Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“I’d love a glass of water.”
Maybe his mouth has suddenly become just as dry as mine.
Chapter 15
Quinten
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before,” Hayden says, indicating the slice of orange floating in my glass.
We decided on a small diner down the road from the gun range, and I kept my eyes on her headlights the entire drive over, smiling every inch of the way because she asked me out before I could do the same to her.
I hated hearing that she was sticking around the shop because she was scared to go home rather than because she was waiting for me to finish up with the ladies straggling behind after class ended.
“I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. I have no idea when exactly I started though.”
She smiles at me, and man, do I love the look of happiness on her face. It beats the irritation and annoyance I’ve seen too many times to be comfortable with.
“You make it sound like you’re old or something.”
“Thirty-five isn’t old?” She shakes her head. “But older than you?”
She gasps in mock shock with her hand to her chest. It draws my eyes, but I find her eyes quick enough that I pray she didn’t see me look.
“Do I look thirty-five?”
“You don’t look a day over—”
“Let me save you the embarrassment. I’m twenty-nine.”
“I was going to say thirty-two.”
“Jerk,” she snaps with humor as she tosses her balled-up straw paper at me.
I chuckle when it flies over my shoulder.
“Well, at least your shooting is better than your throwing aim.” Her smile grows. “Tell me about work.”
“Work? I’m an accountant. It’s pretty boring, but I’m good at it.”
“It’s not tax season.”
Her grin grows wider. “You assuming that accountants don’t do anything but taxes is like me thinking you sit around and clean guns all day.”
“Who says I don’t?” I wrap my hand around my glass of cold water in an effort to prevent myself from reaching across the table and tangling my fingers around hers.
“Do you?”
“Not even close. I’ll share some about what I do, but ladies first.”
“I work for a firm that subcontracts jobs overseas. I mostly just make sure the amounts are correct for billing and that what’s coming in and what’s going out are what they should be. See? Boring.”
“Overseas jobs? Like local businesses that contract labor for manufacturing.”
“Not exactly,” she says, and her eyes drop back down to her glass of water. “I can’t-I’m under contract—”
“Oh,” I say, thinking I understand correctly. “It’s government stuff, which means there’s a security clearance required.”
She gives me a weak smile that confirms what I ask but doesn’t verbally verify, which is all the verification that I need.
“A lot of my job is confidential, too.”
“Anything you can tell me about?”
“Nothing specific, but I can say I work with some of the best men I’ve ever met. We each have our own niche of expertise, and sometimes the jobs we’re hired for requires several of us to work together. Those jobs are the most thrilling. We travel some, mostly dealing with domestic issues.”
“Like cheating spouses?”
I can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of my throat. “We’ve done that in the past, but I mean domestic as in the USA.”
“But you do travel some outside of the country?”
“On occasion. Some of the other guys more than me. My skills are usually spent on the phone or through written documentation.”
“So you teach different classes?”
“This is my first class to teach. Kit Riggs is our weapons guy, but he had a conflict.”
“You didn’t want to do it,” she says.
“I don’t mind it now that it’s started.” I don’t mention that I look forward to Thursday because it’s when I’ve been able to see her. I hate that we only have one class left together, and she didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea of me helping her learn how to clean a gun.
“You were very assertive that first class, and then again when you called me.” Her back straightens as if thinking back to those first interactions have her getting angry all over again.
“I’ll admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled about teaching a class to fourteen women. Fourteen,” I repeat for clarification. “Not fifteen. I was given specifics, and if there’s anything you’ll learn about me is that I tend to be very rigid where rules are concerned.”
“Even to the point of throwing two women out of class?”
“I didn’t throw you out.”
“But you had to know I wouldn’t stay if Parker had to leave.”
“Because you drove together? She could’ve easily waited around for you or come back to pick you up. I would’ve offered to drive you home even.” I clamp my mouth closed, feeling like I’ve said too much, but then her smile changes from one of forced pleasantness to one that’s a little slyer, and I can’t help but find the pull of her lips a little flirty.