Page 19 of Keeping Laryn
“Sexy? Laryn?”
Casper frowned at his friend. “Yeah. Those coveralls are hiding one hell of a body.”
“Huh. I hadn’t noticed.”
“Good.Keepnot noticing,” he growled.
Edge laughed. “All right. I’ll buy all that.”
“I’ve been taking it slow. Trying to come to terms with all these new feelings, while also figuring out how to approach her. She’s a little prickly.”
“A little?”
It was Casper’s turn to chuckle. “Yeah. But I have a feeling she’ll be worth the chase.”
“As long as you aren’t chasing her just for sex. You can get that anytime, anywhere.”
“I know. And no, that’s not why I want to get to know her better.”
“Okay. Well…let me know if you need anything. I admire the woman. She’s pretty amazing.”
“She is. Now I need to call her and update her on what the colonel told us.”
“All right. You’ll be in tomorrow morning?”
“Of course. PT first, then we’ll meet back at the hangar to go over last-minute shit for the trials.”
Edge gave Casper a chin lift and headed for his car. Casperleaned against the driver’s side door of his Taurus and pulled out his phone. The parking lot was deserted and dark, but he wasn’t worried about anyone jumping him. Not here on base at the hangar. For some reason, he didn’t feel like going back to his lonely, small apartment yet. His heart was beating fast, and he was looking forward to hearing Laryn’s voice more than he was ready to admit out loud.
Everything he’d told Edge was correct. What hedidn’tshare was that when he and Laryn were in that meeting room on the ship, and he’d seen her shaking after hearing about his ordeal in Iraq, he also saw how relieved and emotional she was that he was all right.
Something had clicked in that moment. At least for him.
Close calls were a part of his life as a Night Stalker. He worked in a dangerous profession and dealt with life-or-death situations all the time. No one discussed it. No one in his circle really thought much about it. It was just part of the job they all loved. But seeing how relieved Laryn had been that he was alive and unhurt made him realize that the mechanic he’d worked with for years…caredif he lived or died.
It was an unforgettable feeling. One that sparked a sudden and almost jarring certainty that Laryn was meant to be his.
No one would believe him if he admitted it, but there it was. And he’d spent the last month trying to figure out what it was about her that drew him so much, especially considering she’d always been there, in the background…at least for the last three years.
He’d been an idiot. Hadn’t opened his eyes to the possibility that the woman who completed him was right there all this time.
And he’d struggled with the revelation. So…he’d watched her closely, observing her at work, around her mechanics and his teammates. Seeing what made her tick. Now he could admit the feeling he’d had on that ship wasn’t an anomaly. And his curiosity and the feeling of being drawn to her had just gotten stronger.
Last night, he’d moved faster than he’d intended. Had shown his hand too early. He hadn’t meant to spook Laryn, and he needed to move slower, let her get to know him, to trust him before he tried to move things between them from the friend category to something more.
He clicked on Laryn’s name in his cell—he’d gotten her number when they’d returned from the mission that had destroyed his chopper, using the excuse that he needed to be able to contact her with issues as she retrofitted his new MH-60.
It rang several times, and when her voice mail clicked on, Casper frowned. Instead of leaving a message, he called right back. This time, she answered. But it didn’t sound like the Laryn he knew.
“Hello?”
“Laryn? It’s me, Casper…er…Tate. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
But he was already on the move. He’d opened his door and sat behind the wheel before thinking about what he was about to do.
“Don’t lie to me. What’s wrong?” He could tell by the shakiness of her voice that something was up. He just wasn’t sure she’d tell him. He’d be the first to admit that they weren’t exactly confidants. But he wanted to change that. Change a lot of things about their relationship.
