Page 32

“That’s wonderful,” I said as I leaned forward and squeezed his forearm in approval. Or maybe I squeezed his arm because I’d been dying to touch some of those luscious, hard muscles. He looked down at my hand and then up into my eyes. He gave me a slow smile that had butterflies winging through my stomach. Oh, the man knew what I was doing, and he liked it.

“Anyway, Roan was spot on. She sure was happy to make me lunch.”

I looked down at my empty plate. Graham did, too. “Would you like some more food?” he asked.

“No, I’m full.”

“Are you done with the inquisition?”

“I’ve barely started,” I teased him.

“Good God,” he moaned. “Didn’t you hear I helped out Miss Laverne? Don’t I deserve a break?”

“You’re tough, you can handle it.”

I loved it when he laughed.

“Okay, go for it,” he replied, still chuckling.

“You mentioned once that you were in the military. What branch?”

“The Navy.”

“What did you do in the Navy?”

“Logistics and training.”

“Were you ever deployed overseas?”

“Yeah.”

“How cool.” I looked up. I knew my eyes were wide. I loved the idea of traveling. “I got to work in London for a while. I really wanted to see more of the world. Where did you get to go?”

“Mostly places in the Middle East. Sometimes in Eastern Europe. What did you do when you were in London?”

“I worked as an au pair. That’s a fancy way of saying I was a babysitter,” I laughed.

“Did you like it?”

I didn’t want to lie, so I told him what I said to everyone. “It had its ups and downs.”

I saw his look of curiosity, but before he could say anything, I asked him another question. “Did you like what you did?”

“It had its ups and downs,” he said abruptly.

I cringed. “I sure understand that answer. I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about it?”

Graham winced. “I’m sorry, Doll. Not right now,” he admitted slowly.

“Me neither.” I thought for a second. “We could talk about favorite movies and songs and stuff. How about that? Or our families. I have funny stories. What about you?”

“Yeah, my mom and dad could really be a hoot,” he said with a small smile.

“Could be?” I asked softly.

“My mom passed eight years ago while I was deployed.” I saw his eyes fill with sorrow.

“I’m sorry, Graham.”