Read Between Duty and Desire for Free Online

a boy who was looking for his dog,” she said defensively.
    “Callie, you haven’t even spent more than thirty minutes in a grocery store. You’re white as a ghost because you sleep all day and work at night.”
    “Maybe I’m part vampire,” she joked.
    She was sucking the restraint out of him. “You’ve done what Rob was afraid you would do. You’ve become a hermit. You haven’t made any friends. Youhaven’t gotten involved with anything or anyone. You’ve cut yourself off from the rest of the world.”
    “I have not. It’s just taking me a while to find my—” She broke off as if she couldn’t find the word.
    “What? Your mojo?”
    She snorted. “I never had a mojo.”
    “That’s a matter of opinion.”
    She stared at him. “What do you mean?”
    “You’ve obviously got some kind of mojo going with your art,” he said with a shrug. “And I’m sure there are plenty of men, given the opportunity,” he added meaningfully, “who would like to help you explore your mojo.”
    “I don’t want anyone but Rob,” she whispered, and the pain in her eyes chipped at his heart.
    “I know, but he wants you to go on. He wouldn’t want you to live this way.”
    She closed her eyes. “I can’t love anyone.”
    Unable to keep himself from touching her, he took her hand in his. “If ever someone was made to love, it was you, Callie. I could have told you that just by looking at the photo Rob kept of you.”
    “But how do you love when you don’t feel like living?” she asked him, opening her eyes to search his.
    “You wake up every morning and you put one foot in front of the other. You go through the motions until you start to feel again, and you will.”
    She took a careful breath. “So your coming here was a pity call, after all.”
    He shook his head. “You’ve got your pain. I’ve gotmy demons. I can’t help thinking I should have been the one to die.”
    She turned her head away from him and he had the odd sensation of the sun turning its back on him. He couldn’t blame her if she thought he should have been the one to die instead of Rob.
    She turned back to him, lifting her chin. “Rob wouldn’t want you to be thinking that way, would he?”
    He let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “No, Rob was a great guy,” he said. And I want his wife so bad I can taste it.

Four
    Marine Lingo Translation
RON: Remain Overnight

    “I ’m an introvert. I was born an introvert. What if I don’t want to be friendly and meet new people?” Callie argued as they took a fast walk on the beach the next morning.
    After her electricity finally came on near midnight, Brock returned to his cottage, downed a beer, willed his brain not to think and fell asleep. His Marine conditioning was unforgiving, however, and he’d awakened early. After a run on the beach, he read the newspaper and visited Callie to coax her out for a walk.
    The sun shone like diamonds on the water while the tide washed over the beat-up beach. “You haveto make yourself. You need to meet new people whether you want to or not.”
    Her jaw tightened and she frowned. “I shouldn’t have to if I don’t want to.”
    “That’s a selfish attitude,” Brock said bluntly.
    Her eyes rounded and she stopped dead in her tracks. “I’m not selfish. I’m just not outgoing. I’m more comfortable by myself.”
    He stopped, squaring off with her. She was probably going to think he was a nut, but he could speak from experience. He didn’t totally understand it, but looking at her photograph when he’d been overseas had given him a little lift even though he’d never really met her. “Did you ever think that there are some people who could benefit from knowing you? Did it ever occur to you that there could be people on this planet who need you in some way? People you haven’t ever met?”
    She blinked and stared at him for a long moment. “No. Why would anyone need me?”
    Brock swallowed an oath. He could give her a