With Honor by Rhonda Lee Carver

live for my career. The job dictates where I’ll be from year to year, month to month. I could be called away on duty tomorrow and be gone for a year, eighteen months. What sort of father skips out like that? I could also be transferred to another state–or, another country. How would you feel about that?”
    “I don’t know.” She knew exactly what sort of father he’d be, though. A good one. Her instincts wouldn’t steer her wrong. “I wouldn’t call it skipping out, Shane. Skipping out is what my mother did when I was a child and she never came back. You will be leaving for a short time and returning. You also said you’re close to retirement.”
    “Close, yes. In a few years. There is always the possibility–”
    “That something will happen to you? Shit can happen to anyone,” she said softly. Without a thought, she reached up and touched his warm cheek with the tips of her fingers.
    He gently took her wrist between his fingers. Truth glittered in his eyes. “Yes, there is always the chance.”
    Electrical charges burst from the contact and surged through Jasmine’s veins. A connection held them both in its lustful clutch. He let her go, but the warmth remained and she touched her skin where he’d touched her. “Why are you afraid of me, Shane?” Her voice trembled with emotion.
    “Afraid?” One brow lifted. “I’m not afraid.”
    Her heart raced. “Could have fooled me.”
    He hesitated. “I’m being respectful.”
    “And I appreciate that, but we have done this before.” She almost sounded desperate and she didn’t like feeling that way. Relying on others had never been an option before. Not only for sex, but for something stronger…deeper.
    “We’re both reeling right now. It’ll take me some time to get used to the idea of fatherhood.”
    “Understandable. I’m a little worried as well. This will be my first, too.” Before she thought her next move through, she leaned forward and smoothed her hand across his buzz cut. His scent wafted to her nose and titillated her senses. “You seem different, Shane.”
    He ran his palms down his legs. “Different how?”
    “Your eyes. I don’t remember them being so bright and sincere. Your smile is livelier. And, just, well, different.”
    “Maybe you want me to be different from the man you met in Florida. The man who left you with a note on your pillow.” His words were husky and broke through a barrier she’d had around her heart.
    She gave a small shrug. “Possibly. I didn’t think much of that man, I can tell you that. I’d experienced one of those moments when you wake up the next morning and realize that you’ve made a mistake. That’s unfortunate, because we made a baby that night, and that is a glorious gift.”
    “You had reason to feel it was a mistake. Most one-nighters are.”
    Meeting his gaze, she said, “You had an agenda and after you got what you wanted it felt like you couldn’t wait for me to go to sleep so you could leave.”
    He swallowed. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m not sure what I can do to change a first impression.”
    “I think you already have. I’m learning that the first impression isn’t always the deciding factor,” she whispered and lifted herself up on her knees. She slid across his lap.
    He sat back so that she was cupped into the scoop of his hips. His cock hardened against her thigh.
    “So I guess I’m not the only one who feels the connection?”
    The lines of his expression held great magnitude. “I won’t deny the attraction, but I’m not sure either of us is thinking clearly. I don’t want you to feel like you made another mistake.”
    “Is that so?”
    “A man can never think clearly with a hard-on,” he admitted.
    Starting at the neckline of his shirt, she slowly and deliberately walked her fingers down his chest, over his tight stomach, and to the waist of his pants where she tucked her finger in and pulled. “I don’t mind the hard-on. I find it