Chapter Six
Alexis studied her reflection in the mirror with an appraising eye. She looked good. Sure, she wasn’t in the same shape that she used to be – in her late forties she’d fought hard to stay lean and muscular, to maintain the speed and strength that she’d been so proud of in her younger years. Of course, Mother Nature had proven to her that she wasn’t going to win that battle, so she’d adapted. Her physical abilities had kept her alive when she was active in the field, but as she grew older, she’d accepted that she could contribute more in terms of the intelligence and insight that she’d accumulated over her many years of service.
She made a face at her reflection. Yes, she looked good for her age, but she was acutely aware that the last woman who Davin had dated was a young chick while she was more of a tough old bird. Her reflection cocked an eyebrow at her – was she really feeling insecure?
“No!” She said the word out loud before turning away from the mirror and heading back downstairs.
Davin had already told her enough about his relationship with Zoe for her to know that he’d been looking for something more than Zoe could offer him. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Did she want to offer what he was looking for? Was she interested in partnership and companionship? Would she be capable of it if she were?
She hurried into the kitchen. She didn’t need to answer those questions just yet. They were about to go on their first real date. All she needed to know for now was that she had an enjoyable evening ahead of her in the company of a man she found both appealing and attractive. There was no mistaking that the attraction was mutual, but that didn’t mean she should attempt to map out where things could go from here. This wasn’t an operation with a predetermined objective. It was a possibility to explore, hopefully a journey that she and Davin might go on together – and if it was a journey, then she needed to enjoy the steps along the way, not try to hurry and guide things to any particular destination.
She picked up her car keys and then set them down again – she didn’t need them. He was coming to pick her up. That was a novelty in itself. She was used to going out to meet people. With Gordon, she was used to picking him up. She should have been aware of that – should have noticed the underlying motivations – her own as well as his.
On her part, she could see, with hindsight, that she didn’t enjoy having him in her space. Whenever he came over to her apartment, he would move things around, criticize little details about her home and the way she lived in it. Of course, when she called him out on that, he acted as though his feelings were hurt and insisted that he was trying to be helpful. Perhaps he was. She didn’t even know. All she knew was that he made her feel uncomfortable.
It struck her that she hadn’t questioned why he rarely offered to come and pick her up – not until Davin had said that he’d come for her. And now that she did question Gordon’s motivations, none of the answers she came up with painted him in a flattering light. It meant that he didn’t have to drive – and therefore could have a drink, which often meant one too many. He didn’t have to deal with the traffic. And most of all, it seemed to her that he saw it as just the natural dynamic of their relationship – he expected her to take care of him.
She blew out a sigh and picked up her phone again. Scrolling to the text that Gordon had sent her this afternoon, she wondered why she hadn’t deleted it yet.
Gordon: I’m back in DC. I won’t bother you again. I never thought that you would do this to me. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Don’t come crying to me when that guy dumps you for someone younger. I’ve seen men like him before. He’ll hurt you just like you hurt me, and you deserve it. I didn’t.
She wanted to dismiss his words, she knew that he was lashing out because he was in pain – and she felt bad that she was the cause of that pain – but there was a little niggle in the back of her mind, that perhaps he was right. Perhaps Davin would hurt her. Perhaps it’d be better to not take a chance. She hadn’t intended to meet someone new. Davin had kind of fallen into her lap – or she’d plonked herself on his – but she already knew that if they started seeing each other, and he decided that he preferred a younger, sweeter model after all, it’d hit hard.
She deleted the text and set her phone back down. The only thing that would take a hit was her ego. And even if that were the case, she would use the experience to help her on her way as she moved into this next stage of her life – the stage where she discovered who she was as an ‘older’ woman who no longer worked for the agency and who lived back in the civilian world.
Yes, there was a risk, but she was prepared to take it. Who knew – by the end of this evening, she and Davin might discover that their initial attraction had worn off. She smiled to herself. She hoped that the physical attraction would be enough to at least carry them through until tomorrow morning. She was very much a sexual being, and Gordon had never managed to satisfy that side of her.
~ ~ ~
Davin hesitated on his way out the door. “Just call me if you need anything,” he told Alec.
Alec grinned. “I already told you – I need you to go out and relax and forget about this place. I know I haven’t been on this job for as long as you and Adam, but I am capable.”
“Yeah. Sorry. I know. I just … I don’t know what my problem is. I never went all mother-hen on you when I was going to be away for the night before.”
“Yeah, but that was different.”
“It was?”
Alec grinned. “Yup. With Zoe, you were just going out to get laid. With Alexis, you’re starting something.”
“What makes you say that?” That was how it felt to Davin, but he wanted to know what made Alec think so.
