Page 24 of Guarding the Doctor
“I’m glad you did,” I replied. “It was an incredible kiss. One of the best of my life.”
She frowned. “One of the best?”
I suppressed a smile. “I mean, I think we can do better. Next time.”
“So there’s going to be a next time?”
“I think we both know there will be.”
Kathryn was silent for a few minutes before she spoke again. “I don’t understand this draw I’m feeling to you. We don’t even really know each other.”
“It’s the mate bond, it’s hard to ignore for both parties,” I explained. “But there’s no reason we can’t get to know each other better. Ask me whatever you want to know.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-eight,” I answered. “You?”
I already knew that from her file, but I figured I’d throw her a softball.
“Thirty-five. What made you decide to join the military?”
“Bella and I grew up in a small town,” I began. “There wasn’t a lot of opportunity there. You know the kind of place… a lot of unemployed people sitting around drinking and moaning about how life did them wrong. Bella talked about joining one of the supernatural units in the military the entire time we were growing up, and then she enlisted the day she graduated high school. It seemed to work out for her, so I did the same when I graduated.”
“So it wasn’t your dream to enlist?”
I’d never thought about that before.
“I guess not. But my sister’s idea seemed as good as any, and I had a good career in the military.”
“Then you followed her to Sapphic Security, right?” she asked. “She worked here first?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she convinced Lois to give me an interview, but of course I had to get the job on my own.”
“What would your dream be though? If you didn’t follow your sister’s path, what would you have done instead?”
I shot her a quick look, taken aback by the question. It had never crossed my mind to consider anything besides the military.
“I… I guess I don’t know.”
“Your sister seems nice,” she said carefully. “But there’s nothing wrong with following your own passion. You’re a grown woman.”
“Is that what you did? Follow your own passion?”
“Yeah. My dad really wanted me to join the military. We’re an Army family. Both my parents were in the service, and all of my aunts and uncles, all my cousins, they enlisted as soon as they were old enough. But I wanted something different. I wanted to be a doctor.”
“You could have been a doctor in the military,” I felt compelled to point out. That’s where I’d trained to be a medic.
She laughed. “That’s exactly what my father said. But I told him I needed to follow my own path. I’d do terrible in the military. I hate being bossed around.”
“No, really?” I teased.
“Well, I guess I don’t mind it in certain cases,” she said primly.
My breath stuttered. Did she mean…?
Kathryn burst out laughing. “You should see your face right now!”
We spent the rest of the ride asking each other questions. Favorite movies. The kinds of books we read. Hobbies. Favorite foods. It was fun, kind of like a dating quiz show.
