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‘So, the General adopted you?’
‘He had to. It was the only way I could stay on the base. He wasn’t a major general then. And he’d never married.’ She toyed with her glass. ‘Apparently long before anything happened to my parents they’d named him as my guardian in their will. I guess they just never really expected him to have to act as it.’
‘Didn’t your mother have other family?’
Katsuko shifted in her seat. ‘My grandmother lives in Tokyo. She wasn’t well enough to cope with a ten-year-old. She has rheumatoid arthritis. She’s in a wheelchair now. I visit—I’ve always visited—but she hates Don with a passion. And she didn’t like the fact that my mother had married an American. It seems I can’t really do anything to please her.’ There was a wistful tone to her voice.
The edges of her lips turned upwards in a forced smile. ‘Don’s great. He’s always treated me as if I was his own. He tells me I’m the daughter he never had. But sometimes I feel like him adopting me might have ruined his chances of ever meeting anyone else. He and Dad were best friends. I was so used to being around him that when both my parents died I never even thought I could end up anywhere else.’ She licked her lips and stared at the table for a second. ‘I remember when my mother was really ill he came and sat with her. My mother held my hand and told me that when she went to sleep I’d go and stay with Don.’
Avery reached over and squeezed her hand. He’d been in the air force for years. He’d worked on servicemen who had been injured in action and sometimes even killed. He’d dealt with sick family members. But he’d never met a kid who’d been orphaned. He couldn’t even imagine what that felt like.
Katsuko’s gaze fixed on their joined hands for a few moments. Then she pulled her hand back against her chest.
Avery licked his lips. ‘Frank says the Major General bites.’
There was a millisecond of confusion on her face before the comment obviously fell into context.
‘Frank should learn to mind his own business.’
Avery drummed his fingers on the table. ‘Just as a matter of curiosity, how often has he bitten?’
The words hung in the air between them. It was ridiculous and he knew that. He’d only just met her.
He’d been stationed on air force bases before. There were always people you clicked with straight away—hospitals were like that. But he had always been a little cautious. He liked to get know a woman before he decided if wanted to date them. And he didn’t do long-term—not with the kind of family he had. His relationships only lasted as long as his posting at the base.
He didn’t generally do things on impulse. Not like this.
He might as well have painted on the table between them, I like you.
It made him feel a little odd. He had no idea what was normal for Katusko. Maybe she did date servicemen that she knew weren’t there permanently? Maybe that suited her as much as it suited him. But somehow the curl in his stomach was telling him not to count on it.
‘I can look after myself,’ she said sharply as she waved to the waitress. ‘Can we have the check, please?’
The waitress nodded and pulled the prepared check from her uniform.
Avery reached over and grabbed it. On the air base you could pay in dollars or yen. Luckily he had both. It was the one thing he had been able to organise.
Katsuko pulled some notes from her pocket but he shook his head. ‘Let me. You found me my keys, somewhere to eat and hopefully you’ll point me in the direction of my house.’
He could tell she secretly wanted to argue but he handed the money straight to the waitress and slid out from the booth. ‘Shall we?’
She picked up her jacket and followed him out into the balmy night air. She nodded her head to the side. ‘This way.’
He swung his bag over his shoulder and fell into step alongside her. She pointed to places as they walked along. ‘Down that street is the high school. At the bottom of that road is the swimming pool. And there’s a golf course if you’re interested.’
He was watching her carefully. She seemed so comfortable in her own skin. He liked that in a woman. She was confident at work and confident in her personal life. She’d only revealed a tiny part of herself to him tonight but he definitely wanted to find out more. He stopped walking and looked at her. ‘Aren’t we doing this the wrong way? Shouldn’t I be walking you home?’
‘That would only work if this was a date. And this definitely isn’t a date.’
‘It’s not? Darn it.’ He couldn’t help but smile.
She stopped under a streetlight and turned towards him. She had a smile on her face too. ‘Are you always this infuriating?’
