It was on the tip of his tongue to say yes, they should go, but the look of sadness in her eyes prevented him. He also recalled when she said her ex never took her out. He didn’t want to ever be compared to that ass. Charlie was an asshole, but not that big of one. She deserved to be wined and dined. “No, let’s stay. I hear the lobster and scallop ravioli is to die for.”
Catherine gave him her bright smile and nodded. The waiter came back, and they ordered. After he left again, Charlie loosened up and soon lost interest in the entrance and focused on Catherine.
“So, how fast can you take apart and put your gun together again?”
“Since when did you become a gun enthusiast?”
“I’m not, but I’m curious?”
Charlie shrugged. “I’ve never timed myself.” Liar.
“I bet it takes you…” Catherine eyed him up and down. “five minutes to take it apart.”
Charlie barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Please, try two minutes. Taking it apart and putting it back together.”
“I thought you’d never timed yourself?” Catherine smiled like the cat that got the cream. And she had caught him all right.
“Maybe I timed myself once or twice.” He shrugged. He wasn’t a boastful man, but he took pride in his guns and what he could do with them.
“Uh huh.” Catherine didn’t believe him for a second.
“So, what did your ex do?”
Catherine’s good humor died a swift death, and she turned pale. “I don’t like talking about him.”
“Sorry,”
Catherine looked down at her lap. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t like talking about him.”
“From what you’ve told me about him I don’t blame you.” Charlie made a mental note to contact Ghost, and ask Tex to do a background check on this ex of hers. Something seemed off about him, and he remembered something had happened at Fort Hood, about the same time she said she fled for Fort Sam. His instincts rarely lied. Catherine was running from something, and that something was in Fort Hood. He switched gears and they kept the conversation off exes. Well, hers at least, it wasn’t like he had any.
After dinner, they walked hand in hand down the Riverwalk. There was still a good size crowd of people, but neither seemed to notice. All to soon, they made their way back to the jeep, and Charlie drove her home, never once letting go of her hand. It was so much smaller than his. He glanced at the smooth bronzed skin, and compared it to his dark scarred hand. They were so different from each other. She was light and goodness, while he was darkness and death.
“What has you scowling over there?” Catherine asked pulling him from his dark thoughts.
“I always scowl.”
“There’s scowling, and then there is scowling.”
“There’s a difference?” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
“With you there is. It’s not only your face that scowls, but I can see it in your eyes too when you’re really scowling.”
Charlie was quiet as he pulled in front of her house and killed the engine, before looking at her. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” She asked perplexed, turning to face him fully.
“See what no one else does. How do you do it?” He searched her eyes as if the answer would be written there.
Catherine shrugged. “I have seen you for several months now, when you come into the PX. Maybe nobody ever took the time to really look.”
Chapter 8
Charlie couldn’t stand the separation between them anymore, and he leaned towards her to kiss her but was stopped when the seatbelt locked on him. Catherine laughed, Charlie glared at the seat belt before he unbuckled it. He got out of the jeep and raced around the side to help Catherine out who hadn’t stopped laughing yet.
As soon as he had her door open, Charlie pulled her out and sealed his mouth over hers. Catherine moaned and clutched at his shoulders, pulling him closer. He tasted of passion and promises. All the things she had been missing, until now. She couldn’t let his drugging kisses go to her head. She had to fight this growing attraction between them. Only at the moment, she couldn’t remember why. She clung to him, not wanting any separation between them.
Charlie devoured her mouth like a starved man. Something had taken root deep inside of him, that called for him to claim her in any way possible, which was out of character for him. He had always been a gentle lover, but being with Catherine made him want to mark her as his own so no other man would even think to look at her. He wanted to drag her into her house and throw her down on the closest surface and possess her. Shit, it could even be a wall for all he cared. He needed to claim her as his own. Catherine’s short nails dug into his back through the thin shirt. He wanted her hands on his bare skin. He wanted her nails to dig into his skin and mark him. Scratch him. Make him hers. He didn’t know why he turned so cavemanish suddenly, but he couldn’t stop now.
His reached down and cupped her breast. It was smaller than a handful but high and firm. Catherine mewed in his mouth and arched into his touch. He took that as a green light for go. His hand slipped under her shirt and touched smooth bare skin. His erection pressed painfully against the front of his pants. And that was just from touching her skin. He couldn’t imagine his reaction if he felt her bare breasts or was balls deep inside of her. He groaned at that thought. The feel of her silky wet walls pressed tightly around him as he slid in and out of her.
He had to stop. He had to stop now, before he took her in front of her house, inside his jeep like the animal he was nicknamed after. Charlie pulled his hand away from her shirt and put her back to rights before leaning back. Catherine looked up at him starry eyed and her lips swollen from his kisses. He almost leaned back down to pick up where he regrettably stopped. “We have to stop, sweetheart.”
Catherine batted her eyes and looked around as if realizing for the first time they were parked in front of her house. Her cheeks grew red, and she looked down at her feet.
