“What about you and your Navy SEAL?” Alyvia countered, turning the attention back to Charley.
It didn’t slip past Charley the way Alyvia deflected the question, and something told her not to push it. Just from the short time Charley has known Alyvia, she has never talked about men—nothing from her past and no current guys she has her eye on.
But Alyvia’s mention of Pierce’s name had Charley fighting the heat that rushed to her cheeks.
She hadn’t heard from him since they parted ways at Ray and Jessica’s a couple of nights ago. Not that she was expecting him to drop everything he had going on just to call her. But she also didn’t think he was the type to ghost her either. He was most likely busy with training.
Alyvia grinned. “Judging from your pink cheeks, I’ll assume things are still moving in the right direction between the two of you.”
Charley let out a quiet breath and reached for her coffee, more for something to do with her hands than because she needed the caffeine.
“It’s still early, but so far I have no complaints.” Well, except for the tiny detail that he was still active duty, though that wasn’t really a complaint. But she would keep that part to herself.
Alyvia cocked one of her eyebrows, looking entirely too pleased with herself. “I don’t hear you denying anything.”
Charley shot her a look over the rim of her mug. “We haven’t even gone out on a date yet.”
Alyvia’s expression said she wasn’t buying that for a second. “Mm-hmm. Key word there is ‘yet.’ And yet here you are blushing like I caught you sneaking out of his bedroom.”
“Alyvia!” Charley exclaimed.
“What?” she asked, laughter in her voice. “I’m just saying, for someone trying to play it cool, you’re making this very easy on me.”
Charley shook her head, but the smile tugging at her mouth gave her away. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Yet,” Alyvia teased.
Charley huffed out a laugh. But she then got serious. “I really enjoyed his company at the cookout.” The words came out quieter than she intended, honest enough to make her feel exposed.
Alyvia’s teasing softened, just a little. “I figured that,” she said gently.
Charley looked up. “Was it that obvious?”
“To me?” Alyvia shrugged. “A little. Just the way you spoke about him told me that you were interested.”
“Great,” Charley groaned under her breath as she dragged a hand through her hair.
Alyvia smiled. “You deserve something nice, Charley.”
That simple statement hit harder than it should have. Charley swallowed around the sudden tightness in her throat and forced a small smile. “You make it sound a lot more serious than it is.”
“Maybe,” Alyvia said, giving her shoulder a slight shrug. “Or maybe I just know what it looks like when a woman’s trying very hard not to be excited about a man.”
Charley opened her mouth to deny it, then closed it again, because she couldn’t. Alyvia had read her like a book.
She was excited. More than excited, if she was being honest with herself. Pierce had a way of settling into her thoughts when she least expected it, showing up in the quiet moments, and even during stressful times. And that should have unsettled her more than it did. Instead, it just made her want to hear his voice.
Alyvia’s grin came back, slower this time. “So, when is this coffee date happening?”
Charley let out a small laugh and finally gave in to the smile threatening her lips. “I don’t know yet. He hasn’t called yet.”
Alyvia tipped her head in the direction of the phone. “Why don’t you call him?”
Charley thought about it. There wasn’t anything holding her back from reaching out first.
“I might,” she said, giving Alyvia a small smile.
“That’s a girl,” Alyvia said as she stood up. “I think everyone else already left. Do you want me to lock the main door when I head out?”
