Page 24 of Keeping Collette

He didn’t have to use the restroom, but it gave him an excuse to have a look around to make sure no one was lurking. He easily found the bathroom, and the lingering scent of apple permeated the air. The room was clean, and he quickly washed his hands.

As he stepped out, he peered into the open door of the room opposite the bathroom—Collette’s bedroom. The bed was neatly made, and the top of her chest of drawers was cluttered with knickknacks as well as a simple wooden jewelry box.

“Are you checking to see if someone is lurking behind the door?”

He startled, he hadn’t been aware of Collette coming up behind him. Again, great situational awareness. He was losing his touch. Or was it because Collette was filling more and more of his mind? “Sorry, I…” He clamped his mouth shut, not sure how to explain what he was doing without sounding like a jerk, a creep, a stalker, or all of the above.

“I get it, it’s part of who you are. You have to always check to make sure there’s no threat.”

“How do you know that?” Deal thought through their previous interactions and couldn’t recall telling her what he needed to do.

Collette shrugged. “Astrid told me that Callum does it whenever they go somewhere new. Makes sense you would be the same. It was likely hounded into you when you were on your SEAL team to always be aware of what’s going on around you.”

Her insight was surprising, but it shouldn’t have been. Collette had worked with Astrid for a while, and so had been exposed to Growler and how he acted in situations, especially now that they had their boys. Plus, she’d quickly adapted to the change of plan earlier in the day without blinking. Not a lot of people could pivot so effortlessly like she had.

“It was. What do you feel like eating?” he asked, as he headed back to the living room, Collette leading the way.

She curled up in the corner of the couch, tucking her legs up beside her. He liked that she was relaxed around him. That she could do what she normally did and felt comfortable with it all.

Deal sat in the lounge chair that was catty-corner to the couch. It was comfortable, but part of him wanted to sit next to Collette and pull her into his arms so that she lounged on his chest.

Where is this coming from?

In the past when he’d dated women, he’d avoided cuddling with them as much as possible. It had always made him feel claustrophobic. Yet he didn’t think he would experience that if he sat with Collette.

“Here are the choices: burgers, pizza, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Greek, or Italian,” she reeled off.

“What do you want?” he countered. He didn’t have a preference. He enjoyed all the cuisines she listed.

“Nah-uh, you don’t get to lob it back to me, I gave you the choices. I like all of them, otherwise I wouldn’t have listed them. You get to choose.” Her grin was cheeky, as if she was aware of exactly what she was doing.

“Is that so?” He got up and went over to the couch and plopped down next to her—like he’d been wanting to do since they’d entered the room.

“Yes.” If she was concerned with his closeness, she didn’t show it. His gaze flicked to her lips, recalling how soft they had been beneath his. How much he’d like to sample them again. Maybe he’d get another chance later tonight.

Deal shelved the thought; he shouldn’t be thinking about his own desires when they still didn’t have any answers to where Courtney was.

“Right.” He held out his hand, wiggling his fingers in a “give it here” motion. “If we’re going to be doing this, then prepare to be surprised.”

Without blinking Collette handed over her phone, and he pulled his out of his pocket and opened the app she was looking at. If they were having dinner, he was going to pay.

“Um, what are you doing?” Collette asked, after he looked at her phone and then began scrolling on his.

“Ordering dinner.”

“Right, but why are you using your phone? I’m more than happy to pay for it.”

“I know, and you can get the next one, but tonight it’s my treat.” With that one sentence, he’d basically confirmed they would be seeing each other again.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” And she just agreed to another date with him.

He smirked as he continued placing the order. Once done, he returned his phone to his pocket and handed Collette hers, making sure the delivery app was closed so she didn’t see what he’d chosen.

“That’s a good picture of you and Courtney,” he commented, having seen her wallpaper image.

A soft smile played across her lips, and a flash of sadness flared in her eyes. “It was taken last month at my birthday. We’d gone out to dinner at our favorite pizza place, and then played mini golf. We laughed so much over silly things. We had such fun.”

“Sounds like a beautiful memory.”