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A few of the men came to stand at the front of the room, including Alex, but he put his gaze everywhere but on me. Irritation zipped through my veins as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Whatever. It was one night; what did I expect from him?
I turned to Ralph and found him watching me. I graced him with a broad smile and hoped that Alex had seen it. When Jake started welcoming everyone, Alex and another man were standing off to the side. Alex was clenching his jaw, a muscle ticking in his cheek. Good, maybe he did see the smile I gave Ralph.
I turned my attention away from Alex and, instead, listened to what Jake had to say about their company and what we would be doing over the next few days. I hoped that Ralph only wanted me to attend today because I didn’t want to be out of the office all week. Or be in the presence of Alex if he was going to continue to act this way.
He introduced the other man with Alex as Trevor Vaughn and explained that the three of them had been deployed in the same unit overseas in a previous deployment. For a little while, we listened to each of them give a brief biography of themselves, and I found myself more enthralled with Alex’s story than I should have been.
In fact, I’d learned more about his past in the few minutes that he spoke than I knew in total about the man. The only thing he left out of his narrative was about his personal life and his daughter. While he spoke, his focus moved around the room, pausing briefly on everyone, including me. When our eyes had locked, he paused his commentary momentarily and then shifted to look a different way.
What had caused the pause? What did he think as he stared at me? Was he wondering how to let me down easy? Considering what he would do if I did end up pregnant?
The endless questions in my mind irked me, and I pushed them to the side, glancing over the documents they had passed out to us a few moments earlier. I was glad when he was done speaking, and Jake retook the floor to start the first segment about what to expect when you were arriving in-country.
I found myself rather intrigued by what they were saying. Not that I would ever have use for such information, but it was interesting. I noticed as I scanned the room that everyone was glued to what Jake, and now, Trevor were saying. They talked for a good hour before they took a break and allowed us to refill our coffee cups and grab a snack off the back table.
I was trying to decide which pastry I wanted from the tray when someone stepped up beside me. “Nice to see you here, Lexi.”
The sound of his voice slipped down my spine, but I fought against it. “Is it, Mr. Miller?”
His brows lowered slightly, then straightened as if he were confused by my comment. “Of course it is.”
“Well, I sure couldn’t tell,” I snipped back at him and grabbed the first Danish that my hand fell on before turning away from him.
His hand shot out and grabbed my arm, spilling the hot coffee down my wrist and onto my shirt. “Ouch!”
He inhaled sharply. “Shit, Lex, I’m sorry.”
“Why did you do that?” I growled toward him as I went to set my coffee cup down.
“Because you have the wrong idea here.” He rushed the words out right before Ralph appeared at my side.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, I got sloppy,” I told him as Alex’s face went blank again. “Where is the restroom? I need to clean up.”
“It’s down the hall to the right.” Alex stated. “I can show you.”
“That’s okay, I’m sure I can manage.”
“I have to use the head myself, so it’s not a problem.” He nodded at Ralph, and he began to walk beside me.
We were out of the room when I glanced back to make sure Ralph wasn’t watching, and I hissed at him, “What the hell was that?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spill your coffee,” he replied softly.
“Forget the coffee, why are you practically ignoring me?”
We reached the bathroom door and paused. The door opened, and the other two ladies from the class came out. One of them looked him up and down, shooting him a smile that made me want to smack her, but I fisted my hands instead.
“Anyone else in there?” he asked, gruffly.
“No, we were the only ones in there,” the other woman replied as they began to walk back to the classroom.
“Thank you,” he called out to them, and before I knew what he was doing, he pushed me into the restroom.
“What are you doing?”
He had me up against the wall inside the bathroom in two seconds flat, his mouth crashing over mine, and I couldn’t help myself; I responded instantly.
