Chapter 1
“ S o … is this as awkward for you as it is for me?” Michael asked as a young woman slid into the booth across from him, thanking the hostess who’d escorted her. She smiled.
“Since you mentioned it, I guess it is. And if you want to get your food to go and get on the road, I really do understand.”
“No, I’m already here, and you’re already here. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy a quick bite to eat before we leave.” Michael smiled briefly and flipped open his menu, holding it up in front of his face as he read over it. The young woman, Emily, did the same.
She chose something that looked quick, then turned her attention to the window. Cars raced past on the highway in front of the little Mexican restaurant, and she longed to be sitting in the backseat of any of them, being carried far away from here.
“Well, we have to get our story straight,” Mike said, closing his menu but not looking at her.
“Our story? I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, our story. What do we tell our friends when they demand to know how their matchmaking game worked out?”
“Well, I’ve found that the truth always works best,” Emily answered. “You’re busy with your job, whatever that is, and I’m busy with my new job. Neither one of us has time for this kind of thing. That’s all the explanation they need, as far as I’m concerned.”
Michael nodded. He couldn’t exactly blame his friends for this. After all, the woman was actually really pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, and his position with the Navy was on shaky ground. For the first time in his life, he might actually have the time and the lack of guilt to think about dating…
But her? A beautiful brainiac with a PhD in something or other? She was nothing like the kind of girl Mike would have been instantly drawn to. Maybe that’s why Knox and his girlfriend had thought this one would be perfect for him. He rarely dated these days or even talked about girls, and with no other outlet to meet women, his friend had jumped in to correct that in the most interfering way he could have. Gone were his days of dating one woman after another. He was tired of the chase, tired of looking for Miss Right and only finding Miss Not Quite Right.
Even Mike had to admit the end result hadn’t been too tragic. The girl across from him was beautiful, with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and sandy blond hair thrown back in a bun that made her look perpetually carefree. He’d expected a science geek who tripped over her feet and constantly pushed her oversized glasses back up her nose, but this woman… she proudly broke every stereotype about women in science.
“So, just so we can tell our friends we actually gave this a shot,” Michael said, trying to sound mildly disinterested, “tell me about yourself.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she answered, looking around the restaurant, obviously uncomfortable. He had no way of knowing her discomfort came from finding herself on a date with a guy who looked like he stepped off a pinup calendar photoshoot of hottie fireman. Emily was used to the kinds of guys who hung around the research lab, measuring dolphin droppings for a living while venturing out once in a while to attend an environmental rally. In a word, most of her past boyfriends had been skinny granola-geeks, not ex-Navy SEALs who’d served multiple combat missions and still worked out like they were preparing for the next one.
“Humor me. What’s your fancy degree in?”
“Marine biology,” she answered as briefly as she could, still put off by having to look him directly in the face.
“Cool. But isn’t that kind of cliche? Like, every cool science person wants to save the whales?”
“Actually, I’m into sustainable farming of the marine food chain,” Emily shot back with a cocky expression. “When the politicians keep denying climate change and we’re all living in a wasteland of global warming, you’ll happily
“ S o … is this as awkward for you as it is for me?” Michael asked as a young woman slid into the booth across from him, thanking the hostess who’d escorted her. She smiled.
“Since you mentioned it, I guess it is. And if you want to get your food to go and get on the road, I really do understand.”
“No, I’m already here, and you’re already here. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy a quick bite to eat before we leave.” Michael smiled briefly and flipped open his menu, holding it up in front of his face as he read over it. The young woman, Emily, did the same.
She chose something that looked quick, then turned her attention to the window. Cars raced past on the highway in front of the little Mexican restaurant, and she longed to be sitting in the backseat of any of them, being carried far away from here.
“Well, we have to get our story straight,” Mike said, closing his menu but not looking at her.
“Our story? I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, our story. What do we tell our friends when they demand to know how their matchmaking game worked out?”
“Well, I’ve found that the truth always works best,” Emily answered. “You’re busy with your job, whatever that is, and I’m busy with my new job. Neither one of us has time for this kind of thing. That’s all the explanation they need, as far as I’m concerned.”
Michael nodded. He couldn’t exactly blame his friends for this. After all, the woman was actually really pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, and his position with the Navy was on shaky ground. For the first time in his life, he might actually have the time and the lack of guilt to think about dating…
But her? A beautiful brainiac with a PhD in something or other? She was nothing like the kind of girl Mike would have been instantly drawn to. Maybe that’s why Knox and his girlfriend had thought this one would be perfect for him. He rarely dated these days or even talked about girls, and with no other outlet to meet women, his friend had jumped in to correct that in the most interfering way he could have. Gone were his days of dating one woman after another. He was tired of the chase, tired of looking for Miss Right and only finding Miss Not Quite Right.
Even Mike had to admit the end result hadn’t been too tragic. The girl across from him was beautiful, with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and sandy blond hair thrown back in a bun that made her look perpetually carefree. He’d expected a science geek who tripped over her feet and constantly pushed her oversized glasses back up her nose, but this woman… she proudly broke every stereotype about women in science.
“So, just so we can tell our friends we actually gave this a shot,” Michael said, trying to sound mildly disinterested, “tell me about yourself.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she answered, looking around the restaurant, obviously uncomfortable. He had no way of knowing her discomfort came from finding herself on a date with a guy who looked like he stepped off a pinup calendar photoshoot of hottie fireman. Emily was used to the kinds of guys who hung around the research lab, measuring dolphin droppings for a living while venturing out once in a while to attend an environmental rally. In a word, most of her past boyfriends had been skinny granola-geeks, not ex-Navy SEALs who’d served multiple combat missions and still worked out like they were preparing for the next one.
“Humor me. What’s your fancy degree in?”
“Marine biology,” she answered as briefly as she could, still put off by having to look him directly in the face.
“Cool. But isn’t that kind of cliche? Like, every cool science person wants to save the whales?”
“Actually, I’m into sustainable farming of the marine food chain,” Emily shot back with a cocky expression. “When the politicians keep denying climate change and we’re all living in a wasteland of global warming, you’ll happily
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