“You’re different. You’re acting different. You didn’t even tell me and Adam about Zoe the first few times she came up here.” Alec chuckled. “And you didn’t seem nervous about seeing Zoe.”
“I’m not …” He stopped short and laughed. “Shit! I am a little nervous, but I don’t know why.”
“I do.”
“Go on then; if you’re so smart, enlighten me.”
“Like I said before – it’s because this matters to you. You can see this going somewhere – and you want that.”
Davin held his gaze for a moment and then nodded.
“Hey, don’t look like I just discovered some dirty little secret that you were trying to hide. There’s nothing wrong with holding out the hope that you might meet someone you want to go through life with. I’m hoping for the same thing; it’s hard not to when you see all the happy couples around here.”
“You?”
Alec laughed. “Yeah, me. I know I come off as a bit of a loner, and I am. But that doesn’t stop me from hoping that there might just be a woman out there who’s not all extroverted and social, who might enjoy hanging out with me, going fishing and camping, and hiking, and …” He let out a short laugh. “But we can talk about my forlorn hopes some other time. You should get your ass into gear; you don’t want to be late.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yep. Have fun, and don’t worry. I won’t be calling you.”
“If anything comes up …”
“If anything comes up, I’m under orders to call Adam. He made it clear that he’ll kick my ass for me if I so much as text you before tomorrow. As if I needed telling. If I need anything, I’ll be calling him.”
Davin couldn’t help smiling. Adam had told him to enjoy his evening but hadn’t made a big deal out of it. If anything, Davin had been a little disappointed that he hadn’t had much to say on the subject. Knowing that his friend was doing what he could behind the scenes made him feel better.
“Go already!” said Alec. “I don’t know why you look surprised – Adam always has your back.”
As Davin pulled away from the guest house, he knew that Alec was right. He and Adam had had each other’s backs for most of their adult lives. The fact that he’d kept his relationship – or whatever it had been – with Zoe secret from his friend for so long, only confirmed that, on some level, he’d known from the beginning that it wasn’t right.
The sound of his phone ringing filled the cab of the truck and he smiled when he saw Adam’s name on the display.
“Hey, bud,” he answered.
“Hi, Davin, it’s me,” said Evie.
Davin’s smile disappeared, and his heart raced. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. Oh, I’m calling you from Adam’s phone because he was going to call, and I wanted to just have a quick word first.”
Davin took a deep breath. He’d thought the worst for a moment there – thinking of all the reasons why Evie might call from Adam’s phone – of what might have happened to Adam that he couldn’t call himself.
“I just want to wish you good luck for tonight – not that you need luck. This Alexis is a lucky lady.”
“Thanks.”
“I mean it, and I won’t go on too much, but I hope that you’re going to bring her over to see us soon. And don’t forget, I’m still waiting for you to come to dinner. I understand why you couldn’t come tonight, but it’s been ages and …”
He laughed when he heard Adam speaking in the background – he was no doubt telling her not to lay it on too thick, but Davin didn’t mind.
“We’ll set something up soon, okay?”
“Okay.” Evie laughed. “He’s trying to take the phone away from me now, but I need you to promise …”
He heard her and Adam laughing and then Adam came on the line. “Sorry about that, bud. We both wanted to say good luck, but I didn’t want to take too much of your time, or to make you feel like we’re trying to get too involved in your business.”
Davin’s shoulders dropped. He hated that his friend felt the need to hold back like that. He and Adam had been involved in pretty much every aspect of each other’s lives since their first mission with the unit. They’d spent more time with each other than with anyone else – including Davin’s ex-wife. Granted, the dynamics had changed since Adam got together with Evie but …
“You still there?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. I just … you’re part of my business. Maybe I forgot that with Zoe – or maybe on some level I knew that I had no business being with her but … don’t ever think that way, huh? I don’t.”
“Okay.”
Davin chuckled. He knew that Adam wouldn’t say anymore on the subject. They were more about understanding each other without the need for words than wading into deep conversations.
“Anyway. I bet you’re almost there now, aren’t you?”
“I just arrived,” Davin said as he brought the truck to a stop in front of Teresa’s house.
“I’ll let you go then. See you tomorrow – and don’t worry if you’re late.”
“I won’t be.”
“Say hi to her for me!” Evie called.
“Tell her … tell her that I’ll ask Alexis if she wants to go out for a drink with you guys sometime soon.”
“Take your time,” Adam told him. “There’s no hurry. See ya.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
He ended the call and took a quick look at himself in the rearview mirror. He didn’t know why he bothered – he looked the same as he always did. Then again, no, he hadn’t seen himself smile that big in a long time.
~ ~ ~
Alexis watched through the living room window, making sure that she was standing in a spot where Davin wouldn’t be able to see her if he looked in – although Teresa’s net curtains would probably make it impossible for him to see her anyway.
