Her head snapped
back around, a challenge in her eyes. "And some things we forget
very easily." An undercurrent of anger laced her tone.
Nate held her gaze.
"Care to explain?”
"There's
nothing to explain. Not now anyway." For the first time all
evening her polite tone dropped away. “Let’s just leave it and
watch TV.”
Leave it?
After her implication, he couldn't just leave it. "Not
happening. What did you mean?" Even if the best he could ever
hope for with her was friendship, he needed to get past her anger
first.
Lauren unexpectedly
jumped to her feet, took a few steps away and whirled around to face
him. "Fine. You want to talk about the past? We'll talk. You
promised to write. Do you remember that, too?" She took a step
closer. "That day you said we'd stay in contact, but you never
bothered."
His gut winced.
When he'd said the words way back then he'd meant them. He'd even
tried once. He had picked up the phone, started to dial, and hung up.
Unsure of just what he intended to say, Nate stood as well. "Lauren
let me—"
"Don't make up
any excuses.” She stepped toward him and jabbed a finger into his
shoulder. “I don't want to hear it. Besides, it doesn't matter now.
We've both moved on."
In one motion, Nate
wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her closer. The sudden
physical contact caused his heart rate to rev like the engine of his
brother’s prized Corvette. “Bullshit.”
With his hand still
wrapped around her wrist, she took a step away from him. "Soon
you'll go back to wherever the military wants you. We may never see
each other again. The past doesn't matter."
"Like I told
you the other night, Lauren. I am not leaving." He focused on
removing the anger from his voice.
A cynical smile
formed on her face. "You left the marines? Yeah, right. They
mean more to you then I ever did." The anger he'd heard before
diminished, but sadness took its place.
Nate reached out
his free hand and touched her cheek. "That's not true, and I'm
no longer on active duty." The warmth from her skin managed to
penetrate through the calluses on his hands. "I'm in the
reserves now. Last month I graduated from the FBI Academy in
Quantico."
Lauren's eyes flew
open. "You're an FBI Agent? Seriously!" Her voice hit the
next octave.
Surprise and shock
trumped anger any day of the week. "Yeah, in the Boston field
office."
"Wow,
that's..." The awe in her voice trailed off. "That doesn't
change anything." She took a step back, and his hand fell away.
With the increased
distance between them, again the sunshine he'd felt bathed in a
moment ago disappeared. "I don't believe that." In two
steps he closed the distance between them. Before she could move
again he made his move. He let his lips brush against hers.
Home. The
word lit up in his head. Regardless of the years gone by, he belonged
right here with this woman. He always had.
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