Page 50 of Not Faking it with the Colonel

Abigail’s yippee bark startled Erin as she neared the end of the driveway. Noelle clutched the leash, looking from Erin to her car, which had been parked on the street the past two days.

“Doing the walk of shame?” Noelle’s gaze shifted to the bag in Erin’s hand.

Did she really just say that? “Are you referring to me spending the night?”

“If you don’t want people to know what you’re doing, you should at least close the windows so people don’t hear.”

She was definitely talking about sex. “Graham and I are consenting adults in a relationship. We don’t have anything to be ashamed of. And I’m pretty sure the windows were closed.” The sex was justthat good.

Noelle’s face turned pinker than Abigail’s collar. Erin flashed another smile and got in her car, closing the door harder than necessary.

Noelle stood there staring, her mouth open as Graham pulled out and waited for Erin to follow. So, what if they weren’t married? These days, nobody expected previously married adults to wait until they were married to have sex. And that was a good thing because, even if she was falling hard for Graham, neither were ready to get remarried. She was not letting Noelle ruin a good thing.

ChapterTwenty-One

Normally,Graham enjoyed these dinner meetings with arms manufacturer reps showing off their newest technology or weapon improvements, hoping to supply his teams. Tonight, he struggled to focus. Erin had texted him twice during the day. Both just quick updates on what she was doing with Bryson’s team.

He didn’t understand her hesitation about coming to the family dinner since they would be dating for the next few months—or longer. Unless they weren’t. She promised she wouldn’t bail after spending time with the team. That they were sleeping together felt like a genuine relationship, not just an arrangement. While he had told her she could walk away at any time, he sure as hell did not want that to happen, not with how strongly he already felt about her.

When Graham’s phone chimed in his pocket, he discreetly slipped it out and angled back to see the screen under the table. Seeing Erin’s name, he swiped his screen to open the text.

What can I bring for dinner on Sunday?

The tension locked in his neck all day released.

“Does that smile mean you’ve already got approval to order?” the rep asked as Graham pocketed his phone.

“Not yet. I’ll have a team give them a test run and let them make the call before I run it past the general.”

* * *

Once Graham extractedhimself from the dinner, he headed to Erin’s rather than call or text. With light illuminating the front room, he rapped on the door.

She peeked through the sidelight before opening the door. “Did I miss a text?” She motioned him in.

“I thought I’d swing by and see if you were still up.”

“I’m catching up onSay Yes to the Rose. It’s a guilty pleasure.”

“Sorry for not giving you warning and catching you in your jammies.”

She gave a bashful grin despite him having seen her in far less. In addition to wearing the floral print short set, her face was scrubbed free of any makeup, and she tasted like mint toothpaste when he kissed her.

The yellow tabby ceded her spot when Erin waved her off the couch to take a seat. “I had to shower when I got home after Bryson’s team tried to punk you.”

“Punkme? How’s that?”

“We did the obstacle course this afternoon, including crawling through the mud. Captain Bryson picked up on their plan to send your mud-covered girlfriend home in your nice car and busted them.”

Graham shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I’ll order them to detail your car.”

“Not necessary. Bryson had a poncho liner in his truck that he let me borrow. He told them if they tried something like that again,they’ddrive home without showering first. That I didn’t fuss earned me some street cred. I’m seeing their true personalities, which is a good thing.”

“I’ll let it slide then.” It sounded like she’d handled it better than he would have. “You can always tell them no to anything you don’t want to do—or could be dangerous.”

“Like helocasting out of a Black Hawk?”

“About that, I heard back from Colonel Lundy. He’s out of town, so no riding in a Black Hawk this week.”

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