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“Ignore him. Tell me how it’s going so far?” Lucas chuckled. “Never mind. Your smile says it all.”
“We are. . .” I tried to think of a way to put it. “Extremely compatible.”
“In the bedroom, sure. But otherwise?” Lucas laughed. Before I could answer, he said, “Only fifteen minutes late. We thought it would be longer. Actually lost a bet to Charlee over it.”
“Oh yeah? What’d you bet?” This time, Lucas’s knowing smile told me what kind of bet he and his girlfriend had made. “Never mind. To answer your question, so far so good. Or very good, I should say.”
“You’re not coming back to my place, are you?”
“Probably not.” But that did beg the question. “Although I have to figure out what the hell is next. I can only live on bonus money for so long.”
“What are you thinking?”
Lucas knew all about my situation with the restaurant. Had a few choice words for my uncle too. But honestly? Shame on me for putting my entire future in the hands of a guy who I knew was a heavy gambler. Even if I couldn’t have predicted how bad.
“I’m thinking I was an idiot for putting all my eggs in one basket.”
“Eh, doesn’t matter. Basket dropped. Eggs are all broken. Now what?”
“I have a few ideas,” I said, obviously having thought a lot about it. “Mom wants me to go back to school, but it’s not happening. I’d gotten used to the idea of a restaurant and thought about getting into the business anyway, but I’m not sure that’s the perfect fit either.”
“So, what are your ideas?”
Just then, the ladies rejoined us at the table. Our conversation would have to wait. I indicated as much to Lucas silently, not quite ready to talk about it in front of Zoe. If I pursued one of my trains of thought, I wasn’t sure the kind of woman who dated a wine-drinking doctor would be thrilled. Plus, I also didn’t want to presume too much. We’d had the “dating” talk, but me picking a permanent place to live was a whole other level.
Trying to make the transition from military to civilian life after serving in an active combat zone for a year, plus adjust to a new relationship. . . was a lot.
“How you guys doing?” Charlee asked as she sat down.
Zoe didn’t sit, though. Instead she came around from behind me, leaned down into my ear and said, “Do you remember talking once about you being in complete control. Dropping me to my knees. Having me take you as deep as you wanted, before pulling me up and bending me over the bed—”
“Zoe.” I ground out the warning. I wouldn’t be able to stand up in a second.
As if she hadn’t whispered that, Zoe came around me and sat back down, looking at me with doe eyes.
“Yes, Nate?”
Oh man, this woman. “I think maybe we should get the check.”
“I agree.”
And then didn’t she turn back to Lucas and Charlee, take a sip of wine, and pretend she hadn’t just made me rock hard and anticipating leaving this restaurant, and her ex with it, sooner rather than later.
The waitress walked by us. I didn’t even ask Lucas and Charlee if they wanted anything else.
“Check, please.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
zoe
“And this is my office.”
I stepped aside and let Nate in front of me. It was a bright, cheery space I was proud of, not because of the office itself but what it represented. I’d struggled those first few years in college trying to decide what I wanted to do, until I befriended the manager of a resort in Maine where we’d taken a family vacation. It had taken some buckling down to graduate on time, but finding a career I enjoyed and was good at was something I had despaired wouldn’t happen. Then moving up to manager fairly quickly—
“You’re proud of it, aren’t you?”
“I am,” I said, shutting the door behind me. “What do you think?”
