Chapter Eight

Connor pulled open the door to Shooter’s Pub and walked inside. Despite the joint’s run-down appearance, the popular sports’ pub had a steady stream of regular customers every day of the week, many of them military men and women from the nearby base. This evening was no different. He hadn’t even made it to the bar yet, and already several friends had called out greetings to him. Any other evening, he would’ve joined them for a few beers or maybe a game or two of pool.

But not now.

Tonight he was only here to pick up the takeout order he’d called in.

“Hey cutie,” Candy said, stopping him before he reached the bar. As usual, the pretty waitress was wearing a sprayed-on T-shirt with the name of the pub on the front and extra-short shorts. She’d piled her hair on top of her head and applied the perfect amount of makeup to make her dark brown eyes grab you and pull you in. “I haven’t seen you in weeks.” Despite the loaded tray in her hands, she moved in closer to him, her breasts brushing against his arm. “I have one table open. It’s over by the windows. Go grab it, and I’ll be right over.”

Several months ago he would’ve smiled and headed for the empty seat. Then he would’ve stayed until closing and taken Candy back to his place for the evening. Even if he didn’t have Becca as a temporary roommate right now, he wouldn’t have done so tonight. Sure, they’d had some fun together, but he had no desire to spend any more time with Candy—a fact his buddy Keith would give him hell about if he knew.

“I’m not staying. Just picking up a takeout order I called in.” He took a step back, putting some space between them.

Candy pouted; there was no other word to describe her expression. “Oh, well, my shift ends at nine o’clock. I can stop by your place on my way home. Or you’re welcome to meet me at mine. Either works for me.” She moved in toward him again.

Connor considered his options. He knew her type. If he said not tonight, she’d interpret it to mean “let’s hook up some other time.” Regardless of where this thing with Becca went, he had no desire to have sex with Candy ever again. Honesty usually served him well, but telling Candy he had a girlfriend sounded like something a twelve-year-old would say. And he wasn’t sure it was the truth anyway. Yeah, there was definitely something between him and Becca, but where it would lead was anyone’s guess.

Stick with the truth. “I’m seeing someone.” It sounded better than saying he had a girlfriend staying with him.

“Darn,” she said, a true frown forming on her face this time. “Whoever she is, she’s lucky.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Oh well. If you’re ever single again, you know where to find me. We always have fun together.” Candy adjusted the tray she held. “Have a nice night.” Before he answered, she walked away toward a table of twentysomething-year-olds, catching the attention of a lot of guys around him.

He watched her flirt with the blond man seated with the group, and couldn’t help comparing her to the woman he’d have in his bed again tonight. While there was no denying Candy was pretty, she couldn’t compete with Becca. And it might sound stupid, but Becca’s beauty wasn’t only about what was on the outside. She was thoughtful and kind. Since she’d been staying with him, there hadn’t been an evening when she hadn’t inquired about his day. Whenever he’d been with Candy, it’d all been about the physical pleasure. There had been no in-depth conversations or sharing of each other’s day. He’d never considered his life lacking anything, but since Becca walked back into it, he’d started reconsidering that belief.

“Hey, Connor!” a familiar voice called out. He turned in the direction it had come from, and found Brayden Delray seated at the bar. They’d served together, but he hadn’t seen the guy since the spring when Brayden’s mother-in-law had last been in town.

“Brayden.” He clapped the guy on the shoulder. “How’s it going? Mother-in-law visiting again?” It was no secret Brayden didn’t get along with his mother-in-law, and whenever she was in town, he spent as much time away from home as possible.

He nodded and reached for his beer. “Unfortunately. But she’s leaving tomorrow night. So my visit to hell is almost over.” He took a gulp before setting the glass down. “What about you? Alone tonight, or are you meeting someone here?”

“Just picking up dinner,” Connor replied as the bartender approached. He gave the man his name and order number before turning his attention back to his friend. “How’s Laurie?”

“Miserable. Sick every morning. Doc said it would get better in the second trimester, but it hasn’t.”

“She’s pregnant?” He’d spent countless Sundays at Brayden’s house, watching football. The last time he’d seen Laurie had been for a Super Bowl party they’d hosted back in February.

“Five months.”

The bartender set Connor’s order down and accepted the cash in his hand before walking away. “Congrats, man.” He slapped Brayden on the shoulder again. “I’m happy for you both. Tell Laurie I said hello.” He picked up the bag of food. “I’ll stop by soon.”

When he pulled into the driveway, Becca was closing her car door with her hip. She had her purse and briefcase in one hand and two large pizza boxes in the other. When she heard his car, she spun around, almost dropping the boxes in the process. She smiled once she spotted him.

