Read Online A Man of Honor by Miranda Liasson - Free Book Online

been a little hypervigilant, maybe from being a kid whose life was full of the unpredictable, like his father showing up at any time angry or drunk or both, but the war had done something to him. She remembered that during their Skype sessions, he’d be sitting at his makeshift desk in his bunkhouse tapping his pen, drumming his foot so hard that all the odds and ends on his desk would rattle. As if he were trying to hurry time along until he could leave that place. Apparently the habit had followed him home. It was just one way in which the war had changed him.
    Cat glanced at her watch. “It’s one minute after eight. And good morning to you, too.”
    “Good morning,” he grumbled as he got in the car. He looked a little sheepish, and her heart squeezed a little. He seemed to be trying so hard to be…normal. As if all of it was a supreme effort. “Sorry. I guess I’m a little on edge for the doctor.”
    “You think?” she said, but she said it with a smile. “Are you expecting some news?”
    He sat up straight and stared out the window. “I’ve been hoping to avoid a third surgery. I’ve been doing extensive PT, and today I find out if it’s working.”
    Despite her resolve to distance herself, her heart went out to him. She did her best not to think of the way he’d stepped in and helped her with those little kids. Or insisted on saving a scraggly neglected cat. No, better she focus on his ability to push her away. He didn’t want her help, and he certainly didn’t want a relationship, and she was not going to get drawn into the electric current that was still so palpable between them. Still, he was a wounded soldier, hurting and probably more than a little afraid of what the doctors would say today. It wasn’t in her nature not to help. “I have an idea. We’ve got plenty of time; how about we drive through for a coffee?”
    “Well, you do owe me,” he said, but she must have looked confused so he elaborated. “You know. You said you’d do anything if I took Brandon to the bathroom.”
    “I’d do more for that than buy you a cup of coffee.” Shit. That didn’t come out right. Cat felt her face flare with heat. “What I meant was, I’m so grateful for your help that I—”
    His gaze flickered over her, starting low with her heels, up her legs to where her skirt had slid up a little over her thigh. It was the look of a man who unabashedly liked what he saw. She swallowed hard. Words failed her.
    A slow crocodile grin spread over his face. “I’d certainly take you up on that offer.” Did he just— How dare he—
    He calmly slid on his aviators. “What I mean is, you might have to buy me another cup of coffee tomorrow.”
    Cat focused on the road. This is what she got for being friendly. He was toying with her. Toying! Just when she vowed to keep her guard up and not even try to make polite small talk, he turned to her and said, “By the way, you look very…nice today.” His gaze drifting over her was wolfish, not nice at all. “You’re going to knock ’em dead in that interview.”
    Oh, hell. When he said things like that, her steely resolve threatened to melt just like that into a big blob of Jell-O. If things were different, she’d tell him he looked as hot as always, with his navy polo stretched across his broad chest, the tail of that dragon tattoo curling dangerously just below his elbow. The fact that his brace was visible under the bottom of his khaki shorts gave him an edge of humanity that made him even more appealing. He was an intriguing combination of tough and vulnerable, venture capitalist and Army guy, that pushed his sexy quotient through the roof.
    She might not be able to control her body’s reaction to him, but she sure as hell could control her mind. “Why the briefcase?” she asked, directing herself to safe ground.
    “I’ve got tons of work to do, and I know I’ll be waiting for a long time in the doctor’s office. Are you sure you’re okay spending