Read Online Falling for Her Soldier by Ophelia London - Free Book Online

Shouldn’t be too hard.”
    Being the only ones in the room, they took all the books from the cart and placed them on the center table, commenting about the books they picked up every once in a while. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it surprised her how well read he was. “The As should go at that end,” Ellie said, pointing. “And the Zs over there.”
    “How did you get so smart?” Hunter said as he brushed up behind her, reaching for a book.
    “I went to college, of course. Didn’t you?” She pulled at the neck of her shirt, feeling a little warm as a waft of his aftershave hit her.
    “Yes,” he said, brushing past her again as he walked some books to the end of the table. “But I didn’t finish. I enlisted instead.”
    “Did you always want to be in the Army?” she asked, genuinely interested in his answer. She’d often wondered what made people choose a military path, knowing how dangerous it could be but doing it anyway. Was it patriotism? Money for college? That obviously wasn’t Hunter’s reason, since he was still Army.
    “I never considered it until I was twenty,” he said. “It was supposed to be just four years in and out, then finish college. Turns out it’s a good fit for me. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
    Ellie nodded slowly, feeling a little bit awed…and then feeling a little bit something else when Hunter reached over his head for the top shelf and she caught sight of his tanned washboard abs.
    “Um, I know what you mean,” she said, jerking her gaze in the other direction before she started drooling. “I went to college but I haven’t really used my degree.”
    “What did you graduate in?”
    “Child psychology.”
    Hunter leaned against the table and smiled. “So that’s why you’re drawn to the patrons of the WS.”
    “Exactly.” She laughed. “No one quite as childish as a soldier.”
    “I hear ya.”
    “I’m kidding, of course. I don’t know how you guys do it. I hear stories from Sam…” She cut off, her hands automatically balling into fists of anxiety. “I can’t think about it. I can’t imagine.”
    Hunter put down the book he was about to reshelve. “Then don’t think about it,” he said in a low voice. “That’s my job.”
    A little glow lit beneath her skin and spread through her chest as his eyes locked on hers. Then she recalled what she’d told Jane last night, how she didn’t think she could get involved with a soldier, the sleepless nights, the blinding worry. But as she gazed at Hunter, she wondered if maybe…knowing people like him were out there, there wasn’t the need to worry as much.
    “What you do is amazing.” She spoke around the lump in her throat. “Seriously, you don’t get thanked enough.” Her thoughts suddenly flew to her brother, and to the people hanging out at the Warrior Station, and to all the other brave men and women who defended their country every day.
    Without thinking, she went to Hunter, reached out, and took his hand. “Thank you,” she whispered, lacing her fingers through his. “From me. Thank you, with all my heart.”
    His hand felt warm pressed against hers, more calloused than she was used to, but gentle. She squeezed it, feeling his strength as he squeezed back.
    “Damn.” The word was an exhale.
    “What?” She blinked up at him, getting an extra-close look at those golden rings around his blue eyes.
    He closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled back a slow smile. “That should see me through my next deployment.”
    Ellie felt an inner glow again, pushing against her heart, making it a little more difficult to breathe. She pictured Hunter in uniform, all brave and sexy. For some reason, the image in her mind expanded and she pictured Sam standing next to him. Brothers in arms. When the image widened more, there was another soldier there, faceless.
    She inhaled a gasp and stepped back, dropping his hand.
    “Everything okay?” Hunter asked, his voice as gentle as his touch had