Mommy Loves The Military Man (Mommy's Little Matchmakers Book 2) Page 7

  “Even after meeting Boomer? I would think that would be reason enough to hightail it in the opposite direction.”

  Alex chuckled. “Every relationship has its challenges.”

  She laughed but then her smile fell. There was something else she wanted to say. “I guess that means it’s official.”

  “What’s official?”

  “Up to this point, the girls seemed to be sticking their nose into this, uh, situation. Conspiring to get the two of us together. But this feels like a real date.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Let me see. Fancy clothes: check. Flowers: check. Dog greeting: check. Sounds like a date to me.”

  That got her laughing again.

  “In all seriousness, let me be clear… this is a real date. I’m very interested in you and I think you’re interested in me. I don’t casual date and I don’t hook up. I have Mariana to consider—”

  “And I have Lizzie.”

  “Exactly. I’ve put a lot of thought into this. I want to see what might happen between us.”

  He searched her expression for any hint of doubt or reluctance and found it in the slight pause before she spoke, her gaze focused anywhere but on him. He’d have to figure out what was holding her back and prove to her that she had nothing to be worried about.

  That’s what tonight was about. Showing her that they could be good together.

  The musicians began a new song, something slow and romantic, and a few couples stepped up to the tiny dance floor. Dancing would be the perfect excuse to have Cameron in his arms. He stood and extended his hand. “Would you like to dance?”

  Her eyes sparkled as she slipped her hand into his. He guided her to the floor, slid his right hand onto Cameron’s hip, and grasped her hand with the other. After tucking their hands to his chest, he pulled her closer.

  She looked up at him, her dark lashes framing her navy blue eyes. Could she feel his heart racing beneath their clasped hands? Having Cameron in his arms—finally—was all he could ever hope for.

  Her expression softened as they swayed, and her gaze locked on his… until it dropped to his lips. Was she imagining the same thing he was?

  Her lips parted, and it was all the invitation he needed. He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. When she relaxed into him, he kissed one corner of her soft lips, slid along them, and then kissed the other corner. Her hand snaked around his neck and her fingers threaded into his hair.

  But then he remembered where they were. After kissing her fully once more, he pulled back.

  She ran her finger along her lips and breathed out a single word. “Wow.”

  “Yeah, wow.”

  “Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat behind him.

  Oh geez. Here he was, making out with Cameron in public, where everyone could see… everyone being his division chief, Major Williamson. Alex wasn’t in uniform, but that didn’t stop his hands from fisting at his sides as he straightened his spine.

  He hadn’t thought this through. Coming to the country club increased the odds of running into someone he knew. He’d just wanted to see Cameron in a pretty dress, and this was the first place he thought of. “Sir. Good evening, sir.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Sanchez.”

  “Of course not, sir.” He gestured to Cameron. “May I present Ms. Cameron Baldwin? Cameron, this is my division chief, Major Andrew Williamson.”

  Cameron smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you, sir.”

  “And you, too. This is my lovely wife Christina.” After Major Williamson acknowledged Cameron, he directed his attention back to Alex. “I understand congratulations are in order, Mr. Sanchez.”

  Alex couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face. “Thank you, sir.”

  Cameron shifted beside him. “It sounds like something exciting is going on.”

  Alex glanced at Major Williamson, and he nodded at Alex, tacit permission for him to share. “We just received the final approval for deployment of the virtual reality battlefield intelligence system that I’ve been working on.”

  “And it came in ahead of schedule and under budget. We couldn’t have asked for more, Sanchez, except for you to be part of the deployment team.” Major Williamson extended his hand and Alex absently shook it.

  He understood why his chief wanted him on site to deploy the system he’d spent months developing, but he couldn’t go, as much as he wanted to. He picked this position specifically so he didn’t have to deploy. But would the major’s words remind Cameron that he didn’t actually have control over his assignments? That regardless of what Alex wanted, he could be sent to the field at any time? “Thank you, sir.”