He leaned forward a little, stopping just a few inches from her face.
It was ridiculous. He wanted to kiss her. He really wanted to kiss her. But she was difficult to read and the last thing he could afford to do was upset a work colleague by making an unwanted move.
She was staring right at him with those dark, dark eyes.
There was no one else around them. The street was completely empty. But he still whispered. ‘Why don’t you hang around and find out?’
Katsuko blinked. The smile stayed on her face and her eyebrows rose just a little.
She spun away, leaving her scent trailing around him, a mixture of jasmine and amber. He had to resist the temptation to inhale the scent completely.
She glanced over her shoulder as she kept walking. ‘Come on, lazy boy. Your house is just around the corner.’ She had an easiness about her, a casualness that he could easily misconstrue. His brain might be addled from the long journey, the travel, and not helped by the two beers but he was finding her pretty mesmerising.
She stopped in front of a standard air force house and pointed to the number on the door. He swung his pack from his shoulder and pulled out the key. ‘Let me dump my bag and I’ll walk you back to yours.’
He put his key in the lock and opened the front door. Her amber and jasmine scents were swept away by a musty odour. Katsuko let out a laugh. ‘Uh-oh. Remind me to buy you some air freshener.’
He winced, reaching inside the front door to flick on the light. ‘Do you think the whole place smells like this?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘All I know is, if you report for duty tomorrow smelling like that, no one will work with you. It’s damp. Like a men’s locker room.’
‘And how do you know what a men’s locker room smells like?’
She gave him a wink.
A wink. An actual wink.
‘We all have our secrets.’ She walked past him down the hall and opened a cupboard.
For around half a second earlier tonight he’d thought of backing off. Once she’d shared about her mum and dad and her painful past he’d wondered if Katsuko would really be the kind of girl who would be up for a fling.
But he’d kept flirting with her and she was flirting right back. Katsuko Williams was proving hard to resist, no matter how many red flags were flying in the back of his head.
‘I’ll let you find your own way around your new home. All I need to show you is this.’ She held up a bag.
‘What’s that?’
‘Earthquake emergency kit. Dry
rations, drinking water, basic medical supplies. There’s a hard hat and gloves too. Oh, and a flashlight.’
‘Will I need it?’ He didn’t really like the sound of that.
She put the kit back down and held up her hands. ‘You’re in Japan now, Avery. This is earthquake central. We average a thousand a year and have more drills than you could ever know. Just be sure to keep your shoes and flashlight next to your bed. They’ll send you on training in the next few days.’ She stepped right up under his nose and tapped a finger on his chest. ‘You’ll soon be saying “Drop, cover, hold” in your sleep.’
She turned to walk away and waved her hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Captain Flynn. Go on now, get to bed and try and get rid of those huge bags under your eyes. Don’t worry about me. I can find my own way home.’
She’d already started to walk slowly back down the path and he felt an unexpected pang of disappointment.
‘I can walk you. I will. Let me lock up.’
She stopped walking and turned around, illuminated by the streetlight behind her outlining her figure and framing her face perfectly. ‘No. It’s best you don’t.’
Whoa. He sucked in a breath. Was he watching a scene from a movie? That was what this looked like.
His hand was already on the key but he stopped. She’d said no. The chivalrous part of him wanted to argue, but his rational head told him that Katsuko had lived here since she was a child. She knew this base like the back of her hand. She could find her way home safely without his help.
He paused in the doorway. ‘Katsuko?’
She looked up.
‘Thank you. Thank you for tonight.’
She gave a little nod.
He leaned against the doorjamb. It would be so easy to go on inside but he wanted to watch her walk away. Her outline was silhouetted as she strolled down the street. Her uniform hugged her curves well and there was a sass to her step. His head leaned against the doorpost. Fatigue was washing over him now. At the bottom of the street she turned again and shouted, ‘Hey! Avery?’
His head shot back up. ‘Yeah?’
‘The answer to your earlier question—’
His earlier question?
