"Shhhhhh! Sheesh, Rach, why don't you just scream it to the world?"
"Um, Dottie, we're the only ones here. The bar isn't open yet."
I looked around nervously anyway. "So what? They could have heard that scream two blocks away."
She rolled her eyes "Fine. I'll whisper if you want, but I want details. So, what, did he just walk up and grab you and kiss you?"
"Not exactly." I explained to her how AJ had managed to kiss me without even touching me in any other way.
"Wow." She leaned back against the bar and fanned herself with her hand. "So what did you do?"
"Do?"
"Do." If she rolled her eyes one more time, I was gonna smack her. "Did you kiss him back or what?"
"I tried to breathe and not pass out. That's what I did." I shook my head and turned to finish setting up the bar. "How's Clay?"
She sighed. "Well, he called last night, but he's going to be out of town for the next week. We're supposed to go out when he gets back. Does he spend a lot of time out of town?"
I hesitated. I'd always known what Clay's parents had done for their country, and I suspected Clay was doing something similar. That line he'd given me about working for the State Department was the perfect setup for a spy. I didn't want to lie to Rachel, but I also didn't really know if I wanted to encourage her too much. Clay had always been a bit of a playboy, and even though I was sure he had a good heart, I didn't want to see my best friend get hurt. "I'm pretty sure that his job takes him out of the country quite a bit."
"Damn. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to make his welcome home that much more special, won't I?"
Well, at least she had progressed from rolling her eyes to winking. "Should I warn him? He may want to have a chiropractor on call."
"Very funny. No, I guess I'll save the whips and handcuffs for later."
Great. We were back to the eye-rolling. "I'd laugh if I didn't know you owned those things."
Surprisingly, she dropped the subject after that. Four hours later, I was actually wanting her to bring it back up. AJ hadn't showed up. Now I was seriously losing my mind. Any other night, I wouldn't have thought too much about it, but after what happened last night, and after he'd specifically said that he would see me tonight, I was getting worried. What if he'd changed his mind since he'd kissed me? What if he'd changed his mind because he'd kissed me? What if I was just insane? My God, I sounded like one of those women in those trashy historical romance novels Rachel's always reading. A few deep breaths and I managed to calm myself down, only to turn around and almost start hyperventilating.
"Good evening, Dottie."
I found myself staring at the unreadable smile on his face as I searched for my voice. "Hey." Oh, that was good. "You want a beer?"
"After a three hour meeting with the SecNav? Make it Scotch."
A meeting. That explained why he was later than usual. "Bad day?" I set the glass in front of him.
"And long." He took a sip of the amber liquid.
"I don't suppose you want to talk about it?" Please tell me I didn't sound as desperate as I felt.
He shook his head. "Can't."
"Oh." Somehow I managed to keep a pleasant smile on my face as I walked over to Rachel. "Can you take over for a few? I've got to take care of something in the office."
She turned around from where she'd been wiping down some tables to smirk at the sight of AJ sitting on his usual barstool. "Sure. You go take care of him all you want."
Once again fighting the urge to smack her, I walked into the office and carefully closed the door behind me. I leaned back against it and closed my eyes. Shit. This was just what I was afraid of. I don't know how long I stood there leaning on the door. It was probably just a few minutes, but it felt like hours. I wish I could tell you what I was thinking, but my brain had frozen. I finally headed over to my desk, deciding I'd better sit down, since I could no longer feel my legs. I'd only made it halfway across the small room when the door behind me opened. I spun around to see AJ walk in, locking the door behind himself. "What are you doing in here?"
"Trying to find out why you're hiding from me." He crossed his arms over his chest in a manner that I'm sure was very intimidating under usual circumstances. That night though, I couldn't have been more nervous than I already was, so the gesture was wasted.
I couldn't help taking a step backwards, even as I tried my best brave voice. "I'm not hiding. I had some things I had to take care of."
He nodded slightly before uncrossing his arms and rubbing one hand across the back of his neck. "Maybe I overstepped last night. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Maybe I'd better just go."
I caught him as he reached for the doorknob. "Wait, AJ. Don't go."
His gaze traveled from my hand on the sleeve of his uniform up to my face, but he didn't say anything.
"Maybe we need to talk." I slid my hand down to his and led him over to the ratty love seat in the corner. "Why did you come in here, anyway?"
One look at his face and I answered my own question. "I need to kill her."
He grinned. "You don't want to do that. Then who would beat sense into my 'stubborn, male brain'?"
"I apologize for my friend. She has no tact, and way too much interest in my business."
"She's your best friend, of course she has too much interest in your business. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't? Of course, I have been in front of congressional subcommittees that asked easier questions."
"Well, if this thing works out between her and Clay, maybe she can help him interrogate prisoners."
He seemed to actually consider it. "She'd be good at it, but something tells me that's not what you wanted to talk about. Listen, I never meant to make you uncomfortable by kissing you like that. I wouldn't want to do anything that would mess up our friendship."
"You didn't. I just, well, it's been a long time. Since I felt this way, I mean."
He grinned that slow sexy grin. "What way is that?"
"Huh?" Back to earth, Dottie. "Oh. Confused, attracted, a little scared maybe."
"Ok, so maybe we'll just take this slow, and see where it goes."
"I'd like that."
The kiss that followed was slow, sweet and so hot my toes curled up inside my tennis shoes.