“Bullshit.”
“It was cow shit actually.A whole pile of it stacked up to there.”He held up his hand to mid chest to give her a visual demonstration.“That stuff really stinks.It would make anyone’s eyes water.”
Andrea spat out the sip of water she had just taken and laughed so hard several people around them turned in their seats to stare at her as if she were crazy.Jack could have cared less about them.For all he knew, they were the only two in the restaurant.
“You’re terrible,” she stated, wiping the water from her face, though there was no heat behind her words.
“Maybe, but it makes for a good joke.”
“That it does.So have you done any traveling, or was the whole story made up?”
“No, I’ve actually travelled quite a bit in my life.”He’d been to places he could never tell her about.In some places, he had seen unspeakable horrors, while other places had been quite nice.
“Did your family move around a lot?”
Jack didn’t like talking about his family, but if he wanted Andrea to open up to him and trust him, he was going to have to reciprocate.“No, we never moved.In fact, my parents still live in the same house my sibling and I grew up in.”
“You mean there’s more out there like you?”
“There’s no one else like me, I can assure you.”One of him in the world was more than enough.He’d hate to compete with other versions of himself.
“I don’t know if I should say that’s a good thing or that you have a very overinflated ego.”
“It has nothing to do with ego, simply a statement of fact.There aren’t many people like me.”
“And what makes you so special from the other womanizing men who smooth talk women into their beds and discard them when they’re done?”
Ouch, was that really how she saw him?“Because I actually care what my partners have to say.I put them first.”
“How lucky for them,” Andrea mumbled, not looking impressed by his boasting.He was going to have to tread carefully before he insulted her.
“I’ve never heard them complain.But to answer your question, I have a younger sibling.A brother named Ethan.”
“Is he a Casanova like yourself?”Andrea asked before taking another sip of her water.
“No, he’s quiet, shy even.The complete opposite of me.”A hint of bitterness slipped out in that statement, so Jack changed the subject.“So I left as soon as I was old enough and that’s that.I’ve traveled the world and experienced life’s different pleasures.”
“You mean women?”
“I meant life’s pleasures.Wine, art, different cultures.Experiences I couldn’t get at home.”
“I didn’t realize IT supervisors could take so many vacations.”
Jack shook his head, forgetting for a moment that was his cover.He needed to keep his wits up around her.She was sharp and paid attention to details.“Most of my travels were before that.”
“Recreationally or for work?”
“Work, though when I had downtime, I went out for pleasure.To learn, not the other thing,” he felt the need to clarify.That earned him a smile as if to say she didn’t necessarily believe him, but it was nice of him to try.Okay, so it hadn’t all been about sightseeing in his travels, though he did see many sights.Big, beautiful, bountiful women who were all too happy to show him the sights.
“What kind of work did you do before IT?”
Now this was a tricky thing to answer.He could go with the truth, and it might scare her off, or use the lie he had used while actively serving.It wasn’t something he liked to go around advertising.Like the SEALs and Delta Force operatives, they didn’t go around announcing their job qualifications and making themselves a target.A SARC (special amphibious reconnaissance corpsman) was definitely not something one went around announcing.
He had already let it slip to Maya; if he lied now, he could be found out, and then she would go back to distrusting him.“I was in the Navy.I did field operations.”Jack studied Andrea’s body for any signs of stress at his bombshell.
She didn’t even bat an eye.Either she didn’t care, or she was an incredible actress.“So you were a seaman.”
“Ha-ha, like I’ve never heard that one before.”
