Chloe almost choked on the coffee she’d just sipped. “Wha-at…” Cough. “Did…” Cough, cough, cough. “You…say?”
In the blink of an eye, Steve was around the table, patting her back. His hands were large and powerful enough to pound, but they were surprisingly gentle. And they felt surprisingly good. “You’re entirely too easy to set off, you know,” he chided her.
“So you were just kidding?”
“About moving in together? Yeah.”
“I had no idea Marines were such jokesters,” she noted tartly before standing and gathering the beige stoneware. The sharp clinks of the plates indicated her irritation.
“I wasn’t kidding about the rest, though. About making my grandmother think she’s winning the battle. All it requires on our part is spending some time together. Because I’m telling you, she won’t stop. If she doesn’t succeed in hooking me up with you, she’ll just set her sights on someone else.”
“Better the devil you know than the one you don’t?” Chloe asked, setting the dishes on the counter next to the sink.
Steve nodded. “So what do you think?”
“That you’re out of your mind.”
“By that I take it you have a few reservations about my plan?”
“A brilliant deduction. And an accurate one.”
He appeared unfazed by her reaction. “That’s understandable I suppose. Because you haven’t thought the plan through.”
“And you have?”
“Formulating successful mission plans is what I do.”
“And here I was thinking Marines were fighting for home and country.”
“We are. All over the world. But this mission is different.”
“It certainly is. It involves your grandmother.”
“I’m not proposing we lie to her.”
“No?”
“No. We really would spend some time together. Neither one of us wants romantic entanglements, and this is a sure way to avoid them. You and I…we’d both be on the same page.” His grin was a gradual progression from a smile, making it even more potent. “Hey, a book analogy. That should be one you’d appreciate.”
“Yes, well, forgive me if I don’t appear suitably impressed.”
“See, I like that about you.”
“What?”
“That you speak your mind. That you’re not easily impressed. We have a lot in common. Tell me some more about yourself and you’ll see what I mean.”
“What’s there to tell?” She efficiently placed the plates in the dishwasher before closing the door. “You already know that I work at the library.”
“What do you do for fun?” Steve asked.
Chloe was at a momentary loss. Fun wasn’t something she’d actually had a great deal of experience with. There wasn’t time. She had things to do, goals to accomplish. She’d always kept her eye on the ball….
“Do you like watching football?” Steve asked her.
She blinked. “What?”
“That Bears nightshirt you were wearing so well.”
“It was a grab-bag gift from the Christmas party at the library.”
“Okay, so you’re not a big football fan. What else?”
“I enjoy reading. And I do some knitting.”
“And?”
“And…I don’t know. I’ve been too busy to have fun.”
“We can fix that.”
“That’s not necessary. I think it would be better if we simply tell Wanda that this isn’t a good time for matchmaking, that neither one of us is interested in a romantic relationship right now. She’ll honor that.”
Steve just shook his head sadly. “You don’t have much experience with stubborn Polish grandmothers, do you?”
“She’s not my grandmother.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s mine. And she’s got both of us in her matchmaking sights. I’m telling you, there’s no convincing her.”
“Maybe you just haven’t said the right thing to her. I think we should try talking to her sensibly first.”
Steve shook his head. “Big mistake.”
“I think that what you’re suggesting is a big mistake.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“She’s your grandmother. It’s not my problem.”
“That’s what you think. You’ll see. Until then, I took a look at your car earlier this morning. You need a new battery. I can install it for you if you’d like.”
She blinked at his sudden change of subject. Was he giving up that easily? That was a good thing, right? That meant she’d persuaded him with her logic. Good for her.
The news that she needed a new car battery was not good. It was definitely bad for her. Chloe hadn’t budgeted for auto repairs this month. Librarians weren’t in the profession for the money. Her paycheck would never be filed under “higher tax bracket.”
“I’ve worked on cars and stuff since I was thirteen,” Steve was assuring her. “I spent a summer in Texas with my mom’s father who was totally aggravated with me for being more interested in engines than in the oil and gasoline that goes into them. I’ve always been good at it.”
“At aggravating your grandfather?”
“Well, yeah, that too. I meant at working on engines, repairing things.”
“Is that what you do in the Marine Corps?”
“No. I’m a captain in the Marine Corps. But getting back to your car, you can check with my grandmother if you need a reference.”
“Thanks, but I’ll have it repaired by a mechanic.”
“It’ll cost you. I could get it done in no time and you’d only be out the price of the battery itself.”
She hesitated.
Steve continued, “You’ll pay three times more if you have your car towed to a repair place and have them install it.”
“What would you want in return?” She’d learned the hard way that
