Read Last True Hero for Free Online

begins in something of a whirlwind. It’s the first packed Friday night of the season, really, and the beach crowd is flocking to Lone Sands’s well-known eatery. The dinner rush won’t slow down until after nine on a night like this, so I’m too busy to pay much attention to anything but the diners seated at my tables.
    That’s why I notice when Mea and Mikah roll in with a small posse, because they’ve demanded to be seated at one of my tables.
    That’s why, around eight, I notice when Dare and his friend are seated at a table just behind them only a minute later.
    The sight of Mea brings a genuinely happy smile to my face. I know she’ll want to make plans for when I get off around eleven. To me, hanging out with Mea until the sun comes up is the symbol of summer.
    The sight of Dare sends a hot flush creeping up to my face and a flutter of nerves coursing through my stomach.
    I’m aware of the danger the second emotion signifies. Being attracted to a military guy has never been in the cards for me. In fact, I’ve been fighting against my parents for years on the very subject. If I’m not going to end up with Grisham, I’m not going to end up with any man in uniform.
    But something about Dare, from that very first night I met him, has had his stupidly rugged face creeping into my thoughts just before I fall asleep at night. And even though I turned him down that night, it didn’t help matters that I ran into him again at the auto mechanic’s shop. Since then, and since I actually had the nerve to flirt back with him, I’ve been wondering how his very large hands would feel wrapped around my waist. Or grasping the back of my neck. Or…other things.
    “Berkeley!” Mea is flagging me down from her table, waving her napkin like a white flag.
    I roll my eyes and head that way. I grab her and Mikah’s glasses without asking them what they want, and hurry back to them with a Coke and a Sprite. Neither of them is holding menus, which would be unnecessary, since I already know what they want to eat. I throw them a quick smile and hold up a finger before scooting over to Dare’s table.
    “Hi.” The cleverness of my greeting sends a jolt of embarrassment flaming straight to my cheeks.
    “Hi, yourself,” he answers. “Berkeley, this is my friend, Drake. Drake, this is Berkeley.”
    His friend is huge, and sexy, and all smiles. I shake his beefy hand and return his grin, then turn my attention back to Dare.
    “Should I bring you boys a beer?”
    He nods, one corner of his mouth turning up in a lopsided smile. God, that’s hot. His face is lacking nothing, in my opinion. His sort-of-long dark brown hair is just the right length to tug at if my fingers happen to find themselves running along the nape of his neck. It curls slightly at the ends, disappearing under his collar. His face is so ruggedly handsome, I finally understand what they mean in books when they say ruggedly handsome. There’s a thin coating of scruff along his strong, square jawline, and his skin is tan underneath. His eyes are a green so light I’d call it sea-foam, and clear as the Caribbean Sea. They’re set under heavy brows that move when he’s feeling something. Right now, they’re furrowed as he looks back at me, and I know he’s wondering what I’m thinking as I stare at him a beat too long.
    I might be in trouble. Focusing on those obscenely gorgeous eyes is causing my skin to heat and my toes to curl in my boots.
    I refuse to let my eyes travel to the rest of his seated body until I’m safely beside the kitchen door, and then I peek. I lean against the wall and leisurely take him in. Snug gray T-shirt with the word ARMY printed on the front. Tattoos peeking out from underneath the sleeves at both biceps. Another runs the length of his inner forearm, script that I’m aching to read.
    I’ve never, ever dated a guy with tattoos. And this guy has three.
    That I can see.
    My assessment continues. Dare isn’t nearly as beefy as his