She glared furiously at his shadowed face and ground out, “You think because you deign to bestow a kiss upon me, I’m going to collapse at your feet, swooning? You think because I have sexual desires I can’t be a soldier? You think because I find you moderately attractive I can’t keep my mind on the job?” Her voice rose with each question. “Just how freaking shallow do you think I am?”

His mouth clamped shut, and she caught the ripple of muscles along his jaw.

“You’re the one who kissed me,” she flung at him. “How shallow does that make you?” As her fury gathered steam, she stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “I don’t think women in the SEALs are the problem, Caldwell. I think misogynistic male chauvinist pigs in the SEALs are the problem.”

“Sherri. Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! You keep your hands, and your mouth, and…and”—she fluttered her hands at him—“all those muscles…to yourself, mister. I’m a professional soldier, and I’m here to do a job. You either get on board this train or stay out of my way. Got it?”

“No,” he ground out. “I don’t.”

She glared at him, speechless with anger.

“No matter how fancy you slice it, Sherri, no woman has what it takes to be a SEAL. You’ll never have what it takes. You have no place on the teams and never will.”

There it was. The truth had finally been spoken aloud. The SEALs didn’t want women and would do everything in their power to keep women out. And on a more personal note, he didn’t want her.

Her anger drained away as quickly as it had flared, leaving behind only a dagger of hurt buried to the hilt in her heart.

She said soberly, “What are you going to do when I prove you wrong, Griffin?”

Frustration gleamed in his gaze as clear and bright as Venus hanging low on the horizon.

She continued implacably. “The day of the female SEAL is coming—soon. If not me, then some woman a lot like me is going to make it past all the obstacles you throw in her path. Where will that leave you? Will you be in…or out?”

He threw up his hands and turned away from her, but she continued battering at his ramrod-stiff back. “Where will that leave you, Griffin? Will you be part of the SEALs, or will you be obsolete? Are you going to let your prejudice and archaic attitude drive you off the teams?”

He whirled around so fast she lurched back from him reflexively. “My team is my family. My life, dammit.”