She smiled when he checked himself in the mirror – it made her feel better that she wasn’t the only one who’d needed to do that. Although, that was an assumption on her part; he might just be vain – for all she knew, he might do that every time he got out of his truck. Even though she couldn’t know for sure, she felt like she did know. She had a handle on who he was as a person, and she liked him.
She believed that she was a good judge of character; she knew that she was when it came to her work, but given her track record with men, perhaps it wasn’t a transferable skill? No. She wasn’t going to get all caught up in her head. Davin was a good man. She knew with a hundred percent certainty that he was nothing like Gordon. Beyond that? Well, she’d find out what else might lie beyond that over the course of the evening. She had a chance to get to know him better – and she was looking forward to it.
She hurried to the door when he got out of his truck. His stride faltered when she opened the door, and then a big smile spread across his face.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” she could feel the smile on her own face as she answered. “You had me worried for a moment there.”
“Why?” he asked when he reached her.
She chuckled. “The way you hesitated when you saw me, I thought that maybe you’d forgotten what I look like and weren’t too pleased when you saw me.”
He frowned, and to her surprise, he stepped up into the doorway and placed his hands on her hips. She opened her mouth but didn’t get the chance to speak – his lips came down on hers and he kissed her deeply. She gripped his shoulders and kissed him back – surprised but very pleasantly so, by his actions.
When he finally lifted his head, she smiled up at him and raised her eyebrows in question.
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I figured that’d be the best way to let you know just how wrong you were about me not being pleased to see you.”
She nodded happily. “You figured right – I am thoroughly convinced.”
She loved the little smile on his face when he said, “Damn, and here I was prepared to do some more convincing.”
She cupped her hands around the back of his head and pulled him down into another kiss. By the time they broke away, they were both breathing hard.
“Do you want to come inside?”
He held her gaze for a moment before slowly shaking his head. “I do, but I think we should go for dinner first.”
She laughed and slapped his arm. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
He winked. “I know, but I’m kind of blown away here. This thing between us? The pull, the draw … the I don’t know what it is, but it’s strong enough that I could easily go against my better judgment and see if I could persuade you to forget about dinner.”
“I don’t need any persuading.”
He reached for her hand. “Come on. Let’s go for dinner first anyway.”
She fetched her purse, and he led her to his truck. When they reached it, he opened the passenger door for her and caught her arm before she climbed in.
“Don’t for one second think that I don’t want to take you straight to bed – I do. But …” He shook his head slowly. “I want that to be a part of what we have, but not the whole thing.”
She reached out and touched his cheek. “I don’t just want you for your body.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “I probably shouldn’t have told you about that.”
“No! I’m glad you did. I’d hate for you to think …”
“I don’t think that. It’s the opposite; I don’t want you thinking that’s all I’m after.”
She chuckled. “I’m more concerned that it’s my intelligence that appeals, and that you’ll take the body just because it’s the housing for my amazing personality.”
He shook his head at her. “I thought you already figured out that your body appeals to me in its own right?”
She laughed again, remembering the way he’d smiled at her in the bathroom at The Boathouse while his erection throbbed against her thigh.
He ran his hand over her hair. “It seems to me that you’re the whole package.”
“It seems to me that you are,” she told him. “And I suppose this whole dating thing is about discovering whether our initial assessments are correct.”
He gave her a wry smile. “Now I feel like we’re on a recon mission.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “Does that mean we’ll have to write up AARs in the morning?”
He laughed out loud at that and gestured for her to get into the truck. “Perhaps we should – I mean, I reckon that if After Action Reviews were a requirement, maybe more relationships would survive.”
“Probably,” she agreed. She’d only been thinking about the sex, but he had a point. If couples were required to write up what had happened, what had gone well, and what could have been done better on a regular basis, the divorce and separation rates would probably go down.
When he climbed into the driver’s seat, he turned to smile at her. “Anyway, hi, we didn’t exactly start the evening out in the way I expected, but I’m not going to apologize.”
“Oh good, I’d be disappointed if you did. And hello! It’s lovely to see you again, I’ve been looking forward to this.”
He leaned across the console and pecked her lips. “Me too. I love that you don’t mind telling me that.”
She shrugged. “One thing you won’t get from me is game playing. I’ll tell you if I don’t like something, and I’ll tell you if I do.”
He held her gaze for a moment, looking as though he had something he wanted to share.
“Thank you.”
“There’s a story behind that thank you, isn’t there?”
He chuckled as he started the engine. “There is, but let’s get to Giuseppe’s first. I have a feeling that we’re going to be trading stories all evening.”
“I have a feeling that you’re right.”