Page 9 of Saving Texas

“Domestic?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer.

“No, once I completed my ER specialization they would also send me abroad too. In between assignments I worked on-call at a couple of Portland hospitals.”

“You always liked to be busy,” I remembered. “What made you leave?”

Her eyes shadowed then cleared up so quickly I thought I’d imagined it.

“I guess I was ready to settle down somewhere.”

I was dying to ask for more details, but I didn’t want to press my luck. The waitress came, dropping down huge platters of ribs, fried chicken, potatoes, baked beans and cole slaw. Clara was quiet as she loaded up a plate from the family-style buffet in the middle of the table.

“What about you? Did you get your twenty in the Army?”

I was surprised she remembered my plan to stay in the military until I was thirty-eight and could retire with a military pension.

“No, I got a medical discharge.”

Even all these years later it felt like I was talking around a lump in my throat even mentioning it. I waited for the inevitable question about what happened, and when it didn’t come I felt compelled to tell her anyway.

“I got injured by a sniper in Afghanistan about ten years ago. Mostly superficial, but they had to take out about eight inches of my small intestine, and I had some residual shoulder stuff that didn’t heal fast enough for them to feel comfortable keeping me.”

“Then you came back to Texas?”

“Yeah, I worked my ass off in rehab until I could pass the required fitness tests to go into law enforcement. I thought about joining the Rangers, but in the end I joined the Houston PD. I started off as a beat cop, then worked my way up to detective.”

I appreciated that she didn’t give me any platitudes about how things had worked out in the end. Instead, she tore the meat off a rib bone in a way that definitely should not have been sexy but was. She chewed for a moment, her eyes closing in pleasure, and made a happy little noise that made my dick sit up and pay attention.

“Holy shit, I forgot how good this was.”

“Right? I come here at least once a month.”

We focused on our food for a few minutes before I broke the silence again.

“You never got married?”

She shook her head. “No. I was gone all the time, it made it hard to maintain a relationship for any length of time. You?”

“Same.”

She gave me a teasing look. “I thought you said you left the Army ten years ago?” At my nod she continued, “What’s your excuse now?”

“Just waiting for the right woman, I guess.”

Our eyes met and held, and I did my best to convey with my eyes the message that was thrumming through my veins. I’d been waiting to find her again.

Clara

Having dinner with Allen was a huge mistake. I knew it would be, but I’d let myself get distracted by barbecue. And holy crap, this barbecue was as good as I remembered. Spending time with Allen was also as good as I remembered too. Better even.

He was a funny and charming conversationalist, and I was enjoying myself more than I expected to, which was a problem. That kiss was also a problem, in that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Our knees kept touching underneath the small table, every touch sending a zing right to my pussy.

He’d taken off his suit jacket, leaving him in a thin button down that hugged his muscled frame. The guy still looked incredibly fit. It had been a long time since I’d been with someone, and I couldn’t help but ask myself why I was resisting Allen’s considerable charm. It wasn’t like he was asking me to get married or something.

As I eyed him over the table, I wondered if he’d be okay with a friends with benefits situation. He was still hot as hell and the attraction between us was off the charts, simmering between us like lava beneath the surface of a volcano. Even in his twenties, Allen had been a gifted lover. The best I’d ever had. He could have only gotten better since then with additional practice. Maybe we could just let off a little steam?

***

“Why haven’t we been doing this the entire time you’ve been here?”