Read Online Always Be True by Alexis Morgan - Free Book Online Page A

to come back to this area when you got out?”
    “Pretty much. Except for my younger brother, my family is all here. And he comes home on leave whenever he can.” Tino took a long sip of his drink before continuing. “Unfortunately, my father passed away last year, which was the deciding factor on whether or not I reenlisted. I wanted to be close by for my mother’s sake. None of us wanted her to be left alone while we stayed scattered all over the world.”
    Interesting. Natalie’s father took great pride in tracing his family’s history back to the Revolutionary War, but he never talked about any of his relatives with the same degree of warmth she heard in Tino’s voice when he mentioned his brothers and mother. “You’re a nice man, Tino Gianelli.”
    Did ex-soldiers blush easily? Because right now his cheeks looked a bit flushed even though his olive complexion made it hard to tell for sure. “I’m glad you think so, but I’m pretty sure my brothers would both take great delight in proving you wrong on that point. They could tell you stories that would curl your hair.”
    Then he gave her unruly locks a pointed look. “Wait a minute. You haven’t already been talking to them, have you?”
    She’d always had a love-hate relationship with her hair, but she couldn’t remember anyone ever teasing her about it with such genuine good humor. Twirling a strand around her forefinger, she gave him a smug look. “I’ll never tell. On the other hand, maybe talking to them would have the opposite effect on me and actually straighten my hair. If I thought that would actually work, I’d be hunting down your brothers even as we speak. Where did you say they live?”
    “I didn’t. Besides, I like your hair just fine the way it is.”
    Normally, she would have doubted that. God knows, Benton used to hint that there had to be something she could do to tone down her curls, but the sudden spark of heat in Tino’s eyes made her think he might just mean what he said. A slow flutter of awareness danced along her nerve endings. What would it feel like to have his fingers tangle in her hair as he kissed her senseless? With luck, she might just find out before he took her home.
    Whoops, she got caught lusting. Tino met her gaze head-on. “Keep looking at me like that, and we might not make it to that movie after all.”
    Her eyes flared wide as his deep voice washed over her. She had the strangest feeling that he’d reached across the table to caress her skin with the lightest of touches. The sensation left her aching in certain places and hungry for more of the same.
    Once again fate in the form of their waiter intervened. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. “Here are your salads. Would either of you like freshly grated cheese or cracked pepper?”
    She said yes to the cheese and no to the pepper; Tino asked for both. While the waiter took care of their requests, she decided she was glad for the distraction he provided. Just as she and her grandfather had discussed, she wasn’t given to impulsive behavior. Even so, she was pretty sure Tino’s picture was now next to the word
“temptation”
in her own personal dictionary.
    And that thought added its own special spice to the meal they were sharing.
    —
    In the end, they lingered over dinner until it was too late to make the last showing of the film Tino had picked out. He was just as glad. Jack had been right about him hating subtitles, not that he would have admitted that to either his brother or Natalie. If it turned out that she had a thing for foreign films, he’d adjust somehow.
    After the huge meal they’d eaten, wandering along the waterfront held more appeal. Walking hand in hand, they strolled along the sidewalk and watched the waves roll in on the beach below. Tino smiled down at Natalie. “You were right about the desserts, by the way. That lemon torte was amazing. I almost couldn’t finish it, but it would have been a crime to let