Home Sweet Home: A Sweet, Texas Novella Read Online Free PDF Page A

to the U.S.”
    “That’s stupid.”
    “Pretty much.”
    The shadows that veiled his eyes told Paige all she needed to know. Leaving that dog behind had stripped him of anything left in his soul.
    She curled her fingers around his arm. “Isn’t there something you can do?”
    The broad, strong shoulders that bore the weight of so much grief lifted in a shrug. “Someone mentioned an organization that helps bring back soldier’s dogs. But there are no guarantees.”
    “Oh, Aiden.” She pulled him into her arms and embraced him. “I’m so sorry.”
    “I left him with my team, and they’ll treat him right.” His hands settled lightly on her hips. “But all I can think about is his sitting there, wondering why I abandoned him.”
    Paige’s heart broke in a million pieces. Aiden was not the type of man to abandon anything or anyone. Though a poor dog alone in the middle of a desert war zone wouldn’t know that.
    As water tumbled over the rocks in the creek and moved along the sand, Paige felt Aiden close himself off. Everything inside him seemed to be at war with the peaceful surroundings. As if he didn’t deserve to be there. As if only a part of him stood on solid ground.
    “Sorry.” His chest expanded on a stuttered sigh. “I just really loved that dog. And I worry about him. I worry about what will happen to him when my team leaves.”
    “Of course you do.” She pressed her cheek against his chest. Heard the unbalanced beat of his heart. She couldn’t change what had happened. She could only offer him the chance to forget. “I’m so sorry.”
    If only for a moment.
    Lifting her head, she looked up into the handsome face she’d known since before she’d learned to tie her shoes. While the moon glowed above them, a dragonfly skimmed the rippling waters, and the click-click of the cicadas surrounded them as they looked into each other’s eyes.
    Heat and tension pulled them together, and their lips touched on a brief kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers, and Paige curled her fingers around the back of his neck.
    “I missed you,” she whispered. “So much.”
    His dark gaze moved slowly over her face. The memories of lying in his arms, kissing him, tasting him, caught like a sigh in her chest. “Touch me, Aiden.”
    “My hands are dirty, Paige. I don’t want—”
    She knew that in his mind, he could never clean them enough to wash away what he’d had to do with them in the war. She stepped back. Instead of relief in his eyes, she saw sorrow. Hunger. Whatever battle raged within him, Paige knew she could give him the one thing he’d missed for God knew how long.
    Comfort.
    She grasped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Then she reached between her breasts, unlatched the plain white cotton bra, and tossed it to the ground. She took a step forward until the tips of her breasts met with the smooth, worn cotton of his shirt.
    “Touch me, Aiden.” She let her fingertips waltz across his strong jawline. “Let me welcome you home like I’ve always dreamed.”
    HOW COULD HE RESIST?
    Good intentions told him to pick up her clothes and hand them back to her. Good intentions told him to walk away. She deserved better.
    Good intentions did not move lower in his body.
    Everything below his belt was running on heat, emotion, and need. He’d loved Paige the day he’d tossed his duffel on his back and headed off to basic training. He’d loved her when his boots had hit the volatile sands of Afghanistan. He’d loved her when he’d read her heartwarming letters over and over—yet he’d rarely responded.
    For her sake.
    He was responding now. To her inner strength. Her optimism. Her unwillingness to give up on him.
    For his sake.
    Paige. The woman who’d waited for him. Even when there had been a significant chance he would never come home.
    For weeks, months—hell, even years—he’d dreamed of holding her close. Touching her. Tasting her. Devouring her. Holding her close and never letting her go.
    Instead of walking away as he should, he