Page 17 of What I Should Have Known

“You arrogant ass.”

He chuckled and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “It’s definitely been a solid twelve years at least, though.”

“Twelve years? How old are you anyway?” I asked and slowly began walking in tune with him while mindlessly sliding the leather reins betweenmy fingers. My horse followed along as we wound down away from the paddock and toward Ace’s pasture.

“Thirty-one.”

My heart lodged into my throat. Blood pounding in my ears, I stared forward and said nothing. Thirty-one years old. This man was thirty-one years old. Chewing on his age only made it sound more extreme in my head, even though it really wasn’t.

He pulled his hands from his pockets and wiggled the brim of his baseball cap. “How old are you?”

Swallowing stiffly, I cleared my throat. “Twenty-three,” I whispered.

And Bernie’s toe clipped the edge of a stone. His sneaker squelched with the sound of mud, and he stumbled forward. “You’re how fucking old?” he asked, catching himself with a spin of his arms, and twisted around.

I stopped walking and wrung the leather reins in my hand. “Twenty-three.”

“That’s eight years younger than me.”

“I can do math, dummy. Why’s it such a big deal?” It had been for a moment, but as the number chewed between my teeth like cattle chewed cud, I saw no reason for it to make a difference. He was a fleeting person in my life—a life that was already planned out for me.

He clacked his teeth together for a second, his eyes twitching as he studied me. “It’s not. Just making sure we’re real fucking clear and cool.”

I nodded once. “So.” I resumed walking, guiding Ace to the right of Bernie as he spun back around and jogged to catch up. “You’ve been in the military for twelve years then.”

“Nah, I tried college first.”

“You went to college?”

His eyes darted to the ground. “Yeah. Me and school never really got along, but I managed to graduate, was bored, and enlisted. Also, I kind of accidentally blew up the recruiter’s lawn mower the year I graduated, so I kinda had to.”

I blinked rapidly, letting the barrage of information barrel through my mind. “You… What?” I stammered.

“It was his son’s idea but…” He shook his head. “Long story for another time.”

“His son’s idea? You blew up a lawn mower because of something the recruiter’s son said?”

A crooked smile slid across his lips. “I met Dalton while at college. I went home with him during spring break. Let’s just say he told me his parents wouldn’t be there, but they came home a few days early, and it was either create a distraction or be caught butt-ass naked with Dalton by his dad. So, yeah. I opted for the distraction.”

My mouth opened, and the words tumbled around on my tongue, but nothing left my lips. Snapping my jaw shut, I stopped walking and faced him directly once coherent sentences jumbled together. “And you thought blowing up the lawn mower was the best distraction possible?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve always had an affinity for shit like that.”

“And now you’re in the Navy where you sit on a boat and do what… exactly?” I asked.

His brows stitched together, and he tipped his head. “That’s what surprises you about that entire story?”

“Should something else?” I looked up at him through my lashes, only now realizing how much taller he really was than me.

“Nope.” His tongue flicked out and he wet his lips.

“Then answer my question.” I threw a hand on my hip.

His gaze trailed slowly down my figure. A strange longing look crossed his face. Something I’d seen men give Emma way too often. But never me.

“Uh, what was your question?” he asked, quickly snapping his eyes back up to mine.

Had he just… “Did you just check me out?” I said instead.

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