He would have none of that. Their kissing was nothing to be ashamed of. He tilted her head back up with one finger under her chin. “I didn’t stop because I wasn’t enjoying myself. Because I did. I stopped because the first time that we make love I want it to be in the privacy of a home, and I want to get to know you better. I don’t want to rush us. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t do casual flings, and if that’s what you’re into you better tell me now.”
Catherine remained mute, but shook her head no.
“Good, then we’ll take this slow.” Even if it killed him. “Can I see you tomorrow night?”
“Yes,” she whispered, then bit her lower lip. A simple word, and yet it held so much promise.
Charlie swallowed a groan. This woman was lethal, and she didn’t even know it. He stepped further back before he forgot his good intentions and throw her over his shoulder, take her inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ll call you later, and we’ll make a plan.”
“You’re not going to walk me to my door?” Catherine looked at him crestfallen.
This woman was better than a highly trained assassin. She didn’t kill with conventional weapons but with her eyes and body. This woman could slay her own dragons if she wanted to. Only he wanted to do it for her.
“Who am I to disappoint a beautiful lady?” Charlie wanted to give her another kiss goodnight, but already discovered it was hard to resist her and her sweet mouth. It was safer if he didn’t. He murmured a swift good night and disappeared.
* * *
Catherine went to bed horny and frustrated. Their second first date had gone a lot better than the first. Charlie was so easy to talk to as long as they stayed off military and Martin as topics. If their relationship ever went any further, she would have to tell him the truth about Martin. Catherine had no idea where Martin was, but if he ever discovered where she was, he would make her life a living hell. Well, more than he had already done. It had been seven months since she fled Fort Hood and so far, she
hadn’t received any strange calls or had seen any suspicious cars. Once, the doorbell rang, and no one was there, but she shrugged it off as just being paranoid. She couldn’t let her guard down though. Martin was excellent at playing possum, and then like a snake in the grass, he would strike when you least expected it.
Charlie was nothing like Martin. He was sweet and caring. She could see it under all his gruff exterior. He was secretive like Martin, but not in the ‘I’m planning on kidnapping women and children’ way, but he was very hush-hush about his job in general. It frustrated her that she couldn’t talk to him about it, but it went with the territory of being in the military sometimes. If she wanted things to work out between them, she would have to accept there would always be secrets in their relationship. And that he had a love for guns. Could she live with that? Or would it drive her away as it had with Martin?
The following morning, Catherine was no closer to getting any answers to her questions. It didn’t help that she had several steamy dreams about Charlie, and what might have happened last night, had he not left in such a hurry. Again. Last night he had fled from her again, but it wasn’t because he feared rejection. She had all but thrown herself at him. Again. It was because he didn’t want to rush things. A true gentleman.
She appreciated the gesture of him wanting to wait. She had rushed into things with Martin, and she promised herself never again. She had almost done the same thing with Charlie. She would be smarter this time. She would use the time like Charlie suggested, to get to know him before they did anything. It would allow her time to judge his character.
With that plan in mind, Catherine stepped out on her porch and stopped dead in her tracks. She stood frozen as she saw a newspaper clipping dangling from a string. The slight breeze twirled it around and around. Catherine looked from left to right on the street to see if she saw anyone watching her or walking away but the street was empty. With a shaking hand, she reached out and touched the clipping. She didn’t see anything that stood out on why it was in front of her door. She turned it to the other side, and it was another article about the recent killings in San Antonio.
Catherine released the paper as if it were on fire. Was this a sick prank? A warning? She looked up and down the street again, but saw no one. It was a sick joke. That’s all it was. Catherine ripped the article down and shoved it into her purse as she walked to her car. She wouldn’t allow fear to control her again. This meant nothing. A sick joke that’s all it was. Some teenagers thought it was funny. There was no murderer coming after her. She wouldn’t go on the run again. She had made a home here, and she wasn’t ready to leave yet. Especially when there was a devilishly handsome Charlie here.
Chapter 9
Catherine was halfway through her shift when Charlie called her. There had been a rush of customers, so she couldn’t answer right away. As soon as the lines cleared out Catherine announced she was taking her break. Nadine didn’t look thrilled as Catherine rushed out to her car with her lunch, so she could call Charlie back.
“Hello, sweetheart.” He answered right away.
Catherine’s insides fluttered. How could he affect her so much with only two words? “Hi.”
“How are you?”
Catherine debated telling him about this morning and the paper clipping. She was such a horrible liar around him; she might as well tell him now before he discovered later and got upset. She passed it off as a prank, but it still bothered her. “Someone left a newspaper clipping of a recent murder in front of my front door.” She said without preamble. Charlie was silent on the other end for a moment, and she had to look at her phone to see if he hung up before she pressed it back to her ear. “Charlie?”
“I’m here,” he growled out. “Did you see anyone?”
Well, at least he wasn’t yelling at her. “No, I looked around but I didn’t see anyone.”
“We’re going to have to install some security around your house.”
