Chapter 5
Aspen woke up slowly. She was so comfortable that she didn’t want to move.
In fact, even thinking about moving was extremely abhorrent.
She was sore all over from a week of training, and opening her eyes, getting up, showering, and going into work was the last thing she wanted to do.
Eventually she realized that she didn’t have to work today, but she still didn’t want to get up.
It wasn’t until her pillow moved that it finally clicked where she was and why she was so comfy.
Kane.
Her eyes popped open and she tilted her head back, staring right into Kane’s hazel eyes.
“Hey,” he said, his voice low and raspy from disuse.
“Hey,” she repeated.
“Sleep all right?”
Aspen nodded. “Amazingly so. But don’t ask me to move too fast this morning.”
He smiled. “Sore?”
“All over,” she admitted.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he told her.
Aspen was pleased that he didn’t beat around the bush. She was surprised, but not upset, to realize she and Kane were still on his couch and had obviously been there all night. “It’s okay,” she said.
“Seriously. I had grand plans of waking you up, getting some coffee into you so you’d be safe driving home, then following you to your apartment to make sure you got there all right.”
Aspen stared at him for a second without commenting.
“What?” he asked.
“You were going to follow me home?”
“Of course. Why does that surprise you?”
“Well, because I don’t live that far away, and I know you were tired too.”
“There’s no way I was going to wave to you from my doorstep and send you off by yourself.
Nothing good happens after midnight, and while Killeen isn’t exactly the murder capital of the world, that doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen.
And nothing’s going to happen to you on my watch, not if I can help it. ”
Aspen was literally speechless. She couldn’t help recalling her second date with Derek; she’d needed to use the restroom after dinner, when they were leaving.
Derek had joked that since she was “practically” a Ranger, he was sure she could manage to get home all right.
She’d laughed at the time, but when she’d come out of the bathroom, he’d already left.
The parking lot had been dark, and while it was only around ten at night, it had still struck her as rude.
While both men were handsome, the differences between Kane and Derek were like night and day.
While Derek was good-looking on the outside—and he knew it—inside, he was conceited and selfish.
Kane, on the other hand, was a little awkward and unsure of his appeal, but he was generous and genuinely concerned about others’ welfare.
Time would tell what his faults were, but Aspen was beginning to think any faults he had would be overshadowed by his good features.
“Are you mad?” Kane asked, bringing Aspen out of her internal musings.
“Mad that you didn’t disrupt my sleep and let me get a full night’s rest after a completely hellish week? Or maybe upset that I had to lie practically on top of you on your insanely comfortable couch all night? Um…no.” She grinned as she said the last.
“Well, sleeping with you on our second date wasn’t exactly in my plans,” Kane teased.
For a second, Aspen could only blink in surprise, then she laughed. “We did, didn’t we?” she asked.
“And without even a kiss,” Kane continued to tease.
“I’m sure that can be remedied…but not until I’ve brushed my teeth and don’t have morning breath,” Aspen told him. She liked the look of both lust and tenderness on his face.
She was lying on her side next to him, her back to the couch as he rested on his own.
One of his arms was around her and the other rested on top of her hand, which was on his chest. They were snuggled together cozily, and she had no desire to move anytime soon.
She had no recollection of how they’d ended up in the position they were in, but she definitely had no complaints.
“What’s on your plate for today?” Kane asked. “I know you said you had the day off, but wasn’t sure if you had plans.”
“Just errands,” Aspen said with a wrinkle of her nose.
“I need to go to the grocery store, but I don’t want to get too much in case we’re deployed, as everyone thinks we will be.
I’ve got a few bulbs out in my apartment that I need to replace, and I planned on sitting around doing absolutely nothing for a few hours too. Why?”
For the first time, Kane’s eyes drifted from hers, as if he wasn’t sure about what he was going to say.
It was interesting how confident he was in some areas, but tongue tied in others.
“The guys were all going to come over here today. Gillian, Kinley, and hopefully Devyn too. I thought you might want to hang with us for a while after you do your errands.”
“Who’s Devyn?”
“Grover’s sister. She recently moved here from Missouri. We’re all pretty sure Lucky has his eye on her, but Grover’s clueless about it so we’re all just watching to see when the fireworks will start,” Kane told her.
