Nobody's Lost (Rescue Me Saga #5)(19)

They donned their helmets, and when she straddled the seat behind him, he leaned back into her body before catching himself and sitting up straighter. She wrapped her arms around him.

“Ready to ride when you are.”

Jesus, don’t think about riding her.

He rolled the throttle and sped off down the winding road heading back to hell on earth. Okay, he exaggerated. While he hated being in this or any over-populated city, the number of perils paled in comparison to the streets of Fallujah.

After he pulled into the garage and closed the door, he breathed a little easier. At least in here he only had one other person to worry about.

No doubt he would worry until he completed this mission.

“I’m going to try and get some more work done before I turn in. If you want anything in the kitchen, help yourself.”

“Don’t you want anything to eat?”

“Oh, I’ll grab something later.”

Well, at least now he knew what he needed to do. The woman didn’t know how to take care of herself. She’d sat at her computer for hours without even taking a bathroom break earlier today. She must love her work, but that couldn’t be healthy. Didn’t computer screens emit some kind of rays that could cause health problems over time?

Forty-five minutes later, he knocked on her office door.

“Yes?”

He cracked the door and peeked inside. “Time for a break. Dinner is about to be served.”

She turned to him with a puzzled expression on her face as if he’d just spoken Serbian to her, and then she gave him the sweetest smile.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. That’s why I enjoyed doing it.”

He crossed the room to pull her chair away from the desk and held out his hand to her.

“My. What service.” She stood and stared into his eyes, seemingly as lost in the moment as he was, before glancing down. Was she blushing?

Back off, Ryder.

He took a step back before he noticed the photo on her computer screen. Him. His eyes had lines he didn’t remember, but he didn’t spend a lot of time staring in the mirror. And where had all that gray come from?

“I didn’t realize I’d gotten so old.”

“Men age gracefully. I love that shot. Your guard was down. There was almost a twinkle in your eyes.”

He looked closer before backing off. Twinkle, hell. He was probably turned on by the woman standing in front of him at the time. Of all the photos she’d taken, he hadn’t expected her to be looking at that one. She snapped the candids before he’d known what she intended to do. Before he could glance away. The man staring back at him looked lost more than anything.

Fucking lost.

“After you.” He indicated with his hand for her to precede him from the room. When she would have gone to the kitchen, he took her elbow gently and steered her into the dining room. Shit. He had set the lights a little too low and, using the dimmer switch on the wall, bumped up the brightness some. This wasn’t a romantic dinner for two. Last thing he wanted was for her to read anything into this other than having a meal together.

He pulled out her chair and seated her. “I’ll be right back with dinner.”

He had already set the table and poured a glass of red wine for each of them, giving it time to breathe. She or her brother had good taste in wine. He and Sherry used to drink wine at dinner, back before he left the Marine Corps. “Feel free to enjoy your wine.”

“You make me feel like a princess or something.”

Okay, now that wouldn’t do.

“I’m a Marine whose big sister taught him manners.”

A light dimmed in her eyes, and the smile left her face.

Fuck.

He hated that he came across sounding as though he didn’t care about her. He just didn’t want her to think he cared in that way.

“I’ll be right back.”

Time to retreat to the kitchen and move past this awkward moment. As he plated their dinner, he heard soft music begin playing in the dining room. Shit. He could have done without mood-setting music. What did she expect to happen tonight?

This was f*cking dinner!

He placed a piece of freshly made fry bread on the corner of each plate and carried them into the dining room. “Here we go. Time to chow down.” There. Maybe that would help convey the point of this meal. He took his seat on her right side.

“It smells delicious. When did you make a food run?”

“I haven’t left the place. You know I wouldn’t leave you alone. I made it from what you had on hand.”

“From what you found in my brother’s kitchen? I haven’t had time to stock the pantry as well as I’d like yet, but his cooking skills are minimal. Worse than mine even.”

“Yeah. I took inventory and found cans of tomatoes with green chiles, corn, and black beans, not to mention frozen chicken and other meats in the freezer. I remembered eating lots of dishes like this when I stayed with Carlos’s grandmother. It won’t be as delicious as hers, but I’m sure it’ll be edible.”

She picked up the piece of bread. “You even made bread?”

“Fry bread. A lot simpler than yeast breads in the oven. I’ve made fry bread lots of times, so I had that recipe in my head.”

“Oh, I always see stands at the side of the road where they are selling fry bread. I just never stopped to try any.” She took a bite and closed her eyes as she chewed and swallowed. “Oh, my gosh. That’s incredible! I could get spoiled if you keep cooking for me. I’ve been staying here for weeks, but as you might have guessed, we don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Patrick and I tend to eat on the run.”