Page 17 of Pursuit of Honor

“I’d like that,” she said softly.

“I should head back to the motel,” he told her.

She nodded, and without speaking, she walked with him to her front door, the blanket around her body, barely leaving anything to the imagination. Yeah, he’d been right about only getting one night with her. It was more than he ever thought possible and yet, it wasn’t enough. He’d be tormented by only getting one night with her for the rest of his life, probably.

At the door he asked, “Could I stop by tomorrow morning? For one last goodbye?”

In her eyes he glimpsed a flash of fleeting sadness. But she smiled quickly, no doubt an attempt to hide what was really going on in her head. “Yes. Plus, we could take a selfie tomorrow. When I’m not such a mess.”

If only she could see what he saw. Peachy skin, that adorable splash of freckles, and the most beautiful mane of hair he had ever seen in his life. “You’re not a mess. You’re a work of art, too, you know.” Law kissed her lips, then rushed the hell out of there before either of them said anything more. Because if he lingered for even a moment longer, Law knew that he’d never be able to leave.

Chapter 7

It took Piper forever to get back into bed once he left. Mostly because she’d spent half an hour contemplating a new art piece as a distraction from her sadness. In the end, she decided she was too exhausted from her amazing, emotional night with Law, so she made her way back to her room, put on her PJs, and climbed into bed.

She shut her eyes. If she didn’t sleep now she’d never look well-rested enough in the morning. And she didn’t want to look like a mess for her final goodbye with Law. Anticipating their last moments together made her heart ache. Especially after she’d spent the most incredible night with him. Her body was still floating on the pleasure high. Knowing that their time was coming to an end made her toss and turn, but eventually, fatigue won out and she fell asleep.

Her ringing phone woke up abruptly. Fumbling for it, she answered, too groggy to even check who it was.

“Hello?”

“Piper this is your father,” her dad said in that formal, stiff way of his. “Are you available to talk?”

“Right now? It must be after midnight,” she said sleepily.

“We need to talk before you make a mistake,” her father said, his tone unyielding.

That woke her up like a bucket of ice cold water. Something in his voice made her think this was going to be much worse than when she told her parents she wanted to take her art seriously. She’d barely won that battle and now she was half-asleep, without weeks of a charm offensive to win her parents over.

“What’s this about?” she asked, her guard up.

“That sailor you’ve been seeing,” her father said, his words so serious she knew there was no room for argument. “I’d rather we speak in person so you can see how important this is to me. I’ll be at your apartment in fifteen minutes. Will you do me the courtesy of hearing me out?”

“Okay, I’ll hear you out,” she said, knowing that protesting was going to be futile.

It wasn’t like she and Law were going to be spending a lifetime together anyway. He was leaving in the morning. Leaving her behind with what increasingly felt like a breaking heart which she couldn’t even talk about to anyone because it was stupid to get this hung up over a guy she barely knew. Better to get her father’s disapproval out of the way so she could have a good cry before having to say her final goodbye to Law. Crying now would probably help since she’d have no embarrassing tears left for the morning farewell. She’d get the worst of the emotions over and done with in time for Valentine’s Day. A day that was gearing up to be the most heartbreaking day ever.

Fifteen minutes later, Piper was letting her father into her apartment.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, stifling a yawn as she trailed him to the kitchen.

Her father turned to look at her, his face hard as granite, shoulders squared back, graying hair finally allowed to grow now that he was retired from the military. He’d always had an air of authority about him that he radiated now as he looked at her with keen, ever-observant dark eyes. Plus he was a stickler. For rules and regulations. Everything mattered to her father from the perfection of his uniform to the precision of his words.

“Are you thirsty?” she asked, remembering her manners. “There’s coffee or chocolate if you want.”

“I’ll try to keep this brief,” he said, silently dismissing her offer as he placed his things on the kitchen island between them. “Forgive me for dropping by like this, but you’ll thank me when you hear me out. And you’ll thank your sisters.”

Piper crossed her arms, suddenly feeling defensive. Of course he’d jump to thinking the worst of her before he’d even bothered to get her side of things. Not that there even needed to be sides because something had clearly been blown out of proportion. “What did Sage and Brooklyn say?”

“They told me you started seeing a man,” her dad replied, his square jaw clenching.

“Is that so concerning?” she asked with a frown. “I didn’t know I had to check in with you to go out on a date.”

Her father looked down his nose at her. “Is that confirmation that you did go out on a date with the sailor you met in the bar on Friday?”

“Yes, we went on a date. Why is this a big deal, Dad? Why are Sage and Brooklyn even talking to you about my love life?” she demanded, feeling a little betrayed.

“Well, they didn’t come to me with it exactly,” he replied, averting his gaze. To her surprise, he sounded sheepish, which probably meant he had badgered her sisters for information. Sometimes a conversation with her dad felt more like an interrogation so she could very well see her sisters feeling cornered into oversharing. “I asked them about you.”