Free Hold On (Delos Series Book 5) by Lindsay McKenna

sex with. I didn’t realize it at the time, but six months later, I’d figured it out.”
    “I’m sorry, Callie. The guy should have come clean with you from the git-go. At least that way you’d have had a choice to make instead of being hoodwinked.”
    Shrugging, she sipped her coffee. “He’s like most of the guys here, which I soon discovered the hard way.”
    “Have you met anyone who really cared for you?”
    His question made her wince. “‘Care’ as in a real relationship where it wasn’t only about sex?”
    Nodding, Beau drank a sip of his beer. “Yes.”
    “No, I haven’t.”
    He sat back, spreading out his long legs beneath the table, bracketing her legs but not touching them. “What would it take to convince you that I do care about you? And that it’s more than just wanting to have sex with you?” Beau searched her face, her expression still dark and thoughtful. She’d been hurt often, and that was tough for an idealist like her. Unfortunately, the men she attracted were hard-core realists who wanted her body, not her heart.
    In his case, he wanted everything from her, and was willing to give her back exactly what he got.
    She looked at him, clearly concerned. “I don’t really know. I’m scared, Beau. Scared of myself, even more than I’m scared of you, at this point.”
    He felt a bit of hope begin to grow. “Really? How so?”
    “Look, I have to be honest with you,” Callie began, her cheeks flushing a deep pink. “I like you, Beau. I’m sure you can feel that. I’m even beginning to trust again, which is no small tribute to you. But then I remember the guys who disappointed me, and my own stupidity in letting it happen again and again. And then I get scared and pull away from you.”
    Nodding his head, Beau asked softly, “Callie, I need to know if you feel we have something special between us.” He slowly moved the cold, beaded beer between his spare hands, studying her.
    Without hesitating, she said, “Yes, I do,” her mouth tugging toward a smile. “You’re different from other men, and you’re interested in what I think. That’s new for me. You ask me serious, deep questions, and no guy has ever done that before.”
    “Because I want to know all of you, Callie. Sure, your dance dazzled me, but I was more taken by the fire in your eyes and the passion you were expressing in that dance. I don’t know how else to explain what I sensed and saw about you. You’re all heart, and that makes you different from the women I’ve known before. In a lot of ways, you remind me of my mother, because she’s a very passionate woman, and an idealist, like you.” He smiled ruefully. “Not that I see you as my mother. You share her passion for life and that touches my heart deeply.”
    She sat there, aware that she was losing not only the battle but the war. Realizing this brought mixed emotions. “I don’t know what’s happening with us, Beau,” she muttered, “I really don’t.”
    “Me either, gal.”
    Her heart pulsed when he whispered that endearment in a roughened tone.
    “What I’d like to do,” Beau proposed, “is just keep doing what we’re doing, and let the good experiences build up. I’ll make every effort to be with you at the orphanage in Kabul when I’m back on base. And I’d like to take you out, maybe for an ice-cream cone at your ice-cream parlor that hides the Rocky Road.”
    She let a grin escape as he went on. He certainly had her pegged already, including her weakness for Rocky Road! He was the most perceptive man she’d ever met, that was for sure. And he certainly paid close attention to her desires.
    “And don’t forget, we have some nice dinners ahead, and those future foot rubs you’ve already signed up for, yes?”
    Callie sat there, feeling guilty as hell. This man was trying to navigate around all her bad experiences, and his sincerity was obvious as his gaze gently held hers.
    She felt a tingle of excitement. This was real. It was