Falling for Flynn by Nicola Marsh Read Free Book Online

you think I’d be like that?”
    The anger was back, clearly audible, and she pinned him with a defiant glare, daring him to disagree.
    “You’ve changed. It’s obvious you’ve seen things and done things civilians like me only ever see in horrific censored snapshots on the news.”
    She scanned his face, willing him to understand. “You’re harder, edgier. So who knows what kind of father you would’ve made each time you returned from the frontlines for what? A day? Two? A week tops?”
    Rather than snap back as she expected his shoulders slumped as he dropped his head into his hands, his defeated posture scaring her more than any of the accusations he could’ve hurled her way.
    “It was my choice to make.”
    She only just heard his muttered response before his head snapped up, his eyes bleak.
    “ Mine , not yours.”
    Battling tears, she reached across, covered his hand with hers and this time he let her.
    “Maybe but I did what I thought was right for our son. I carried him in my belly for nine months, I gave birth to him, I stayed up nights when he had croup and teethed and cried ’til I thought my heart would break.”
    Sniffing, she blinked rapidly, fearing the action too little too late as tears slipped down her cheeks.
    “I would’ve done anything to protect him from pain and rightly or wrongly I didn’t want him to go through the agony of never knowing when his dad would show up, how long he’d stay for or when he’d return.”
    He handed her a serviette. “Here.”
    As she dabbed under her eyes, took deep breaths, Flynn watched her, his unswerving gaze more than unsettling. He waited until she’d regained composure before holding up his hands, palm up.
    “I’m not the enemy here. I just want answers.”
    “And now you have them. So where do we go from here?”
    She needed to know for Adam’s sake, needed to formulate a plan to cope with having Flynn back in her life.
    “What you did? Withholding the truth about Adam from me?” He shook his head, sorrow slashing a deep groove between his brows. “Unforgiveable. But I want to get to know my son. I want to spend as much time with him as possible.”
    He ticked the first two points off his fingers, hovering over the third.
    “And I want for us to get reacquainted.”
    “Why?” she blurted, before mentally clapping a hand across her mouth.
    The way she’d said it, it sounded like the last thing in the world she’d want.
    “Because we’re Adam’s parents. We need to get along, for his sake.”
    “I guess you’re right.”
    Of course they’d have to be civil, even friendly for Adam not to get suspicious and notice the tension between them.
    But what did getting reacquainted mean? The occasional phone call while he was in town? Snatched hellos and goodbyes when picking and dropping off Adam? Dinners? Like the ones they used to share at their favorite Vietnamese restaurant, joking and laughing and sharing dreams over Hanoi beef noodle soup, crispy soft-shelled crabs, and fried eel with lemongrass and chili.
    She’d give anything to revert to the carefree couple they’d once been but nothing had changed. Apart from Adam, Flynn still belonged to the army in a way he’d never belonged to her, and he’d vanish to some godforsaken end of the earth in a heartbeat.
    Sure, she could let him into her life for Adam’s sake but she’d be damned if she let him re-enter her heart, too.
    The arrival of their meal gave her some breathing space and as they tried to make small talk, passed the salt, and kept up the appearance of a couple trying to be polite, she knew keeping the man she’d once loved at arm’s length would be almost as hard as once walking away from him.

CHAPTER SIX
    Lori powdered her nose and reapplied her lip-gloss, taking a few calming breaths in the process. She stared at her reflection, looking for any obvious signs she’d lost her mind.
    What were you thinking?
    Rather than playing it cool tonight she’d plowed straight