Army of You & Me Read Online Free PDF

given it up for his ex-wife’s child to have a home. “What did she have? Boy or girl?”
    “A little girl. Candace. She’s very happy.”
    “What about you?” Madeline watched his face, looking for residual anger or love for his ex-wife. “How are you?”
    “Unshackled,” he teased. “And not even nearly full. Do you have to get back soon, or can you spare dessert?”
    “Chocolate brownies,” she suggested immediately.
    He pointed a fork at her. “If I follow what you’re saying, you’re coming house hunting with me.”
    “I...”
    “No. You can’t defend my honour then leave me alone to pick up the broken pieces of my life.”
    It was silly, because she truthfully didn’t know him, but if she went with him, she’d be imagining herself front and centre in his life. Where her things would go, what books she’d read in different chairs, if her furniture would fit in the living room, or the bedroom, if he would snuggle her at night or put a pillow between them to make sure she wouldn’t take up his space. She’d only had a brief touch of his arm, but nothing would be sweeter than using one of his bulked arms to lay her head on to sleep.
    “Good!” he boomed when she didn’t answer. “You can come with me. And I’ll buy dinner.”
    “All right, then.” Looking at him over her pint glass, she hesitated before blurting, “You don’t have to.”
    “I told you.” His voice was low. “You’re my only friend left in London. Friends stick together. Friends with bullet holes in the bodies definitely stick together.”
    “What? Where?”
    Cain leaned back, biting on his bottom lip. “Nope. You have to earn that one.”
    Oh god, she thought, fighting a grin, don’t let him break my heart into a million pieces. I don’t know how anyone would compete with him if he did...

Chapter Five
     
     
    A bus rolled across the street as they waited to cross, Madeline’s hand tucked into the crook of his elbow as she scanned traffic. Her resilience astounded him. That she’d fought through the mires of Rwanda to be grounded, successful, smart, savvy, and utterly beautiful was testament to that. Soldiers tended not to talk about tours unless it was with other soldiers. For some reason, Madeline unblocked the “keep schtum” gene, and he wanted to tell her anything and everything she wanted to know.
    He took her hand from his forearm and linked it to his before strolling across the road and right in front of a harassed-looking woman behind the wheel of a 4x4. Madeline was hurrying after his strides to keep up.
    “There’s no hurry!” she gasped as he hustled her back to her shop.
    “Sorry. I do march rather than walk.” He slowed his pace to what he termed a granny crawl and took in the surrounding shops. Tutti Fruitti was well placed. Just off the main street and surrounded by complementary rather than competitive shops. Clever little thing.
    “Will the estate agent come and pick us up or...” she trailed off.
    “Oh, don’t worry. I’m driving. Borrowing my father’s run around for a bit. He barely uses the other three.”
    Madeline tucked a twist under her scarf. “You’re quite privileged, aren’t you?”
    “In many ways, yes. Not many people come home to a few cars in the garage that they can borrow.”
    “A few?”
    “Five.”
    “Who needs five cars?” she blurted.
    He ticked them off his hand. “The Land Rover, the truck that pulls the horsebox, a Mercedes, a Jaguar, and my mother’s Bentley.”
    “No one needs five cars.”
    Cain gave a shrug. “They’re all old enough and ragged enough to be worthless in today’s value. I won’t say it’s not nice being privileged. I wouldn’t get free sweets otherwise.”
    “Or free truffles,” she added.
    “Or kisses.”
    Madeline’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t have anything called kisses...” Her voice trailed off as she took in their circumstances. That sweet chin of hers was balanced on the edge of his left hand, and his