Read Online Awaken to Danger by Catherine Mann - Free Book Online Page B

you then."
    "Enjoy your wings and your meeting."
    Nodding, he brushed past and heaven help her she watched his confident long strides since he
    couldn't see her unrestrained attention as he melded into the crowd. And how weird was it that
    suddenly she could see through that crowd just fine when it came to watching him?
    Pain — and yes, anger — whispered through her veins. All of which strengthened her resolve to
    break things off with Gary. How unfair to date him when she still had this mess of feelings for
    Carson tangled tighter than those sailboat lines twisting in the wind.
    He cleared the walkway and stopped. Waving?
    She should look away. Leave. Quit staring after him like a lovesick dork. And she would in just a
    second.
    Carson called to someone behind a beat-up truck but his words drifted away on the wind and out
    to sea. He waited to be joined by two men — an older, shorter man in a backward ball cap and
    another guy about Carson's age, taller in a plaid shirt. She couldn't make them out well from a
    distance and didn't study them overlong since she was too busy being more relieved than she
    should that Carson wasn't with a woman.
    He walked with the two men toward his extended-cab truck where they all three climbed in. All?
    Apparently there wasn't a work meeting after all. It stung more than a little that he'd felt the need
    to make excuses.
    Definitely time to leave and move forward...
    Panting from her run, Nikki slowed on the sidewalk in front of her parents' next-door neighbor's, sifting
    through the mishmash of emotions from that night to simply analyze the event.
    She'd already remembered that time prior to stepping inside, but relaxing did offer her a few more details
    —like the two men Carson met up with. Problem was that seemed so insignificant. She could only hope
    the relaxation techniques suggested by the hypnotist would help her recall more.
    As if she'd conjured Carson from her thoughts, there he was, in the driveway with her mother, little Jamie
    barreling by the trailer hitch on his toddler scooter.
    Her mom sagged back against the fender of Carson's truck, her hand pressed to her forehead. Nikki's
    stomach lurched up to her throat. Had something happened to her father? God, she'd been so selfishly
    focused on her own mess she'd all but forgotten that her dad was in the Middle East, not a safe place for
    military members on the ground or in the air.
    Nikki ripped the headset from her ears and sprinted across the dormant lawn, over a low hedge toward
    her mother. "Mom?" She took her mother's elbow, determined to keep it together, be supportive. "I'm
    here. Breathe—"
    "It's all right," Rena interrupted, straightening with a shaky smile. "Everything's fine. I only got a smidge
    spooked when Scorch drove up. I had a little flashback to the other time my husband's commander
    showed up on my doorstep. Of course I know you wouldn't come alone for a bad call. You would bring
    along a doctor and chaplain," she rambled, gasping. "But still..."
    Carson jammed his fists into his leather coat pockets. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just came
    to check on everyone. And you're right. I wouldn't be here alone and I wouldn't be wearing a flight suit."
    He would wear his dress blues, all those ribbons across his chest. He could be a poster model for a
    recruiting office he filled out any uniform so well. What a silly superficial thought that made her wonder if
    her feelings were still the result of physical attraction and the old crush.
    She didn't much like what that said about her.
    He'd apologized, hadn't made excuses and seemed to be working on amends. Just because she didn't
    totally trust him, she didn't have to be rude. And the excitement circling laps around inside her stomach
    was simply nerves because of their history. Maybe she'd gotten it wrong over the past seven months by
    staying away from him. Perhaps spending more time with him would help her get over that.
    Get over him.
    He