The Soldier She Could Never Forget by Tina Beckett

Author:Tina Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Harlequin Medical Romance
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

“YOU USED TO have an earring in high school.”

A swallow of his milk shake went down the wrong way, and Clint gave a couple of rough coughs before turning in his seat to stare at her. In the dim light of the parking lot at a nearby burger joint, he could just make out her questioning gaze. He’d decided against going to the park, worried about being too alone with her.

This was more public, although he wasn’t exactly sure what he was worried about. Surely they could both handle this situation like adults. Running into each other from time to time was part of adult behavior.

And going to the fair and having dinner with her and her mother?

All part of being back in his hometown. It meant nothing. At least, he’d better make sure it didn’t.

And what about her asking about his earring?

Jessi must have changed clothes before leaving the hospital, because she wasn’t wearing a lab jacket or rubber-soled shoes but a pair of slim, dark jeans, lime-green T-shirt and a pair of shoes that had a wedged heel. Not what he would consider doctor gear at all. In fact, she looked much more like the teenager he’d known in high school than a mom with a grown daughter.

He felt like an old fuddy-duddy in comparison, still in his shirt and tie. He could have sworn the kid at the drive-through window had eyed Jessi with interest. Clint had thrown the teen a glare in return, which had felt like something Jessi’s actual father might have done.

When had he turned into such a square?

Maybe when he’d seen the emotional wounds of those returning from battle. And how they reminded him of his own.

“I did have an earring. I took it out the night before I reported for boot camp.”

The night of their graduation. The night he’d made love to Jessi. It had marked the end of an era for him, a journey from childhood to becoming a man. Removing the earring that night had been something the old Clint wouldn’t have done. He’d have reported to boot camp and waited until someone ordered him to take it out. But he hadn’t. After watching Jessi’s house for a while that night, he’d gone home—avoiding the after parties and festivities that had gone along with graduation—and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. God, he’d wanted to stay in Richmond that night. For the first time he’d thought of doing something other than running away. And it had been all because of Jessi.

Instead, he’d unhooked the small gold hoop and pulled it from his ear. As if that one act would give him the courage to walk away when everything inside him had been yelling at him to stay and fight for her, shoving aside his fears about what might happen if he did. What kind of life he might drag her into, if he stayed.

But, even if he’d decided to risk it all for her, Jessi was already spoken for, at least according to Larry and all their friends.

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