Page 10

On Monday, Rowan finished with her last client and did a little shuffle-skip dance as she closed the door to her office. She was excited to see Shine this evening and couldn't hold it in any longer. She checked her email and saw a note from the board that oversaw air traffic controllers. Of course, the man she'd declined recommending he keep his job had lodged a complaint. It happened. She'd received complaints over the years and knew what to send to the group to assure them her findings were based on tangible evidence and not some made-up bias.

Based on the jobs she gave evaluations for and who historically had those jobs, of course, she rejected more men than women, but the number of men applying was about eighty percent of the total. Though, she had declined to recommend one woman for a pilot position because she had some deep-seated issues. Any bias the guys thought she displayed wasn't bias, just her doing her job.

It took her a moment to attach the file she'd already prepared. Of course, they took the complaints seriously, and so did she. Everyone she’d had issues with had big problems in their lives that needed time and attention. Some people could work through the issues, but some, like the most recent man she’d turned down, needed a lot of help.

After turning off her computer, she headed out, locking up before turning to walk out to her car. The lot was empty, and her mind went back to the man who she'd seen out in the lot a few days earlier. Had that been the man who she'd failed to recommend for the job? It could have been him. She hadn't gotten a good enough look at the guy in the lot to know for sure. Plus, the man in the lot had a beard and mustache, which could have changed the guy's looks.

He wasn’t there right then, so she pushed the man from her mind and headed home. When she was about a mile away from her house, she called Shine. Excitement skittered through her as the phone rang. She couldn't believe that she'd found him and that he wanted to see her.

“Hello, beautiful.”

His greeting took her by surprise, and laughter spilled out. "Hey, I'm almost home."

“Good. I’ll be over there in about twenty to thirty minutes.”

“Awesome.” She had time to shower. Not that she really needed to, but she wasn’t sure what they would be doing, and she wanted to be clean enough that if they got close, she wouldn’t be embarrassed.

“I’ll see you soon. I just need to shower before coming over.”

“That sounds good. I’ll be ready.”

She didn't know if he was showering because he wanted to have sex or if he had gotten dirty at work. It could have been both, but she didn't feel comfortable asking.

When she got home, she hit the shower, excitement filling her. They might not be relationship material, but if they were, she was going to make an effort.

After her shower, she dressed in something comfortable but still cute. She had on a dress that hit a little above her knees. The top wasn't super low cut, so her boobs weren't at risk of flying out if she bent over, but she had enough skin showing to be enticing.

The doorbell rang and she let out a squeal. She hurried to the door, trying not to look way too eager, but she was excited and it would be difficult to hold it all in. She pulled open the door and froze as she took in how good he looked in his green T-shirt and dark shorts. She wanted to get those off him, but knew she needed to behave.

After a second of dumbfounded silence, she stepped back. “Come in. You can put the food in the kitchen to the left.”

“Thank you. I need to refrigerate one bag. The rest can sit out.”

"Sounds good. How was your day?"

Shine groaned. "The guys hounded me, and I had to tell them about everything. Not that I mind telling them about you, but I know how they are."

“How are they?”

“Pranksters. I mean, I don’t think they’re going to try to play a trick on me about the crash, but they are practical jokers.”

“Would they really do something like that?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. They would. Maybe. Then again, they aren’t malicious. They seem happy that I’m seeing you.”

“So you told them about me? ”

“It was hard not to. We try to really know the guys on our teams. It’s easier to trust someone in situations when you trust them with everything.”

“Yeah. Trust is an interesting phenomenon. I’ve seen groups totally destroyed from lack of trust.”

He turned to face her, then leaned against the counter and crossed his legs at the ankle as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It was time. We've been through a lot."

“So they support you being in a relationship?”

He nodded. "Sharp and Jay have women. I mean, they can be immature, but they are all adults. And they want to meet you."

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought about the fact she would need to meet his buddies. They were just people. She was actually looking forward to meeting his friends, but they were all SEALs, and meeting a group of them could be intimidating.

“So, it won’t take long to cook dinner. What would you like to do before we eat?”

Rowan drew in a sharp breath as thoughts of doing dirty things with this man invaded her mind. Heat rose up her neck to her face. She raised her hand to her throat, trying to hide a little of the embarrassment because her thoughts were about getting him naked. “Um, I don’t know.”

His chuckle was sensual and made her heat even more. “Oh, I think you know.”

