10. Tammy
TEN
TAMMY
I was ready for Ray this time.
He’d been making a habit of coming over with breakfast, and I wasn’t exactly in my best form all those other mornings.
Today, however, I was ready. I had on a pair of super-soft, worn jeans that made my butt look great and a cozy sweater. It was a deep-red color that I loved, and it hugged my curves in all the right places without being too tight.
I wasn’t sure why I was so concerned with looking my best, when earlier in the week I’d felt differently, but I told myself not to put too much thought into that.
I found that I was actually looking forward to seeing him. Jasper, however, was not. He made that very clear when he meowed and essentially bellowed from the kitchen that his meal was being interrupted when the doorbell rang.
“Oh hush. I’ll be right back,” I informed my sassy cat.
Sunshine burst through my entryway once I opened the door. The only dark spot was the sexy man standing in the doorway holding a brown paper bag and another travel jug of coffee.
“Breakfast of champions,” I said, reaching to take the coffee from his hands.
He also had on a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeve black henley. It looked like it had been tailored specifically for him, given the way it hugged his muscular arms and chest.
I may not be planning to have sex with him again, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t look my fill.
An image of me licking muffin crumbs off his bare chest popped into my mind. While it was a good thought, I needed to clear my head of those ideas because he would be leaving soon. Twenty-four hours from now, to be exact.
Part of me wished he wasn’t leaving so soon, but the other part of me cringed for even thinking that. He didn’t live here. He obviously had to go back to Texas. It was foolish of me to think of him staying.
“Morning, beautiful.” His gravelly voice broke me out of my stupor.
Sigh.
When he said things like that, it was hard to keep things platonic between us.
Maybe it was for the best that he was leaving tomorrow, because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out and saying no to having sex again.
He was sexy, said the sweetest things—and meant them—and was actually a good conversationalist. The three indicators of a great man to take to bed—and keep.
He followed me into the kitchen, where we did our new routine of grabbing coffee mugs and plates, and then settled onto my porch.
“Tell me something about yourself, Tammy. Something I don’t already know.”
I guess we weren’t going to talk work stuff this morning—at least not at first.
Not entirely sure why, but I went with the first thing that popped into my mind. “I’m quite a whiz at a Rubik’s Cube, though not as good as I used to be.”
He chuckled and thoughtfully paused. “I already knew you were smart, so that doesn’t surprise me. What I’d like to know, though, is whether you can beat me.”
He had an odd smirk on his face, his eyebrow lifted in question.
“You’re good at a Rubik’s Cube too?” I asked, a little shocked, quite honestly.
He nodded. “Puzzles are my specialty. It’s how I ended up in counterterrorism with the military. I was excellent at cracking codes, diving into intel, and thinking two steps ahead.”
“Challenge accepted.” I wasn’t sure when I would take him up on that since he was leaving tomorrow, but maybe if he ever came back...
No, don’t go there.
“Alright, you suckered me in,” he responded. “I can’t resist your powers.”
I turned to look at him and shook my head. “I don’t have any magical powers.”
He sat up, leaned his elbows on his knees, and turned to face me, lowering his voice to that sexy level that men could do. “Oh yes, you do, sweetheart. They’re magical and potent. A deadly combo for someone like me.”
Butterflies erupted into flight inside my stomach.
I knew once I started thinking those thoughts, it would make it too easy to get attached.
Instead, I veered us into safer territory. I asked more about his military career, and while he couldn’t get into specifics, he talked about where he’d served and his buddies he’d met through the service.
He stood from his chair and glanced down at me. “I’m gonna head out, but I’ll see you tonight.”
He leaned down, placed a soft kiss on my cheek, and made his way back inside. I tried to follow him, but my legs had turned to jelly momentarily.
Every time he touched me, I felt a jolt of desire and need rush through me.
I shook my head, trying to get some brain cells to work again before following him back into my place.
He was putting his plate and mug in my sink and grabbing his phone and wallet from the counter before he turned back to me.
“It appears my keys have been cat-napped again,” he said with a small smirk.
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes and made my way to the living room floor. Lowering myself down onto my hands and knees, I reached my arm under the couch to Jasper’s favorite spot—the one he was currently guarding by sitting directly above it on the edge of the cushion.
