Page 84 of Not Faking it with the Colonel

“I’m notthatold,” Graham retorted, though he did remember when the Macarena had become popular. With all the weddings and military balls he’d attended over the years, he’d learned many line dances, rather than sit on the sidelines. Bethann always enjoyed dancing—another thing she and Erin had in common.

After a series of line dances running the gamut of musical genres, the DJ slowed things down with a love ballad.

“This has been fun”—she raised her face and spoke near his ear—“but I’m ready to be alone with you.”

The kiss she gave him started innocently enough before her lips parted. The kiss deepened and heated to the point he nearly forgot where they were. “We should head out.”

As they made a quick round of goodbyes, it was apparent Erin had connected with the women—which wasn’t an easy task. Women in the Special Ops community were conditioned to be protective of their men and slow to accept outsiders. The cooking class had been a good start, but this went up a level.

Their agreement needed renegotiating.

“Congratulations again.” Cecilia hugged Erin. “That they’re filming a pilot and have ordered scripts for more episodes ishuge! And they better list you as the show co-creator because that gives you executive producer credit. If you need, I can recommend a top-notch entertainment lawyer to look over any contracts.”

“I’d love to get their contact information.”

“Ian’s a good guy, but it’s Hollywood. Guys like his boss will steal your idea and pass it off as their own in a New York minute. Or buy the script, have their in-house writers make a few changes, and take writing credit. I’d hate for them to cut you out or screw you on what you’re paid and residuals. And I know living out there is not convenient or ideal, but you should consider it. I’ll send the lawyer’s name and contact info.”

Erin didn’t say anything as they walked to the car or even turn for a kiss before sliding into the seat. Cecilia’s repeated warnings had killed the romantic vibe and verbal foreplay.

“What are you thinking?” he asked after over a minute of silence, a long time for Erin.

“That Cecilia has good insight. I wanted to believe what Levi and Ian said about not needing to be out there, despite what my gut told me.”

“Any chance she’s saying this because she’s envious of you getting this opportunity?”

“Not Cecilia. She’s the definition of Ms. Congeniality, always supportive of others. She also knows the business side better than I do.” Erin sighed, looking out into the darkness. “I was banking on not going back soon, but I’m going to need to go out there for at least a week or two around the filming of the pilot.”

“I understand. We can turn it into a vacation.”

She gave him a weak smile.

“What?”

“Traveling together is a sure way to test a relationship.”

“I’m up to the challenge.”

She broke eye contact after several long seconds. “I know our arrangement is to keep up appearances, then we’re going to say we broke up after I left here, but I didn’t count on this.”

His stomach clenched. He understood the importance of her pursuing this opportunity, but did it have to exclude him?

“Graham, I don’t want things between us to end. I love you and—”

“You do?” He braked hard, steered the car off to the shoulder, and shifted to park before fully turning to her. She loved him. She’d said those magic words.

“I know it wasn’t part of our arrangement, but you’re—”

“In love with you too,” he assured her, reveling in the smile on her beautiful face. “I’ve been wanting to tell you that for a while.”

“You should have.” She gave a relieved laugh, leaning closer to him.

“I thought it might send you running.”

“It wouldn’t have—probably.”

“Probably?” He laughed as the pressure in his chest dissipated. “See why I didn’t?”

“If you’d said ‘I love you’ before I agreed to your proposition, or even right after, I might have. I would have been okay with it for a while now.”

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