“Great minds think alike.” He held up the takeout bag from the pub and crossed to her.

“Or at least hungry ones,” she said, leaning closer to kiss his cheek. She nodded toward her trunk. “I picked up some wine too. It’s in the trunk. I didn’t think you had any.”

He’d always been more of a beer drinker, but given the right circumstances, he drank wine as well. If Becca preferred wine with their dinner tonight, he wasn’t going to complain. “I’ll grab it.” He used the key fob still in her hand to pop the trunk and pulled out the bag.

Wine and dinner from Shooter’s in hand, he unlocked the front door and held it open for her. When he followed her inside, he again wondered what she thought of the place. Never before had he cared what a visitor thought of his house, but since her arrival Saturday night, the thought had crossed his mind several times. While in excellent condition, the tiny ranch-style home was close to sixty years old and lacked many of the amenities newer homes had, such as central air conditioning and an attached garage. Since he’d originally moved in as a renter, he’d assumed the place would only be temporary anyway and had overlooked the things the place was missing. When the owner decided to sell a year ago and offered it to him before contacting a real estate agent, he’d accepted immediately with the intention of updating the home when he got around to it. Somehow he still hadn’t gotten to any of the changes he wanted to make. Still, the outdated home didn’t bother him. It might bother a woman like Becca, though. She was used to having the best of everything, and that included where she called home. Her own house was a perfect example of that.

“I wanted to cook us dinner tonight,” Becca said, interrupting his inspection of the kitchen and all the things he wanted to change about it. “By the time I left the office, there wasn’t time to go shopping.”

He’d dated plenty of women, but none had ever cooked for him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s why takeout was invented.”

She left the pizzas on the small kitchen table. It had been there when he started renting the place, and the owner told him to keep it after the sale. Connor guessed the table might be as old as the house. It certainly looked like it. Unlike the home, it had definitely seen better days. Since he usually ate alone in front of the television, he rarely noticed, though. Tonight he was noticing every scratch and chip in the wood.

Becca got out two plates and added them to the table. “I’ll cook for you this weekend,” she promised before going back to the cabinets. “Do you have any wineglasses?”

“Sorry, no.”

She took two water glasses out instead. “The alarm company will be finished at my house tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll be done early. They worked until three today, and then I went to the office. I did some stuff while they were at the house, but I find it hard to concentrate with them there. Even when I’m alone at home, I tend to get distracted easily. All the noise they were making didn’t help.”

He’d been surprised when she told him she didn’t already have some type of security system in her house. If he’d been a single woman living there, it would’ve been the first thing he had installed when he moved in. Becca hadn’t had a good reason for why she hadn’t. But Saturday, while he changed the locks on her doors, she arranged for a company to start installing one immediately. She hadn’t given him a dollar amount, but she had shared that the alarm company was charging her a premium to get the job started immediately and finished quickly.

Connor hadn’t expected to spend much time with her tomorrow anyway. This morning he’d taken over for Spike and was now watching over Deborah Stone, the wife of an English politician, and her daughter, who was here to not only sightsee but also look at possible universities. Unless the Stones suddenly changed their minds about attending the performance at the theater tomorrow night, he’d be with them until they returned safely to their downtown hotel room. But he had assumed he’d come home afterward and again find Becca asleep in his bed. Or at least asleep until he woke her up in the most pleasurable way he knew how, like he had last night. If the security system was up and running tomorrow, she’d probably return to her place rather than spend the night with him again.

“What did you bring home?” Becca pointed toward the bag from Shooter’s. “I’ve never heard of that restaurant. Is it nearby?”

“About ten minutes away.” Connor removed two clear plastic containers from inside. “Grabbed two grilled chicken salads. I remembered you saying you had them often for lunch because they’re healthy. And I wasn’t sure what else on the menu you would enjoy and would keep until you got back here tonight.” He took out the last item in the bag. “I also ordered some onion rings. They have some of the best around.” He opened the cardboard container and grabbed one then held it toward her. “Help yourself.”

Becca wasn’t sure where their relationship would ultimately lead, but if Connor thought enough to order her a grilled chicken salad, it had potential. She took an onion ring from the container and set it on her plate. “I think I’ll save the salad for lunch tomorrow. This pizza has been calling my name since I picked it up.” She opened one of the two boxes. A large pizza covered with every type of meat imaginable greeted her. “Meat lover’s.”

During their short involvement following graduation, they’d enjoyed more than one pizza together. Somehow she remembered he loved his topped with enough meat to clog a person’s arteries.

