About fifteen minutes later, I heard the screen door open. Seconds later, I had company next to me on the steps of my porch. This was my favorite time of the day, dusk. Our butcher shop closed an hour and a half before so that I never missed it.
“I love the sky here. It’s so iridescent,” she cooed over it. She glanced at me. “Um, can I tell you something?” She didn’t continue until I nodded. “Some nights I go up to the roof ofRosebudsand sleep on the roof.”
Her eyes didn’t waver from mine. She sought judgment or acceptance. There was no judgment. “That could be peaceful, I assume. The elevation and being under the stars.”
She nodded to my acceptance of an unspoken understanding. Based on the short conversations that we’d had about our service, I knew that she was infantry. Women were rarely put in direct combat, so I could conclude that overwatch was her main function. With overwatch, they were always at an elevated vantage point. Her feeling comfortable on the roof ofRosebudsmade sense. “After dinner, I want to show you something.”
A Lil Nightcap . . .
Dinner was amazing all around. She was overly impressed with my steaks, and I was overly impressed with her sides. She made macaroni and cheese, green beans, and cornbread. All of it was amazing. Our conversation over dinner was lively. It was refreshing to know that she had a sense of humor.
After dinner, I decided to take her to a little hideaway of mine. Since she loved elevation and the sky, I knew that she would love it. Sometimes it was the simple things.
On the top floor of our secondary barn, on top of a haystack, I had a little setup where I could lie under a skylight that I had specially built into the barn ceiling. During my time in the military, I never trained as a sniper. That was not a desire of mine, although I did have my Ranger tab. I didn’t have the desire for elevation like Minnow, but I loved the night sky.
Our shoulders touched as we lay next to each other. “This is so peaceful. Thank you for sharing it with me, Vic.”
My head slowly turned to gaze at her.Vic.“You’re worth sharing it with, beautiful. This is my peace in the middle of my peace.”
She already knew that my peace was this farm. It was my place away from the chaos. I liked to be in places where I could control as much as I could.
Her body turned toward me, and her hand held her head up. “Why aren’t you married? Based off of the time that we’ve spent together, I can’t find anything wrong with you.”
I stared at her for a beat before I chortled. “I guess I should say thank you. Me not being married was intentional. I didn’t want to be married while I was active duty because the thoughtof something happening to me on a deployment and leaving that wake of heartache behind was too heavy to bear. I’ve dated and been in relationships, but I made it clear that it would not lead to love or marriage. It was for sexual gratification only.”
People would be surprised how many women were fine with those kinds of arrangements, especially in the military. I never had an issue getting pussy. Women loved men in uniform. There was also that subset of women who thought that they could use me.
“You’re forty-two. You don’t want children?” she asked. Her face was scrunched.
I chuckled again. “Why would you assume that I didn’t want children? Minnow, my nut still works, love. Do you want children, marriage, the white picket fence, and all that shit?”
She took a heavy breath. “I mean, I do, but I’m not sure if it will ever happen. I know that I’m a lot to deal with.” She paused for a moment. “I don’t think I want a white picket fence though. Maybe like a farm.” She mumbled the last part.
Our gaze at each other was intense. I removed one of my hands from behind my head, then slowly moved it behind hers. My movement was intentional and slow, like all my movements. She allowed me to lower her lips to mine.
The kiss started soft and sensual. I allowed her to take the lead, and I was happy that I did. When she deepened the kiss and straddled my body, my hands went to her ass. Like I thought, it was soft as hell.
My dick hardened, and she moaned. We kissed for another moment before she pulled back. “Um, I . . . I have to go. It’s getting late.”
She abruptly climbed off my lap. I watched her gather herself, climb down the ladder, then leave the barn. I wouldn’t stop her. The day would come when she wanted to stay.
A Short Time Later
In the Trenches . . .
Since Minnow’s and my kiss, there had been a few more kisses and nights in my little hideaway. It always ended the same way.It’s getting late. I got to go.I never stopped her and would never stop her.
Today, something was off. When you’d been in infantry and after so many deployments, the study of human behavior became a serious study. You had to understand to know if a person was a hostile or a friendly when you were in enemy territory.
The first indicator that something was off today was that she was late. Her report time when we needed to cut was 0700. Today she arrived at 0701. It sounded insignificant to others, but it alarmed me. This was the girl who believed that she was late if she was on time.
When I said something to her about it, she responded sharply. I chose to ignore it because I knew enough to know that her response was the symptom of the problem, not the problem. I had never been an argumentative man.
We stood next to each other as I taught her a new cut. I loved to see her in the apron when she was in her cutting zone. Her movement was slow, controlled, and precise. Her cut inspections always gave the same results . . . clean and smooth.
“That looks really good, beautiful,” I praised her work.
She didn’t take her eyes off of her cut as she finished, but she did give me a smile. “Thank you. I have a great teacher.”
