Hot Pursuit - Denise A. Agnew [7]
“And here you are.”
“Exactly.”
He stayed silent for a short time, then said, “You didn’t overreact.” He shook his head slowly and snorted softly. “He’s being an ass wipe. He could have been with you tonight.”
Flattered, but not taking his praise seriously, Lucy groaned. “I was such a damned fool.”
“I dunno. Doesn’t sound like you did anything foolish. If he led you on and made you think he had more feelings for you than he did, that’s on his head.”
She’d never heard a man this articulate on relationships, short of Dr. Phil.
“You couldn’t see your friends tonight? Tell them what happened and go to the party?” Vic asked.
She could have. That was the shame of it. “I have a lot of nosy friends.”
“Anybody I’d know?”
“Eve Carmichael-O’Callahan, Freddie Bodine-Wallace, Marisa Clyde-Sullivan, Neena Williamson-Gilroy.”
His eyebrows sprang up. “Lots of hyphenated names.”
She tilted her head to the side and said sheepishly, “They don’t all hyphenate their names, but I thought if I gave both names it would ring a bell.”
“Sullivan? Would her husband happen to be Jake Sullivan? He’s in the army?”
“Yep, that’s the one. Eve’s husband is in the Reserves, Freddie’s and Marisa’s husbands are in Special Forces. Neena’s husband used to be in the military. Anyway, they would have filled me with wine and reasons why Danny is a turd. But I didn’t want them worrying about me on New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t want to talk about him tonight.”
“All of this is ironic as hell.” He scrubbed his hand over his chin again. “Jake and I’ve worked together before. We were both at Fort Carson several years back. I’ve been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan for quite some time.”
Military? Vic was in the military too? She almost groaned out loud. She’d been all ready to make a move, hoping this guy wouldn’t have any scruples about one night of heated, no-strings sex. Honestly, how many guys would?
Now he’d ruined it by telling her he was in the military. Her heart sank.
An idea dawned on Lucy. “Are you in Special Forces too?”
“No. I’m an infantry officer in the army.”
“Oh.”
He chuckled. “There’s a lot packed in that word.”
She gave him a lopsided smile. “Yes, there is.” To steer things away from her for a moment, she continued with, “Rank?”
He grinned. “Is this a test?”
“Yep.”
Vic moved closer to the table, eliminating that safe barrier between them. His body heat seemed to reach out for her. She wanted him nearer, and that made her own barriers continue to crumble even as she fought her growing attraction to him.
“I’m a major heading for lieutenant colonel.”
“You’re pretty young for a lieutenant colonel, aren’t you?”
“Thirty-two is on the young side, yeah.”
She sighed. “Wow.”
He crossed his arms and leaned on the table. “You don’t sound impressed.”
She grinned. The devilish twinkle in his eyes gave him away. “Should I be?”
“Nah. I know too many men and women who get to my rank who think they’re all that.”
She appreciated his honesty, damn it. Lucy sighed. “Like Danny.”
“Danny is a lieutenant colonel?”
“No. He’s a major. Something in logistics. I don’t understand it.”
He laughed. “Uh-huh. Is he older than me?”
“Closing in on forty.”
He made her smile again, enjoying the endless banter. Either that or the wine had been spiked with hard liquor. She couldn’t recall feeling this giddy in a long time. Once more his gaze did a cruise over her body and reminded her that Vic liked what he saw. Whether her mind wanted to be flattered or not, her body was.
“I should have known you were in the military,” she said, her voice filled with mild disgust. “You all seem to have this thing with your walk. Confident. Upright. In command. I could go on with the adjectives and adverbs from here to eternity. My friends’ husbands are all great men and great husbands. But the rest of you…” She shrugged as bad memories swamped her. “You’re all the same.”
His mouth tightened, and he leaned in closer. “We’re not all the same.”
His eyes narrowed, and she saw something flicker through them that looked rough and angry.