at Woolworth’s was still open, and they shared a tiny booth designed for two. While the waitress delivered their coffee, Brand reached for a menu, reading over the list of sandwiches. The picture of the turkey, piled high with lettuce and tomato slices between thick slices of bread, looked appetizing, and he reluctantly set it aside.
“Officer?” Erin asked, studying him while he stirred cream into his coffee.
“Adding cream to my coffee told you that?” Casey’s daughter ought to be in intelligence. He’d never met anyone quite like her.
“No. The way you talk. The way you act. Lieutenant j.g. would be my guess?”
He was impressed again. “How’d you know that?”
“Your age. What are you, thirty? Thirty-one?”
“Thirty-two.” This was getting to be downright embarrassing. He’d climbed through the ranks at the normal rate of speed and received a number of special assignments over the years. Since the navy was considering closing down its station at Sand Point, Brand had been sent by the admiral to conduct a feasibility survey. His duties in the area would last only a few weeks. Most of that time had already been spent.
“I take it you weren’t raised in the navy?” Erin questioned.
“No.”
“I might have guessed.”
She sure as hell was batting a thousand with those guesses of hers. Her eyes briefly met his, and Brand was struck once more by how hauntingly dark they were. A spark, a hint of pain—something he couldn’t quite name—touched an emotional chord deep within him.
“Listen,” she said softly, regretfully, “it’s been interesting talking to you, but I should have been home an hour ago.” She was ready to stand when Brand reached across the table and gripped her hand.
The action was as much a shock to Brand as it was to her. She raised her head a fraction of an inch so that their eyes could meet. Hers were wide and questioning, his…he didn’t know. Unrelenting, stubborn, he guessed. Brand wasn’t thinking clearly, and hadn’t been from the moment he’d followed her into the Blue Lagoon.
“We haven’t talked.”
“There isn’t any need to. You weren’t raised in the military. I was. You couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like unless you were carted from one corner of the world to another.”
“I’d love it.”
Her smile was sardonic. “Most men do.”
“I want to see you again.”
She didn’t hesitate, didn’t think about it. Nor did she delay answering. “No.”
“I apologize if I’m bruising your ego,” she added, “but frankly, I promised myself a long time ago to stay away from men in the military. It’s a hard-and-fast rule I live by. Trust me, it’s nothing personal.”
Brand sure as hell was taking it personally. “I don’t even tempt you?”
She hesitated and smiled gently before tugging her hand free from his grasp. “A little,” she admitted.
Brand had the feeling she was saying that to cater to his pride, which she’d managed to bruise every time she’d opened her mouth.
“As far as looks go, you’ve got an interesting face.”
An interesting face. Didn’t she know handsome when she saw it? Women had made pests of themselves in an effort to attract his attention for years. Some of his best friends had even admitted they hesitated before introducing him to their girlfriends.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said stiffly.
“It isn’t necessary, I—”
“I said I’d walk you to your car.” He stood and slapped two dollar bills on the table. Brand liked to think of himself as a tolerant man, but this woman was getting under his skin, and he didn’t like it. Not one damn bit. There were plenty of fish in the sea, and he was far more interested in lobster than he was in Irish stew.
Erin MacNamera wasn’t even that attractive. Hell, he wouldn’t even be seeing her if he wasn’t doing a favor for her father. If she didn’t want to see him again, fine. Great. Wonderful. He could live with that. What Erin had said earlier was true enough. Women went for guys in uniform.
He was attractive. He wore a uniform.
He didn’t need Erin MacNamera.
Satisfied with that, he held open the glass door that led outside.
“This really isn’t necessary,” she whispered.
“Probably not, but as an officer and a gentleman I insist.”
“My father’s an enlisted man.”
She announced the fact as if she were looking for some response.
“So?” he demanded.
“So…I just wanted you to know that.”
“Do you think that’s going to make me change my mind about walking you to your car?”
“No.” Her hands were buried in her pockets. “I…just wanted you to know. It might make a difference to some men.”
“Not me.”
She nodded. “My car’s in the lot near Yesler.”
Brand didn’t know Seattle well, but he knew enough to recognize that that area of town wasn’t the best place for a woman to be walking alone at night. He was glad he’d insisted on escorting her to her car, although even now he wasn’t completely sure of his motives.
They turned off the main street and onto a small, narrower one that sloped sharply down to the Seattle waterfront.
“You park here often?” As prickly as she was, Erin would probably resent his pointing out the all-too-obvious dangers of the area.
“Every day, but generally I’m gone shortly after five. It’s still light then.”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight,” she said with a sigh, “I met you.”
Brand nodded. He found the parking lot, which by now was nearly deserted. The spaces were tightly angled between two brick buildings. The entire lot was illuminated by a single dim light.
Erin pulled her keys from her purse and clenched them in her hands. “My car is the one in the back,” she explained.
Brand’s gaze located the small blue Toyota in the rear of the lot, facing a two-story brick structure. Once more he was forced to swallow a chastising warning.
“I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but I’m grateful you walked with me.”
A small—damn small—sense of satisfaction
