Surrender: A Little Harmless Military Romance Read Online Free Page A

free to talk. "I do not."
    "Yes, you do. Remember, I've seen you with him. You get all goo-goo over him, and I say about time."
    She sat down next to Amanda with a satisfied smile on her face.
    "I do not, and if I was ready for another relationship, I would definitely not pick a Seal. There is only heartbreak with those guys."
    She could feel Addison's study of her, but she said nothing else. Amanda told Addison just about everything, but she hadn't told her about the worst part of her marriage. Even being a smart woman and knowing her husband's infidelity had nothing to do with her but was a default in his personality, Amanda couldn't help but be embarrassed by it. It was the one thing that she would keep to her grave.
    “Let’s just get through this, get some good food, and then I am spending all day in bed tomorrow with a book. In fact, I might just move only for food.”
    “That sounds like an excellent plan. I can’t do it myself because I have been summoned to the family estate for brunch. Wanna come protect me?”
    “No. First of all, your father has a big house, not an estate. And secondly, you don’t need my protection. You have your father wrapped around your finger.”
    There was a look in Addy’s eyes that had Amanda pausing. There was a vulnerable quality to her, then it disappeared in an instant. “Dad said something about ham.”
    “No. I am going to be completely selfish for one day.”
    “Fine, but I will tell Dad that you refused to come.”
    Amanda rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’ll really care about that.”
    “He likes you.”
    “I didn’t say that, but he wants to see you.”
    Addy sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just hate that there will probably be another lawyer there he tries to fix me up with. That lawyer will take one look at my purple hair and freak out.”
    Amanda slipped her arm over her friend’s shoulders. “But he loves you.”
    Addy sighed. “Yeah. So you won’t help me?”
    “You’re on your own there, kid. I’m going to vegetate.”
     
     
     

Chapter Three
     
     
    The next morning, bright and early, Amanda was putting on her walking shoes and complaining about her damned fantasies. All night long, she had been dreaming of the man she shouldn’t even be thinking about that way. Malachai Dupree.
    Her plans of being lazy had dissolved ten minutes into her lazifest. She cursed her imagination and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. Her brain would not let her just vegetate. Instead, Mal was there, laughing with her, letting her cry on his shoulder, silently holding her hand the first time she went to her husband's grave in Arlington.
    Dammit. Tears burned the back of her eyes, and she scrubbed her hands over her face. As she had learned before, the best way to deal with her feelings was to go out for a walk, think, and let the exercise work its magic on her negative mood.
    Ten minutes later, she was walking on the path near her house, enjoying the day. It was cloudy, the hint of rain in the air, and cool enough not to cause her to sweat too much. She loved the DC area for just these kinds of things. She loved seasons, loved the fall, the winters, the springs and summers, and especially liked that she could find a good place to walk or run even out in the boonies. The hot summers in Texas were too much for her to take, and she wasn’t sure she could ever give up the mixture of culture in the DC area.
    She was just getting into her walk, listening to the latest Nora Roberts book on her iPod, when she heard someone yelling. She turned just in time to have a biker run into her. She fell back and had no time to brace herself. Her butt hit first, her back, and then her head conked hard against the pavement.
    "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry," an older woman said. She was leaning over Amanda, her face creased with concern.
    "Mildred, I told you we should do this at home," said someone else, a man, but it was hard for her to tell. She was still seeing stars and her ears were