Page 59 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“Peter Pan!” Sabrina said, cheering. “He’s my favorite,” she said of the boy who loved to fly.
“Mine, too.”
—
Lawson had spent his Thursday afternoon teaching a Marine whose IQ he seriously doubted was high enough to drive a car, much less operate a gun. And this guy would be standing next to him or one of his men on a future deployment. Scary thought.
Even more aggravating than the grunt was the fact that, when he wasn’t trying to hammer sense into a hopeless cause, he’d been thinking about Julie. He regretted the way he’d stormed off on her this morning. She probably thought he was nuts. Maybe he was.
He glanced at his watch. It was nearly eightP.M.Great.Julie had offered another yoga class tonight, eager to start filling her schedule. He’d told her he’d attend, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t missed it intentionally, not entirely anyway. Time had just gotten away from him.
The Veterans’ Center would be closed by now. Julie would be home.
He debated waiting until the morning, but he didn’t like the idea of letting things sit between them. When a man was wrong, he owned it. His father had taught him that, even if his old man had never owned any of his own mistakes.
Lawson was a different man than his father, though. He drove to Julie’s house and parked behind her car, slamming the truck door so she could hear him coming. He didn’t want to startle her. Nerves and anger were never a good combination. He rang her doorbell and waited, wishing he’d brought something like candy or flowers. Women liked that stuff, and he might win her forgiveness faster with gifts.
Movement stirred behind the front door.
“Julie. It’s me,” he called. “It’s Lawson.”
Her response was dead silence.
“I came to apologize.”
More silence.
“Please,” he said quietly, unsure if she could hear him anymore.
The lock clicked and the door opened.
“Hey, stranger,” she said, crossing her arms. She was already dressed in a pair of pajamas. Her hair was pulled back out of her face. Her skin was clean, without a trace of makeup, which only made her prettier in his eyes.
“Hey, Julie. Work ran late. I’m sorry I missed your class tonight.”
She lifted a shoulder, not meeting his eyes. Instead, she looked past him toward his truck in her driveway. “It’s okay. Not a big deal.”
“Oh.” He nodded, taking in her response. Hadn’t expected to get off the hook so easily. “Great. How did it go?” he asked.
“Fine.” Her arms hugged her body tighter.
“I see.” When a woman answered “fine” to anything, things definitely weren’t fine. “Listen, I’m sorry about this morning, too. I shouldn’t have run off on you like that.”
“It’s fine,” she said again.
He cringed at the F-word. “No. It wasn’t. I was short with you after, uh, well, after we woke up.” And she’d witnessed one of his nightmares.
She looked at him now. “You had to go to work. I understand. And work ran late tonight. I get it.”
Lawson nodded. “That’s right.” Maybe he was reading her wrong. Maybe she really wasn’t mad.
“And we’re just sex buddies anyway. You don’t have to cuddle with me in the mornings or go to my yoga class, Lawson. We have an arrangement.”
His chest tightened. “Sex buddies?” he repeated, not getting a good feeling from their interaction.
She lifted her chin. “That’s right. Sex buddies.”
“You’re more to me than that, Julie. A lot more.” He reached out to touch her and she drew back, her gaze snapping sharply to meet his. The door’s threshold still stood between them. He really wished he’d brought flowers. “Tell me how to make it up to you,” he said softly.
