Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(109)

“Have you settled into Phoenix?”

“Day by day, sir. Things are done differently, but I’ll adapt.”

“You always do.” The colonel studied me. “And where are you from?”

“Phoenix.” I tacked on, “Sir.”

“Ah. That’s where you two met?”

“Sierra and I lived in the same small town in Wyoming. We recently reconnected in Phoenix.”

Bridget paid no attention to the conversation. She appeared to be scanning the crowd for a more powerful—or at least more interesting—couple to speak with. She touched her husband’s arm. “I see the Winchells have arrived. We should say hello.”

“Of course. Enjoy the party,” the colonel said.

“We will, sir. You also.”

Boone didn’t breathe again until the man disappeared into the crowd. No one else would’ve noticed it but I did.

“He seemed friendly.”

“He is. Good man and great leader.”

“He’s your big boss? Or the semi-in-charge?”

“Big boss. Come on, I need a drink.”

I’d been sipping the free champagne but Boone ordered a beer.

“So where are we sitting and all that jazz?”

“Assigned table numbers. At least I hope we sit with the guys from my unit.”

We wandered through the room; Boone stopped to speak with a lot of people whose names I didn’t catch. We ran into his group, four guys and their dates, in the far back corner.

“West, my man, why are you here?”

I saw Boone stiffen as if he feared the guy might do the half-hug, chest bump, back slap bro hug. He shifted slightly, using me as a buffer. “I’m here to contribute to the destruction of more trees in the name of a metric shit ton of paperwork.”

They all laughed. My man personified charm.

“How are things in First?”

“Same old, same old.” The stealth hugger cocked his head and smiled at me. “Sweetheart, whatchu doin’ with him? The man is boring. Work, work, work, all the damn time. Gets off on making us all look like slackers.”

“You are slackers.”

“Wasn’t talking to you, Sarge. I was asking your very beautiful date.”

“Sierra, this rude gearhead is DT Sharp. DT, this is my girlfriend, Sierra.”

“Girlfriend?” He whistled. “Man, you are coming up in the world.” DT smiled at me. “Good to meet you. To say I’m shocked to meet you is an understatement.”

“And why is that, Mr. Sharp?”

“Like I said. The man is all work. His off hours tend to be about…short pursuits.”

Boone stiffened behind me.

Then all eyes were on me to see how I’d react. “Really? I beg to differ. Boone is very specific in his long term goals.”

He kissed my temple.

“Besides, short is never a word I’d use to describe any part of him.”

Everyone laughed. Then the insults flew and that loosened the tension.

But military speak confused me, so I let my gaze wander. Even with all the men in uniform, none of them looked as good as Boone. He carried himself with confidence and I loved seeing it since I knew it hadn’t always been there.

“I need a drink of water,” I said to him. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, stay. I won’t get lost.”

At the hospitality table, I filled a crystal glass with ice water. Disappointing not to find snacks there, since the waitstaff had stopped circling with tidbits and I was starving.

“So you’re Boone’s girlfriend.”

I slowly faced the woman with the sneering tone. “Yes, I am. Who are you?”

“Janell. I’m here with Cody. These guys don’t bother introducing their dates.”

But mine did. “Cody works with Boone?”

“Only in the broadest sense. It’s a little freaky to see them all in dress uniforms. Usually they resemble bums when we’re hanging out at Spike’s.”

The old “I know them, I’m part of the group” tactic to make me feel like an outsider. Hah. Too late. I already felt as if I’d stepped onto a movie set and it appeared I’d found the villain. “Boone hasn’t mentioned Spike’s.”

“That’s weird. That’s where I met him. At least a couple of years ago.”

Nice follow up with the “neener neener I’ve known him longer” shot. I said nothing.

So she kept on. “DT said they were all at Spike’s earlier in the week. Boone went along but he didn’t say anything about a girlfriend, which was why DT was so surprised tonight.”

“Oh, right. When Boone called me Monday night he did mention he’d gone out for a beer with the guys. He didn’t specifically say DT was there, so I don’t know what they talked about.”

“Did Boone mention Katherine being there too? She’s been pretty close to him.”

Why didn’t she just hand me a list of the chicks Boone f*cked? But now I was curious about her end game so I’d play…dumb at first. “I just met DT. We didn’t talk long enough for him to say anything about a Katherine, so I don’t know how close they are.”