Chapter 5
They drew stares when they reentered the space and Izzy felt like they had 'yes, we fucked' stamped across her forehead.
For a moment she felt bad, because she didn't want anything to take the shine from Kiko's wedding.
But when a wide-eyed Ginny intercepted her, the grin she'd been fighting spread across her lips, and she had a feeling the message now read, 'Yes, we fucked, and I liked it! '.
With a final glance at Drake, Izzy allowed Ginny to pull her away.
"I can't believe you did it!" she hissed.
"Why not?" Izzy asked, curious.
Ginny waved a hand at her. "Because," she stuttered, then trailed away. "You're a goof but you're not irresponsible. I hope you took precautions."
Izzy scowled. "Really? You're trying to be my mother now? I've been a nurse for years. I think I know how to take precautions against pregnancy."
Ginny leaned forward for a hug, her long dark hair trailing over her shoulder. "I know. I just worry about you. So, does he want to meet up with you again?"
Against her volition, Izzy's gaze swung toward Drake, as if drawn.
He'd rejoined a group of his buddies, had a beer in his hand and seemed to be into whatever the conversation was, but he looked up as if he knew he'd been targeted.
They shared a moment of understanding, and heat, then he lifted his beer in salute. "I don't now. Maybe eventually."
She guided the conversation in another direction and hoped that her own need for more from him didn't show through too strongly.
* * *
Drake tried to keep track of the conversation, he really did, but his attention was centered on Izzy. Even with his back turned he could feel her across the open space. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he'd suddenly developed ESP or some shit.
"She's hot, in a weird, Bohemian kind of way," Wooly told him, bumping his shoulder.
Drake scowled. "Why is she weird? Because of her hair?"
Wooly seemed taken aback at the snapped questions, and couldn't find words to respond. "Uh, yeah, I guess."
Drake took a swig of his beer and turned away, suddenly very conscious of how shallow his teammates were being. They considered this entire reception a meat market set out for their consumption. Maybe he was just beyond frustrated with them. They were young, he thought with a sigh.
Gabe Carter's dark head caught his attention. He was leaning down and listening to Julie, his fiancée, as they stood waiting at the bar. Before he could think otherwise he crossed the room to them.
Gabe saw him first and held out a hand for a clasp and shoulder bump. "Zero. How the hell are you?"
It had been a long time since he'd seen Carter, and he was amazed at the change in the man.
Not just the filling out he'd done, but the ease in the lines around his eyes.
He looked relaxed and happy. Drake's eyes flicked to the strawberry-blond standing with him.
She had a hand on Carter's arm and she looked right at home there.
"Drake, you remember Julie, right?"
He nodded, though he didn't really. She looked familiar but he didn't remember talking to her or anything. Her kind eyes smiled at him.
"Nice to see you again, Julie. Can I talk to Carter a minute?"
“Sure. I need to go see Lacey anyway.”
With a final kiss, his buddy excused himself and they moved toward the steps at the back of the courtyard.
There was a secondary level of landscaping beyond the courtyard, leading down to a developed pond.
Without actually talking about it, they moved out toward the water.
Drake wanted something, but he wasn't sure exactly what.
To reconnect? To see that there was life after the teams?
To be reassured if he did take the leap?
"You look good, Carter,” he said finally. “Is it because of the company you're keeping or the company you're not keeping?"
Gabe tipped his head back and laughed. "Both probably. Don't have nearly as many people shooting at me, so that eases a man's mind."
"Mmm…" Drake hummed in agreement.
It had been a long time since Drake had felt comfortable in his environment.
His eyes were always moving and his hand had a knife or gun in it probably way more than was socially acceptable.
Even now on this expanse of grass behind the lodge, with a hundred other equally on-point military men keeping watch, he still felt on edge. Like he was being watched.
"Whatever you're doing, it seems to be agreeing with you."
The lines around Carter's eyes deepened making him look more mature and Drake remembered that he was actually older than Carter by a few years. But he still held the same position in the team he'd had for more than a decade.
