looked at her without smiling. “I’ll deal with Melanie. Don’t worry about me.”
She looked away without speaking.
When the elevator doors opened they stepped out together and came face-to-face with Melanie Montez.
Sam Carruthers sat across the table from the vivacious Katie Henley, feeling like a middle-aged fool. The truth was, he’d never had much time for women. At forty-two, he had long ago decided that his bachelor status would stay intact indefinitely.
The last thing he’d expected was to come to Texas on an assignment and turn to mush because of a killer smile and expressive, extremely vulnerable golden eyes.
He scarcely noticed when Clay and Pam left the table. They’d finished their meeting for now. Katie held his attention to the exclusion of all else. Had a terrorist burst into the coffee shop, he doubted that he would have noticed.
Katie gave her order to the waitress before she said, “Thank you for allowing me to join you. Are you sure I’m not keeping you from something?” she asked, her gaze dropping as though struck by a bout of shyness.
He grinned, feeling lighthearted. “Not at all. Tell me, do you live in Dallas?”
She shook her head. “Austin. In fact, I’ll be leaving for home as soon as I finish breakfast and check out of the hotel.”
An alarm suddenly went off inside his head, and he quickly glanced down at her hands…and her bare fingers. “I, uh, suppose a woman like you is married,” he muttered, feeling completely out of his depth.
Her smile faded and her eyes no longer sparkled. “I was, Sam. I’ve been divorced for about six months.”
The surge of relief he felt at her admission made him pause. What the hell was going on with him, anyway? He’d just met this woman and he was already damned possessive of her. His stomach knotted at the thought—much the same way it did before he made a jump.
Not a good sign.
When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “I have five-year-old daughters who manage to both help me keep my sanity as well as convince me I’m on the verge of losing it.” Her smile widened. “Do you have children?”
“Uh, no, ma’am. I’ve never been married.”
“Really?” She tilted her head and looked at him as though trying to solve a puzzle. “Don’t you miss having a family?”
He smiled. “Oh, I have a family. I was the oldest of several kids. We had a tough time surviving on the farm. I did whatever I could to make sure we all had enough to eat. I figured no woman would be willing to live that way if she could help it.”
Katie looked down at her hands folded on the table. “I suppose you have little use for people like me, who never had to go through something like that.”
He grinned, amused by her attitude. “Not at all. I don’t wish that kind of life on anybody.” He knew he needed to get going, but he hated to leave her without getting some kind of signal that she might want to see him again. Since he didn’t have a clue how to do that, Sam continued to sit there feeling helpless, staring at her.
The waitress soon returned with her order. Sam sipped on his coffee while she ate. He asked her casual questions, hoping to learn more about her.
She mentioned a much older brother—almost sixteen years’ difference in their ages—plus twin brothers three years younger. He got her to tell him about growing up in Texas, about meeting her husband while she was in college and getting married not long after her graduation.
Before he knew it, he was also answering questions about his early life. She seemed to be sincerely interested. So he told her what it was like being the oldest of six children, about losing his dad when he was nine, and doing what he had to do to hang on to the farm and make sure his mom and the children were taken care of.
He didn’t tell her that his biggest reason for joining the army was to be able to send his money home to the family.
When Katie glanced at her watch and announced the time, Sam was surprised to discover how long they’d been there.
“I really need to be going,” she said with what he hoped was regret coloring her voice. “Thank you for letting me join you this morning.”
He picked up her ticket. “Let me get your breakfast for you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said, obviously flustered.
“I want to, Katie. I hope to see you again.”
“Are you planning to come to Austin?”
“As a matter of fact, Clay invited me to spend some time at the family’s condos in Austin.”
“Oh!” She smiled with obvious delight, causing him to swallow hard. “Well, in that case,” she said, digging into her purse, “Let me give you my phone number. Be sure and call and I’ll have you out to my place for dinner some evening.”
“A home-cooked meal sounds like something I only dream about.”
Katie laughed and handed him a card that she’d hastily written on. After he took it, carefully inserting it in his pocket, he stood with her, took her hand and shook it, causing her to blush.
He felt as if he’d received an electric shot, himself. Reluctantly he let go and watched her turn away. She gave him a little wave before she hurried out of the restaurant.
Sam tossed some money on the table for the waitress and went up to the cashier to pay for the meals.
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