“It’s more than that,” he said. “There isn’t anything out of place in your apartment. You were annoyed when I got dirt on the floor, nearly stroked out when I put plants in the sink.”
I choked. “I did not stroke out.”
“Be careful. You’re on the verge of doing it again,” Haz teased.
No one ever teased me.
“Your clothes are too nice to be casual, and the way you move…”
“The way I move?”
He made a small noise. “Yeah, confident, controlled. But graceful too. You catch me every time I’ve fallen, which means you have fast reflexes, and you’re strong. You pick me up with barely any effort.”
“You’re not very big,” I pointed out.
He’s also very observant.
“But as far as I know, most military don’t have as much money as you.”
“Maybe it’s inherited.”
Hazard tilted his head. “Is it?”
“No.”
We fell quiet. The urge to speak bubbling inside me warred with the urge to suppress it. I wasn’t a talker. A sharer. I was a keep-it-to-yourself loner. But his curiosity was far better than whatever had been bothering him before.
The Neon Reef came into view, the neon signage matching the logo across his shirt. I was barely at a stop before he was unlatching the door.
“I used to be,” I told him.
Haz turned away from the door, his full attention mine. That war raging inside me quieted. “I was enlisted a long time ago. I was injured and discharged.”
His eyes were so expressive. Brimming over with inquisitiveness, empathy, and life. “You got hurt? Are you okay?”
I nodded. “It was a long time ago. The wounds have healed.”
The physical ones anyway.
My phone started ringing again. Haz looked down at the cell that I’d dropped in the cup holder between us. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’m with you right now.”
His lips curled in, shyness evident in his averted eyes.
God, he’s cute.
The phone stopped ringing, and I handed it to him. “Put your number in.”
As he was doing it, he said, “This is my number, but you can’t call it right now.”
“Why the hell not?” I demanded.How dare he tell me no?
“Because I’m out of minutes. I won’t be able to pick up.”
