“I’ll stay,” I agreed, feeling a little flustered at the idea of spending the night with the man I had repeatedly claimed was just a friend. A sleepover wasn’t really in the friend zone, but I would worry about that later.
I reached down to grab my dress.
“Leave it,” he ordered.
I turned to look toward the windows, feeling a little exposed. No, a lot exposed. “But, um, maybe you can close the blinds?”
He smiled. “No one can see in here, but if it makes you feel better, I will.”
He moved to a touchpad on the wall and pushed a button. There was a mechanical sound followed by blinds sliding down over the windows. Ah, to be rich.
Chapter 27
Xander
It was beyond strange to wake up with a woman in my bed. I had lain awake for several minutes trying to process everything. Evie in my bed, in my arms. It was not how I’d expected things to happen yesterday when she asked me to go to dinner with her and her father.
Her being in my arms was a little confusing. I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Or what to do about it. Did I have to do anything?
For now, I was going to be cool and casual. Just play it off like I did this kind of thing all the time. Or maybe that was the wrong approach. I didn’t want her to think I did this all the time. I didn’t. Not even close.
That was not the right approach. I would just go with whatever she did.
She sighed and stirred against me. “Ugh, what time is it?” she asked in a sleepy voice.
I looked over at the clock. “Just after eight.”
She let out a long breath again. “I should get up.”
I didn’t disagree. Lying in bed naked was only going to lead us to another sex marathon. “I’ll make some coffee.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that.”
She pulled away from me and sat up, keeping the sheet pulled over her breasts. I smiled up at her. “Evie?”
“Hmm?”
“I think I’ve seen every glorious inch of you,” I told her. “You don’t have to hide from me.”
“But it’s the morning after. This is always the weird part.”
“Always?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I folded my hands behind my head. “This is normal for you?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “No, no, no. That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m kidding. Do you want breakfast? You don’t have to slink out of here like you are doing the walk of shame.”
She grimaced, running her free hand over her mass of curls while clenching the sheet to her chest. “I am doing the walk of shame, aren’t I?”
“No,” I said, sitting up and giving her a quick kiss.
She slid off the bed, pulling the sheet with her and exposing me in the process. I looked down at my nude body and then back at her. She was a dark shade of red. “I’m going to find my clothes.”
I got out of bed and walked to my dresser to pull on a pair of clean underwear. I walked downstairs to find her shimmying into the dress. I noticed the scrap of black lace that had been the thong she’d been wearing. I grabbed the torn panties and held them up. “I’ll buy you more,” I told her.
Her eyes went wide as she snatched them out of my hands. “Let’s not start doing IOU’s for torn clothing. I think I might owe you more than you owe me at this point.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “You do get a little wild when it comes to getting my clothes off.”
She blushed all over again. “Maybe you should start wearing those Velcro pants basketball players wear. It would make things easier.”
I stepped toward her, cupping her cheek in my hand. “And maybe you should just go commando. It would absolutely make things easier.”
I felt her shudder. I had her going again.
“I should go,” she whispered.
“I’ll walk you out,” I offered.
“You’re only wearing your underwear.”
I shrugged. “So?”
“Your neighbors?”
“They can’t see the driveway,” I told her. “Remember, I told you I liked my privacy. No one is peeping.”
“Okay.”
I walked her to her car, standing barefoot on the black pavement that was fortunately not hot yet. I gave her a kiss as she stood inside her open car door. “I was thinking about taking the boat out sometime this week. Would you like to go along?”
“I would like that. I’ll need to check my schedule first.”
“Do that. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Call your brother,” she said. “Didn’t you tell me he was overseas?”
“He is.”
“You can’t miss his calls!” she exclaimed and slapped at my shoulder.
“It’s fine,” I assured her.
She got in the car and left. I headed back inside. I was in a great mood. A really good mood. Evie put me in a great mood. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but the idea of her staying over again was very appealing.
I walked into the kitchen to start some coffee before dropping a couple pieces of bread in the toaster. I grabbed my phone and listened to the voicemail. “What the hell?” I said aloud as I listened to the message.
I hit the return call button.
“It’s about time,” Kade answered.
“Sorry, I was, uh—what are you doing back already?” I asked instead of telling him I was busy with a woman.
“There was a last-minute change and the whole unit was sent home a couple weeks early.”
“That’s cool. That had to be a welcome change.”
“It was. Usually, we get extended.”
“Where are you?”
“We’re up north right now,” he answered, keeping to the vague answers I expected from him. It was all about OPSEC. I had been trained from a young age not to ask questions about my father’s whereabouts.
“For how long?” I asked.
“I’m taking two weeks,” he said. “Then I’ll be heading to Cherry Point for a while.”
I nodded, knowing the base well. “I bet Dad’s excited.”
“As excited as an old Navy guy can be,” he joked. “Come home and visit. We’ll grab a beer, eat some crab and that amazing chowder at that place near the beach.”
“Kade,” I warned. I did miss the clam chowder from Mo’s. After our parents had moved to Oregon, it had become my new favorite restaurant.
“I’m serious. I want to see you. It’s been over a year. You can get away for a day or two.”
I grabbed the carafe from the coffeemaker and poured myself a cup. “Dad doesn’t want to see me. I don’t want to ruin your visit home by ruining the reunion. Why don’t you come down here?”
“He will want to see you,” he insisted. “I don’t want to waste my leave flying up and down the west coast.”
“You are full of shit,” I answered. “The only thing our old man wants to see from me is failure so he can scream he told me so.”
“Come on. One of you has to swallow your pride and put all the bullshit behind you. You know he isn’t going to do it. He is old and set in his ways. He can’t do it. You have to be the one to try and move forward.”