inner debate by making a decision. From now on when it came to Seth, she was officially keeping an open mind.

Loud laughter and lewd catcalls were the two most common side effects of poker night, and Friday was absolutely no exception. The men had only been gathered at Carson Scott’s place for twenty minutes, and the good-natured heckling was already occurring in full force.

Carson, who’d just been taunted about the hickey on his neck, remained impervious in the face of it all. “What can I say? My wife can’t keep her mouth off me. I’m a walking turn-on and I ain’t gonna apologize for it. In fact, I embrace it.”

Dylan groaned right along with everyone else in the living room. He was suddenly happy he hadn’t bailed tonight the way he’d been tempted to do. Normally he loved hanging out with the boys, and poker night was always a blast, but for the last couple of weeks he’d avoided connecting with any of his teammates outside of the base. Matt, in particular, which made him feel pretty shitty because he loved chilling with O’Connor.

Unfortunately, Matt was BFFs with the one person Dylan didn’t want to see at the moment, which was why he’d been making himself scarce.

His insides had been tied in rigid knots the entire drive over here. He’d barely said a word to Seth in the car, too busy envisioning all sorts of awkward scenarios. But all that worrying had been futile because when he’d walked into Carson’s living room, Aidan Rhodes was nowhere to be found.

Relief had soared through him. And at the same time? Disappointment. A hefty dose of it. Rather than focus on the latter, he’d clung to that rush of relief, finding solace in Aidan’s absence. He’d only seen Aidan once since he’d moved back home, and that entire encounter had left him feeling even edgier than before.