Read Online Heavy Artillery Husband by Debra Webb - Free Book Online Page A

was always an option.
    â€œI’d planned to take the couch,” she said, rooted in place between the bathroom and the bed.
    He turned, pulled by a force he couldn’t fight. From the moment he’d dragged her out of the car, he felt a craving to soak her in, as though he could somehow carry a bit of her with him through the foreseeable loneliness ahead. His mouth watered at the sight of her in one of his old T-shirts, her preferred sleepwear. It wasn’t a ploy or some balm to his ego. She’d traveled to Chicago solely to see a friend and she’d packed that shirt. Did that have any significance? Should he assume she missed him, too, or was it just a comfort factor? He couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming over her from head to toe—her hair down and the hem of the shirt skimming high on her toned thighs. She kept trying to push it lower.
    â€œTake the bed.” He gave her a smile, though he thought his jaw would crack from the effort. “I’ll be fine over here.”
    â€œThat’s silly. You need more room.”
    His skin tingled from his scalp to the soles of his feet as she gazed at him. What was he supposed to make of that look? “Don’t worry about it. You know I’ve slept well in far worse.”
    She came to the corner of the bed and stopped, a worried frown pulling at her eyebrows. “You won’t be able to stretch out at all.”
    â€œJust take the bed,” he said through gritted teeth. Unless she was offering to share. Was that it? It would take a better man than him to turn her down if she was.
    She slid between the sheets, putting as much of the bed between them as possible. A clear enough message to keep his distance.
    He turned out the last light before he stripped off his undershirt and pants. The gear in the pockets rattled as he set the items within easy reach if trouble found them.
    â€œYou know, I should thank Halloran.” Her voice drifted across the dark room.
    It seemed like a damned poor thing to be thankful for. He stared at the ceiling, creased with a blade of light from the parking lot bleeding through the top of the curtains. “I don’t want to ask.”
    â€œWithout him I might never have seen you again.”
    Could it be possible that she had missed him as much as he’d missed her? She’d turned their retirement dream into a profitable reality so quickly. And that damned snake Paul Sterling had moved in on her with equal speed. “Without him, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with,” Frank pointed out.
    â€œTrue.”
    He was sure she’d drifted off, leaving him with his thoughts and regrets, when she spoke up again. “After...all that happened,” she said, “would you ever have come home to me if my life hadn’t been in danger?”
    He could hardly stand being in this room, so close and still so far removed from her. “I’ve been searching for a way home to you ever since.” He stifled a groan as the truth slipped out. A lie that would guarantee some detachment would’ve been the smarter move. He’d hurt her so badly it was a miracle she hadn’t had him drawn and quartered yet.
    He heard the mattress shift and he imagined she’d rolled to her side. He remembered the way she curled her hands around her pillow, her face relaxed and her knees pulled up a little, one foot free of the bedding, serving as a thermostat. Countless mornings in their marriage he’d pressed a kiss to her cheek and left her in just that pose. Every morning since going undercover, he’d regretted his decision to push her away in favor of the job. Now he’d dragged her into an unsanctioned investigation that could wind up destroying both of them.
    On the books it appeared as though he’d put his duty to country ahead of his family. Not unexpected for a career officer even though it wasn’t spelled out in those exact words in the official oath