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She surprised me then by extending her hand. “I’m Ray.”
I offered mine, and we shook lightly, briefly. “Soldier.”
Her lips parted at the sound of my name, her emerald eyes narrowing just a little. “That’s … an interesting name.”
“My mom was an interesting lady,” I replied.
That’s putting it gently.
“Are you a real soldier?” Noah asked, studying me with the same green gaze as his mom.
I shook my head and gripped the back of my neck. “Nah, not really. Although, sometimes, I feel like one with all the crap I’ve been through.”
“Like what?”
Noah asked more questions than anybody I’d ever met.
“Uh, you know, just—”
“Hey! You have a cat?” Noah abruptly cut me off, changing the subject as he hurried up the steps to crouch in front of the screen door.
“Uh … yeah … well”—I scratched at the back of my head—“I guess, kind of.”
“You guess?” Ray asked, amused. “How do you not know if you own a cat?”
“Hekindaadopted me,” I replied sheepishly. “I brought him in about a week ago after finding him out here when it was snowing, and he justsortadecided not to leave.”
She smiled, and my stomach stumbled over itself, mid-somersault.
“He’s cute,” she said, never diverting her gaze from mine.
“He’s a good guy,” I replied, unsure in the moment if I was still talking about the cat or not.
“What’s his name?” Noah asked, letting the kitten sniff his fingers through the screen.
“Uh … I’m calling him Eleven for now.”
Ray hummed contemplatively, and I raised an inquisitive brow.
“The guy with the interesting namewouldcall his cat something equally interesting,” she said, studying me with the most curious glint in her eyes.
“Guess I like to, uh … keep things interesting,” I replied awkwardly, followed by a chuckle that was just as, if not more, awkward.
What the hell is going on?
Are we … flirting?
It’d been a while since I had flirted with anyone. Hell, it had been a while since I’d had much contact with the opposite sex at all, particularly one seemingly in my age bracket. One who was beautiful, wearing a smattering of freckles across her nose and a sweater as soft-looking as her hair.
But the kid had a dad, and I could only assume that dad was in a relationship with this woman. So, whatever might’ve been going on needed to stop.
“Anyway …” Ray tipped her face downward, concealing a smile and—was she blushing? “Um … Noah, we should get lunch ready and let Soldier get back to whatever he was doing.”
Noah was quick to hop to his feet, startling Eleven into scurrying farther away. “Can Soldier have lunch with us?”
Ray’s eyes darted to mine with a blend of panic and hesitation. “Uh, well—”
“I should get back to this,” I said, gesturing toward the stairs. “But thanks, Noah. Maybe another day.”
