Page 10 of Nightclub Surprise
A pretty red dress caught my eye. Being a redhead, whose favorite color also happened to be red, has proved to be difficult. The wrong shade of red looked terrible on me, but there were a handful of red items in my wardrobe that worked. The dress that had caught my eye was a design I loved, but the shade wouldn’t work onme.
The price tag peeked out from under the sleeve, and I saw a four-digit number there. Whistling, I walked away, knowing there was absolutely no reason to waste any thought on that expensive dress. I couldn’t afford that in my wildestdreams.
But I looked back longingly for a second anyway, and that’s when I ran into someone. “Shit!Sorry.”
“Hey!” came a surprised male voice that I instantlyrecognized.
“August!” This time I fought the urge to jump into his arms, but was happy to find him pulling me in for a hug. Once again, my feet left the ground as he picked me up, hugging metightly.
My arms wrapped around his neck, and when his lips met my cheek, an inferno erupted inside ofme.
Damn, I’measy!
Putting me down, he looked into my eyes. “Tawny, I’m sorry I haven’tcalled.”
Even though I wanted to ask him why he hadn’t called, I just waved my hand in the air, as if waving the words away. “No, that’s okay. I mean, I’m sure you’ve been busy. Or maybe you just didn’t want to call. It’s not like you owe me anything. Iunderstand.”
“No, it’s not like that.” He looked around then took me by the hand, pulling me along with him. “Let’s get some coffee andtalk.”
We went into a café, the trendy 208 Rodeo Beverly Hills, where he ordered us a couple of cappuccinos, and then we took seats at an outsidetable.
“August, you don’t have to feel bad or try to explain anything to me,” I said before blowing across the top of my steamingcup.
“I want to, though.” He took my cup, setting it down before taking my hand and holding it on the tabletop. “I’ve only held off because of mycondition.”
“Condition?” That threw me off. I couldn’t see a damn thing wrong with theman.
His eyes clouded, and his demeanor changed. “I have PTSD. I don’t talk about this with many people, but I want you to understand. When I was serving, a gun misfired, and I accidentally shot and killed one of my fellow marines. He was also my good friend. It’s done a number on my brain—that and the other things I’ve seen during mymissions.”
My heart stopped. He’d gone through so much more than I ever would have guessed while serving our country. “Oh, God! I’m so sorry,August.”
He squeezed my hand. “Thanks, Tawny. It happened a few years ago, and I’m in therapy. I don’t get violent or anything like that, but sometimes I go into this state where…it can be pretty scary for the people aroundme.”
“I am a nurse, August. I’m accustomed to helping people deal with things likethat.”
He laughed as he let my hand go, only to run his fingers over the back of it, making butterflies swirl around in my stomach. “I hadn’t thought about that, Tawny. I really hadn’t. I suppose you could handle me if an episode cameon.”
I nodded, knowing I’d handled a lot of tough situations. I could definitely handle anything he had going on. “So, anything else stopping you from taking me out? My sonperhaps?”
“No, just my condition. I don’t have an aversion to kids if that’s what you’re thinking.” One wink told me that wastrue.
An aversion to kids or not, I wasn’t the kind of mother who brought strange men around her kid. But there was one man I’d let Calum be around—if that man wanted and when the time was right. “That’s good to hear. That said, I’m picky about the men I bring around my son. I don’t think it’s healthy for achild.”
He didn’t seem put off by my words and even smiled. “I think that’s the sign of a pretty good mom. So, I can take you out, but the kid’s going to be left out ofit?”
I nodded. “So, it’ll just be you and me on any date you’d care to take me on,August.”
He looked away and then back at me as he contemplated what I’d said. “I can handle that. For now.” He took my hand in his again and squeezed a bit. “I thought about you a lot while I was away. Your going away present was a thing I cherished. I still do. It was the best present I’ve evergotten.”
A yearning filled me, a desire to tell him more, but I managed to stuff it away. “Oh, yeah?” With so little, the man set my senses on fire. It amazed me, how much he could affect me. No one else had ever come close to bringing out this side of me—and August could do it without eventrying.
He nodded. “And that night is just about all I’ve thought about since I saw you ten daysago.”
“You’ve been counting the days?” I asked with surprise, and a little smile. I thought he hadn’t been thinking of me atall.
“I have. I was going to call you and take you out that very night we met, but my sister put me off the idea. She told me to wait a week and see if you were still on my mind, and you were. Then I called my therapist, and he told me I should wait a while longer before inserting myself into anyone’slife.”
I laughed. “One date doesn’t mean you’d be inserting yourself into mylife.”