We? “No, I don’t need security.”
“Come on, Catherine.” He snapped at her. “You saw how easy it was for me to break into your house. It wouldn’t be that hard for anyone else.”
“And besides you, no one else has ever tried.” She snapped back. She knew she shouldn’t have told him what had happened. Now he was going all G.I. Joe on her and telling her what to do. Well, she had news for him. She would never let a man dictate her life again.
“But now there is a threat.”
“What threat? It was a newspaper clipping. Nothing more.” She had to remain firm with him if they were going to make anything work. She wouldn’t make the same mistake she had with Martin and let Charlie tell her what to do.
“Has it happened before?” He asked slowly as if she were a child.
“No, but for all I know it’s a teenager playing a prank on the lady who lives alone.”
“Or it could be the killer trying to scare you.” He countered.
“I’m nobody special. No one is singling me out. There is no killer stalking me, and leaving presents on my doorstep.”
“Well if you let me put up the security camera then we can catch them if they try it again.”
“There is nothing saying there will be a next time, and what is with all this we talk? We aren’t even officially dating.”
Once again, she left him speechless. It should have made her happier that she won the verbal fight, but instead it made her sad. She didn’t like confrontations period, but to argue with Charlie made it almost worst. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’re concerned about me and my safety, but I think it was a random kid who got bored and left it on my door. I didn’t tell you, so you could put security up at my house. I was telling you because I didn’t have anyone else to tell, and I wanted to talk to someone.”
“I know I can come off strong sometimes. It’s just in my nature.”
“Is that your way of apologizing?” Catherine asked feeling the beginnings of a smile.
“No, but how about I say I’m sorry.”
“You're forgiven,” she chuckled. “If we want this to work we have to trust each other.”
“Trust isn’t something that comes easily for me.”
“Nor I, but we have to try.”
“Alright, you win. No security cameras unless you ask for them.”
“Thank you.” Catherine felt like she just climbed K2 in record time. It felt like getting Charlie to stand down and apologize were huge accomplishments.
“Now what would you like to do tonight?”
Catherine had been thinking about her date with Charlie all day, but she couldn’t think of anything that stood out that she wanted to do. She was very much a creature of habit, with only going to work and coming home. She felt too old to be going to bars to pick a guy up, plus she didn’t have friends to go with. “Whatever you want to do.” Guys loved to be in control of what they did, so she left the decision up to him.
“I want to know what you want to do.” He countered.
“I honestly don’t care. I’d be just as happy to sit on the couch and watch a movie.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Charlie said.
“Really? You’re okay that we just sit around and not going out?” She asked skeptically.
“Catherine, I’m thirty-seven. You’ve seen first-hand that I don’t like going out to crowded places, nor you for that matter, so yeah, I’m happy staying in. I can keep you all to myself that way.” His voice dropped an octave at the end, and it went straight to her groin.
“Oh,” was all she could say. In the past when she suggested staying in, Martin turned it into an argument that she needed to get out more.
“I hope that’s a good oh,” he chuckled.
Catherine blushed, and turned away from the phone as if he could see her.
“You’re blushing, aren’t you?”
How did he know?
“No.” Yes.
“Yes, you are,” he said with confidence. Catherine looked
around the parking lot to see if his jeep was there watching her. “And it’s sexy as hell when you do it.” Catherine’s breath caught, and her nipples pebbled. How could she be so turned on? He wasn’t even doing anything but talking.
“You can’t say things like that.” She said breathlessly. Catherine looked around the parking lot, but no one glanced her way. They were oblivious to her and her conversation.
“Why? It’s true.”
Did he think her blush was sexy? How could he? Blushes weren’t sexy. He must have hit his head this morning or hadn’t drunk enough water. “There is nothing sexy about blushing. Embarrassing, yes. Sexy, not so much.”
“How about we agree to disagree?” There was a muffled voice on the other end and Charlie’s voice sounded faint as if he covered the mouthpiece. “I have to go, sweetheart. But I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll see you tonight.” Catherine hung up and rested her head on the back of the headrest. She wondered who had been there on the other end with Charlie, but then realized it wasn’t her place to know. She wasn’t even the girlfriend. He was probably at some training exercise he couldn’t talk about. Blah blah blah. She knew the drill. Being with a military man was almost as bad as Fight Club. Don’t talk about Fight Club. Or in this case, don’t talk about the military.
Catherine’s phone chimed alerting her that her lunch break was over. She tossed her uneaten lunch in the back seat promising herself she would eat it later and headed back into the PX.
By the time her shift was over, Catherine was ready to head home and put her feet up. She had been standing for almost eight hours straight. Every step she took to her car was painful. She made a mental note to get inserts for her shoes, if she would be standing that long. Wine would fix her up quick. As soon as she made it home, she kicked off her shoes and poured herself a glass of wine. She wiggled her toes and felt a sigh of relief. As soon as she sat down her doorbell rang.
Hiding Catherine Page 6