Not have anything back home distracting him.
He turned the last corner of his run, took in the sight of a perky, obnoxious blonde sipping out of a paper coffee cup on his stoop, and his heart skipped a beat.
She was in her college football best—jeans, a giant Ole Miss sweatshirt swallowing her chest, and Converse sneakers that had danglies on the laces that he suspected wouldbe classic Rebel gear. When she spotted him, she held up a second coffee cup.
She’d brought him a peace offering.
“Didn’t think you’d be up so early,” she called when he hit the edge of his property.
“Disappointed?” he asked.
“You know it. Nothing I like more than subjecting unsuspecting males to my charming presence before the sun’s up.”
Felt good to smile at her sassiness. He wiped his forehead and took a seat next to her on the stoop. “How you been?”
“Just peachy. Beating off men with a stick, turning down promotions at work, making the news for my philanthropic work. The usual.”
He reached his sweaty arms around her, pulled her to his damp chest, and squeezed her in a hug. “Missed me, huh?”
“Get off, you stinky mess!” She swatted at him, but there was no vinegar in it.
Actually—“Did you just sniff me?”
“That’s disgusting. Why would I do that?”
“You did. You sniffed me.”
“Just to make sure that was you and not something that died.”
But she did it again.
She leaned into his space, and she sniffed.
Her pupils dilated, and unless he was way off the mark, she was squeezing her thighs together.
He grinned to himself and took a swig of the lukewarm coffee she’d brought.
She still liked him.
“Your roommate home?” she asked.
“Probably.”
She sniffed. “Could’ve gotten a dog instead.”
“Yeah, but dogs are easy. Getting a Juice Box is good training.”
“For what?”
His grin dropped off, and a stray leaf floatingover the street was suddenly interesting. “My commander’s hinting he wants me to apply for a position as an instructor pilot in the training squadron.”
“Here?”
He nodded and told himself that was neither panic nor hope he heard in her voice.
They didn’t have the kind of relationship where she cared one way or another what he did.
“You want to?” she asked.
