“Same for me.”
It took them about thirty seconds to set everything up, and when her image came through, he sighed. She was prettier than he remembered. Of course, she had washed her hair, and the bruises and cuts on her face had almost fully healed.
“You look good.”
Her smile widened, and he swore she blushed. Maybe it was just the video, but he was sure her cheeks were pinker.
“Same to you.”
“So, are you okay with me sleeping in the loft?”
She shrugged. “I know this is weird. It seems like we’re skirting around the real talk here.”
He nodded. "True. Let's get real. I think you're sexy and I want to get to know you better, not just to be friends, but for more."
“Okay, there you go. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“So what about you?”
"I think you're very good-looking. I'd be lying to say I wasn't thinking about kissing you. But you're right, we don't know each other and we shouldn't hop into bed as soon as I get there."
Her words warmed him, and his cock filled out a little at the idea of sleeping with her. He was glad he was sitting at his desk and not with his shorts in view where she could see his cock getting harder.
“Good. We’re on the same page. I want to get to know you. We can chat on the weekends, and text to get to know each other a little better before you come here, but still, we need to spend time together.”
Her smile warmed him. “I’m glad you don’t just want to hop into bed,” Ansley said.
His chuckle was deep and maybe a little dark. “I mean, I’m a guy and I do want to hop into bed. But I know that type of relationship won’t lead where we want it to go. I could go out to a bar and pick someone up to fuck, but I’m tired of that. I want more than meaningless sex. I want something real with someone stable.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You think I’m stable?”
This time, his laughter was lighter. "Well, you are a Marine."
She threw back her head, laughter spilling out. It felt good talking to her. She got his humor, and he got hers.
They talked about basic training, the shock they went through, and their first assignments out of basic. Because she spoke languages other than English, she'd been moved to counter terrorism. That's why she'd gone into a more dangerous area, because she was a translator.
“So how many languages do you speak?” Link asked.
“Speak conversationally, I’d say four. But I know enough of seven languages to be useful for the military.”
“What do you think you’ll do for a job after you’re out?”
"No clue. For now, I've signed up to teach English online. It will be enough to get me by for a while. I'll have to come up with something more after the first year, but I'm set for a while."
“That’s good.”
They ended their call with promises of talking next Saturday. On Sunday, he wanted to call her again, but he didn't want to be too clingy. If this relationship happened, it would have to develop naturally.
Chapter 11
Pete left the police station,angry that they wouldn’t listen to him. He needed to find someone who would help him bring that bitch down.
Eventually, someone would believe that she'd been right there by his brother's side. That video the cops released of his brother standing on the end of the pier had to be fake. There was no way Ansley wasn't a part of Craig's death.
He was set to visit Ansley's hometown and find out what that bitch had done there. He didn't believe for a second that she was innocent in that guy falling off the water tower.
Pete planned on spending a week questioning everyone. He had meetings set up with four people who had known Ansley back then. He would get information from them in one way or another.
