Free Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Nicole Morgan

finest men the military had to offer were from the corps.
    That mixed with her father’s description of hairs rising on the back of his neck while he searched through his scope. He knew that feeling all too well, and it had saved his ass more than once. Several times actually. He couldn’t be sure, but based on the little information he had it seemed more than probable that her dad was a marine corps sniper. Knowing he served in Vietnam as well only heightened his belief that maybe her dad knew exactly what the hell he was doing. He’d heard stories of some of the marine snipers from Vietnam. Some of those stories were legendary. Their kill numbers were high, and very few of them ever made a mistake.
    The idea that he was dead, at least in the official capacity, pissed him off. He couldn’t ignore all that her father had done though. Those things all played an important role in him deciding how he was going to handle this. As a matter of fact, something told him that if her father believed it was best everyone thought he was dead, then dead he should be.
    “I understand, AJ.”
    Surprise washed over her. “You do?”
    He wanted to do something to erase the unease he saw in her. Motioning toward his bandages and his body, he answered, “Do I have a choice?”
    She looked at him, confused. He sucked at being aloof. It wasn’t his thing.
    “Come on. Your dad tackles someone hell-bent on killing me, struggles with a gun, shoots the man who wants to murder me, removes a bullet from my body, stitches me up, and from what I can remember gave me medicine and convinced his very sweet but incredibly tenacious daughter to not turn me in…I’d say it’s kind of a no brainer. Your dad saved my life in more ways than one. I would be a jackass not to understand.”
    Thankfully he watched as relief put some color back into her cheeks.
    “Would you like to meet him?”
    He smiled at her and gently brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “I would like that very much as a matter of fact.”
    “Can you walk? I can get you some clothes. They’re my dad’s and will probably be tight on you, but at least you won’t be naked.”
    He cocked an eyebrow at her and lifted the sheet that covered the lower half of his body. For some reason he hadn’t thought to look before now, but sure as shit, he was butt naked. A smirk was itching to show itself as he looked at her and caught sight of a blush filling her cheeks. Clearly she had blurted it out and not thought about it before she said anything. Oh, how he could’ve teased her about it, but that wouldn’t be appropriate right now. Instead he decided to spare her any embarrassment and act as though she said nothing.
    “That would be great. Thank you.”
    “Okay, wait here. I’ll be right back.”
    Nick watched as she hurried from the room. She was a pretty little thing, long brown hair to match her deep chocolate brown eyes. The eyes that he wished didn’t hold so much anxiety.
    Deciding he didn’t want to be a pussy in front of her when she returned with his things, he swung his legs to the side and placed both feet firmly on the floor beside the bed. Being in bed for three days had done no good to his body. It relented against him in that moment as his legs shook with the pressure he placed on them.
    Standing proved to be harder than he thought. Sweated beaded on his brow, and he decided to sit and wait for her to return. He didn’t want to use all his strength until he absolutely had to. He bunched the sheet around his waist and waited.

Chapter 10
     
    AJ raced up the stairs. Conflicting thoughts flooded her mind. Her father was near the end. She knew this to be true. Every time she checked on him she wondered if it would be the last time they would be able to speak. She knew their time was limited when they came here to the island. His oncologist had even advised against traveling. It was important to him though. He wanted so desperately to live out his final days in the place