Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
I snorted. “Enjoy your briefing, Tenley.”
“I hope they have donuts.” He walked off.
Donuts? Un-fucking-likely for Shira’s briefings. More like…protein bars and some weird-ass water with chunks of shit in it. Aloe vera or whatever it was. Something that didn’t fucking belong in water.
I traced every step Kiera took, and fucking hell, she was gorgeous. She had her dark hair up in a messy do, a bit of makeup that she didn’t need, tight jeans, and an oversized button-down with a belt.
It made me wanna see her in one of my own button-downs. And nothing else.
I owned precisely two of those shirts, and one was reserved for funerals. I had a few more flannels, but the rest were tees, hoodies, and Henleys. Standard wear for walking around at Hillcroft—oh, and utility pants with multiple pockets. God forbid I came to work in jeans. Someone would bitch at me.
Consultants and freelancers could wear jeans. Operators had a damn dress code for when we were at HQ.
Yeah, it was an issue I had raised with the bosses a few times.
At long last, Kiera came through the doors, and her smile widened.
“Hi, pilot.”
Christ, the way she made me feel.
“Hey, hellcat.” I smiled back and pointed to my feet, silently telling her to get here already. I’d missed her. I’d been robbed of a proper goodbye at the airport yesterday, and I hadn’t been happy. “I have a bone to pick with you.”
“Oh yeah?” She came over, and she was officially within reach.
I tugged her flush to my body and rested a hand along her lower back. “I slept like shit last night. It’s your fault.”
Her grin turned flirty, but I didn’t miss the relief that flitted across her beautiful face. “How’s it my fault?”
I leaned down, maybe an inch from her pouty lips. “You weren’t there.”
She exhaled a laugh and slipped her hands up my chest. “How awful of me.”
“Mm.” I pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
“I guess I don’t have to ask if you want us to be discreet around your coworkers…”
No, fuck that. Unless she… No. No, she didn’t want that either. I looked her in the eye and saw all the heat and affection I wanted to see. It mirrored what I felt, which was still bizarre. And new. It was new. So damn new.
“There’s plenty of things I hide,” I murmured. “I don’t want you to be one of them.”
“Oof… Operator Hyatt, that’s how you score with a girl.”
I chuckled and closed the last distance, kissing her briefly. “Can I take you out to lunch?”
She sighed and ran her fingers through the hair along the back of my neck. “That sounds lovely. I need to let Dad cool down for a few hours anyway.”
I inched back, wondering what she meant by that.
Her mouth twisted into a smirk. “I told him that I’m gonna look for a job in this area.”
Fucking really?
“He’s not seriously angry,” she was quick to add. “But he doesn’t wanna be apart from me right now.”
“Understandable.” I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “How far apart do you live now? He’s north of Baltimore, right?”
“Yeah, roughly an hour north of me. Or you know, my old apartment. Dad put everything in storage.”
Which was another way of saying she might end up living closer to me as well.
“Smack-dab in the middle of a Navy town,” I pointed out. “That ain’t right, being surrounded by squids all day. You deserve better.”
She laughed softly and grabbed my hand, threading our fingers together. “Take me to lunch, pilot.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Happy to. I wanted to know more about her thoughts on working in this area. Because that wouldn’t be a wonderful commute if she stayed in Annapolis. Traffic was gonna suck royally every fucking day.
We walked out into the sun together, hand in hand, and I just didn’t know who the fuck I was anymore. Or who I was becoming. Because this was the opposite of what I was used to, and yet, it felt damn good. Not to mention, as easy as breathing.
“What’s good around here?” she asked.
I blew out a breath and glanced around. “Not a whole lot, except for a Cajun fusion place the next block over.” I pointed behind the Hillcroft building. “Gumbo and jambalaya rice bowls meet different kinds of spicy sausage from all over the world.”
“Oh, wow. That sounds like a place I wanna visit.”
It was settled, then.
I kept her close as we walked, and I didn’t let go of her hand. I needed to revel in the feeling a bit. Analyze it, maybe. Hand-holding—what a thing, when it was with a certain person. The right person? Time would tell, but…
I cleared my throat. “So, how’s the reunion going?”
She smiled to herself. “It’s kinda weird. One part of me is like…I wanna get on with my life and pretend the past six months didn’t happen.” She bumped her hip to my—well, lower than my hip. “Except for the last week, of course.”