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“You don’t sound excited about it.”
“Let’s talk about it over dinner. The sign downstairs said the special was salmon.”
“Nothing personal, but I’m never all that impressed with an ocean fish in a land-locked state. Now if they had said trout or catfish…”
“So you’re basically a snob. Good to find this out early in the relationship.” I sat down on the couch beside her and pulled her carefully into my arms.
“You know I’m not fine china. I can handle it if you hold me closer.”
“Let’s save that for next week, shall we?”
Marlowe let out a long breath.
“What was that for?”
“I was afraid that after talking to Beau you might be thinking about leaving town.”
She had her face nestled in my neck so I couldn’t see her expression. I needed to, so I pushed her back and tilted her chin up.
“Sweetheart. I don’t plan to leave anytime soon.”
“That’s not what you’ve been saying. What’s more, you’re living in a hotel. Two signs that you’re not planning on staying.”
“Let me tell you about my conversation with Beau, hmm?”
She looked at me with those deep brown eyes and nodded.
“He kind of reminded me of me.”
She snorted. “He is your twin.”
“Smartass. Let me finish.”
“He’s in special operations, too.”
“I looked that up. That’s a lot more specialized than just being in the Army or Marines or Navy. You have to be a lot more trained, and you go into more hazardous situations. The death toll is higher too.”
“Not by much. Because we’re so well trained, we can take out the enemy and take care of ourselves.”
“Is that how you ended up in hospitals for almost a year?” Her voice was husky. It was obvious that she cared and was scared.
“First off, I’m not going back to the teams, so that’s something you don’t have to worry about, and second of all, my injury was the first major one that our team sustained in the six years since we’ve been together. Marlowe, you need to take my word, we’re good.”
Her fingers bit into my biceps as she tried to read the truth in my eyes. She finally nodded her head. “So do you think Beau is good, too?”
“I would bet my last dollar that he is.”
“Did you talk about it? What you did. The special operations stuff.”
“Honey, we don’t talk about that stuff. Our missions are secret. We don’t talk to anybody but our team members about what we do.” I paused. I might as well ask the question. “Is that something you could handle?”
She frowned. “Why not? If that’s the way it had to be, of course I could. It’s the same way as when I’m dealing with a troubled kid. If I have to take him or her to counseling, I wouldn’t tell you about it.”
I leaned in for a kiss. “You’re just about perfect, Ms. Jones.”
“Tell me what I need to do to get to a ten. I want a perfect score.”
“We’ll discuss that in the bedroom.”