  “We won’t keep you from your evening any longer. I promised my wife a dance, but I hadn’t had a chance to congratulate you since the final approval came through.” The major guided his wife to another section of the dance floor.

  That conversation was a mood killer, definitely. Alex would like to rewind about fifteen minutes and hide from the major so he could finish what he started with Cameron. Their dance disrupted, he escorted her back to the table. When he sat beside her, she smiled in a way that lit up her entire face. He figured the interruption wasn’t as bad as he thought. “That system sounds like a big deal. Tell me about it. At least as much as you’re allowed.”

  He wasn’t one to brag, but he was especially proud of the system he’d had a hand in developing. “It is a big deal for the troops. This is the next generation of battlefield technology. It’ll allow our forces to identify hostiles within structures. The screens are larger but lighter, which is important for any kind of wearable technology. I may not be in a deployable unit anymore, but this way I can help the guys in the field by improving their equipment.”

  “And it’s going to be installed soon?”

  “For field testing, yeah. We try to simulate every situation in the labs, but there’s nothing like testing it with sand swirling all around you while you’re crouched behind a blown-out building. They discover issues that we haven’t even thought of.” Issues he wouldn’t have a hand in finding, because he was here in Virginia.

  He thought he’d shoved his need to serve with a deployed unit down so far that it would never resurface. He was doing what he needed to do for Mariana, and meeting Cameron solidified his reason to remain in a non-deployable position.

  But the Major’s words, and describing his project to Cameron, tugged at his desire to see the project from beginning to end—to support his team more meaningfully. How could he convince Cameron he was here to stay when he was beginning to suspect he might need to go?

  * * *

  You should have seen Mom before your dad picked her up tonight. She looked great. Lizzie typed furiously into her cell phone, hiding the screen behind her pillow so Grandma wouldn’t see her texting. Grandma thought Lizzie had gone to sleep an hour ago.

  Dad wore a suit. He was so handsome. He had me pick out his tie, Mariana responded.

  Boomer almost ruined it. He jumped all over your dad and tried to eat the flowers. It was hilarious.

  LOL.

  Fingers crossed. Oh, wait, I think I just heard them pull up. Lizzie dropped her phone onto the bed and crept to the window, careful not to touch the curtains.

  Mr. Sanchez helped Mom out of his car and put his arm around her waist. Lizzie covered her mouth to keep from squealing. They walked up the sidewalk and stopped on the porch. And then they started kissing!

  Lizzie slapped her hands over her eyes. She didn’t want to see this. But Mariana would want details, so she spread her fingers and peeked. Mom had her hands on Mr. Sanchez’s shoulders and she was smiling at him. He kissed her one more time and then stepped down the stairs. Mom stayed on the porch until Mr. Sanchez pulled away and then Lizzie heard the front door open.

  Lizzie hurried over to the bed and snatched up her phone. OMG. They kissed goodnight. On the mouth and everything. We’ll be sisters in no time.

  Chapter Seven

  Cameron s
tared into the pantry. How could she spend so much money on food and there still be nothing to eat? The cupboard was full of ingredients instead of anything she could just shove into her mouth. A travesty.

  As a mom, she should do the responsible thing and make a healthy meal. As a worn out professional, ordering pizza sounded like a great idea.

  The doorbell rang. Great, something else to deal with. She was full-up on issues today. She’d get rid of whoever was at the door and then order the pizza that was calling her name.

  “Woof.” Boomer leapt up from his dog bed and hurried toward the door.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. Get back here, Boomer.” Cameron dragged him into the kitchen. Normally he would climb into his crate without much hassle, but not when someone was at the door. She pointed his head into his crate and shoved her entire backside against his butt. He was one strong sucker. She finally overpowered him and he fell face-first into the crate.

  She slammed the cage shut before he could escape. “Whew.”

  The bell rang again. “Coming. Coming.”

  She opened the door to find Alex and Mariana on the other side, each holding a plastic bag.

