Special Forces Father by Mallory Kane Read Free Book Online

seeing him on top of the shock of finding out her child had been abducted.
    Now she studied him. The best thing she could say was that he looked awful. She couldn’tsee his dark eyes, since he was asleep. But his ridiculously long eyelashes, which his son had inherited from him, rested on the purple circles below his eyes. His cheeks were hollow, where Max’s were adorably plump, but there was no doubt that they were father and son.
    She scanned his long, lean body. He was so thin. Of course, he’d never been bulky. At six feet one inch, he had the bodyof a basketball player or a swimmer. Lean but rock hard.
    He must have lost twenty pounds. Had he been sick? She had no idea where he’d been or what he’d been doing for the past five years. He could have been sitting pretty behind a desk or stuck in a dark prison for all she knew.
    Then she noticed a red line above his right eyebrow. Was that a scar? Now that she was looking for them,she spotted other small marks on his face—at the corner of his lip, on the curve of his jaw, at his hairline.
    He opened his eyes. Kate gasped in surprise. She’d leaned forward as she studied his face, and now their lips were less than three inches apart. He lifted a hand and touched her hair.
    Something happened inside her chest. A fluttering. She recognized it. She’d felt that same sensationevery time he’d touched her back in college, and nothing had changed since she had seen him five years ago during his furlough.
    The years fell away and her brain was suddenly sending her screen shots of all their good times together. Then Travis pushed his fingers through her hair and pushed all thoughts out of her head. He tugged gently, pulling her head down until he could reach her lips.“Morning, Kate,” he murmured, then kissed her lightly.
    She swallowed. “Morning,” she said, looking into his dark eyes. His gaze held hers for a moment, then slid downward to look at her lips. He leaned forward again and touched her mouth with his. She closed her eyes. It felt so familiar, his hands in her hair, his mouth on hers.
    But what was she doing? Her Max was gone. She pulled away,shaking her head, her eyes filling with tears.
    Travis let go of her and sat back. “How’d you sleep?” he asked, his gaze roaming over her features.
    She bit her lip and blinked against the tears.
    “I was dreaming about Max. When I woke up, I thought he was here, snuggled up against me. I thought that yesterday was the bad dream.”
    He nodded solemnly.
    She got up. “Do you wantsome coffee?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet. “Please.”
    Kate watched him walk across the living room and into the hall, headed for the bathroom. He moved stiffly, like a patient weak from surgery. But still, his long bones and sleek muscles gave him the unconscious grace and dignity that was so familiar to her.
    She felt stiff herself. Her back ached.Obviously, sleeping half sitting, half lying down on a couch was not good for a body. By the time Travis came back into the living room, Kate had the coffee going. He sat at the kitchen counter.
    “Tell me about this court case,” he said as she held out a steaming mug. To her surprise, his hands trembled as he took it. She glanced up at his face, but his eyes were on the coffee. He lifted itto his mouth and took a cautious sip. “Mmm. It’s funny, the things you miss the most. That’s good. Chicory?”
    “Of course,” she answered, smiling. “And boiled milk, plus plenty of sugar for you.” She picked up her coffee mug and came around the counter to sit on a stool beside him.
    “So who is it you’re supposed to evaluate?”
    “Myron Stamps. You should recognize the name. He’s beenin the legislature since forever.”
    “Stamps?” He shrugged. “I never paid much attention to politics. Seems like I’ve heard of him.”
    “What about Freeman Canto?”
    “Oh sure. He and my granddad were big political rivals and friends back in the