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“I was in South Carolina for basic training and then Georgia for further training. After that, I was stationed in Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Then I was deployed overseas a few times.”
“That’s cool that you’ve seen so many places.” Her blue eyes sparkle, and I have to grit my teeth to keep from leaning over the table and stealing my first kiss from her. It would be too much, and the last thing I want to do is scare my Lucy away.
I nod as the waiter comes over to take our orders. His eyes look over us and then back to Lucy, and I glare at him as he ogles my girl. She doesn’t notice, but I sure as hell do. I don’t think my woman has any idea how sexy she is or the effect she has on people.
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asks her. Lucy looks between him and me, then back to him.
“Um, I’ll take a strawberry margarita,” she orders.
“Same. And a water,” I order.
He nods, smiling at Lucy, and I’m seconds away from tackling him to the ground when he turns and heads back to the kitchen. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my possessive thoughts.
“What about you?” I ask Lucy, trying to get us back to learning about each other. “Do you like to travel?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really been anywhere,” she admits.
“No vacations? Weekend trips?”
“No.” She shakes her head, staring down at her lap. Shit. I didn’t mean to bring up something that upsets her. I’m about to change the subject when she sighs and looks up at me. “I grew up in foster care,” she says softly. “The families I stayed with either didn’t have money for that or didn’t want to waste the money on us foster kids.”
“Lucy, I’m sorry,” I tell her sincerely. Christ, my chest aches just thinking about everything she’s been through. I hardly know her story, but I can see how much damage her unstable childhood has done. I hope I can help her heal and show her that she’s worthy of every good thing.
“It’s fine,” Lucy says with a shrug, looking away from me. “I’m past all that. It feels like another lifetime, really.”
I don’t believe her, but I let it slide. This is more information than I thought she’d give me, so I don’t want to push my luck.All in good time, I tell myself. I’ll win my girl over one smile at a time and make sure she never has a reason to doubt me.
“So you didn’t get to travel much growing up, but what’s stopping you now?”
“Money,” Lucy says flatly. “I’ve got to pay bills now and there never seems to be enough for that. Or if there is, something happens like my car breaking down or rent going up.”
“Well, we’ll have to go somewhere soon. What’s your dream vacation?” I ask as the waiter comes back with our drinks.
“Hawaii,” she says right away.
“Oh, I’d love to go there too,” our waiter says, practically beaming at Lucy as he sets the drinks down on the table.
“Me too,” I interrupt him before he can go on.
Lucy looks back and forth between us. She’s starting to find my annoyance and jealousy towards our waiter to be funny and that’s the only thing that has me backing down from pinning the guy to the nearest wall and threatening him.
“Are you ready to order?” he asks us, his eyes never leaving Lucy.
“Yeah,” Lucy answers, flipping open the menu and finding what she wants. “I’ll have the taco plate with sour cream and guacamole on the side.”
“I’ll have the same,” I say, passing the guy our menus and turning back to Lucy, effectively dismissing him.
“Are you going to take him out?” Lucy whispers across the table to me as he walks away, and I lean forward.
“Only if you want me to. Or if he gets handsy or too forward with you,” I whisper back.
She smiles, trying to hide it behind her margarita but I see it.
“Let’s let him live for now. I want my tacos sooner rather than later.”
I chuckle and take a sip of my drink as well. I love seeing more of her sassy personality.
We discuss some of our favorite movies and shows, and discover we both enjoy true crime documentaries. Lucy also indulges in reality TV, which has never been my thing. For my woman, though, I’d endure every episode of the Kardashians and whatever other hundreds of shows they’ve come up with by now. Whatever keeps a smile on her face.
