Two in the Afternoon Read Online Free Page B

door for Bo, he watched the dog bound down the stairs and out the lower door he’d left open after their run that morning. He figured Noah ran with him on the regular, since Bo had appeared at the side of his bed with leash in mouth shortly after six that morning. He’d been more than happy to oblige the dog. He’d spent a sleepless night thinking about Molly and had been more than ready to get his day started.
    He followed the dog into the pub below and found a man with a steel-gray buzz cut and heavily muscled arms behind the bar. He was stocking the coolers with bottled beer as he eyed Cal crossing the floor.
    Molly’s voice floated to them from the back office. “Chief, can you make sure the front door is unlocked? It’s going to take me a few minutes to get these cases stacked back here.”
    Cal veered to the left and flipped the lock before approaching the bar.
    â€œMuch obliged.” Chief’s voice was a low rumble, like a man who’d spent a good many years using it loudly.
    â€œSir, Callum Eversman. A friend of Noah’s. I’ll be around for a few weeks.” Cal gave a nod in greeting with his words.
    As the man placed a beefy hand out, Cal noticed a US Naval insignia tattooed on his forearm. “John Mason. Pleased to meet you.”
    Cal took his firm grip in his own and they shook. “Master Chief.”
    A small smile softened the older man’s face, creased and weathered with age and sun. “Indeed, Sergeant.”
    Now it was Cal’s turn to smile. Of course Noah had given the retired Naval officer the details about him. Noah was no fool and would use every resource he had to ensure Molly’s safety.
    â€œWould you mind keeping an eye on the dog while I go talk to Molly?”
    Chief nodded toward the far end of the bar, where Bo was curled up on a red dog bed, happily snoring in a patch of sun filtering through the window above him. “He’s here nearly every day with Noah.”
    Cal left the sleeping dog and the busy Master Chief behind as he made his way down the narrow hall to find Molly. He found her stacking supply boxes on the top shelf in a storage room near the office. She wore black ballet slippers, black Capri pants and a snug black tee. Her short auburn hair in artful spikes. She should have looked severe in unrelieved black, but instead she looked sexy and comfortable all at the same time.
    When he shut the door with a click, she wobbled on the stepstool for a moment before catching herself. Turning quickly, she braced her hands on the shelf before her and eyed him from top to bottom. It was like a physical touch as she raked her eyes down the length of his frame.
    He grew taut and aware when she raised her gaze back to his face. Without a word, she launched herself from the stool into his arms. She was light, but her attack caught him off guard and he took a step back as he caught her around the waist.
    Molly wrapped her legs around his middle, pressed in close, and his heart thumped noisily in his chest. When she gripped the back of his head and took his mouth with a greed that surprised him he settled his hands on her ass with a squeeze.
    â€œHey, soldier.” She gave him a saucy wink and landed on her feet like a cat as she freed herself from his grip.
    Off limits. Knowing that fact didn’t stop the zing of arousal from spiking through his bloodstream. “Not that I’m against a make-out session, but I’m pretty sure the Master Chief might break me in half if he found us back here.”
    She laughed, a real one that started in her belly and vibrated through her. “He can be a bit protective.”
    He shifted his weight, bouncing from one foot to the other, in an oddly nervous gesture. “Actually, I’m here to ask you on a proper date. Just the two of us. Would you like to grab dinner tonight?” That actually wasn’t what he had come back here to ask, but Molly scrambled his brain