Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Lorna ducked her head, letting her hair fall over her face, and shrugged. “Only thing I’ve ever been any good at. My brain just works that way: loads and pressures and centers of gravity, that all makes sense. Normal stuff, like being good with people...not so much.”
I stared at her, my chest aching. She had this amazing ability, this gift, but she was so shy, she just wanted to hide away in a corner. Part of me wanted to tug her out into the light, so everyone could see how incredible she was. The other part of me just wanted to hug her tight and keep her safe.
“It’s amazing,” I told her. But I forgot to look at the tower when I said it.
She flushed. “Building it almost broke us,” she said. “The company’s leveraged up to the hilt. But if we can get through the next few months, we’ll be okay.”
The sun was getting warmer so I stripped off my jacket and hung it over one of the coolers, then picked the whole thing up. Lorna took the other cooler and we headed towards the boat. “You’re military,” said Lorna. “Or you were military, right?”
I nodded. “Army.” I never say Delta unless there’s a call for it. “Now I’m with this private military group, up in Colorado, doing security and stuff.” I smiled, thinking about the team. “Basically, I lead a bunch of reprobates.”
“Is there a reason you got out?” asked Lorna gently. And I saw her eyes flick down, just for a second, to my left hand.
Aw, hell. She’d seen the mark where my ring used to be. That question about the military had been a snowball, tossed onto a roof. She was hoping it would roll down, gathering up all my background. Was I divorced? Did I have kids?
What happened to your family?
The guilt caught up to me again, hitting me like a freight train. What was I doing?
I liked her. I’d only met her a few times but I already liked her more than any woman I’d met since Jillian, even though the two of them were so completely different. And even through all the shyness, I could tell she liked me. I could feel the warmth of her, close enough to touch, and there was an echoing, cold emptiness inside me that craved her. That craved not being alone.
But I was meant to be alone. Jillian and Max were my shot and I lost them. That’s what forever means.
When I didn’t answer, Lorna shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I’m lousy at this stuff.” And she hurried on ahead.
Dammit. Now she thought she’d said something wrong. I couldn’t be with her but I needed her to know it was nothing to do with her. She was almost at the boat. This was going to be hard enough without doing it in front of her dad. “Lorna!” I called. “Lorna, wait!”
She stopped and turned.
“Look,” I said, “I—”
A wall of heat and sound smacked into us as the boat exploded.
9
JD
Everything went blisteringly hot and then suddenly, shockingly cold. Water filled my mouth and nose and my animal instincts took over: I kicked and tore at the water until my head broke the surface. I inhaled and got a big lungful of smoke. That sent me into a fit of coughing and I twisted wildly around, eyes streaming, trying to get my bearings.
Thick white smoke hung like fog over the water. The air was full of drifting embers that singed my skin and burning chunks of wood floated all around me. Some of it was old, gray wood: the dock I’d been standing on. But some of it was polished teak.
The boat. Oh Jesus. The image replayed in my head, the boat exploding into matchwood. The explosion must have taken out part of the dock, too, and hurled us into the water…
Lorna! I hollered her name but nobody answered. I cursed and threw myself forward, swimming toward where I thought the dock might have been. I pushed burning debris out of my way, squinting through the thick smoke, but there was no sign of anyone.
Wait. There! Floating on her back, bobbing amongst the wreckage. I clawed my way through the water and grabbed her, flipping onto my back and pulling her against my chest. She was breathing but semi-conscious, probably stunned.
I swam her over to a part of the dock that was still standing. By now, the scene was filling up with people, brought by the explosion, and they helped me lift her out of the water. I scrambled up after her and then bent over her. I couldn’t see any injuries. “Lorna? Lorna!”
Her eyes slowly focused on me and she came out of her stupor. When she saw the scene around her, she sat up. “Oh God. Dad!”