Page 10 of Pursuit of Honor

Chapter 4

The coffee shop was too crowded for seating, so they took their breakfast order to go. Against her insistence that they stroll around while they ate, Law convinced Piper to sit down on a bench near the boardwalk. There was no way he was going to allow her to walk while lugging that heavy bag. They could sit and eat breakfast. Sitting down to a view of the waterfront felt like a pretty good tradeoff.

“I do like eating out in the fresh air,” she said before biting into her pastry.

Law would have responded but he was in the middle of wolfing down his two bacon sandwiches.

Piper started laughing when she noticed him practically inhaling the sandwiches. “Oh wow, you must have been starving.”

He nodded, taking several seconds to finish the sandwiches. It had been a while since he’d eaten a halfway decent breakfast. Finally, he said, “Between the crappy motel food and even crappier food on the ship, yeah, guess I was pretty hungry.”

“Oof, military food,” Piper said, sounding sympathetic. “My dad has some stories. He’s retired now but he still complains about the food.”

“Did your family move out to Sweetwater for his retirement?”

She shook her head. “No. My mom grew up here, and even though Dad travelled a lot for work, he was born a couple of towns over. So, I’ve been here in Sweetwater all my life.”

His chest tightened painfully, his ribcage pressing down on his heart. Without even thinking about it, Law had already started to brace himself. This was why he rarely formed connections with new people. His past had cast a long shadow over everything. To the point where he couldn’t even have a normal conversation. Which was why most of his communication with women ended up as nothing more serious than casual hookups.

If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up steering this conversation to questions about his own home life and that was the last place Law wanted to go. He’d been one lucky SOB to get Piper to agree to go out with him on short notice. Revealing that he’d been orphaned would take this from a fun date to something way too serious. It would just make her see him as some sort of damaged, lost cause.

Unique as she was, Piper had come from a normal background. She deserved to have the stability that she’d grown up with. Stability that was so evident that he already knew she had two loving parents, protective siblings, and a place to truly call home. But he wasn’t well adjusted enough to relate to all that and he didn’t want to burden her with his problems. Best to focus on her. Especially since he liked listening to her talk and he wanted to learn everything he could about Piper in the limited time they had together. The more he learned, the easier it would be for him to remember her during the lonely nights on the ship’s watch.

“What about you?” she asked. “What’s Iowa like?”

He shrugged, hoping to project a lack of interest in his own personal life. If he shut it down now, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to go there. This date could stay casual. “Not much to talk about. Sweetwater is probably more interesting. You’ve got a beach for one thing,” he said, hoping like hell she didn’t probe any further into his backstory.

“Yeah, the beach is pretty great,” she agreed. “I get a lot of inspiration from it and the rest of the town. And the great thing is, the town has been expanding recently, so that means more inspiration to look forward to.”

“Expanding?”

“Yes. That’s where the science academy comes in. The town is trying to set itself apart from all the other towns in the area. So instead of just being a tourist hotspot, it can be a place for scientists and researchers to visit.” She sounded so enthusiastic that her eyes lit up. “Plus, there was some talk about more cultural centers. Art galleries and art studios. It would be great to be at the center of something like that. A new art movement. Oh, sorry. I’m babbling again. Gosh, I must be boring you.”

“You could never bore me,” he assured her.

Her cheeks turned pink, and she hurriedly started nibbling on her pastry, which he suddenly noted was heart-shaped. Between the notice at the bar last night, and the specially made pastry this morning, looked like the town was all in for Valentines’ Day.

Law tried to think back to any romances he’d ever had on the actual day. Truth be told, he hadn’t had a serious girlfriend in years. At twenty-seven, he probably should have a steady girlfriend like a lot of the other guys in his unit, but he’d been avoiding relationships. Which made Valentine’s Day just another day to him. This Valentine’s Day wasn’t going to be any different. All his life there had been no one serious. Or promising. It would be the same this year, so why did he feel a tension in the air that made it feel like his luck could change?

His gaze went to Piper, who was still eating, clearly oblivious to his inner turmoil. There wasn’t a future for them. Hell, this barely counted as a date. Plus, he’d be shipping out on Monday so they wouldn’t even get to spend Valentine’s Day together. Which was an insane thing to want because, again, he hardly knew her, even though there was a part of him that felt like he’d known her all his life.

When Piper finished her pastry, she stood up. “We should get going now. Don’t want to be late.”

Silently, Law took the bright blue bag from her. From the way she’d been lugging it around, he expected it to weigh a ton. It didn’t.

“Hey!” she protested. “There’s fragile stuff in there.”

Giving her a nod, Law kept on walking. Which gave her no choice but to go after him. They walked together in easy silence until they boarded the bus, where Law tried to pay for their seats. But Piper flashed what looked like a bus pass and that was the end of that.

As they pushed further down the aisle, Law realized there was only one seat left. He kept his expression serious so that she wouldn’t argue as he jerked his head, motioning for her to sit down.

“Aren’t your arms tired?” she asked, taking the blue bag from him as she grudgingly sank into the empty seat.

“Nope.” Still holding on to his rucksack, Law didn’t feel weighed down at all. Life at sea had strengthened him to the point where he didn’t always feel the same burdens other people did. That, plus the fact that he was over six feet tall, and he’d turned his body into pure muscle, while by contrast, Piper was a fragile wisp. She was so tiny, she barely reached his shoulders. Despite her short stature, it was clear that she was fearless enough to do her own thing.

Piper got a look in her eyes that dragged him out of his thoughts. The expression on her face suggested she was ready to challenge him again, but the bus started moving, which helped to distract her from whatever she was going to say. Thankfully, instead of protesting, she gave in with a smile and a shake of her head. Good. A clear indication that she was starting to get it. Because it didn’t matter how short their time together was going to be. Piper’s overprotective sisters had nothing on him. He didn’t care that they barely knew each other. Piper was a stranger, yet Law was determined to make sure that as long as he was by her side, he was going to see that she was safe. No matter what.

AFTER GETTING OFF THE bus, they made it to the research academy with time to spare. Staff directed them, and Piper followed the academy signs to the section housing the underwater exhibit. At the desk leading to the exhibit, Piper handed over her blue bag to one of the employees in the roped-off area. There were already visitors making their way toward the exhibits. A couple of them gave curious looks in Piper and Law’s direction, but most of the kids and parents that tagged along were way too excited to even notice their presence.