Whipped by Sabrina York Read Free Book Online Page A

escape to his room, where he could mope in peace. He didn’t come out until his father sent him a text asking where he’d gone off to, and inviting him for an afternoon coffee.
    And when Colonel Coulter invited you for coffee, you had coffee.
    It was then that Dane realized how stupid he was being. He didn’t get to see his family, his parents, near often enough. He’d be damned if he’d let her steal this opportunity to spend time with them.
    So he made his way down the coffee shop tucked behind the escalators. He saw his parents immediately, sitting at a table in the back, holding hands, and something lifted in his soul. He headed their way. His dad rose to meet him with a hug. He bent to kiss his mother’s cheek.
    Damn. It was good to see them.
    It would be nice to sit. Talk. Catch up. With no pressure.
    “How’ve you been son?” Dad asked, scanning him with a watchful eye as Dane took his seat. Mom slid a white cardboard cup across the table with a smile.
    “Great.” Dane sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee. Yeah. Just the way he liked it.
    “We heard you were hurt.” Mom leaned forward, a martial light in her eye. Okay. Probably a little pressure. “Why did Cody have to tell us?”
    “It wasn’t anything Mom—”
    “A concussion is nothing? You were in the hospital .”
    Dane covered her hand with his. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
    She snorted. Very unladylike, but there you have it. When she was younger, she’d been the perfect military wife. Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. Perfect manners. Raising four boys and a hellion of a daughter had cured her of all that. “If you didn’t want to worry us you would have become a grocer. Or a dentist. Or a doctor like I wanted…”
    “Mom.” He chuckled. “I faint at the sight of needles. Some doctor I would have made. Besides. I love my work. It’s…exciting.” He locked gazes with his dad, challenging him to leap into the fray. Dad had been career military. He knew.
    But Dad was no help at all. He sighed and scratched his neck. “Doesn’t last forever, son.”
    “What?”
    “The adventure.” He waved Dane up and down. “The body. God knows, by your age my knees were shot.”
    “You shouldn’t have jumped out of so many airplanes,” Mom said, sotto voce .
    “It was my job.”
    “Still…”
    They lapsed into silence. Everyone sipped their coffees.
    After a while Mom piped in with, “I can’t believe little Cody Thompson is getting married.” The way she sighed made a sizzle of warning prickle at Dane’s nape. “I remember when he was in diapers.”
    “He’s not so little anymore,” Dad said, running a finger around the lip of his cup.
    Dane grunted in response. Cody was not little anymore. He was huge. And he had big fists. Fists that could smash a guy’s face flat if he caught some guy kissing his sister. Or something.
    “They grow up so fast.” Mom reached out and clasped Dane’s hand. Gave it a squeeze. The ripple of unease grew. “I suppose he and Angie will be starting a family soon. What do you think, Dane?”
    “Hmm? Yeah. Probably.” He took another sip of his coffee.
    It came up through his nose in a burning rush when his mother said, apropos of nothing, “I’ve always wanted grandchildren.”
    He scrambled for a napkin and mopped his face. “What? Mom!”
    She shrugged. “It’s time Dane.”
    Dad nodded. “You aren’t getting any younger, son.”
    Seriously? Was this what this heart-to-heart was all about? “I’m hardly a geezer.”
    Mom tipped her head to the side and studied him, as though she wasn’t quite sure. Dad tapped the lid of his coffee cup. They both stared at him in silence.
    “What? I’m not!” he was compelled to insist.
    Mom sniffed. “You’re not getting any younger. That’s all I’m saying. And you’re not going to meet nice girls haring around the world rescuing political prisoners and bombing bridges.”
    “Mom!” Where did she get these ideas? His gaze shot to Dad.