Page 85 of Not Faking it with the Colonel

“I’m sorry I didn’t say the words sooner. How can I make it up to you?” He leaned across the console.

“I could probably think of some ways.” She angled her body toward his but waited for him to close the distance.

They’d been kissing long enough for him to heat up and hands to begin exploring when light penetrated his eyelids. He squinted against the high-beam headlights slowly approaching. The pickup truck crossed the center line, rolled up next to Graham’s car, and stopped. The window lowered, and an older man wearing a green John Deere ball cap stared at them. When Graham lowered his window, the driver nodded in a friendly manner.

“You having car trouble?” he asked with a thick Southern drawl.

“Uh, no. I pulled over because I got some life-changing news that I needed to process.”

“Guessing it was good based on the fact I thought you were two kids necking.”

Erin gave a guilty chuckle.

“Definitely good news, but we’ll take it home. Thanks for stopping to check on us.” Graham nodded and put up the window.

Erin continued to giggle. “I haven’t been caught making out in a car in nearly three decades.”

“There is something about being in a car and fearing discovery. But better that farmer to catch us than any of my men. There’s putting on a show, and then there’s putting on a show. We can wait until we get home, where there’s a king-size bed.” He put the car back in gear and eased back onto the road.

“True. And, after you saying you love me, tonight should be something special.”

“And did you have something particularlyspecialin mind?”

“Maybe. There are positions in the little sex book we haven’t tried yet, but I’m thinking lots of kissing and tender touches and bodily contact. And then the big O.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m committed to completing that mission.”

ChapterThirty-Five

“The general wanted to see me,”Graham told McKittrick’s aide. That the general hadn’t said what it was regarding wasn’t highly unusual. However, these days, it put him into alert status.

“Send him on in,” McKittrick called through the open door. “I got your leave request. Is everything all right with Megan?”

“Yes, sir. She’s doing great. They’ll have her come in for a follow-up MRI after six months to check that the coils remained in place, but they felt everything went as well as can be expected.”

“Good. Good. I just wondered since your leave request is such short notice.”

“Erin’s going to California for the filming of the pilot episode she wrote for the television show.”

“That’s moving forward?”

“It is. I’ve read the script, and I think the series has a real shot at getting picked up.”

“You aren’t going to be involved in that, correct?” McKittrick interjected. It was more an order than a question.

“No, sir. I plan to join her afterward. We might go to the Bay Area or maybe Tahoe for some R&R.”

McKittrick nodded. “Sounds like things are continuing to go well. Vegas isn’t far from LA. You could go see some shows, gamble a little, stop by a wedding chapel.”

“About that. Things are going well, but I haven’t met Erin’s daughters yet. One’s in Texas, and the other is doing a study abroad in Spain.”

“You need to get on that. Though I’m sure they would approve.” The general wasn’t giving an inch. “And you wouldn’t be the first couple to get married without family there.”

No. His own father had done that. And Graham would not repeat that mistake. “It wouldn’t be the best start, ambushing her girls like that. I’m unwilling to push and ruin a great thing with a woman I love.”

The general’s eyebrows rose, and he nodded. “I can see your point. If Vegas doesn’t work on this trip, maybe you can get her girls here and have a small ceremony over Thanksgiving.”

“Bryson’s team has seen us together enough to know we’re solid and aren’t going to be distracted from their mission.”

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