Page 4 of Gwen's Delta
“I was getting there, Becca, you just needed to give me a little more time,” Merlin said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Why wasn’t there an ejection button? Wait until she told her best friend, Belle, that her grandmother was making dates for her.
“I’m sure you have better things to do.” Gwen gave Grams the evil side-eye through the wall.
“No, I don’t. It’s my first day off in months, and I can’t think of a better way to spend it. Picking your brain about books would be more fun than I’ve had in ages.”
Maybe if she relented and agreed, he’d leave, and she could try to recover some of her self-esteem. “I guess we could go for coffee sometime.”
“You could go now. Gramps and I will watch the store.”
Merlin leaned close to Gwen so only she would hear him. She caught the scent of mint and the outdoors. It was like inhaling sunshine.
“Looks like you don’t have a choice. I promise I don’t bite…much.” Then he winked as he pulled away.
She hadn’t blushed this much since she was fifteen. There was something about him that turned her to mush. She wanted to say yes, even if it mortified her that Grams had pushed him into asking. It wasn’t like it would be a hardship to go out with eye candy like Luke. Plus, if she were honest, she wanted to learn more about him—a lot more.
Besides, Luke was right. If she didn’t go, Grams would spend the rest of the day telling her what a mistake she’d made.
After a quick smile, he said loud enough that Grams would hear, “I have a couple of unicorn books I’ve been hoping to find. We can talk about them while we have our coffee.”
It was the perfect motivation, and somehow, he knew it. Luke Forest was definitely too smart, and that smile…Oh. My. God.There was no way she could resist it.
“Okay, Grams. We’ll be at Beans. Call or text if you need me.”
“I won’t. Have a wonderful time,” Grams yelled from the back room.
Before Gwen could grab her purse, Gramps came out from the back with an enormous grin on his face. God save her from her matchmaking grandparents.
“I’ll talk to her while you’re out, Gwenie-bee,” he said as he dropped a kiss on her forehead. Then he gave Merlin the look over and nodded.
Merlin nodded back—it was probably some kind of military thing. “I’ll bring her back soon.”
“No need to rush,” came the voice from the other room.
Gwen couldn’t hold back the eye roll.
Chapter 2
The last thing Merlin had expected when strode into the bookstore was to end up on a date. After the last few months being sent on one mission after another, he’d really needed this day away from post and his team.
The stress of the last mission had affected each of the Delta Team 3 members differently and had left invisible scars. The nightmares were real, and he knew he wasn’t the only one having them. They couldn’t talk about them with anyone except each other, and they didn’t do that either. They were the ghosts of the spec ops community and never mentioned they were Delta. It was aneed to knowbasis only, and most never needed to know.
As he held the front door of the bookstore for Gwen, he wisely hid his grin.
“I’m sorry we forced you into this,” Gwen said as she slipped by him into the sweltering heat.
She was tiny compared to his six-foot-two frame, and as she stepped into the sunshine, her auburn hair shone with gold highlights. When he’d bent down to whisper to her, he’d smelled honeysuckle. It was a scent he was familiar with; the flowers filled the gardens around his family home, and now, she’d be added to that memory. What did surprise him was his need to protect her.
As they walked, he said, “I was serious when I said I wanted to talk to you some more.”
“But it didn’t have to be now. I’m sure you have better things to do than go for coffee with a stranger on your day off.”
“Not at all. I can’t think of a better way to spend my afternoon.”
Beans Café was only a few stores down from the bookstore. Metal tables and chairs nestled under an awning, and he hoped she’d want to sit in the fresh air and breeze despite the heat. “Is out here okay or do you want to sit inside?”
“Definitely out here after being inside all morning.”
