A Blued Steel Wolfe by Michael Erickston Page B

as guilt overcame him. He closed his eyes and regained control of himself. If I tell her, I could lose her forever. If I don’t tell her, this is going to tear me apart. What do I do now ? He wondered.
    He arose silently and picked up his boxers from the pile of clothing that included his button-less dress shirt and tux. He pulled them on, and then pulled his t-shirt on over his head before padding silently out of the room.
    Justin had to think, so he went to the kitchen. He found eggs in the fridge and bacon in the freezer. He grabbed the frying pan from the hook beside the stove, and the spray grease from beside it. He turned on the stove and sprayed the pan before setting the bacon in it to cook.
    While he did all that, he thought about his current quandary. He knew that keeping the secret inside him would rip him apart, emotionally. Telling her, however, would probably kill any chances of their burgeoning love from ever blossoming. Then his father’s voice came back on the conversation they’d had about honesty in romantic relationships.
    “Remember, Justinian, you must always be truthful with a lady. Even if that truth destroys what you have with her, you must never hold anything back. If you are honest with her, then she may forgive you. However, if she learns about it another way, it will destroy any hope of keeping her love.”
    Justin nodded as he took the crispy bacon out of the pan and set it on a platter. Then he cracked open the eggs and began to scramble them in a cup. He hadn’t even told his father about the details of the raid that killed Juan Delgado. The only man he’d told was the Catholic Chaplain during Confession, but even he’d said that Justin did nothing wrong.
    When Captain Treadwell and Colonel Reilly debriefed him and his men after the firefight, they ruled that he’d done everything by the book. He couldn’t have accounted for the other Taliban force in the area. None of their intelligence personnel even had knowledge that the other platoon of tangos was in that area of operations.
    That didn’t stop him from feeling responsible, though. He’d been in the field long enough to know that you had to prepare for every contingency. He’d failed to prepare for that one though, and it cost three good Rangers their lives.
    He absently flipped the scrambled eggs in the pan, letting them soak up the bacon grease for flavor. He nodded again as he knew what he had to do. Justin sighed as he resigned himself to the worst case scenario. If he lost Cammie because of this, he would have to live with that. He couldn’t live with the secret anymore, though. In light of his newfound realization of love for her, he owed her the truth.
    “Well, that smells good, baby,” he heard Cammie say as she stood behind him in the kitchen. He turned around, and the sight of her took his breath away. Even disheveled with her hair a mess and wearing only his button-less dress shirt and a pair of clean bikini panties, she looked delicious. The shirt hid her nipples, but left her midriff and cleavage bare. The sight caused him to stir inside his shorts. Her smile promised more to come, but only after some food.
    “Thank you, Cammie,” he replied, smiling in spite of the dark thoughts from only a moment ago. After breakfast. I’ll tell her after breakfast. He promised himself.
    She noticed him drinking in the sight of her in his shirt, and smiled naughtily at him. Justin reluctantly tore his gaze away to finish plating their food. He brought both plates, knives and forks to the kitchen counter with two high bar stools, and set them down. He retrieved two glasses from a cabinet. Then he poured them some orange juice to wash down their morning meal.
    “Breakfast is served, dear lady,” he said with a smile. They ate side by side, but all too soon, they finished their meal.
    “That was wonderful, baby,” she said as she followed him to the sink where he set down their plates and utensils. She wrapped her arms