Man of Honor (Battle Scars #3) - Diana Gardin Page 0,23
seem, there’s always miles of depth beneath the surface.
Miles, miles, miles.
It could take a lifetime to get to the bottom of it all.
“So how does it feel?” I ask. My voice is cautious, because the answer might not be what I want to hear.
She smiles and stretches. That’s when I notice the tiny dimple that dents the top of her left cheek. It’s adorable.
“It feels…different.” A shadow crosses her expression, and as she finishes stretching the sheet falls away from her naked breasts. She doesn’t bother to cover herself back up. I like that.
“Is it something you want to repeat?” I don’t realize I’m holding my breath waiting for her answer until my lungs start to burn. I can’t believe I care this much. Mea has put me through the wringer since we met. But something deep inside tells me I can handle more. When it comes to her, I can always handle more.
She meets my gaze with a steady one of her own. “It might be, Sullivan. But I’m not going to be like other girls; I don’t do clingy. I have a lot of my own shit to worry about. Like saving money so I can open the space I plan to rent on the Upper End as my own yoga studio. It’s all…it’s all I have.”
Her voice drops to a whisper at the last, and my chest constricts. I cup the side of her face. “I can handle that. I don’t do clingy, either. And I also have my own shit to worry about.” To drown in.
She nods as she sits up, taking the sheet with her. Her tiny movement somehow seems big in my bedroom, her curls whirling around her like an unseen wind is tossing them around. Wild.
Again, I’m reminded of a tornado. She could suck me in if she really wanted to. But where will I end up when she spits me back out again?
“Cool.” She bends down to grab her clothes and begins to dress. “Then we keep this casual. And our friends don’t need to know anything. I don’t want to steal any attention away from Berkeley while she’s in the home stretch for the wedding.”
I nod, stretching my arms above my head. They reach the headboard. “Sounds good to me.”
She pulls on her black combat boots, stamping each foot before tying up the laces. “Okay then. Can you take me home?”
I rise from the bed, taking note when her eyes roam hungrily over my naked body. I’m pretty sure that whenever she’s in the room, my cock will jump to action, and now is no different. My soldier stands at attention, and her eyes stray to my very blatant erection.
I watch her with amusement on my face. Damn, I could get used to her staring at me like she wants to eat me for breakfast.
Because that’s exactly how I stare at her.
“I teach…” She trails off as I bend over to grab my jeans.
“Yeah?”
She clears her throat. “I teach yoga at the gym at noon. I have to get going.”
I dress quickly, smirking at her. “Then let’s get you to work on time.”
I haul ass straight to the garage after dropping Mea off at the grill to get her car, then following her to her place. It was the first time I’d seen where she’d been living ever since Greta, her old roomie, moved into her fiancé’s house. Mea couldn’t swing the rent at her old place without Greta, so she’d moved into a tiny studio that was really just the upstairs in someone’s cottage. She had her own walk-up entrance, though, so it wasn’t too bad on privacy. But when I stood at the door and glanced in, something tweaked me. Her place is tiny. Too tiny. And sparse. She doesn’t have much, and I know that every spare penny she makes is going toward opening her own business. But damn. She needs more.
It’s still bouncing around in my mind when I walk into the shop. On the back wall, my own name in big, red block letters greets me. The sight usually makes me smile, but I’m too bogged down in my thoughts to see it today. DRAKE’S AUTOMOTIVE. My pride and joy.
Will saunters over to me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Well, shit, boss. I can’t remember the last time you let me open the shop and gave yourself a morning off.”
My scowl doesn’t deter him or wipe the smirk off his lips. “Had things to do.”