Faithful to a Fault Read Online Free PDF Page B

his elbow. “One opportunity for what?”
    “Um, okay. Forget I said that part.”
    Pete leaned across the bar and grabbed her wrist.
    “No. No I’m not going to forget anything. Opportunity for what?”
    She chewed her lip some more and he wanted to scold her for doing that to something so perfect. Sarah glanced around to make sure they were still alone, then leaned in and spoke in a low voice that wouldn’t carry. “To scratch an itch. Seize the chance.”
    He didn’t breathe, didn’t blink for fear of scaring her out of the moment. Luckily she took his silence as encouragement.
    “I was thinking that having a hot Marine in my bed would be amazing.”
    He took a deep breath and let it out to steady himself before asking, “Are you sure?”
    She nodded but didn’t look at him.
    “What’s going on?” Tony slid back into his vacated seat and stared at Pete’s hand covering her wrist. “Everything all right?”
    Pete let go of Sarah’s wrist like it was on fire. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”
    “Sarah! New drink order coming your way!” a server called from the main dining room. She scrambled over to the ticket printer like it was a lifeline. Damn, had he scared her away with his caveman wrist-grab? He hadn’t held on tight, she could have shaken him off at any point. But fear was something he never wanted to inspire in a woman.
    “What the hell happened, man?” Tony asked in a low voice.
    “She made the first move.” He was still a little surprised that she had. The speech he’d prepared to ease her into the idea drifted from his mind.
    Tony sipped his beer and was silent.
    “Yeah. Shocked the hell out of me, too,” Pete murmured, reading his friend’s unspoken words.
    “Hmm.” Tony nodded toward the bar as Sarah made her way back with an empty tray. She set the tray down but didn’t come over to them. Instead she went back to her detailed cleaning list as if they didn’t exist. “So now what?”
    Pete threw down enough money for the drinks and a generous—but not obscene—tip and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him off the stool.
    “Now we leave.”
    “I just got here! I wanted to finish that game, have another beer.”
    “You can do that at the pool house,” Pete growled under his breath as he pushed his friend out the front door. “Alone.”
    “What are you doing? Where are you going?”
    “I’ve got some things to do.”
    * * * * *
     
    He left.
    An hour ago she’d propositioned a man with a casual, mess-free fling and he’d left. And apparently that was her answer.
    No.
    It stung more than it should have. A man she’d just met and she would never see again shouldn’t have this much effect on her.
    She finished up her closing duties and bundled up tight for the short walk home. That was the good thing about small towns. Walking was possible as long as you were willing to brave the elements. While she wasn’t married to the place—her wandering spirit still wanted to explore, to move, to see—the town and the people in it had been good to her in a serious crisis. She didn’t mind staying for a while, especially while she saved up more cash.
    The cold hit her like an icy punch to the face as she left through the back door of the bar. But it wasn’t the temperature that had her sucking in her breath on a surprised gasp.
    A man lounged against the exterior of the building. Before she had a chance to figure out whether the man meant her harm, he spoke.
    “Finally. Thought I’d have to drag you out of there.”
    Pete? She pressed the heel of her hand to her racing heart. “God, give a girl a scare.”
    “Sorry. Didn’t think of that.” He eased off the wall and stepped into the weak streetlamp light.
    “What the hell are you doing out here?”
    “Waiting for you,” he answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
    “What for?”
    Pete walked toward her. No, not walked. Stalked. A jungle cat with his eye on unsuspecting prey.
    “You didn’t think I was