Page 34 of Saving Meadow

“The boss came down and was in her office for a long time. She hadn’t come back out until we were leaving. I’m sure I’ll get an earful when we get back. The file she wants is one of the clients she lost.”

“Hoppers? Isn’t that a restaurant?” he asked.

“Yeah. A bar and grille type place. There are three of them in the area. They have a new point of service system they put online. It makes updates to the menu, pricing, and specials. It only has to be done at one location and is pushed through to the rest. She lost the account. All three bars. I heard the boss was pissed; it was a big account.”

“I guess he would be.”

The waitress came and took our order. Nick being the gentlemen he was had me order first. When we were done, the server smiled and hurried away. It was after she’d left the table that it dawned on me she hadn’t looked at Nick like there was something wrong with him. The hostess hadn’t either. Neither of them flinched at the sight of my face or made comments. All these years I’d let Beth’s words get in my head and take root, then it budded, and before I knew what was happening, a huge bush had grown. A big ugly bush of self-doubt and loathing. It wasn’t Beth’s fault; it was mine. I’d allowed it to happen.

“Where’d you go?” Nick squeezed my knee, and when he released his grip, he kept it there. Finding I didn’t mind his hand on my leg; in fact, I loved it, I left it there.

With the realization people were not looking at us or pointing at me, and with a new-found confidence, in a bold move I put my hand over his and smiled.

“Nowhere. Tell me about Sally and how you got involved with Homefront.”

Over lunch, Nick told me how after he’d gone home to Georgia a few years ago, he’d met one of his uncle’s friends, Brian, and his companion dog. His Uncle Nolan and Brian served in the Army together. Nick said after he’d listened to Brian tell his story of returning from deployment and separating from the Army and how hard it was to adjust back into civilian life, Nick knew he wanted to be involved. He explained because Brian didn’t have what the military considered PTSD, he hadn’t qualified for much help from the VA. A friend of Brian’s hooked him up with Homefront, and they’d paired him with a dog. That was all Brian needed, a small comfort; the loyalty of a dog and the security it brought to help ease his anxiety. Nick called Homefront as soon as he got back to Virginia and started his training immediately. Within two months, he had his first shepherd.

The amount of training Nick had to go through to become a dog handler was crazy. I was so impressed by his hard work and dedication to both the Vets and the dogs. He’d already fostered four and Sally was his fifth. He was waiting for Petty Officer Gabe Rowling to recover from his latest surgery to take Sally. The placement was supposed to happen last month, but Gabe had a complication with his last surgery. Sally also required additional training. Gabe had complete hearing loss; while he could still speak, he was self-conscious about doing so and opted to learn ASL. Sally is trained in both verbal and hand commands, as well as trained to alert her owner of sounds and lights.

She was a smart pup. I’d miss her, but knowing what Gabe was going to gain from her made me feel kind of bitchy for wishing Nick could keep her.

Before I was ready, it was time to head back to work. Nick had snatched the bill from the table and the waitress was prancing away with Nick’s credit card, laughing as I tried to call her back over to take mine.

He grabbed my hand the same way he had on the walk over and threaded his fingers between mine. Every couple of feet he’d bring our joined hands up to his lips and kiss the back of mine. I was surprised how small my hand was in his. That, of course, led to me scrutinizing his height. I only came up to his shoulder, and I was in a pair of strappy wedges giving me an extra couple of inches to my normal five-feet-five inches. His bulk, coupled with his height, made me feel safe walking next to him. He chatted about his buddies from the FBI, telling me he was the youngest agent of the bunch. I’d already guessed he was by the way all the other men in his unit were beginning to gray. I’d also assumed correctly we were about the same age. I was older than him by only a couple of months.

“So, I’m a cradle robber?” I joked when we got to the elevator.

“I’d hardly call a month and a half robbing the cradle.” He held his arm out for me to proceed and waited for the doors to close before he continued. “Have you ever made out with a younger man?” he asked.

He turned, caging me in with his palms on the metal behind my head. I didn’t have a chance to think, let alone answer before his lips were on mine. It took a moment for the shock to wear off before I remembered to open my mouth when I felt his tongue grazing the seam of my lips.

I opened, and he deepened the kiss, taking it from sweet to three-alarm hot in two seconds flat. Holy shit. My world was spinning, and I struggled to keep up. His tongue glided and twisted with mine, and I fought to catch my breath as he took what he wanted, forcing me to follow his lead. The elevator came to a stop, and Nick pulled away, using his thumb to wipe my lip.

“Wow,” I whispered, trying to regain my composure.

“Red?” he called.

I had to blink several times before his face came into focus. “Yeah?”

“The door’s open. Come on.”

He tugged me close to him and guided us off the elevator into the reception area. He stopped but didn’t release me. “Thank you for lunch.”

“I should be thanking you,” I corrected.

“I have to take Sally to meet with the trainer tonight. Can I call you later?”

I thought about playing it cool and shrugging off his question like it was no big deal. But one thing I really liked about Nick was he didn’t leave me guessing. He said he was going to call and he did. Well, he sent a text, but he’d done it the next day after our first date. He didn’t give me time to wonder if he liked me or talk myself out of what I felt. He deserved the same in return.

“I’d like that.”

“Good. Come on. I’ll walk you in before you’re late and Beth gives you more shit.”

He bent down and gave me a soft peck before he grabbed my hand and steered me through the double doors and didn’t let go until I was safely at my desk.

With another kiss and a promise to call, he was gone.

I stowed my broken purse, reminding myself to stop by the mall on the way home to buy a new one and pulled out my cell.