Page 8 of Pursuit of Honor

Her question appeared to take some of the wind out of his sails. Law’s shoulders sagged. “Not long. We ship out on Monday.”

Piper’s shoulders sagged too. Their brief introduction tonight would be the extent of their time. Her sisters had been right. Even if he did end up genuinely liking her, Law had a job at sea. Meanwhile, her life was here in Sweetwater. No doubt she was just another in a long list of women he’d flirted with when he came ashore. Law probably wouldn’t even remember her beyond tonight. Piper was going to have to be grateful that she’d even got to know him at all. They were two passing ships. There was no point hoping for anything more than that.

“So, this is it then,” she said wistfully.

“Doesn’t have to be,” he said. “There’s the rest of the weekend.”

Hope flared. He was right. They had a couple more days to get to know each other. While this wasn’t going to be the relationship she always wanted for Valentine’s Day, she knew there was nobody else she’d rather spend time with. Law was too intriguing to walk away from now.

“Yes. How about I show you around town?” she offered.

“Yeah, sounds good,” he said eagerly.

“No. Wait.” Her heart plummeted when she remembered that she wouldn’t be free on Saturday. “I have an appointment with the California Research Academy tomorrow.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “Research Academy?”

“Yes, I’m making art for their gift shop,” she said. “I’m supposed to deliver the first pieces tomorrow.”

“I can help you deliver them,” he said.

“Really? You’d want to go to the dorky science institute for shore leave?”

“Any guy with half a brain is gonna want to go wherever you go,” he said.

She blushed. A whole day with Law sounded incredible. And the fact that he also wanted to spend it with her was making her feel, well, special. As if she was the one getting the Valentine’s Day card for once. Which was silly. And ridiculous. Because she should have outgrown her sadness at being perpetually alone and overlooked on a holiday that was partially designed to just sell more stuff to people. But when she saw all the happy couples, sharing an entire day that was all about love and romance, Piper couldn’t help feeling that she was missing out on the one thing that was missing in her life. Passion. The sort of passion that brought butterflies and sent her heart racing. Like it was now. Her heart was pounding at the thought of more time with Law.

“If you’re sure,” she said, biting her lip. Piper didn’t want him to feel obligated. She wanted to be extra sure that both of them were on the same page.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” he said smoothly, without hesitating for even a moment. “By the way, you didn’t give me your name.”

Her eyes widened. “I didn’t?”

“I get it,” he said. “We’re in a bar. You’re probably used to getting hit on. Plus there’s weird dudes out there.”

“Yes, well, since you haven’t been weird, I’ll give you my name and number if you promise to remember that my sisters are dragons,” she said, laughing.

“I promise to remember and not piss them off,” he said, placing his hand on his heart and speaking so solemnly that she knew there was amusement beneath his words.

“My name is Piper,” she informed him breathlessly. “Piper Ryan.”

“Piper.” When he said her name like it was this precious secret between the two of them, she trembled. “That’s beautiful. Beautiful like your smile.”

In that moment, she was lightheaded. She told herself it was the drink that made her head spin. But she hadn’t had that much to drink. Plus, a drink couldn’t explain why her insides fluttered as they paused to exchange phone numbers. Or why it felt like her heart was being torn from her chest when after he accepted her number, Law said goodbye, and walked away to return to his friends at the bar. A single cocktail wasn’t going to make her feel the anxious anticipation she felt as Law and his buddies walked out of the bar, Law stealing glances at her on his way out. Nor was it going to make her break out into a nervous sweat when her sisters rushed hack over to bombard her with questions about Law.

Piper gave her sisters a rundown, but she decided to keep some things to herself. Like the way Law leaned closer to hear her speak. And the way he’d shielded her with his body. The way his eyes changed depending on the depth of his desire moment to moment. But the biggest secret Piper kept from them was that after an encounter that unforgettable, with a man that intense, she was in danger of learning what it was like to fall head-over-heels in the middle of a storm.

THE TOWNSPEOPLE GAWKED at him as he made his way up the boardwalk along the beach. Despite the chill in the air and the early hour, it was a weekend. Which meant a gathering crowd of people making their way to the beach up ahead or into the beachfront stores to Law’s right. And locals around him were all staring in his direction even though he was in normal attire. Based on the stares, there was no blending in no matter what Law did.

For his meetup with Piper, he had ditched the uniform, trading it in for civilian clothes. Dark jeans, work boots, and this rucksack he was hauling weren’t beachwear. And the sunglasses combined with the tattoos up and down his arm probably made him look more menacing than he intended. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have been that concerned with what anyone thought of his appearance, but now he was wondering if he ran the risk of scaring Piper.

She’d seemed cool with the uniform last night, but then, her sisters had mentioned that their father was a Marine. So the military getup hadn’t bothered her or made her think he was some sort of hero. Which meant she had treated him like she would anyone else. Which was good. No special treatment. She wasn’t the type of girl to hang on to his every word because she got some kind of thrill from being near a military man.

Dammit, why was he overthinking this? Because, even though he hated to admit it, Law was nervous as hell.

Stopping in front of the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet, he took a second to check his diver’s watch. He was five minutes early. That gave him enough time to shake off the nervous energy. Or enough time to make things worse. He’d been fighting against his attraction to Piper ever since he’d laid eyes on her. Not because he disliked her, but because he liked her so much he was pretty sure he was going to make a complete fool of himself.

Fucking hell. He didn’t know this girl. They’d only met last night. This meetup probably wouldn’t even count as a date to her. But the facts didn’t matter. Law had been thinking about her nonstop since they’d met. His buddies had tried to wrench the details out of him on the way to the motel where they were currently staying, but Law had kept his mouth shut for two reasons. Reason number one, he didn’t want to disrespect Piper by discussing her personal business with his friends. They were good guys but they really could be jackasses when it came to his love life. Reason number two, he didn’t want to read too much into whatever this was with Piper and then jinx it.