"What are you doing now?" Drake asked him curiously.
Carter shoved his hands into his pant pockets, looking out over the water.
"I'm working graveyard shift at Lost and Found.
We do domestic investigations, personal security, forensic accounting, surveillance, undercover operations.
Companies come to us when they're having abnormal workplace thefts.
Background checks. You name it, we do it. "
Drake looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "That's a long list."
Gabe nodded. "Yes, but the company has morphed as it's grown, from what I understand. When they opened years ago, they started with background checks and court records searches. Pretty mundane stuff. You have to change with the times, you know?"
That struck Drake as ironic and he chuckled, looking out over the pond. "I guess."
Gabe placed a hand on his shoulder and Drake looked at him for a long second. The other man seemed to understand what he wanted. "You're trying to figure out what comes next?"
Drake blinked. Yeah, maybe that was what he was looking for.
Did he dare open up to his old friend? What the hell.
"I see you guys laughing with your women, and I wonder what that's like, you know?
I mean, for years I was completely for the teams, you know that.
But I'm starting to wonder what the point is.
I've had a gun in my hand my entire adult life, and I'm tired.
" He gave Gabe a lopsided smile. "At thirty-seven, I'm the old man of my crew.
Have been for a few years. Seeing everyone here tonight has just brought it into very sharp focus. "
Gabe huffed and nodded. "I totally get you. Well, if you ever want to make a change, give me a call. Duncan usually only takes vets that have retired from injuries, but you've worked under the plow long enough he might make an exception for you."
Drake winced and grinned, clutching his chest. "You really know how to make an old fucker feel older. Thanks, buddy."
Gabe nodded at the crowd on the patio. “Brookheart is starting up his group, too. This area is a hotbed for rich, valuable talent, and apparently there's plenty of work keeping them out of trouble. You have more than one option if you do decide to get out."
Drake didn't know what he wanted, but tonight especially, he was feeling out of sorts. Not in total sync with his team. "Thanks, Gabe. I know you'll always give it to me straight."
They talked of inconsequential things as they wandered back to the party and once again Izzy captured his attention.
On the far end of the patio, she sat with her girlfriend Ginny and another woman he hadn't been introduced to.
They were laughing, but something about her expression seemed pensive.
When she looked up straight at him, as if she'd felt his gaze, he had to wonder if something stronger than the both of them was urging them together.
With a tip of his head, he acknowledged her. She lifted a wine glass in response, then seemed to shiver. For some reason that sent a surge of heat through his body. He could imagine making her shiver like that, almost like an aftershock from an orgasm.
Though he wanted to cross the stone to her and steal her away again, he forced himself to stay strong. They'd had an interesting interlude, but he didn't think they could do any more than that. It seemed almost deceitful to try to prolong their time, because it couldn't go anywhere.
Could it?
With a final, lingering glance he forced himself to turn away.
Where had he left that bottle of Woodford?
* * *
Izzy worried at her fingernails, wondering what the hell she was plotting.
"You have that look in your eyes like you're about to get into trouble. Even if it's for a good cause."
Izzy grinned at Ginny. "You know me so well. I want to go see him again, but I don't know what to do. I mean, we're on very different paths. He's probably leaving tomorrow to go save the world, and I'm going back to work."
"Yet the universe saw fit to unite you here, at a wedding of all places," Ginny said softly. "It looks to me like you've already connected, but if you don't pursue it then nothing will happen. When does he leave?"
She turned her head to look at him again.
Leaning back in a chair, his long legs were stretched out on front of him and crossed at the ankles.
That seemed to be a favorite pose. A long-neck beer balanced on his belly, held negligently in one hand, the other in his pocket.
A gaggle of good-looking young men were grouped around him, talking, joking, but they paid attention to Drake.
Not verbally, but they looked to him as if for affirmation.
Several times they asked him questions, and he responded with a look, or a raised eyebrow.
From the outside looking in, he appeared to be the leader of the group, the wiser, older male the younger bucks looked up to.
"I'm not sure exactly," she murmured.