Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“No,” he growled. “I want you to be my woman, Torey. I’ll come home on every leave. And when I can’t, I’ll fly you to wherever I am. It’s not enough, I know that you deserve so much more than this.” His jaw clenched. “But I stopped believing that I’d ever find this connection with anyone, and it’s with the girl who’s been right under my nose for most of my life.”
Swoon! “Ryan.” It was everything I wanted to hear, everything I ever wanted a man to say but it felt…incomplete.
“It’s not enough.” His tone was filled with devastation.
“It’s not that. It’s just, I don’t know, how long will we do that if this thing between us turns out to be the real thing?” I shook my head. “I know what you want for your career, and I want that for you, but I can’t live my life only seeing you whenever it’s convenient.”
“That’s fair.” He nodded, his expression unsatisfied. “If I don’t get medically cleared I’m not retiring, but I will have a more regular schedule.”
I was torn. Ryan was everything I thought I’d have to do without living in Holiday Grove where there were almost no single strangers. But what he was offering was basically half a life. Half a love. “I want to say yes to you, Ryan, more than anything.”
He nodded. “What’s stopping you?”
I sighed. “I’m in love with you, Ryan. I know it’s fast and it seems crazy, but it’s true. I want what you’re offering, so bad, but I have to decide if I’m okay with the long absences and living more of my life without than with you.” It hurt my heart so say those words to him, but I had to be honest. “I need to think about it. Is that all right?”
“More than all right. This only works if you want it too.” He smiled tightly as the server delivered our food. “Now let’s eat and talk about how bad you are at singing.”
His ability to smile in the face of an almost rejection only made me love him more, but I was determined to take my time and think this over. I owed it to both of us. “If you want, I can serenade you my answer when I have it.”
His green eyes heated and a small smile touched his kissable lips. “I would love that.”
Chapter 16
Ryan
She wanted to say yes—I saw it in her eyes. That thought lingered with me all night and into the morning after couples’ karaoke. Torey hadn’t given me the answer I expected last night, but she wanted to—she admitted as much to me. On top of that, she said that she loved me. A woman like her—gorgeous, sweet, and hardworking—who could have any man she wanted, and she wanted me.
It was hard to believe, impossible really, but the sincerity of her words and the emotion in her blue eyes painted it as a fact. Torey loved me, and now it was up to me to do anything and everything to deserve that love.
“Are you sure this is something you want to do?” Nix asked, standing in the kitchen as I knocked back my second mug of coffee.
“I’m sure it’s what I have to do. Torey’s right—she deserves more than half of a relationship.”
“I agree with that. Completely and totally.”
I looked up from my coffee with a frown. “You do?”
“Yes.” Her lips quirked into a teasing grin. “She is my best friend, and I want the best for her, and believe it or not, I think you could be that.”
“But?” I knew my baby sister well and I knew she had more to say.
“But I think if you make this move prematurely, you might grow to resent her or, worse, hate her.”
Shit. That was a good point. “Chances are good I’m not going back in the field.”
“Maybe. Maybe not, but you want to go back into the field. You think pulling the trigger early is going to be some grand gesture, and I promise you, it won’t.”
“So what should I do?” Nix was right; I wasn’t ready to end my time in the field, but wouldn’t it be better if I made the choice instead of letting the Army make yet another decision for me?
“Tell Torey why being with you is worth those times when you’re halfway around the world and in danger. Show her. Give her a reason and give her the truth.”
The truth. Those two words stayed with me for the rest of the day. Nix’s words forced me to spend some time alone and think about the truth, and when it was time to pick up Torey for the Holiday Grove Valentine’s Day Dance Competition, I had some answers.
The first was that Nix was right—I wasn’t ready to leave the Army, so I’d called my Captain and canceled my appointment. The second? Well, I knew how I felt; it was just a matter of my delivery.