He hissed at me as I retrieved Ray’s keys—clearly unhappy I’d taken his new shiny item twice now.
“Glad to see my keys are a favorite of Jasper’s. How’s his collection looking these days?” he asked as I crawled backward away from the couch and the small dictator sitting on top who looked ready to fight me.
I turned toward him and looked up. “It’s huge.”
He grinned provocatively at me. “That’s what she said.”
I rolled my eyes, leaning back on my legs with my torso upright. “I meant it’s bigger than I expected.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I’d made it worse. I closed my eyes to the sound of his chuckles.
“Why, thank you,” he said as I stood back up.
“Don’t you start,” I scolded, pointing my finger at him, and then rolled my eyes skyward. “Why is it that men so consistently regress into oversized juveniles behaviorally?”
“Now, Tammy, you don’t need to go using big, fancy words on me. I’ve already told you I’m pretty much a sure thing.”
He walked closer to me, grabbed his keys, and gave me a small peck on the lips. “Thank you.”
When it came to Ray, he was very clear about his desire and interest. It was unmistakable, and he made his intent known.
The only reason we hadn’t jumped back into bed together was because of me. But my convictions were eroding by the minute.
He was leaving tomorrow—a mere twenty-four hours from now—and I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it.
It was busy tonight, and I had a great view. And by “view,” I meant the sexy man staring at me like his life depended on it and making my insides shiver at the potential that man held.
I also knew I wasn’t myself tonight. Ever since Ray had left my place this morning, I’d thought nonstop about the fact that he was leaving tomorrow. It bothered me on some level that he was departing—what felt like too soon—and it stressed me out more that I was even bothered in the first place.
“You’re not as sassy tonight,” Ray noted, not in a critical way, but in an assessing way. “You’re more subdued.”
He’d arrived at the bar about fifteen minutes ago, taken his seat, and placed his order as I moved around behind the insanely busy bar. He’d given me a kiss on the cheek when I’d leaned over to remove the box of silverware I had used to block his seat.
It was the same small gesture he’d made this morning, but it had still made my pulse quicken with excitement.
“I’m just tired, probably,” I said, waving my hand flippantly in front of me.
“Wow… Even your witty comebacks are gone,” he analyzed.
Was he correct? Yes.
But I couldn’t let him know that, or he would dive even deeper into my thoughts to figure out why. I straightened my back and gave him the first quick-witted thing that came to mind.
“Yeah, well apparently I wasted all my good lines earlier when I was on my hands and knees in front of you.”
Oh my God.
My eyes snapped shut.
Did I just say that?
And this was why you should think before you speak, especially when you knew you weren’t at your full brain capacity.
Mortification began to set in, but then I made the mistake of looking up at him. I saw the smirk on his face and knew his mind had gone to the same dirty place as mine.
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he replied with a crooked grin.
“Your face did. And it said plenty,” I shot back.
“Tammy, if you’re more comfortable on your hands and knees in front of me, by all means…”
“Zip it,” I snapped, pointing my finger in his face.
Even before that exchange, the air was exceptionally thick with sexual tension tonight. I was pretty sure he could feel it, too.
But now…now I’d ramped it up.
He said nothing more. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, one arm crossed over his chest, his hand holding the opposite elbow, while his other hand stroked his chin with his fingers thoughtfully.
Not wanting to poke the bear any more than I already had, I turned to the other customers and checked in with everyone, making some more drinks.
Just then, one of my favorite songs came through the speakers.
We had a new system where patrons could scan a QR code at their table and choose from a list of a thousand songs that would play in the restaurant.
As a kid who grew up in the eighties, I couldn’t help but get excited whenever a good throwback song came on.
Huey Lewis and the News filled the space around me, and I began to sway my hips to the beat.
I began singing along to the song in a low voice just as I walked over to Ray to hand him a new drink since his was low. “I am happy to be to be you.”
Grabbing his old empty glass, I heard him chuckle, and I lifted my eyebrow in question.
He reached over and stroked his thumb over the back of my hand, which was resting on the bar top.
It was so subtle, but I felt an electric current sprint through my veins.
“Tammy, you know that’s not the lyrics, right?” he said, a smile still on his face.
He was probably right—I had a terrible habit of butchering songs—but I also didn’t care.
“Bold of you to assume I care,” I shot back. “I prefer my version.”