Page 16 of Gwen's Delta
While they’d been talking, Sir Galahad had curled up in her lap and gone to sleep. But after she hung up, her excited squeal woke him up and earned her the evil eye. He’d probably make her pay by waking her up while she was sleeping.
“I have a date tomorrow. Can you believe it?” Gwen exclaimed as she rubbed her sweaty palms on her yoga pants.
The cat purred and twisted his head to look up at her.
“Oh shit. Now, I have to figure out what to wear.”
Picking up her fuzzy feline, she carried him into the bedroom. Maybe she’d call Belle in the morning, and she could help her pick something. The restaurant was probably casual; it was Killeen, after all, and a lunch date. She’d have to make do with whatever was in her closet. But if dating Luke turned into a thing, she’d need to do some shopping.
As she flipped through the clothing in her closet, she panicked. Her instant attraction to Luke scared her a little. But he seemed to feel it, too. Maybe she should text him and ask for a raincheck–have a few more phone calls before they had arealdate. Except she wanted to look into his eyes and feel the shiver of desire when he smiled at her. Damn, she had it bad. But then she saw Sir Galahad watching her with the look on his face that said, “Crazy human.” Geesh. She’d been pacing back and forth in front of her closet.
After a deep breath, Gwen smiled at the cat. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited, scared, and nervous about a date. Actually, she’d never felt this way. If she didn’t go, she’d always be wondering what if. There was something between them, and she needed to see if it was real or a fairytale.
She looked down at Sir Galahad. “Looks like I haven’t lost my mind yet. You, my fuzzy friend, will be on your own tomorrow.”
Chapter 5
It was barely the butt crack of dawn when Merlin stowed his uniform in his locker on post and stretched before his run. He’d maintained this routine for most of his military career. Even though he hadn’t slept well, his internal alarm clock made sure he was up on time.
Even after he’d hung up with Gwen last night, he could hear her voice in his head. As he thought about her soft, Southern drawl, he smiled. He’d met other Southern women and had dated a few, but Gwen was different. There was something unique about her, and he couldn’t figure it out.
As Merlin rummaged through his bag for a bottle of water, Zip walked through the door. He was the last one Merlin expected to show up since Destiny was in town.
“Morning, want company?” Zip yawned and stowed his bag in his locker.
“What are you doing here so early? Didn’t Destiny get in yesterday?”
“Yeah, but with the mission coming…”
Merlin understood. Zip had recently returned to active duty after almost dying. It made sense he’d want to make sure he was ready. This mission promised to be a major shit show, and they’d all need to be at the top of their game.
Merlin nodded. “I get it. How’s she doing?”
“Great. She’s planned on being here all week, but she might go back early, depending on when we leave.”
“That sucks. I feel bad for Woof, too. But at least Nori didn’t know he was coming.”
“True. But Des gets it, so that makes it easier. She’s spending the morning with her grandmother while we take care of business.”
“Cool. I’m heading to the track. See you out there, slowpoke,” Merlin said with a wicked grin. It was just the thing to get Zip going. To say they were competitive was a major understatement.
“Asshole. I’m coming, just calm your old tits.”
“What the fuck? There is nothing old about these tits or anything else on this body.” Merlin feigned an expression of shock.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately, grandpa?”
Score one point for Zip. But he kind of liked the gray on his temples that had grown in over the last year. He’d earned every one of those hairs. His only concern was if command thought he was too old to be an operator. Did Gwen think he was too old for her? With all the questions she’d asked last night, his age hadn’t been one of them.
“Now who’s slacking,” Zip said from the doorway.
“Just giving you time to catch your breath before you eat my dust,” Merlin said as they made their way to the track.
After three laps of the three-mile track, Merlin called it quits and slowed to a walk. Ten miles was his usual, but he wanted to get in some extra weight training.
“Cutting out early, grandpa?” Zip asked as he caught up to Merlin.
“Enough with the grandpa, it’s Merlin, unless you want a new nickname, too?”
