He could tell she wasn’t averse to going out with him.Otherwise, she would have flatly told him no.Or maybe she was trying to think of a polite way of turning him down.Was she dating someone, and he was encroaching?
Rob didn’t know why he was pushing to hang out with her.He didn’t make it a habit to hang out with people outside of his team, but he found himself intrigued to learn more about June.Even if it was in a friends-only way.
“Fine,” she finally responded.“You may accompany me to lunch.”
Rob smiled broadly like he had just won a war instead of just getting her to agree to lunch with him.He held out his hand for her to precede him.Humor danced in her eyes as she walked ahead of him until they were side by side in the hallway.“Do you have a normal place you go to for lunch?”
“I usually pack lunch, but at least once a week, I go to one of the local places.Today is the deli a couple of blocks up.They make the best chicken parmigiana heroes in town.”
“Sounds good.”Rob didn’t eat out a lot, so he didn’t know many of the restaurants and places in town and would have to take her word about it.He preferred to cook his own meals, and now Luke’s girlfriend Shay brought in her home-cooking a lot.They were all spoiled.
Chapter 6
“So, what did you want to ask me?”June inquired once they were seated in a corner booth.June knew how military men operated, so she put them in the corner and gave him the seat with his back to the wall and his view of the whole restaurant.
His gaze scanned the restaurant more than once.She wondered what it was like living that way.Always on the lookout for danger.Memorizing faces.Always in a constant state of fight or flight.It seemed awful and exhausting.
Her brother was a Delta Force operative.An elite.He was always in that same state.She didn’t know how Cora tolerated it.She said one got used to it after a while.June would have to take her word for it.
June supposed after a time, people got used to just about anything.It was like when she’d lost her legs.After a while, she’d adjusted to life without them and now she was adjusted again with them.
Rob’s gaze fell back to her, and she felt herself release a shuddery breath.The man had a very intense look that went straight to her core and made her stomach flutter with butterflies.She averted her eyes to her plate in front of her.It was better to focus on that than his penetrating blue eyes.
“I wanted to see how you were doing after what happened Friday night.”
That was it?He’d waited for her session to end and followed her lunch to ask about Friday night.“I’m fine.”
“Just fine?”he pressed.“I know sometimes people can have flashbacks or shock from an event like that.”
“Have a lot of experience with people with shock?”She supposed in his line of work, there was a possibility.Based on his physique, he did not look like a desk jockey.She would take him for a field guy like her brother.Not a Delta, but some kind of infantry.They experienced it first-hand with rescues and the repercussions of victims.
A wall seemed to come up between them, and June sensed that he didn’t like to talk about anything military; why, she couldn’t understand.Her brother had one of the most secretive jobs, and he still told her stuff.Nothing specific but enough to appease her curiosity about what he did for a living.He probably wasn’t supposed to, but he told her enough so she didn’t worry about him.
“I’ve had some experience in the past.”
“So, you thought you would check up on me three days after the fact?”she asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.
Rob squirmed in his seat, looking uncomfortable.He was probably not a man used to being on the receiving side of interrogation.“It’s not like I have your number, and the clinic is closed on the weekends.”
True; she supposed she couldn’t be too upset with him for waiting to check on her.He hadn’t had a way to reach out to her until today.“Well, I appreciate you checking on me.As you can see, I’m fine.”She held her arms open to her sides to show him that she was completely fine.
“That you do.”June’s eyes fluttered up to his.Was his voice husky or was she hoping for things?“Look fine.I mean well,” he quickly amended.
It had been a scary situation—June couldn’t lie about that—but it hadn’t kept her up at night or made her jump at every shadow.She was just more cautious when she went out at night.June had also started carrying the knife her brother gave her when she’d decided to move here.
Not when she was at work but other times when she was out and about.Her brother Liam had suggested a gun when she’d come out here, but she didn’t like guns and worried she’d hurt herself more than the other person.
They had compromised on a knife, and her brother had given her one for her birthday when she’d moved here.It was a simple pocket knife, but it would do to keep her safe if someone like Troy came at her again.The experience had also made her think.Well, Casey had put the bug in her ear.
“Thanks, though I am starting to think self-defense lessons might not be the worst thing.Nothing huge, but something more effective than just screaming for help and hoping someone comes.”
That had been the worst.Yelling for help and no one caring except Rob.If he hadn’t come along when he had, she didn’t know what she would have done.True, she’d had a plan, but who knew if it would have worked?
June’s options had been limited.Her legs didn’t make for an easy run away or kicking an opponent.She did have a lot of upper body strength thanks to her job, but her punch to Troy hadn’t bought her much.
Rob took a bite of his sandwich.June watched mesmerized for a second by his strong jawline as he chewed his sandwich.“I could teach you.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”Lessons with the guy she had fantasized about for years?Yes, please.Casey had suggested it, but June hadn’t thought for one second that Rob would offer to teach her himself.Maybe offer the name of someone he knew.She couldn’t talk to her brother because he would suggest she move, and that was the last thing she wanted.June loved her job and the life she had built here for herself.She didn’t want to leave.“I’m sure I could find a studio or something in town.”It hadn’t been something she had considered before, but she was sure there were plenty of places for her to choose to find some self-defense classes for people with her limited ability.
