Mercy: Second Chance Military Romance by Abbi Hemp Read Free Book Online Page B

pouty nipples had been in my spank-bank for years. I wanted to see them again, taste them again.
    She handed my phone back to me as we stood outside her door.
    “If I don’t call you, meet me here at six,” she said as she turned the doorknob to check that it was locked.
    “Here’s hoping you don’t call me.”
    Her face lit up.
    “It’s good to see you, Tyler. I just have a lot going on right now.”
    “I totally understand. We can take it slow.”
    As we walked down the hall side by side, I pushed all the questions aside as well as my desire to strip off her clothes and take her right there in the elevator.
    She turned and grinned at me as we rode down. Did she feel the sexual tension in the air too? We arrived at the first floor and walked toward the front door.
    “It’s good to see you,” she said again as we made it outside.
    “I’ll see you later tonight. Have a good day.”
    “Are you headed uptown? We could share a cab?”
    “No, I’m the other way.”
    “Oh well. I’m looking forward to tonight. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
    “We do…”
    She waved then spun around and took off down the street, stretching her arm out for a cab. I watched a moment or two before turning and heading to find a diner and hang out.
    After leaving the military, I had been living on the small nest-egg I’d acquired helping Roger and the others extract a ton of minerals from Afghanistan while we were in the country.
    On rare days I missed working, having a reason to get out of bed in the morning, but most of the time I enjoyed having nothing tying me down.
    Roger called me occasionally, wanting to go into business together, but I’d never taken him up on the offer. We had gotten away with what we did in Afghanistan. I didn’t want to push my luck.
    Thoughts of the past faded as I concentrated on the future. After two years, I would finally be having a meal with Mercy, the woman I’d never been able to forget.
     
     

TWELVE

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Tyler
     
     
     
     
     
    When I made it to her apartment later that evening without my phone ringing, I wondered if my luck in love might be changing. While not unlucky, I’d not been in a relationship since getting out of the Army.
    Doing so was the furthest thing on my mind, but I realized there was something special about Mercy. The way she had left an impression on me spoke volumes about her as a person and potential mate.
    I hit the buzzer at the door and waited.
    “I’m on my way down,” she said.
    As I waited, I glanced down the street, looking for a cab. By the time she made it down, I had one waiting at the curb for us. She got in the back then scooted over.
    I checked her out as the cab took off toward the restaurant I’d given to the driver before she arrived. The red, low cut dress she had on played off the color of her hair.
    “You look nice tonight,” I said.
    “Thanks. You never told me where we’re going.”
    “A picnic in the Afghanistan mountains.”
    She laughed. I slipped a hand behind her, rubbing her back.
    “No, it’s a place called Giorgio’s. You know it?”
    “They have the best pasta.”
    “You have good taste.”
    Tall buildings passed outside on either side of us, so different than Afghanistan where buildings over two-stories high were a rarity. The thought reminded me of something.
    “Whatever happened with that story you were working on?”
    She frowned.
    “Well, after Captain Jeffries kicked me out before I’d had a chance to put the story together, my readers and the website who had paid me to go to Afghanistan were not happy. I had a hard time finding any work as a freelance journalist after that.”
    “That sucks.”
    “You’re telling me.”
    “Sounds like you’ve got a better job now.”
    “I don’t know if I would go that far, but I pay my bills. What about you? What happened after…that night.”
    At the mention of the night I had been ready to fuck her, the mood changed in the back of