Her gaze met his, and the look in his eyes made her want to reach for him. She shrugged. "Maybe I do know."

He took a step closer, and she moved toward him. Her hands shook as she raised them. Excitement poured through her.

She glanced up and licked her lips. “I’ve had dreams about this. ”

He reached up and pushed her hair behind her ears. “Same.”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you, really kiss you, for a long time.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and applied enough pressure she closed the distance. When his arms wrapped around her, she glanced up, loving how his eyes shone as he stared down at her.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

Heat filled her. “Yes. I want that.”

His lips curved up just before he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. It was gentle at first, but then his tongue licked along the seam of her lips, and she opened for him. He pulled her closer so she was plastered against his body. His tongue stroked against hers in a dance that was sensual and seductive.

His hands trailed down her body, heightening her desire. She needed to feel more, so she ran her hands down his back and then tugged at his shirt that was tucked into his shorts. When her fingers hit the skin on his back, they both paused the kiss.

His skin felt so velvety soft under her fingers. She wanted more but didn't want to rush too fast. Maybe she was moving things along at a much quicker speed than he was comfortable with. She didn't want to scare him off.

She pulled out of the kiss, and they stared at each other, breathless. After he swallowed hard, he let go of a chuckle.

“You know, I think we could end up doing more than we want to do.”

Her lips pulled into a smile. “Oh, I think we both want it, but I know what you mean. We both want to build a foundation so we last. ”

He ran his hand over his face and blew out a breath. “I really want us to work out.”

“Maybe we should play cards. I have a few card games.”

Shine’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you have Uno?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s play that. It will give us time to chat and not touch each other.”

Rowan sighed and turned away. The heat running through her veins made it difficult to think. Where were the cards? She blew out a breath and then remembered she'd put them in a container in the pantry.

She found the cards and then opened the refrigerator. "I don't have beer, but I have water and tea."

“Tea would be nice.”

She flashed a smile. “Awesome.”

She grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and he came into the kitchen and took the tea out from the refrigerator. He poured them both glasses and took them to the table.

“I like your place,” he said.

“Thank you. I thought about buying a condo, but I wanted a yard to sit in. This area is nice, and it wasn’t too expensive.”

"I don't live too far away. It only took me about fifteen minutes to get here. I mean, if traffic was bad, it would take longer, but still, even with traffic, it wouldn't take too long."

She was glad it didn’t take him long to drive over here. “I’m only about fifteen to twenty minutes to work. What about you and work?”

"It's around twenty minutes, depending on when I leave. When school starts up, the traffic is worse."

“That makes sense.”

He met her gaze and held it. "Do you want kids? "

She hoped this wasn't a make-or-break answer. "I don't know. I'm not itching to have them right now."

He nodded, giving her some relief. “It’s not a make or break for me. I don’t want to say I never want to have kids, but I also don’t want to make it something I’d break up for. I do think there are certain people who shouldn’t have kids, and that’s because they are selfish. If you bring a child into this world, you have to change.”

“Yeah. I get that. They take time and money. There are certain things people without kids will never have to worry about. They have other things to worry about, but they aren’t tied to someone other than their spouse.”

Her answer seemed to satisfy him, and she liked how he’d answered the question. If they stayed together, she was sure they would talk about kids again. It might be something they just chose to accept if they had them or if they didn’t.

Shine took the cards and passed them out for the first round. They chatted about random things while they played. They discussed their favorite foods and drinks. She learned that he liked good Mexican food, but he found it easier to make pasta-based dishes. He liked beer okay but thought wine was better. She told him that she only liked drinking on the weekends, and even then, she didn't like to get drunk.

After they played for about an hour, they decided to heat up the food. She enjoyed working with Shine in the kitchen. He easily handled himself and didn’t get frustrated with little things.

“I think it’s done. Want a taste?” Shine asked.

She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and spooned a small amount out before moving to the sink so she could blow the heat away without splattering it on the counter. Her lips wrapped around the spoon, and she felt like she was tasting heaven on her tongue.

“So good.”

“Awesome. Let’s eat.”

“Did you make that sauce?”

He shook his head. "No, it's from a jar, but I enhanced it. I like adding herbs and some vegetables to make it taste better."

“Well, you hit the mark.”

Having Shine over felt natural. They got along well, and she really liked him. She could see them growing together. It was easy to prepare food with him, and he knew how to cook. She felt like this was just the beginning of the journey they would take together.