Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Redemption for Misty (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Pierce Securities Book 5) by Anne Conley Read Free Book Online Page B

let me hold you.” He clamped his chin over the top of her head, and she satisfied herself with smelling his neck.
    God, he smelled good; nothing like the heap of dirty clothes she’d been found in. His scent dissipated the remnants of the dream.
    So she’d just go back to sleep. Misty was really comfortable right then, curled up in Chris with her arms around him while he lazily stroked her back. Idly, her arms traced the contours of his back while she inhaled his clean scent. He’d showered before bed, and the smell of his body wash drifted over her while she calmed down.
    When he spoke again, his tone was still soothing, and she almost missed what he said, thinking it would be more platitudes.
    “What have I done wrong, Misty? You’ve shut me out.” She pulled her head back to see his eyes squeezed shut, as if he was actually scared of something.
    “I thought we might be getting too close. You seemed to want me to pull back. I don’t know.” This was a weird conversation to have right now. She’d just come out of a freaky fucking dream and he wanted to talk about her feelings?
    He opened his eyes, the confusion in them vivid. His grip on her tightened, and she curled around his body, not ashamed of her reaction to his strength. She needed it right now. “I don’t know what I want, Misty. Sometimes I have to remind myself you’re my best friend’s sister, but hearing you scream like that just took ten years off my life.” Pain radiated from his voice and he rested his head on top of hers again. “So, fuck Andrew and his patting. I’m going to hold you tonight.” His voice cracked with emotion, and Misty felt awful for scaring him.
    “Okay,” Misty whispered, not about to put a stop to this. She liked it too much.
     
     
    Chapter nine
    Tonight was the Chamber mixer, and Chris hadn’t said much to Misty since the night she’d had that nightmare. And that was almost a week ago. It frustrated Misty because he was nice and didn’t seem mad at all. He just wasn’t talking to her. Not really.
    There was a lot of small talk at dinner and clean-up, but that was it. And she missed him. She missed laughing with him, flirting with him, being mad at him, all of it. But now, it was like they were just roommates when she’d thought they were friends.
    Oh well.
    Like always, Misty worked her butt off to get the coffee shop open while Chris sat in his corner by the window where he could see everybody. She had just taken the last pan of muffins out of the oven when Ghost walked in.
    “Hey, Misty. How’s things?”
    It was a rare greeting from the taciturn man, but she smiled brightly in response. “Great, Ghost. How are you?”
    He walked up to the counter and slid his card across the space to her. It was blank, only a phone number on it. She flipped it over to look at the back—nothing. “I wanted to ask you a favor. I’ve been in here on a job, but I’ve gotten called away on something else.” His lowered voice told her to not ask questions, even though she suddenly had a million. “I want you to promise to call me if you have anything weird happen here, okay? Something not normal, no matter what it seems to be. A lot of chatter has come from your Wi-Fi hotspot.”
    “O-kay.” She drew out the word, hoping he would answer her unspoken questions. But he didn’t. She’d known he wouldn’t. Instead, he gestured toward Chris.
    “Your boyfriend’s in the service, isn’t he?”
    Misty was quick to correct him. “He’s just a friend, and yes. He’s former Army.”
    Ghost nodded before going over, sliding in next to Chris, and speaking to him in hushed murmurs. Misty would have gone over to eavesdrop, but she figured they were smarter than that, and she had customers to take care of. Mia wasn’t here yet, so it was all on her.
    With a sigh, she got to work.
    It was about an hour later when Saul showed up, and since it was Friday, he ordered his latte with whipped cream before sitting at the counter to