Page 2 of Harry

She looked him up and down. “Noodles, really?”

“What? Don’t I look like a guy who enjoys a good bowl of ramen?”

She shook her head. “Not really. You look like a man from the middle of America who eats meat and potatoes.”

Harry threw his head back and laughed. “I’m not from the middle of America. I’m from South Carolina.”

“Really? That surprises me. And yes, I love ramen. I don’t think I’ve been to that place, though.”

“It’s good. I go by there often. It’s not far from where I live.”

She lifted her eyebrows, glancing around. This area was too rich for her pay grade. He definitely wasn’t military. “You live around here?”

He shrugged. “Not too far.”

“Nice.”

They stopped talking as they navigated crossing the street. Just because there were crosswalks, and it was the law that people had to stop, didn’t mean they did.

She stole a glance at Harry, worried she was making a mistake going to eat with him. She needed food, and she needed time to think. They weren’t going far, and the area was very public. He hadn’t given her strange vibes either, which was a good sign.

They ordered ramen and took a seat at a table close to the window. She didn’t see the guy in the suit, which helped her relax. There was no way anyone knew about her most recent find. No one knew she’d seen the file. Plus, that one file only told part of the story. To connect the dots, there was other information you had to know. Because of her job in the intelligence department, she knew a lot of stuff that most Americans wouldn’t believe or want to know about. The file was one of those things. If she’d read the information correctly, including what she already knew, it was bad.

“Rory, that’s an interesting name,” Harry said.

She shrugged. “It’s just a name.” Discussing her past with strangers was always weird. She’d learned early on that people weren’t really interested. Their faces tended to blank out as soon as she mentioned that she didn’t know her mother. Being passed from family to family, moving every few months grew a tough outer shell that took a lot to crack. But Harry wasn’t some jerk she would have to live with, and he wasn’t making fun of her. She smiled and tried to act like a regular person instead of a jaded asshole.

“Have you lived in San Diego long?” She realized she’d timed the question badly as he swallowed the ramen he’d just put in his mouth.

“A few years. How about you?”

“A year. It’s an interesting city. I like the beaches and parks. I try to do runs in fun places instead of the same old place.”

“Really? Would you like to go running in the morning?” Harry asked.

She raked her teeth over her lower lip. How much harm could going running with this man cause? He was good-looking, nice, and he wasn’t being a creep. He held eye contact with her actual eyes and not her nipples. That had to account for something.

“Would four miles be too much for you?” Rory asked.

He shook his head. “No, not at all. I’d love to go running with you in the morning.”

“I was thinking about heading to Morley Fields’ trail. Does that sound good to you?”

“Sure. It’s been a while since I’ve run there.”

“Awesome. How about we meet at, um, seven in the morning?”

Harry flashed her a smile that made her feel hot all the way through her body. “Sure, sounds great.”

They chatted about the weather and the city, not getting too involved in their personal lives, which she didn’t mind. She didn’t want to reveal everything to this guy in case he turned out to be some weird creeper. If he didn’t know she was a Marine, he wouldn’t ever be able to find her if she determined something was wrong with him.

“Rory, it was nice meeting you, and I’m looking forward to our run in the morning.”

“I am, too. I’m glad I ran into you.”

Laughter spilled from Harry’s lips. Her heart squeezed, and she ached for his touch. Why did this man affect her so? Perhaps it was because she hadn’t dated anyone in over a year, maybe more. She wasn’t interested in getting involved with another jerk. Her career had come first because guys just weren’t that reliable. Maybe this guy would be. She would take it slow, because if she started dating again, the guy had to be right.

“I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow,” Harry said before he waved goodbye and took off. She waited for him to leave before she got in the old car she’d owned since forever that had barely limped across the United States on her drive from Virginia. The old beast had made it, and there was no way she would get rid of it now.

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