Aspen wanted to. She really wanted to. All the talk the night before about how let down she was that working with the Rangers hadn’t gained her the team she so desperately wanted made her both hesitant and eager to accept his invitation.
Hesitant because watching Kane with his team would bring home exactly what she didn’t have, and eager because maybe, just maybe, she could find what she was looking for outside work.
“It’s okay if you say no, I know how precious a day off can be, especially when you’re training for a mission.”
“I want to,” Aspen blurted.
The smile that crossed Kane’s face was beautiful. “Good,” he said.
“What time?”
“Around four?” he said. “I’ll go get some burgers and stuff and we’ll hang out for a bit until it’s time to eat. Don’t be surprised if Winnie wanders over. She loves when I have cookouts because she gets to come and ‘ogle the hot Army dudes.’ Her words, not mine.”
“I think I’m going to like your neighbor,” Aspen said with a laugh.
“Everyone does,” Kane said easily. “I think Gillian and Kinley have adopted her. They look after her when we head out on missions, which makes me feel better.”
“What should I bring?”
“Nothing,” Kane said immediately.
“Nope. Not happening. You either tell me what I should bring, or I’ll go overboard and probably embarrass myself by bringing over way too much food,” Aspen told him huffily.
He smiled. “Okay, since you’re going to the grocery store anyway, how about if you bring some sort of salad. I’m not saying anyone other than the women will eat it, because you know, us manly men have to eat our meat and all, but…”
Aspen rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll make potato salad. Even manly men like you and your friends can’t turn that down…I mean, meat and potatoes go together like peanut butter and jelly.”
“Homemade?” Kane asked.
“Of course. Store-bought stuff is gross.”
“Mayonnaise or mustard based?”
Aspen eyed him. “Is this a deal breaker?”
“It could be,” he teased. “Stop stalling, which one?”
“Mustard, of course,” Aspen said.
Kane breathed out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
Aspen chuckled. “You’re a nut.”
“Nope, just picky about my potato salad,” he told her. Then the smile fell from his face. “Thank you for not being weird about this morning. I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” He gestured to the both of them lying on the couch with his head.
“It’s fine. Honestly, I’m glad you didn’t wake me up. I haven’t been sleeping all that well, and I feel better this morning than I have in quite a while. You did me a favor.”
“Can’t say it was that much of a hardship,” Kane told her. “When I woke up with a crick in my neck around two, I moved us into this position. You were out like a light and barely even protested when I hauled you against me.”
Aspen shrugged. “When I’m out, I’m out, but it doesn’t happen every night. Sometimes I toss and turn. Too many memories rolling through my brain.”
“I know about that,” Kane said, and Aspen figured he did. They hadn’t talked about the missions they’d been on, they both knew talking about specifics was out of the question, but she wasn’t na?ve enough to think he hadn’t seen some pretty horrific things in his time as a special forces operative.
“I think I might have an extra toothbrush in my bathroom,” he told her, lightening the mood.
“You have so many women staying the night that you need to have spares?” Aspen asked before she thought about her words.
But Kane didn’t miss a beat. “Hell no. I think I got an extra at the dentist last time I was there and never bothered to change out my old one. I know, I know, I should, but I’m not a fan of change, and besides, there didn’t seem to be a need.”
He was babbling a bit, which Aspen thought was cute. “I know,” she told him, patting his chest. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me to say. You’re an adult and we just met.”
“It’s been over six months since I’ve been on a date with anyone,” Kane informed her. “And at least two years since I’ve been with a woman.”
His cheeks flushed as he admitted that last part, and Aspen couldn’t help but be shocked. “What is wrong with the women around here?” she asked.
He stared at her for a moment before saying, “You don’t see me the same way as everyone else.”
“Well, that’s just stupid,” Aspen declared, feeling somewhat annoyed.
“You’re gorgeous, Kane. I mean, could your eyes be any more beautiful?
And your hair is always adorably mussed, which makes me want to smooth it down, which is silly because you’re a grown-ass man.
And when you smile at me, my knees go weak. ”
“And then I open my mouth and say something over-the-top geeky, which makes other women’s eyes glaze over, and they realize that they’d have to put up with me in order to have the privilege of looking at my physical attributes up close and personal.”