Waiting for Her Soldier by Cassie Laurent Page A

finally showed up, wearing a skimpy dress, doing everything she could to gain my attention. Now that I was finally back, she wanted to express her interest.
    “Darren,” she said sexily. “Long time no see.”
    She reached out and touched my arm, but I didn’t let her phase me. I took another deep sip of my drink and didn’t say a word.
    “So how long are you back?” she asked, breaking the silence.
    “I’m out. I’m done. Going to start civilian life. Maybe FBI,” I said, keeping my tone polite, but my words short and reserved.
    “Well, that sounds fitting,” she said, giving me a broad smile, doing all she could to get some sort of affectionate response out of me.
    “Yes, I think so.”
    I didn’t smile. I was giving her nothing.
    The waiter came by and I waited as Jessica ordered a glass of wine. She’d definitely need it for what I had to say next. In the meantime, I’d just make casual conversation.
    When she finally had a glass in front of her, she turned to me, reaching out to touch my hand.
    “Darren, I think it’s time we talked about us ,” she said, smiling warmly, but with a touch of seriousness.
    “How are we going to do that?” I asked.
    “What? What are you talking about?”
    “There is no us . I said. There’s a me, and a you, but there’s no us ,” I said.
    “Oh, Darren. How about we let bygones be bygones? All that messy business is in the past. That guy didn’t mean anything. You’re really not going to let that get in the way of what we had, right?”
    She was smiling brightly again, doing her best to use her charm to her advantage. But tonight I wasn’t in the least bit receptive.
    “Jessica, I’m going to be upfront with you. I literally want nothing to do with you. Honestly, I was astonished you’d be bold enough to leave a message at Lauren’s phone number. I was pissed off when she told me. The fact that you’d try to ruin what she and I have going, it makes me angrier than I can tell you.”
    “Darren, you can’t be serious. Listen, you were away. I needed someone. It was nothing beyond that. Now that you’re finally home I don’t see why you’d turn your back on this relationship. You can’t deny what we had.”
    “I can’t? I’ll be honest. Even before you broke up with me, I wasn’t sure about things. In fact, I’d already made up my mind to end it when I came home. But I’m a man, I wanted to do it in person, not through a letter. I wanted to tell you to your face, because I thought you deserved that much. Instead, I get a letter telling me you were leaving me. A letter telling me you were leaving me while I was at war. That’s reprehensible. And even though that hurt me, I thought that at the very least it was over and that I could move on without any complications. And now you come back? Get out of here. You aren’t worth another second of my time.”
    I downed the rest of my scotch and got up, pulling a hundred dollar bill out of my wallet and tossing it on the table.
    “Here. Have dinner on me. Call a friend, I don’t care. Just don’t ever contact me again.”
    Then I turned my back on her, walking out of her life forever. I finally had closure. That part of my life was over. Now I could truly begin my life with Lauren without any reservations, without any second guessing. As I turned the ignition in my truck I laughed, realizing how lucky I was. I sat there for a moment, listening to the hum of the engine. I was home; finally I was home. And I realized now that home was inseparable from a life with Lauren.

CHAPTER 30
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    “Darren, I don’t understand,” I said softly, slightly confused.
    “It’s over. I told her it’s over.”
    “Is it?” I asked, hopeful, but skeptical at the same time.
    “Yes. No question.”
    Darren wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. Then he lifted my face to his and gave me a long wet kiss. Then I suddenly I heard a loud beeping noise. The fire alarm was going off.
    “Fuck!”