AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That's what my brother says. He's been really supportive.”
“What's your name?” I want to know more about her.
“It's Lucy. What's your name?”
“Caden.”
While I'm here visiting, we spend hours together over the next week. Pretty much any spare time I have, Lucy and I are together, talking and getting to know each other.
Even though I really like her and am seriously attracted to her, I've had to fight every instinct in me not to kiss her. More than anything, I would love to take her on a date. But I'm not going to be that asshole to lead her on and then leave for deployment.
Every day, we end up on the back porch, sitting and talking as we watch Jake and Kassi training with Dolly.
“Were you ever going to ask me out to dinner or try to kiss me?” Lucy asks me boldly out of nowhere, and my jaw drops.
When I recover, I offer her the truth.
“I like you. If I wasn't deploying, I'd ask you out in a heartbeat. But I am going, and I can't do that to you. Getting your hopes up and then leaving is a dick move.”
She bites her bottom lip as she stares out over the lawn for a few minutes.
How can her biting that plump, kissable bottom lip drive me crazy?
“What if I want to write to you while you're gone and get to know you more? Then, when you get back, we can see where we're at.”
“I’d like that. Can you give me your address? I won't have mine until I get there, but I can write to you as soon as I have it. Give me your phone number and email, too. I might be able to call and e-mail you, though that might be limited.”
She pulls a notebook from her purse and writes it all down before handing me a piece of paper.
I look down at the paper she just handed me.
Lucy Carr.
No. What are the fucking odds?
“There you are, Lucy. Brooke told me I might find you out here.”
I know that voice before I even look up.
“Noah?” I ask.
“Caden?” He says, shocked. “What are you doing here?” He walks over and gives me a manly hug.
“Visiting my brother before I head out on another deployment.” I point to Jake out on the front lawn.
“Oh shit, you're Jake's brother? In all this time, I never put it together.” He looks at me, a little dazed.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, noting he's got some scars on his arm and up his neck. But hell, I don't think any of us walk away from the military without some new scars.
“My wife and I run the place,” he says, smiling.
Then, it all clicks into place. Noah is Lucy's older brother, the one who she's staying with.
“How do you two know each other?” Lucy asks me like my world's not spinning out of control.
Taking a seat, I’m at a loss for what to tell her.
Thankfully, Noah takes over.
