Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
She gives a casual shrug. “Well, like I said… I had a craving. Why not share a meal with you?”
Hmm. That’s not exactly what I’d hoped to hear.
“It’s occurred to me,” she says casually as she pulls out the lasagna from the oven and pops in the bread. “That I don’t know much about you before you came to Jameson.”
I blink in surprise, taking my hungry gaze off the bubbling, cheesy casserole. Rachel is actually making conversation with me that doesn’t revolve around work, sex, or the baby.
“Let’s see,” I say as I lean forward and prop my forearms on the counter. She mimics me and does the same from the opposite side. I try not to get distracted by her cleavage. “I knew I didn’t want to work on my family’s farm in Nebraska, and the military seemed like a good option. I joined the Navy right out of high school and eventually became a SEAL.”
Rachel laughs and shakes her head. “You’re so casual about it. But nothing about being a SEAL is casual.”
I chuckle in response, because she’s right about that. “Then let’s just say that I might have a taste for adventure like you do.”
“Why didn’t you stay in the military?” she asks.
“It just wasn’t for me. The rules and structure. Don’t get me wrong… my time served was an amazing experience, but I didn’t want it to be a long-term career.”
“How did you get hired at Jameson?”
“Just some mutual contacts with Jerico, and they put me in touch with him.” I lean forward with a secretive smile. “Here’s a little-known fact about me. The CIA actually reached out to me, but I didn’t want to be a spook. No glory in that.”
Rachel laughs again, and I love the sound of it. She’s always so serious, and it’s nice to see her loose and relaxed. “No. Definitely no glory in that type of work.”
“Jameson was definitely the right move for me. The adventure is even better, there’s plenty of downtime to do my own thing, and the pay can’t be beaten to be honest.”
“I hear that,” she says in agreement, but then her expression sobers slightly. “But seriously… you have no qualms about giving up this career to move back to Nebraska with the baby?”
“Of course, I have qualms,” I say softly. “I love this job. But you can’t stack up a job against family. There isn’t one of my family members I wouldn’t give this career up for, even down to my little second cousins who I barely see. So, you damn well better believe it will be no sacrifice to give it up for my kid.”
Rachel’s face crumbles slightly, and she looks down at the counter. “I must seem incredibly selfish to you then.”
“God, Rachel,” I exclaim, completely startled by that. Her head pops up to look at me. “I don’t think you’re selfish at all. You’re going for what you want in life, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The selfish thing would have been to get an abortion. What you’re doing is the most selfless thing I’ve ever seen anyone do.”
The timer she’d set for the bread goes off, and she looks relieved to have something else to do other than discuss this further. I watch her quietly as she pulls the bread out and sets it on top of the stove burners.
She then pulls a large knife from a drawer and proceeds to cut through the lasagna. Her back stays turned to me, her spine held stiff and straight. I want to go to her, step right into her lush backside and put my arms around her stomach. I want to press into her and assure her I don’t think badly about her at all. Would my preference be she raise the child with me?
Of course. But I can’t fault her for wanting a different life than me.
“Want to pull a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge for us?” she says over her shoulder as she plates up the lasagna and throws a piece of bread on each plate.
“Sure.” I stand from the stool, then pull the last two bottles of water in there out, depositing them on top of the counter. “Those were your last two. Where are the others? I’ll restock really quick.”
Rachel nods to her left. “In the pantry there.”
I open the pantry door, my eyes immediately dropping to a case of bottled water on the floor. I squat down, reach inside the plastic that had already been torn open, and start pulling out bottles. As I do, I glance at the lowest shelf and see an open box from Amazon sitting there. I lean forward, surprised at what I see.
DVD movies—The Lion King, Frozen, and The Little Mermaid. Under that are some books, and without hesitation, I lift the DVDs to see them more clearly.