Falling for Flynn Read Online Free PDF Page A

relationship. Even after he’d joined the ADFA and she’d virtually dumped him, he hadn’t quit. Not in his nature; then, now, ever.
    He’d been away four years, following a dream that had more to do with repaying debts than a love of the military and it had taken his impending departure for the front line for Lori to see him again.
    The memory of that night had burned into his brain, had sustained him through hunkering down in damp ditches waiting for the enemy to pass, had given him courage to confront hostiles and raid their weapon base, had lent him the impetus to attend rehab every day when he’d taken a stray bullet in the leg and attend endless debriefing sessions with psychologists.
    Lori may have walked away from him that night but the memory had lingered through the dreariness, the mundane, the horror. Inadvertently, she’d done him a favor, making his last memory of Melbourne an incredible one.
    And here he was, the memory he’d harbored and the reality as far apart as this quiet leafy street and the ravaged bunkers in Afghanistan.
    His hands clenched the steering wheel as he pulled over in front of the house number she’d given him, unable to control the renewed surge of anger sweeping through him, destroying his good memories, leaving bitterness in its wake he feared he’d never eradicate.
    He had a son.
    She hadn’t told him.
    Would anything she said tonight change that?
    Unlikely, but he needed to hear something, anything, that would explain why the woman he’d once loved had denied him parental rights.
    Slamming a hand against the steering wheel, he studied the house, surprised by its modesty: a small clinker brick cottage with decaying wooden frames and a faded terracotta roof, surrounded by a large overgrown garden. When she’d mentioned the Colonel had bought it he’d expected a mini-palace to rival the mansion up the road, not this … this … home .
    Another stab of animosity lanced his gut. He should’ve been the one to provide a home for his son, a place to return to, a house filled with light and laughter, a garden just like this one, with a tire hanging from a rope attached to an old oak tree, a scooter lying on its side in the grass, a bike propped up near the door.
    As a kid, this would’ve been his dream home. Then again, anything would’ve been better than the two-room hovel he’d called home. Not that the decrepit house had been a problem as such. It was what occurred within its walls that drove him to be the man he was today. Ironic, he’d only joined the army to pay Pop back for leaving it to raise him and as a result, the army had been the only real home he’d ever known.
    But he couldn’t think about the past now, couldn’t allow old memories to taint what he’d come to do.
    He needed answers.
    Lori sure as hell better give them to him.

CHAPTER FOUR
    “You look cool, Mom.”
    Adam lay on Lori’s bed and rested his chin in his hands, looking up at her while kicking his legs in the air.
    “Don’t you mean hot?”
    She slicked a sheer gloss over her lips, her hands shaking with a mixture of anticipation and nerves.
    “Gross.” Adam rolled his eyes, clearly embarrassed by her teasing.
    “Glad you approve.”
    She twirled in front of her son, feeling beyond foolish she’d gone to this much trouble. But she’d needed to dress up, needed to feel confident with what she had to face.
    Flynn was furious with her and while she couldn’t blame him, she hoped he’d hear her out.
    Smoothing nervous hands down the aubergine jersey dress, she wished she had more time: more time to gather her thoughts, more time to find the right words to explain what she’d done and why, more time to come to terms with the fact she’d have to tell Adam about Flynn.
    Adam sat up, his solemn expression startling her. “Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure, sweetheart.”
    A sliver of unease wormed its way into her soul. Adam’s intent expression, his nose crinkled and his forehead puckered