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“Why? Aud, I keep telling you, Ant and I are not a thing. Never have been,” she said. “I love him, yes, but not like that. If he’s happy with her, I’m happy for him.”
Audrey was silent for a moment. “Okay. I guess I misunderstood all along,” she said.
“Nah, you didn’t. We talked about it a long time ago, me and him. We both figured it would be a bad idea.”
Simon looked up from his paperwork. “After deployment?”
Charlie gave him a pointed look. “Just after, yes.”
He nodded. “Yeah, that would have been a bad idea.” He gave Audrey a quick shake of the head. Later. “Now, where are we going for lunch?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lesley sat waiting in the far corner booth when Antony arrived. He slid in next to her, leaning in and capturing her lips with his. A hot moment later, they broke apart.
“I can get used to being greeted like that,” she said, smiling.
“Good. I hope to continue greeting you like that,” he returned, sliding his hand down to her knee and squeezing gently.
“I already ordered the usual,” she said. “Thought I’d cut down on some time.”
“Smart and beautiful,” he said, clutching his heart.
Lesley laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
Antony turned his head and quickly caught her in a sweet kiss. “I miss doing that.”
“It hasn’t been that long.” Lesley’s cheeks were pink, and her eyes were glowing.
“Doesn’t matter how long it’s been. It’s become one of my favorite things.”
“Sweet talker.” She picked up her glass and leaned into him. “Keep going.”
Antony laughed. “Well, we could talk about our chat last night.”
Lesley choked a little on her water. Their conversations had taken a scorching turn over the past few days, though he made it clear he wasn’t rushing things.
Their second date was tame. No late-night dancing in the desert. Lesley had gotten a couple of passes for a movie. The showing was in such high demand that the theater gave them show times to help with traffic flow. Their time a later one, so they stopped for a quick bite before heading over. There, she’d found out he’d graduated from university at 19. Their conversation at dinner meandered from music to philosophy to politics and geography, and they’d almost missed their show time.
Antony tickled her brain. And that was dangerous. Her physical reaction to him on their first date surprised her, and she had finally admitted what he knew—that if he hadn’t stopped when he did, she wasn’t sure if she would have stopped him at all. Hell, she wouldn’t stop the next time, and given the way he looked at her, that would be soon.
“We could, but we both have to go back to work,” she said, smiling at him.
“Hey, Prosser! What’s up?” a voice interrupted their quiet conversation.
Lesley looked up. Fuck. “Oh, hey Smith.”
“No wonder you didn’t want to have lunch with the crew,” the young man teased, eyeing Antony. He stuck out his hand. “Randy Smith. We work together,” he said, waving his hand at Lesley.
Antony took the hand offered to him. “I gathered. Antony. I don’t work with either of you.” His gaze was cool, but polite.
“Yeah. You look familiar, man. Maybe I’ve seen you out at the clubs some,” Smith prodded. Lesley didn’t like the gleam in his eye.
“Possibly. Sierra Vista is a small town,” Antony answered.
Smith stood there for another minute and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. When he finally realized that Antony wasn’t going to engage, a flash of anger crossed his features. He made his excuses and bolted.
“What the hell was that?” Antony asked, turning toward Lesley. “He bugging you at work?”
