Page 5 of Pursuit of Honor

“The exciting fling you mentioned? I know you didn’t mean me. I was just kidding. I’d be crazy to think a beautiful girl like you would be interested in a schlub like me,” he said.

“You’re no schlub,” she said, laughing at the absurd idea that he was anything short of the hottest guy she had ever seen.

Up close, Law was achingly handsome. Sandy blond hair shorn into a buzz cut, flint gray eyes that changed hues depending on the light—flint gray one moment, silver the next. And the rest of his face. Autocratic features that looked like they were cut out of marble. He was so handsome that his good looks were intimidating, except that she couldn’t shake the sense that deep down, he was smiling. Overjoyed at getting the chance just to sit next to her. That was something unexpected. A boyish charm that tempered the smoldering intensity of his good looks.

“Compared to you, darlin’, I’m a schlub,” he said.

Her insides wobbled. It was just a line of course. Some flirtatious comment he deployed when he wanted to get a girl’s number. Or more than a girl’s number. Maybe he thought she’d be easily flattered since she wasn’t the beauty of her family. Well, she’d show him. Even though she wasn’t supermodel, runway beautiful, she wasn’t going to just fold for the first guy who paid her any attention. Law was going to have to work a lot harder to win her over. Still, his compliment felt nice, especially since he hadn’t taken his eyes off her the whole time. But Piper wasn’t going to get swept away. His attention didn’t have to mean anything beyond the next few minutes.

In the periphery of her vision, Piper caught her sister Sage rolling her eyes. Clearly, Sage wasn’t buying it. Piper was going to have to show that a uniform wasn’t enough to impress her either. “You didn’t come all the way over here just to say that, did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” he said, his tone softening. “I came over here to ask you something.”

Brooklyn scoffed in disapproval and as another blush heated her face, Piper could easily guess what he meant by that remark.

“Would you guys like to get some more drinks?” Piper suggested to her sisters. While she sensed that Law might have been about to make an inappropriate comment, she was going to give him a few choice words out of her sisters’ earshot in order to save what was left of everybody’s dignity.

Sage frowned but slowly got up.

“Don’t think about trying any funny business. We’ll be keeping our eyes on you, pal,” Brooklyn warned.

“Plus, our father is a Marine,” Sage cautioned in an icy tone as she began to follow Brooklyn to the bar counter. “Your uniform isn’t going to save you.”

Law released an audible exhale when they were out of earshot. “Whoa. Are they always like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like a pair of dragons guarding a horde of treasure?” he asked.

She laughed. That was the perfect way to describe her overprotective siblings. “Yes. They’re always like that.”

His gaze lowered. Lingered on her lips, as if he was tracing the shape and curve of her mouth. Then, just as quickly, he was meeting her eyes again. That glance down signaled that she hadn’t been the only one experiencing wicked thoughts. Fire ignited inside her.

“I mean, I get it. You’re worth guarding,” he added in a low tone that sent a thrill through her entire body, “but it seemed like you wanted to be rescued from that conversation.”

“You got all that just from looking at me?” she asked.

“Yeah, I did.” He paused, his eyes softening. “You seemed sad.”

Crap, he must have noticed how dispirited she was when talking to her sisters about her lackluster love life for the umpteenth time. Her loneliness had probably been that obvious, even in a crowd of people.

“Why have you been staring at me?” she asked him, point-blank, refusing to let her sadness defeat her. Piper should have been surprised at her own bold question, but sometimes her awkwardness made her blurt out exactly what she was thinking, even when the situation didn’t call for it. Flirtatious banter that hid her emotions had never been her strength. Wearing her heart on her sleeve came naturally to her, though she’d been sharing less and less with her sisters of late. All they seemed to want to talk about was her lack of a boyfriend and sometimes, that left Piper feeling judged and inadequate. Just like she had tonight.

He averted his gaze, looking past her as if he was staring at something far away. “I can’t help it. Hard to take my eyes off you. Believe me, I tried, but...” His gray eyes found hers again, this time fire blazing in their depths. The desire was unmistakable. “Resistance felt pretty futile. You okay with that?”

“Yes. It’s okay.” Nobody had ever talked to her like that before. Piper either got stale pickup lines or nothing at all. What Law was saying to her though? It sounded like sincere, genuine yearning for more. Beyond the kind of fleeting, impatient attraction that led to fumbling one-night stands and nothing more. Every single thing he said was exactly what he was thinking.

“What do you want from me, exactly?” she went on, hoping he didn’t hear the tremble in her voice. He didn’t need to know that she wasn’t good at this. Wasn’t used to striking up a flirtatious conversation with a stranger.

“Right to the point. I respect that.” It sounded like he approved of her standing her ground.

“You’re not going to be able to charm me or my sisters with one-liners. I’m not that sort of girl,” she warned.

“You’re all beautiful, but it’s not your sisters who caught my eye. It’s you I came to talk to. You’re the one I can’t look away from,” he said bluntly, his deep, gravelly voice reverberating through her.

“Oh.” Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.

Despite feeling safe around him, Piper had been in enough bars to know that it wouldn’t be a good idea to let her guard down with a stranger. Even if she did have the strangest feeling that she could say anything in his presence. Even the things she kept to herself and couldn’t tell her sisters. Clearing her throat, she continued, “You said you had a question for me?”