Deadly Force Read Online Free Page B

down and her lashes fluttered against her skin. In the dim light, she looked pale—too pale. “I heard about what happened. Saw the report. Only, per orders, no names were mentioned. I didn’t know who’d been killed and who’d been injured. No one would tell me, and I was going crazy. All I could find out was that only two of you were taken to the base hospital, so I hopped on a plane.”
    “I didn’t know.”
    Her chest hitched. “Lugmeyer said…” She exhaled hard, her gaze flying up to Cal’s again. “He told me to fuck off. That I was the last person in the world you needed by your bedside.”
    Justin Lugmeyer was Cal’s senior chief first, his friend second. He’d been coming to the rescue during the raid and had taken shrapnel in his thigh. “I was in a dark place, Bianca. I was laid up and had amnesia. Seeing you…well, Justin was doing us a both a favor by keeping us apart.”
    Dropping his hand, she turned away, anger making her movements jerky. She wiped at her face. Tears? He’d only ever seen her cry twice—and never over him.
    He reached for her, brought her back, her chest bumping into his. “Forget Lugmeyer. You’re here now, and whatever’s going on, I will protect you, got it? You don’t have to be scared. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
    She went up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. A strong wave hit the boat, knocking them both off balance. Cal used the opportunity to draw her closer and brush her lips instead.
    Her eyes went round and locked with his for a brief second, and yes indeed, he spotted a damp streak across her left cheekbone. As he went to brush it off, thunder boomed, another wave hit, and her briefcase skidded off the table.
    She startled, pushing him away, and made a production out of retrieving it. “You better take that shower.” She tossed the briefcase on the bench seat and set her rain-speckled glasses on the table. “We have a lot to talk about.”
    A part of him wanted to drag her into the shower and wash the sadness off her face. Forget their damaged past for an hour or so and erase the pain they’d caused each other.
    Instead, he grabbed a fresh towel. At the entry to the head, he said over his shoulder, “Help yourself to coffee.”
    “You know I hate your coffee.” The attitude was back in her voice but she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll make a fresh pot.”
    Smiling, he closed the door behind him.

    Her stomach had grown used to the rocking of the boat but the movement still played havoc with her nerves. Or maybe being so close to Cal was making her jittery. The simple touch of his hand nearly made her cry with longing.
    Coffee wasn’t going to help, but she needed to keep her hands busy and her mind off Cal and his gorgeous, rock-hard body now naked in the shower.
    She cleaned her glasses and put them back on. Then she got the coffee pot going with fresh grounds and water, and as it perked, she searched the two cabinets nearby. Cal’s food inventory included six boxes of high-protein granola bars, some type of protein drink mix, and—she moved the muscle-building stuff aside and saw a blue box that brightened her day—good, old-fashioned, sugar-filled PopTarts. Yes .
    The soft hiss of the shower as it came on in the bathroom competed with the sound of the brewing coffee pot and the rain outside. Surrounded by water, Bianca focused on opening the box of breakfast goodness and snagging a foil wrapper to take back to the table. Blueberry . That’s a fruit, right?
    She tore open the wrapper and wished Cal had a toaster. From the heat in his eyes a minute ago, she probably didn’t need one. All she needed was to look like the damsel in distress and he went into alpha male, all protective and me-Tarzan, you-Jane .
    Those eyes. When he went Mr. Intense, the energy radiating off him nearly fried the ends of her hair.
    She wasn’t a crier—which was probably why Cal had gotten protective when he saw her tear up. Telling him her life