Page 28 of Not Faking it with the Colonel

The server placed glasses of water on the table. Her gaze darted over Erin. “I’ll let you look over the menus and be back in a few minutes.” She gave Erin another once-over before walking away.

“Bethann and I used to come here often,” he explained. “After you mentioned wanting some good Asian food the other day, I figured it was time to return.”

That he’d bring her to a favorite spot he shared with his wife seemed like a good sign he was moving forward.

“You didn’t come to hear about my golf game,” he transitioned after they ordered.

“No.” But it was insightful to know he had hobbies and friends. “Your proposition came out of left field.”

“Yeah. There are no Army standard operating procedures on something like that.”

“I hope not.”

“And I should have used a better word than ‘proposition.’”

“That did throw me a little considering how things work in Hollywood, at least in the past, but I trust you didn’t mean itthatway. I have some questions.” She pulled the list and a pen from her purse.

Graham’s eyes widened. “Okay. Shoot.”

“To start, I was wondering what type of time commitment you want. Are you talking about dinner or other activities once or a couple of times a week?”

“I think we need to spend more time together than dinner once a week to be convincing. And I’d like to spend more time than that with you.”

He held her gaze and directed a smile at her that would make nearly any woman swoon. She wouldn’t have a problem spending several evenings a week with him.

“We need to do more outings, not just dinners. I’m happy to cover all costs,” he added.

“That’s not why I was asking. I understand if you don’t want to be exclusive right away and keep your options open to find somebody who is looking for the same things you are in the way of a long-term commitment—”

“I plan to keep it exclusive if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s not like I was planning on dating anyone else. I hadn’t even planned on dating at all, but your messages made you sound so—”

“Desperate? Clueless about social media?”

She laughed. “I was going to say relatable.”

“That does sound better.”

Graham didn’t come off like the alpha warrior she expected from the man in charge of one of the most elite military units in the world. His people and leadership skills likely got him where he was more than his ability to kick in a door—not that she’d mind seeing him in action. “I just don’t want this to backfire if you find out that dating will not cut it. Did the general give you a deadline?”

“Not a set date, but he did mention six months. That was almost a month ago.”

“Sixmonths! He expected you to meet, date, andmarry—in six months? FYI, I’m past the shot-gun wedding-because-I’m-pregnant stage of life.” Not that her father had resorted to forcing Phil to marry her.

“Good, because I’m looking forward to traveling and spoiling grandchildren, but not having to raise more kids. The timing is before the team he’s most worried about deploys. If we had to announce our ‘engagement’ just before then, that should suffice.”

“But there’s no way to know for sure? And I need to be clear that I am not getting married in six months. Not even a pretend marriage,” she said at the exact moment the server brought their meals.

“Enjoy your food.” Based on her wide eyes, she overheard that.

“I understand,” Graham said.

Erin took a bite of the shrimp Pad Thai to let the awkwardness fade. “This is delicious.” She took another bite and glanced at her list of questions. “Would you tell your children this is ‘an arrangement,’ or do you plan to let them think it’s real?”

“I told them about the general planning to transfer me and the alternative. Both encouraged me to try and meet someone. As for telling them aboutthis, I hadn’t thought that through yet. Would you tell your girls?”

“It could come up at some point that I’mdatingsomebody. There’s no reason to tell them more with them not here. That’s something you can think on, and let me know once you decide so that we’re on the same pageifwe pursue this.”

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