A Ranger's Love: A Military Erotic Romance Read Online Free PDF

“This okay?” I ask.
     
    “Perfect.”
     
    “Soldier isn’t a job, Mike,” I say. “Dad was a soldier, but his job was in intelligence.”
     
    Mike sighs. “Can we change the subject? Daisy, I can’t talk about what I do, okay? It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s that I can’t tell you. You should understand that if your dad was an intelligence officer.”
     
    “You’re some type of covert ops or Special Forces, aren’t you?” I ask. “Okay, yeah, I know, you can’t tell me,” I say when Mike doesn’t answer, which is in itself almost as good as him saying yes. “It’s just that I don’t anything about you, Mike. I would like to.”
     
    I park the car and we walk in. Since it is a Monday evening, the place isn’t all that busy and we are seated immediately. “Not much to tell,” Mike says as he stretches out in our booth with a soft sigh.
     
    “How long have you been in the service?” I ask.
     
    “Almost four years now. I just re-upped for another tour.”
     
    “So, you’re going to be career military?”
     
    “Yeah. Probably.”
     
    “Where’s home?” I ask. If he would just talk to me, I wouldn’t feel like I’m pulling teeth to get anything out of him.
     
    “Fort Bragg.”
     
    I grimace at him. “You know what I mean.”
     
    “Little Rock, Arkansas. Actually, a little town not far from there called Searcy.”
     
    “Family still there?”
     
    Mike pauses for a long time. I can see him thinking over his answer. “I don’t have any family. Not anymore.”
     
    Something about his answer doesn’t ring quite right, like there is more to the story than that. I can see pain in his eyes and I wonder what he’s not telling me.
     
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” I finally say, deciding I have pressed him enough tonight. I don’t want to come across as nosy and upset him. We really struggle for conversation, since so many subjects are off-limits. I don’t want to talk about my past, since it still hurts so much and Mike has made it clear he doesn’t want to talk about his. He can’t talk about his job and mine is just boring. We finally settle on talking about current events, but what I really want to talk about is us. I want to talk about how he makes me feel and how I want to feel him touching me again. Instead, I can feel a distance between us. It worries me, but I try to not let it show. I have been hoping Mike wouldn’t be a one-night stand, but it’s looking like that is what it will turn out to be.
     
    As we eat I can’t stand it anymore. I have to know. “Mike, is everything okay?”
     
    Mike looks at me. “I guess. Why do you ask?”
     
    I plop the sandwich on my plate. “I don’t want to pry, but you don’t want to tell me anything about you. I don’t know how to take that and I worry that you are brushing me off. I know you can’t talk about your job, but you don’t want to talk about your family or anything else.” I frown in frustration. “I would really like to get to know you better, but if I’m bothering you…”
     
    “Danielle,” Mike says, using my real name, “there is nothing wrong. I’m not trying to brush you off, okay? I like you and would like to spend as much time with you as I can, but right now it’s hard. I think we are going to get a break Saturday and Sunday. I would like to see you, if you are willing. We can talk then, okay?”
     
    I feel like a heel now. Mike is obviously tired, but he called me and is having dinner with me. He could have just as easily ignored me and I wouldn’t have known the difference. “I’m sorry, Mike. I just…” I stop and pout, feeling guilty.
     
    Mike reaches across the table. He holds his hands open until I place mine in his. “It’s okay. Don’t sweat it, okay? Part of it is I’m just so damn tired. But another part of it is…well…I have made some mistakes. I’m not very proud of what I have done.”
     
    That gives me pause. Mike seems like such a great