Read Online The One Worth Waiting For by Alicia Scott - Free Book Online Page B

him.
    Immediately, his hands tightened on her shoulders, a shiver racking his tall, muscular frame.
    “Suzanne…” he whispered thickly. His fingers were strong on her shoulders. Strong and needy.
    And all at once, she was afraid.
    “This is crazy,” she muttered frantically, pushing herself away and taking quick steps back while her cheeks flushed a desperate red and her knees threatened to give out completely. She banged up against the head chair and clutched the antique for dear life. “I’m saying no. No, no, no.”
    It was probably more than adequate, but she was too flustered to care. Her cheeks were bright from burning heat and acute embarrassment. What had happened to the practical and efficient woman she’d become? What had happened to all that backbone she’d fought so hard to build?
    Before her eyes, Garret swayed a bit, then steadied himself with a quick hand on the old buffet.
    “Aye, aye, Captain,” Garret said, his knuckles turning white on the buffet edge with the effort of holding himself up. As Suzanne watched in wide-eyed shock, his face paled, his arms beginning to tremble as his regained strength suddenly fled.
    The buffet shook dangerously, and he immediately reached for the table.
    Instantly, Suzanne was at his side, concern for him sweeping away her embarrassment. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arm around the wounded man’s waist, pulling out a chair for him. “Sit,” she commanded. “For goodness’ sake, Garret, you’ve got to take better care of yourself.”
    Out of habit, she felt his forehead, then brushed back his hair, peering into his dark eyes. For a change, he didn’t look devilish or intimidating; he simply looked like a man in pain. He shifted a bit, and his face winced with the effort.
    “Garret, you must try to take it easy.”
    “Seduction never used to be difficult,” he muttered. Suzanne’s cheeks colored immediately, but she kept her chin in the air.
    “You need more water,” she declared primly. “I’ll bring you a tall glass and I want you to drink it all down. Perhaps we should try a light lunch, as well. You’ll need your strength.”
    Instantly, she remembered Cagney’s comment from earlier, and she halted midmotion. If the past five minutes were anything to go by, she certainly didn’t want Garret to recover any more of his strength, either. Or worse, maybe she did.
    With a mental kick, she thrust herself back into action, bustling toward the kitchen. She was the nurse and the hostess, she reminded herself. She would keep it on those terms.
    Some of the color had returned to his bearded cheeks by the time she returned. This time, she kept her gaze off his chest and busied herself with putting the doll away while he drank. That accomplished, she kept her eyes decorously on the wall.
    “Better now?” she asked after a bit.
    He nodded.
    “Hungry?”
    “Maybe. Tired mostly.”
    “You should lie down, then. Cagney will be back shortly with your clothes. I can fix a small meal for later.”
    He nodded once more, and absently spun the glass in his fingers. It felt cold and slick and wet. And looking at the shiny droplets condensed on the outside, he remembered absolutely nothing about the past two years. Shouldn’t water trigger some sort of recollection for a SEAL? God, it seemed he’d lived in water since joining the navy at eighteen. Shallow dives, deep dives, open-water dives, night dives. He’d done it all. Until…until…the picture eluded him, dipping behind the black haze of his amnesia.
    As if reading his thoughts, Suzanne piped up hesitantly, “Do—do you remember yet the language you were speaking? Or maybe where the burn scars came from?”
    He frowned darkly, feeling his exhaustion even more intensely, and shook his head. A man suffering malnutrition, who bore marks of fire. Where the hell had he been?
    Suzanne sat down at the head of the oval table and looked at him curiously. “What do you remember?”
    He glanced up, finding