His eyebrows went up. “You remembered.” He kissed her hard and quick on the lips before taking two slices.

“And this one is a Caribbean, or at least that’s what the restaurant near me calls it. I had to order it special from the place on Broadway, and they asked me to repeat myself twice. I guess they thought they’d heard wrong.” She opened the second box. “Basically it’s a Hawaiian pizza, but instead of ham and pineapple it’s grilled chicken and pineapple.”

Connor took a slice of it as well. “As long as it has a crust, I’ll try it.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, but she didn’t mind. While they might not be talking, she still found it nice to have someone sitting across the table from her. Even though she technically had a roommate, most nights she ate alone unless she was attending some work-related function. Even when Kassidy wasn’t traveling for work or on vacation, she was rarely home for meals. In some respects, it did make life easier. She could eat what she liked and when she wanted. Before her little stay at Connor’s house, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted someone across the table to enjoy her meals with while discussing her day.

Well, maybe not just anyone.

The more time she spent with Connor, the more she wanted to be with him and only him. And the kitchen wasn’t the only place she enjoyed having his company.

It’d taken them more than a decade to finally finish what they’d started in Leslie’s pool house, but it’d been so worth the wait. Each time they had sex it was better than the time before. And afterward, Connor wrapped his arms around her and held her until they both fell asleep. When she climbed into her own bed tomorrow night, she was going to miss not only the physical pleasure she experienced with him but also falling asleep in his arms.

“I have to attend a party at Ted’s house tomorrow night. I’d love it if you came with me.” Some social events she could skip, but there was no getting out of this particular one.

His hand paused with his pizza inches from his mouth. “Sorry, I can’t. I’ll be working.” Connor took a bite and chewed before speaking again. “I’ve been assigned to keep an eye on Deborah Stone and her daughter while they’re in Washington. Spike was with them, but the poor guy is sick as a dog. He couldn’t even get out of bed this morning, so Ax handed the assignment over to me. Tomorrow night they have tickets to a performance at the theater, and I have to go with them.”

Even before she asked him, she knew it was a long shot he’d be able to attend on such short notice. Still, his answer disappointed her. If he had an assignment, it might mean she wouldn’t see him again for several days. “How does that work? Since you’re here now, you must not have to stick with them twenty-four-seven. Does that mean someone takes over for you at night? Or are they on their own?”

With another mouthful of food, he could only shake his head. After he swallowed, he said, “Depends. With some assignments, I’m with the individual around the clock. Others we work in shifts, and sometimes we only need to be with them for parts of the day. On this job, once I deliver them safely back to their hotel for the night, I’m free to do what I want. The husband only hired the firm to be with them when they’re outside the hotel. Their floor requires a special access card in the elevator, and the hotel has decent security, so the guy figures they’ll be safe without any additional bodies around.”

“And then you go back to their hotel each morning?”

“Yep. I’ll be their shadow until they board their plane back to England.” He took his first bite from the Caribbean pizza, chewed, and swallowed. “Wow, this is good. When you said pineapple, I didn’t have high hopes, but the combination works.”

For the moment she ignored the other questions she had about his upcoming work schedule. “You’ve never had pineapple on pizza before?”

Even before she found the Caribbean listed on the takeout menu from the pizza place close to her, she’d frequently ordered a Hawaiian pizza, which was a staple at almost every pizza joint in the country.

“Nope. Always found the idea of pineapple on pizza odd.” He washed down his food with some wine. “You’re welcome to come back here after the senator’s party.”

As much as she loved seeing him at night and in the morning, she was almost out of clothes, and the commute was getting to be a pain. Plus, she didn’t want to do anything that might put unnecessary stress on their new relationship. Overstaying your welcome at someone’s house could certainly cause stress and disagreements.

“It’s going to be a really late night, and my house is closer to Ted’s than here.”

“Makes sense. If you change your mind, just let yourself in. I don’t know when I’ll be home, but I’ll be back at some point.”

Becca sipped her wine, grateful for the invitation. Since the break-in, she’d spent very little time in the house alone. The little she had been there was during the day. She wanted to think she’d be fine alone tomorrow night, but she wasn’t really sure.

“Will this assignment last long?”

“Nah, should only be a few more days. So, unless something changes, I’ll be free this weekend.”

Excellent. “Good. Stay with me this weekend. I can cook you the dinner I couldn’t tonight, and maybe we can do something outside if the weather is nice. If it’s not, I’m sure we can find some way to amuse ourselves at my house.”

The heat in his gaze almost set her hair on fire. “I’m sure we can too.”