Page 40 of The Wounded Warrior

“Good deal.” Rory took another bite of pancake, like they hadn’t just made plans for a rendezvous.

“No sense wasting pancakes, right?” Luke helped scarf them down, anticipation riding high.

“Not a bit. I cleared my calendar for the afternoon, so we’re gold after we’re done eating.”

“You had high hopes, huh?”

“Honestly, I thought I’d go home and fantasize.”

“Well, we might only get so far.” Luke met Rory’s hot blue gaze. “I have no idea how I’ll react once things get going. My body is still…sometimes it doesn’t feel like mine.”

“Luke, I have a tore up hand and stitches in my thigh, bruises like you wouldn’t believe. I want time. Kisses. That’s my best game.”

“That sounds real fine.” Luke relaxed, appreciating the ground rules.

“Oh, good.” Rory gave him a grin. “I’m not in top form.”

“Hey, you look great to me. I saw you the night it happened.”

“Yeah. I was a little green around the gills.”

“Swollen. Scraped. I felt for you.” Luke polished off his half of the pancakes.

“I felt for me, too. Seriously.”

“I bet. Why would Harris try so hard to kill you?” He could be a dog with a bone sometimes.

“Oh, we have history,” Rory said again.

“Still sounds pretty crazy.”

“Yes.”

God, what had Harris done? That stony expression on Rory’s face did not bode well. “I’m sorry?”

“Thank you.” Rory scooped up the last bite and held it out to him, as if daring him to get into the game.

He arched one eyebrow. He’d faced war. He could flirt in public with a small-town lawyer. He snapped the bite off the fork, then licked it, his tongue catching all the syrup.

The grin on Rory’s face let him know that he’d passed a test. Woo-hoo. He guessed if you were out and proud, any feller you dated had to be willing to be public. What did he have to lose? He was who he was, and he was too fucking old to lie.

Sue Ann came back over a few minutes later, bright-eyed with curiosity. “You boys need anything else?”

“I’m good, honey. You want another round, Luke?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” He was ready to go, in fact.

“Just the check, then. Thank you.”

“You got it.” She bustled off, coming back in a few moments with the bill.

Rory checked it quickly, then pulled some bills out of his wallet. “Here you go, lady. Keep the change.”

“Thanks!” Sue Ann bebopped off, and Luke looked at Rory.

“Sure I can’t pay for mine?”

“This was my apology lunch. You can get the next one.”

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