Men of Courage II by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online

mouth.
    She prepared herself for another explosive kiss, but instead, he kept the touch of his mouth sweet and gentle, exploring, comforting. Before she knew it, he had her cuddled up against his chest, his strong arms around her, and Liv wanted to stay there forever.
    Keeping her close, he said, “I made another call, too.”
    His tone alarmed her. She tried to press back, but he wouldn’t let her. “What did you do?”
    “I contacted the funeral home. I found there’s a real advantage to being in a small town. Everyone can make the time, and make things work, when they know you and care about you. And everyone here cares about you very much.”
    A little stunned, Liv said only, “You contacted Martin….”
    “He sends his condolences, and gave us an appointment for tomorrow morning. He confirmed that Weston can be buried Friday afternoon. If we call within the next hour, they can still get the announcement in the obituaries. I’d have done that, too, but I thought you might have something particular you wanted to say.”
    For some reason, his autocratic behavior struck Liv as humorous. He’d be here two weeks, so that didn’t factor into his rush.
    “With the funeral behind you,” Ham said, as if he’d read her thoughts, “you can put the grief behind you, too. Then you can start planning for the future.”
    A future that included him? Is that what he wanted?
    Is that what she wanted? She just didn’t know, but she did know that Hamilton held himself tense, awaiting her reaction. “You expect me to be angry.”
    “Well…yeah. I know it was presumptuous of me to sort of take over. But I’m only trying to make things easier on you.”
    She gave him a fierce hug. “And I appreciate it. We can decide on the announcement together, if that’s okay with you.”
    Ham drew back, his surprise evident, and then he kissed her hard. “We’ll get through this, Liv.” His mouth still touched hers, his breath warm and fast. “Together.”
    That sounded nice. If only it could always be that way. But the very nature of military service guaranteed that Ham wouldn’t always be there—no matter what he promised.
    Did she dare to settle for less, to compromise her own convictions…?
    More thunder rumbled, closer this time, prompting Liv to hurry. After girding herself, she confessed, “Could we work on the announcement now?”
    “If that’s what you want.”
    “It’s not that I mean to rush, but…my roof needs work.”
    He shrugged, confused as to what one had to do with the other. “I noticed.”
    “You did?” He’d been so openly admiring, she hadn’t realized. “The roof’s not that old, but it did get hit with some storm damage. A few of the shingles are loose or missing. There are replacement shingles in the garage, but I haven’t had time to get to it yet.”
    “I told you I’d been looking at houses lately,remember? I’ve seen more than a few that needed some repairs. As long as it’s nothing structural, who cares?”
    Liv wanted to ask him why he’d been looking at houses if he had no intention of leaving the military. An officer’s mobile lifestyle made putting down roots impossible. But before she could find the right words, he added, “That storm is coming in fast. I gather the roof leaks?”
    Back in the moment, Liv nodded. “In more than a few places. Luckily, there’s no furniture upstairs, and not much in the way of carpet. But I don’t want to see the hardwood floors get drenched either, so I need to put some buckets down to catch the worst of it.”
    Ham pressed another kiss to her mouth, then one to her forehead. His casual touches kept her off balance while at the same time providing the human touch she needed in the face of her loss.
    “I’ll help.” He drew her toward the kitchen. “But first…do you have a pen and paper anywhere?”
    It took them over twenty minutes to get together the facts that summed up her father’s life. Hamilton called the funeral home to give