Page 13 of Pursuit of Honor

As they embraced beneath the night sky, she felt time slow down. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of him and the affect he was having on her. His chest heaved and Piper felt every breath he took as he tucked her head protectively under his chin. Law’s hand pressed against her back, the weight of it anchoring her to the moment. She held onto him until she lost track of time, yet no matter how slowly time passed, for Piper, it wasn’t slow enough.

Chapter 5

By late afternoon, they’d retrieved their stuff and boarded the bus back to the waterfront. When they hit the boardwalk, she started opening her handbag like she was prepping to leave. If she thought they were going to part ways here without him walking her home, she was dead wrong on that score.

“Are you sure?” she asked when he made the offer. “I’ve taken up so much of your time already.”

“You haven’t,” he assured her. “No matter how much time I get with you, Piper, it’s never going to be enough.”

Color rose in her cheeks, and she lowered her eyes, suddenly looking shy.

Law cleared his throat. After the kiss that they’d shared in the darkness of the planetarium, things had gone from playful to serious. Which scared the hell out of him because he’d never cared about anyone so fast. And yet, despite the fear of screwing this up, Law was starting to see that she was worth the risk. Piper was worth every risk. If only he had the opportunity to show her that so she’d finally take his words seriously.

“Just want to get familiar with the address for our date tomorrow,” he continued. That was his claim and it was true on some level, but he was also volunteering to escort her because he wanted to make sure that she got home safe and sound.

Piper smiled, her eyes lighting up as she nodded. “Okay, you can walk me home.”

Heart pounding, he returned her smile, grateful to be getting to spend a little more time with her.

When they got to her front door, she leaned forward to say goodbye and kiss his cheek. Pretty tame compared to what he wished they could do, but the warmth of her skin ignited something in him. Desire consumed him. She slipped away and the absence of her touch actually hurt to endure.

Still, as much as he wanted to keep their date going, he’d have to wait for tomorrow evening. The wait would probably kill him, but he was going to let her take the lead. Especially since this was her place and he was just a stranger blowing through town. If Piper decided to end this with a home-cooked dinner and nothing more, he’d respect that no matter how desperately he wanted her. And dear heavens, he did want her.

That earlier promise he’d made to refrain from having sex with Piper pretty much started to die the moment he watched her walk into her apartment and close the front door behind her. Not because he expected sex from her, but because he understood that if she asked for more, she was taking a big step. Taking a chance on him in a way that was more than a random hookup for her. This dinner date at her place meant something to her just as much as it meant something to him. So even though he didn’t need anything to remember her by, Law was going to make this count. He was determined to make sure that she never forgot him either.

THE FOLLOWING EVENING, Piper rushed to answer the knock on the door that came at exactly seven o’clock. With a giant oven mitt covering one hand, she flung the door open with the other, her stomach doing flips the second she spotted him standing in the doorway.

Law was dressed in civilian clothes again. Denim jacket, dark jeans, work boots. He looked so gorgeous that she forgot to breathe. Worse, she forgot to speak and he was left standing in the doorway while she gawked at him.

“You look beautiful,” he said, smiling at her.

It was the second time she had seen him smile and the sight of his lips curving upward in appreciation and approval made her heart skip a beat.

She’d chosen a cotton dress with a flared skirt that fell right above her knees. Something with a fun pattern and a flattering silhouette that made her feel pretty despite her curly hair refusing to cooperate. Hopefully her dress would distract from her untamable hair. It had taken her hours to pick the right dress. She had kept changing her mind, hoping to find the perfect dress that would make her feel pretty and confident. Eventually she’d picked one that made her feel exactly that, though she currently had butterflies in her stomach now that Law had arrived.

Finding her voice, she said, “Come on in. We can eat in the living room.”

Law stepped inside, and in his hand, she noticed he carried a bouquet of luxurious white and softly orange roses. “Wasn’t sure what kind of flowers you liked, but I saw these and they’re beautiful like you are.”

She reached for the bouquet, excited to get them and flattered by his compliment. “They’re lovely,” she said, lifting the flowers to inhale the rosy scent. Her stomach fluttered. It was rare for her to get nice tokens from a guy this early in knowing him, so she was going to treasure it. “Thank you so much.”

“Any time,” he said in low, gravelly tones that made her shiver.

“I’ll put these in water,” she said, barely able to recover from the butterflies and her rapidly beating heart. “Then we can eat in the living room.”

When she put the flowers in a vase she had recently made, Piper started to serve the food she had prepared. While she definitely wasn’t an expert cook, she had a few specialties that she had perfected over the years, including roast chicken, baked potatoes, gnocchi with homemade pesto, and chocolate-strawberry cupcakes. Plus, there was the sparkling raspberry soda she’d found at the supermarket. They ate at the coffee table in her living room since her apartment was too small for a dining room and she didn’t think eating at her kitchen island felt romantic enough.

“Piper, this is amazing,” he told her, while he was in the middle of his second plate of gnocchi.

She smiled, pleased that she had managed to give him a home-cooked meal during his leave. “Glad you like it.”

When they finished the main dish, Piper served the chocolate cupcakes, but to her dismay, after a few bites, she realized that she was covered in chocolate. Her lips were sticky from chocolate frosting and strawberries. Horrified, she reached for a napkin, but Law leaned close to press a kiss to her chocolatey lips.

“You taste so good,” he told her, speaking as if Piper covered in chocolate was the most irresistible thing in the world.

Forgetting to be embarrassed, she returned his kiss, the sweetness and softness of his usually firm lips making her head spin. Soon they were out of breath, and Piper had to tear her mouth away to gasp out, “Take me to my bedroom?”

Law wrapped his arms around her and they were soon embraced in another kiss as they stumbled down the hall to her bedroom door.