Teagan pulled into Blake’s parking lot at 8:15. The place was busy, its wooden tables strewn with newspapers and packed with people chatting and sipping their coffee.

She ordered a medium latte and a breakfast burrito, deciding to take it with her. There were no empty tables in the entire place, and she needed to be at the convention center by ten to set up before the showroom floor opened at eleven.

As she stood aside and waited for her order, she spotted a familiar cute dog under one of the tables. When Patton saw her, he lifted his head and his tail began to wag. She smiled and waved at him. Army Dude sat reading the paper, his hat on the table, revealing a head of sandy blond hair. He didn’t see her.

The barista called Teagan’s name and she grabbed her coffee and burrito and headed toward the door. She glanced over at Army Dude again, wanting to acknowledge him for recommending Blake’s… and to catch one last glimpse of him. What was it about him, exactly? He wasn’t even her type, not that she had a type anymore. This time, his eyes met hers. Still no smile or any sign of welcome. Before she could mouth her thank you, he motioned to his other chair.

Teagan hesitated, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She decided to take the offered seat. Army Dude glanced at her hair, staring at it for a moment. She knew why. He was surprised at its pinkness, something far less obvious on the trail, when she had her hat on. But he said nothing about it.

“Thank you for sharing,” she said, reaching down to pet Patton again, who’d come over to her side. “It’s busy in here.”

Gray-blue eyes gazed at her for a moment. “You’re welcome,” came the deep voice. He returned to his newspaper.

Teagan unwrapped her burrito, deciding not to force her silent table partner into conversation just because he shared his table with her. As she ate, Patton watched her, his big brown eyes zeroed in on her breakfast.

“Patton,” came the warning voice. Patton left Teagan’s side and resumed his place under the table.

Teagan giggled and glanced at Army Dude, whose eyes met hers again. A tingle ran through her, and she couldn’t tell if she was intimidated or turned on. Finally, he put his newspaper aside and sipped his coffee.

“What brings you to Arizona?”

“Tucson Comic Con. It starts in a couple of hours.” She didn’t ask if he knew of it. These days, the average person knew about comic conventions.

He nodded. He had long eyelashes. Really long. The kind women envied but only men seemed to get. “What goes on at one of those things?”

“They’re for people who like comic books or superheroes, or for anyone who loves science fiction or fantasy.”

“What do people do there?”

“They go to panels about topics pertaining to nerd culture. They dress up and enter costume contests. It’s a good place to buy art or books or other stuff… and at most of them, you can meet celebrities and get photos with them. Like William Shatner or other actors from TV and movies…”

“They don’t have comic con in your neck of the woods?”

“They do. A big one, actually.”

“Then why come all the way out here?”

To avoid my asshole ex. “Oh… well, I’m not attending as a fan. I’m exhibiting. I’m an author… I write science fiction.”

He nodded again, not appearing particularly interested. That was the thing about her vocation, and about going to conventions—people either got it, or they didn’t. And it didn’t surprise her that a military man had no interest in such things.

“What about you?” she said. “Wait, don’t tell me. Military. And if I had to guess, Army. And—I’m really stabbing in the dark here—you’re stationed at Fort Huachuca.” She grinned, hoping he might appreciate her humor this time around.

The right side of his mouth turned up just slightly. His version of a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And what do you do there, Captain?” she asked, choosing a rank that sounded high enough to be flattering but not so high as to seem ass-kissy.

“Major, actually.”

“Is that higher?”

He nodded.

“Sorry, I only know naval ranks.”

“Why’s that?”

She shrugged. “They use them in Star Trek.”

He stared at her for a moment. “So you aren’t just working these nerd conventions. You’re one of them.”

She laughed. “Pretty much.”

“I thought ‘nerd’ was an insult.”

“It used to be. Times have changed.” She paused. “What kind of work do you do at Fort Huachuca?”

“I work at USAICS, the Intelligence Center and School.”

“Oh, so the fort has a school to train intelligence officers?”

“The school. We’re the headquarters… we train everyone.”

“Wow. That’s… impressive. Do you like working there?”

“I do.”

She nodded, about a hundred other questions rolling through her mind. But she stopped herself, not wanting to grill him, especially with questions he probably got tired of answering for ignorant civilians like herself. She checked her watch: 8:35, which meant she needed to get on the road.

Army Dude noticed. “Time to go?”

“I’m afraid so. I have a long day and weekend ahead of me.”

“This thing goes all weekend?”

She nodded, finishing off her burrito before she stood up.

“Maybe I’ll come check it out,” he said. “I always liked comic books as a kid.”

Teagan halted, staring at him. “You did? Then you should come!” An idea came to her. “In fact, I have an extra exhibitor’s badge if you want it. It gets you in for free all weekend, and you won’t have to wait in line.” When Army Dude hesitated at that, his brows raised in surprise, Teagan backpedaled. “Don’t worry, this isn’t some nerdy ploy to hit on you. I’m done with men.”

“Why’s that?”

“You aren’t the only one dealing with a recent divorce, Major.”

It was like his tough-guy facade suddenly gave way. His entire expression changed, like he was glad to know that someone else had experienced the special joy that only divorce could offer. “No shit,” he said.

“No shit.”

He managed a smile at that.

“So you do smile!” she teased. “Good to know.”

He chuckled, despite some effort to avoid doing so. Teagan laughed too. Making serious people laugh was one of her favorite activities in life. She dug through her leather hobo bag for the badges Willy had mailed her. She found one and handed it to him. “There you go.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can pay you.”

She shook her head. “No need. I get two free badges when I do these things. I have no use for the other one, so you might as well take it. If you decide to come, great. If not, nothing lost.”

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Teagan put her bag over her shoulder and gathered her trash. “It was nice talking with you. Thanks again for the seat.” She offered her hand. “What’s your name?”

“Aaron.”

When he put his warm hand in hers and gave her a firm shake, a current of electricity spread from her hand to the rest of her body.

“I’m Teagan,” she finally managed to say. “If you go, come by Author Row and say hello.” Teagan said goodbye to Patton, waved to Aaron, and left.

As she got into her truck and drove off, she could still feel the tingling from his hand touching hers.