Her cheeks flamed red as she turned on the gas fireplace. “Sorry, that just slipped out. But weren’t you telling me earlier… What were your words? Oh, ‘I would like to find out what those other things are, Teach.’ I shouldn’t assume, but wasn’t that a sexual innuendo?”
Silence breezed through the open floor plan as we discarded our jackets, then she hung them in the coat closet.
“I just want to be sure whatever is about to happen, it’s not because of the alcohol in your system.”
She didn’t look drunk. Her eyes were clear.
She angled her head. “We’re just having coffee.” Her sultry smile said otherwise as she wiggled her curvy hips into the kitchen and flipped a switch.
Not if I had any say in it.Dude, take it down a notch.How could I? She started it.
I swished saliva around my dry mouth. “This place is nice.”
I hadn’t had a real home since joining the military, and I could envision myself living here with her. I could get used to quiet mornings filled with sex, coffee, and kicking back watching Sunday football.
Jace, shut the fuck up.
“Thanks. I bought out Ryan during the divorce. I didn’t want any material ties to him.” She filled the carafe with water. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black and strong.”
“Of course,” she mumbled.
My gaze wandered around as I went into the family room. Pictures on the mantel of her and Ethan, Ethan’s school picture, and one with an older woman who resembled Monroe. I would guess her mom.
I hadn’t spoken to my mom in a couple of weeks, and I owed her a call. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what had happened to me. She would only worry, and after my brother’s death, I swore not to divulge anything about my job.
I made myself comfortable on the couch, my gaze flicking to the college booklets strewn over the rustic coffee table.
“Is Ethan looking at colleges now?” I asked. Her son was on the JV football team, which told me he was probably in the ninth or tenth grade.
“Even though he’s a sophomore, we’re starting early.”
The cling and clatter of cups and spoons bounced off the walls and high ceilings. “By the way, how’s your shoulder? I understand that Dana is your doctor.”
I pressed my fingers into the injured spot. It had been a week since the near disaster during rock climbing. But it didn’t feel as bad as I thought it would. Then again, Advil helped.
“Much better,” I replied. “Dana was scolding me at the Rusty Spur for not wearing my sling.”
“Why aren’t you?” she asked.
“I didn’t injure it as badly as I thought.”
Once the coffee maker began to gurgle, she joined me on the couch, toeing off her shoes then tucking one leg under the other.
“You asked me about the other day at school, and I want to apologize for leaving you hanging at the football field,” she said, facing me. “I never introduced you to Coach Perry. But after you took the phone call, Lila texted me. She needed help with something.”
I studied her, not fully believing her. After all, her ex and his lady had thrown her into a tailspin. That was my guess, anyway.Plus, I would also bet our close encounter in the hallway after I told her about my brother might have spooked her since we’d almost kissed.
“Are you still interested in helping Coach?”
I sat back, turning toward her. “At the moment, I’m not flying. So I just got reassigned to help an instructor with his F-15 class. That’s the type of jet I fly. So I don’t have time now.”
For a split second, disappointment washed over before she banked it. Then she hopped off the couch as if I were contagious.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as she skirted the coffee table and adjusted the lamp shade by the window, appearing nervous and testy.
Odd reaction. I wondered what I’d said to spark her change in mood. Did she think that meant I’d chosen duty over her?
