I let a cocky smirk transform my face. "I think it's a quality they require when you enlist."
Molly shook her head but changed the subject. "The tow truck just pulled in."
I already knew that. I clocked it before it even made the turn into the parking lot. My head was on a swivel even if it didn't look like it. It was part of that possessive gene she commented about. There was no way I was letting anything bad happen to her. She wasmywife, and her safety wasmyresponsibility.
"Give me your keys. You can wait here while I get this straightened out."
"So bossy." Molly rolled her eyes but handed me the keys anyway.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to me. "You'll learn to love my bossiness." I got out of the truck with a smile on my face, but I didn't miss the way her jaw dropped before I had turned away.
I made quick work of getting the tow truck driver situated. I got the name of the body shop he would be dropping it off to and grabbed Molly's purse and bag off the front seat.
"Did you need anything else from your car?" I asked as soon as I got back in the driver's seat.
"Uh, nope, that's everything."
"Then let's get home." I winked at her, fully realizing I used the term home to mean a place we lived together. We might've been taking things slow, but I was about to kick it up a notch.
The fifteen-minute drive to her house was silent. I couldn't tell if Molly was stewing or simply didn't want to talk. I did notice she was mutilating the corner of her lip again.
It wasn't until I pulled into her driveway and put the vehicle in park that I realized I couldn't take it anymore. "Are you going to tell me what I did to upset you?"
"Why do you think I'm upset?"
I scoffed, "Because you were silent the whole way home and tortured your lip like it personally offended you."
"That's the second time you said home like that."
Ah, so it was about that. "I did, and I sure as hell hope one day soon we are calling a place together home."
"What happened to taking things slow?"
I looked at her through one eye. "Apparently I suck at it." I leaned back between the seats and pulled a box back with me. "I planned on surprising you after work, and I brought you a little something."
I handed it over and waited for her to open in. "Chocolate?"
I simply lifted one shoulder. "What woman doesn't love chocolate?"
A small smile curved up on her lips. "Do you routinely buy chocolate for women you're trying to impress?"
Ouch. My hand flew to my chest. "No, you're the first. Before you, I didn't date. Don't get me wrong. I was no saint, but my way of finding a woman was by picking her up at a bar. Then we would go home, fuck, and maybe they would spend the night if they didn't leave right after. I wasn't an asshole. I made some of them breakfast, but it was never more than that. There was no second round. If I saw them out again, I turned down their advances. Once was always enough."
I took a deep breath. "You're different though and not just because I married you. Iwantto spend time with you. Iwantto date you. Iwantto know what it's like to see you after work each day. And yes, Iwantto call someplace a home with you. If that's moving too fast, well then, I'm not sorry for that."
I didn't have the slightest idea when everything had changed. It was sometime between flying home that day and my conversation with my team this week. But I think it had more to do with her ignoring me for a week. It gave me plenty of time to wonder what could be.
Molly no longer looked upset by that. In fact, she appeared almost happy with my words. She gestured over her shoulder."Let's get inside before my neighbors think we're weird just sitting here."
"Yes, ma'am."
I was out of the truck and at her door before she could open it on her own. I was a gentleman even though I never had a good example of that growing up.
Molly took my outstretched hand, with a smile, and we walked up the sidewalk to the front door together.
"Yoohoo." An older woman whistled from somewhere behind us.
"Oh, no," Molly groaned.
