Back in the Soldier's Arms by Soraya Lane, Karina Bliss Page A

through this.”
    Penny brushed a tear from the corner of her eye and made for the kitchen.
    Only to run smack-bang into the man she was crying over.
    “Oops.” Daniel did a fast sideways maneuver and jumped out of her way, a plate of goodies held above his head.
    “Sorry, Danny, I mean—” she stuttered, wishing she could stop herself from calling him that. “Do you, ah, need any help? I didn’t mean to leave you for so long.”
    He grinned. “Everyone’s so excited to have you home. Go enjoy yourself.”
    The way he looked at her, his dark hair skimming his forehead as it flicked forward slightly, made her want to twist away and run. But she stood her ground, trying to be brave.
    “You want one before the kids get their sticky mitts on them?”
    He lowered the tray and held it out. Penny reached for a mini hot dog and dipped it in the sauce.
    “I’m so full from breakfast still.”
    Daniel looked up at her with such warmth in his eyes he almost made her choke on the meat.
    “How about you put the candles in the cake and I’ll ferry this out into the room?” he suggested.
    Penny walked a few steps backward and watched him go.
    Wishing she had the nerve to pull him in for a kiss and steal his breath away. To see if it still felt the same, to see if she could forget.
    To see if what they’d once had was still there.
    But she didn’t. Instead she bit the inside of her mouth and started fossicking through the nearest drawer for candles.
    “They’re in the top drawer.”
    Daniel’s deep voice made her hands still. Caught her unaware.
    Penny froze as he hovered behind her. Daniel’s large frame had stopped, paused behind her so close she could feel him, could lean back and find herself pressed against his hard chest.
    She shut her eyes. Didn’t know what to do.
    Was powerless to stop the pull of her body toward the man she knew so intimately.
    “Here,” he whispered, placing his hand over hers and guiding it to the right drawer.
    Penny didn’t fight his touch. Couldn’t. Because it had been so long since she’d had this kind of contact with a man, with her man.
    Daniel’s breath was soft on the back of her neck, made her skin prickle all over.
    She could see the candles, but his hand hadn’t moved and she was powerless to move her own away from his.
    “Penny,” he whispered, transferring his hold to her wrist and turning it over in his grip so that she had to turn.
    She didn’t say his name back, but she didn’t resist either. Turned as he gently spun her.
    To find herself facing his chest, her eyes level with his collarbone. Penny lifted her gaze slowly, up his neck, to his jaw and then to his eyes.
    The need, the desire she saw there, made her step back, her bottom hitting the kitchen bench.
    But Daniel was too quick, had seen it coming, and cupped her waist with both his hands to stop her from getting away.
    “Let me kiss you, Penny,” he whispered, his voice low and husky.
    She didn’t know what to say. She wanted it and yet she didn’t, but her body betrayed her. Her mouth parted, responding to the call his was putting out.
    “Danny,” she whispered, wanting to tell him no yet failing badly.
    He bent, mouth so close to crushing hers. Penny’s head dipped back, her body dangerously close to Daniel’s. “Daddy?” They both froze.
    Daniel pulled back, his hands sliding from Penny’s waist to slowly hang back at his sides.
    She gripped the bench behind her, legs shaking. “Yeah,” he said gruffly.
    “What are you doing to Mommy? Isn’t it cake time yet?”
    “We’re, um, looking for candles,” Penny said, cheeks burning at being caught by their daughter.
    “Oh, okay,” Gabby said, skipping out of the room.
    Daniel turned almost-black eyes at her and smiled.
    “I’ll get those candles,” she said, needing the distance from him, hoping he stepped backward rather than toward her.
    “I’ll, ah, take the rest of the food out.”
    She listened to Daniel pick up another tray and