Gillian nodded.
“But you have to know that if I think you’re being reckless with your safety, or not treating this as seriously as you should, I’m gonna call you on it.”
That didn’t bother Gillian like it might’ve if it had been anyone else who’d said it to her.
“If I find out more information, I’ll certainly pass it along, especially if it affects your safety. But as far as I’m concerned, we’re just a man and a woman who are getting to know each other.”
“I like that.”
“Me too,” Walker said with a smile. “And as a part of this getting-to-know-you shit, you need to know that I work weird hours. I don’t have a nine-to-five job.”
“I think I got that,” Gillian told him with a wry chuckle.
“I don’t think you do,” he said seriously. “I could be called away on a job at any moment. I’ll do my best to let you know, but there might be times I don’t get a chance to call you…things can get crazy and intense for me that fast.”
Gillian licked her lips and nodded.
“I might be gone for a few days, or a few weeks. I never know how long a deployment is gonna take.”
“Okay.”
“You think you can handle that?” he asked.
Gillian could hear the worry in his voice, and she hurried to reassure him. “Walker, as I said last night, I’m not going to pine away waiting for you to get back. I’ll miss you, but I’ve got a life. A job that will keep me busy. And when I feel sad, I’ll just get together with Ann, Wendy, and Clarissa and have a pity party, then continue on with my life. I’ve managed on my own for a decade. I’m not going to fall apart when you get deployed. I’m proud that you’re serving our country. And…” Her voice lowered, and she couldn’t help but glance around her apartment. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see; it wasn’t as if there were people around to overhear her. “I know that you’re not a normal soldier.”
“You do?” he asked with a small grin.
“Yeah. I’ve lived in this area long enough to know that typical deployments from the Army base are for like six months or longer. A team of seven regular infantry soldiers aren’t sent to Venezuela to rescue hostages on a huge plane.”
“You’re right, they’re not,” Walker said simply.
Gillian nodded. He wasn’t going to tell her exactly what he did, and that was all right. “I don’t care, Walker,” she said earnestly. “I care about you being safe and coming back from your missions safely, but you could be the president’s personal bodyguard, and it wouldn’t make a difference in how I feel about you.”
Walker closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, Gillian saw his pupils had dilated slightly. He leaned into her and nuzzled her hair by her ear.
“Honeysuckle,” he murmured. “I’ll never be able to smell it again and not get hard.” Then, as if he hadn’t just said one of the most carnal things she’d ever heard, he pulled back to look into her eyes once more. “Did I say I wanted to go slow?” he asked. “I think I’m an idiot.”
Gillian laughed. She could tell he hadn’t changed his mind, but it felt good to know he wasn’t unaffected by her.
“All I ask is that you be extra careful until the authorities find out who that seventh hijacker is,” he said. “It’s unlikely that he’d come to Austin to try to do you harm, but until we know his identity, I’m not willing to take any chances.”
“Okay.”
Walker glanced at his watch. “You feel okay?” he asked.
She nodded, but said, “No. I’m not nauseous, but I don’t feel all that good either.”
He smiled and ran a hand over her hair. “Poor Gilly. What are you going to do today?”
“Sit here on the couch and binge watch shows that will lower my IQ ten points and try not to even think about ever drinking again.”
“Sounds good. Can I call you later?”
“Yes.”
“It’s Thursday; you have plans for this weekend?”
“I’ve got a quinceañera party Friday night and a golf outing Saturday morning.”
“Would you like to go out to dinner on Saturday night?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “How about I pick you up around four? There’s a great place up in Killeen I’d like to take you to. We can eat, then I’d love to show you around Fort Hood and where I work.”
“I’d love that.”
“Good. If it’s all right with you, I’m gonna call a taxi and head over to the bar and drive your car back here before I leave.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Gillian told him, shocked that he would even consider it. “I can go get it later.”
“I know I don’t have to. You feel like crap, and it’s not a big deal for me to go get it.”
She wasn’t sure what to say. She’d already planned to either call one of her friends to pick her up or take a taxi to The Funky Walrus later to get her car. But she couldn’t deny that she liked that Walker offered to do it for her. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
“Great. I’ll take care of it for you then. Gillian?”
“Yeah?”
“I hope you know what you’re getting into with me.”
“I do,” she said simply. And she did. She’d waited a hell of a long time for a man like Walker to find her. She was strong enough to be his woman…if he’d let her.
Chapter Eight
When Saturday night rolled around, Gillian was exhausted, but she also felt as if she’d had way too many shots of espresso. In just a few minutes, Walker would be at her apartment to pick her up for their date.
She’d gotten a bit too much sun at the golf party that afternoon, but she knew the pink would fade in a day or so. Gillian had asked Walker what she should wear, and he’d told her that jeans and a blouse would be perfect. He hadn’t told her where they were going, but she trusted him.
It was about a forty-minute drive to Killeen, and Gillian was looking forward to simply talking more with Walker as they drove. True to his word, he’d called on Thursday night. They’d ended up talking for three hours, which surprised Gillian. It was her experience that most guys didn’t like to talk on the phone that much. But there hadn’t been one lull in their conversation. They’d talked as if they’d known each other their whole lives.
When she’d told Walker that he was the first guy who hadn’t seemed to mind talking on the phone for as long as they had, he’d told her that he wasn’t like any of the men she’d dated in the past, and that normally he wasn’t very chatty, but as far as he was concerned, he could talk to her for hours every night and be perfectly happy.
He always seemed to say the right thing, but Gillian didn’t think he was merely saying what he thought she wanted to hear. Their conversation was too smooth, too easy to be faked.
He’d texted on Friday…several times. And each time her phone vibrated, she smiled in anticipation. Then he’d called her briefly that morning to see how the quinceañera had gone and to tell her he hoped her golf thing went all right.