Page 41 of Chasing Honor

“Then take me to bed, handsome. Seeing you in your uniform does crazy things to me.”

He stood, and I wrapped my legs around his back.

“You have a thing for men in uniform?”

“No. Just you in yours.”

“Good answer.”

He walked us to my room, kicked the door closed, locked it, and tossed me on the bed.

“I love coming home to you.”

“It’s the best part of my day.”

While I undressed I watched as he stripped out of his uniform. I was sorry to see it come off, but the more flesh he exposed the less sorry I became.

He crawled into bed and was kissing me when it dawned on me, he hadn’t asked about Carson. He trusted me with the most valuable thing in his life—his daughter.

11

“We don’t have to stay long,” I told Honor.

“Ethan, I’ll be fine. Are you sure you want me to go?”

Of course I wanted her to go. To use Carson’s words, I wanted to show her off to my family. More than that, I wanted her to get to know everyone. But there were a lot of us, and it was going to be overwhelming.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Then stop worrying. Carson has given me the rundown and she even quizzed me on who’s who.” Honor laughed.

“How did you do?”

“Not well. You have eight cousins and two of them are married. Plus, your three aunts and uncles, your parents, and your brother. I think I have everyone’s names down but once Carson started with ages and occupations I failed.”

“If it gets to be too much, just tell me.”

I didn’t know why I was so worried. My family was cool, they’d pull her into the fold and make her feel right at home. Maybe that’s what I was afraid of. Either they’d scare her off, or she’d be another level deeper into my life. Making the pain even more unbearable if she left.

The other night when Honor had called me out on my shit, she’d smoothed the rough edges, but I still felt out of sorts. It was like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. My gut was screaming at me that something bad was going to happen. It was only a matter of time before my life was pulled out from under me. I couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Stop worrying. I won’t embarrass you, I promise.”

“Smalls, you’ve met my parents. There’s nothing you could say or do that would embarrass me. My family is loud and the best group of people I know.”

“What in the world is taking Carson so long? Carter’s already at my parents’ she’s normally bouncing off the walls, begging to go.”

Honor took my hand in hers and looked from the stairs to me.

“She’ll be right down. She’s finishing a surprise for your parents.”

“A surprise?”

“Just a little something she wanted to put together. It’s more for your mom, really.”

“Did you have something to do with this surprise?”

“Maybe.”