  She was ridiculously happy to see them both. Especially since it looked like they’d solved her food problem. “What’s all this?”

  Alex stepped through the door and pressed his lips to her cheek. She felt like a giddy schoolgirl, swooning because the boy she liked had kissed her. “Dinner. You had that big deliverable today and I figured you wouldn’t have had much time to think about food.”

  He’d been doing lots of little things like this for her since they’d started officially “dating.”

  “Here, Dad. I’m going to find Lizzie.” Mariana shoved her bag into Alex’s arms and sprinted up the stairs.

  She kissed him back. “You must be psychic. I was just staring into the pantry, hoping some idea would jump out at me.”

  “Then this is perfect. You get a ready-made meal and I get to spend more time with you.” He brushed his lips over her cheek again, a promise of more to come at the end of the night. That was one perk of dating Alex she wasn’t going to deny she liked—the kisses at the end of the night.

  It was hard, each of them raising kids on their own, to find time to themselves. Since the girls got along so well, they often spent time together, the four of them… or five, if Mom was around. But Mom had been making herself suspiciously scarce recently, like at the end of the day, when she and Alex had a chance to be alone. Well, as alone as they could be with two meddling ten-year-olds, the four of them playing a board game after dinner or watching a movie, the girls sprawled on the floor while she and Alex got to snuggle on the couch.

  Mom had also given them several opportunities to go out again. Nothing as fancy as the country club, but time together. They spent hours getting to know each other. Compared east coast and west coast childhoods. Alex shared some of the traditions his family brought with them when they emigrated from Central Mexico, and she described how her life in California was so different than Virginia. They even talked about falling in love—with their spouses. For as ugly as the end was, the beginning of her relationship with Josh had been great. Those were the times she tried to remember when she wanted to wring his neck for leaving her alone with their daughter.

  Each night together with Alex ended with a kiss on her porch. She loved talking to Alex, listening to the deep rumble of his voice as he laughed, but those few minutes of intimacy before he left for the night were some of her favorite times.

  “Mom, come quick!” Lizzie’s panicked voice carried from upstairs.

  Cameron darted toward the stairs. Alex shoved the bags onto the table and was right on her heels. Cameron found Lizzie in the bathroom, water pouring out of the toilet onto the tile floor, soaking the bathmat and heading toward the door… and the carpeted hallway.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I flushed a tissue and instead of going down, the water started getting on the floor.”

  Alex quickly grabbed Lizzie up and set her outside the bathroom. “Can you get me a plunger and a wrench?”

  “Lizzie, run get those things for Alex.”

  While Cameron stood in the hall, Alex snatched two towels off the rack and started mopping at the thankfully clean water. Lizzie returned a minute later with the wrench. “Here, Alex.”

  Alex reached behind the toilet, twisted a few times, and the water stopped spilling out of the bowl.

  Lizzie and Mariana stuck their heads into the open doorway, like watching Alex turning off the water was the most exciting thing they’d ever seen. “I don’t know why that happened, Mom. It was just a tissue.”

  “Something has clogged it up.” Alex shoved the plunger into the toilet a few times. “I’ll have this taken care of in a few minutes.”

  “Lizzie, how about you go help Mariana with the food. I’ll stay here in case Alex needs anything else.”

  Of course, the girls didn’t move, their eyes locked on Alex.

  “Girls.”

  Lizzie sighed and the two of them slumped down the stairs.

  Alex shoved his sleeves up his arms, which gave her a glimpse of his corded muscles as he pushed the plunger into the toilet again. After a huge gurgle, Alex reached down and came up with… a Barbie head wrapped in tissue. “What do we have here?”

  Cameron just shook her head. “Boomer.” The dog hadn’t met a toy he didn’t consider his own.

  Alex laughed and threw Barbie in the garbage can. “It should be fine, now. I’ll just clean up in here… and myself… and I’ll be right down.”

  Cameron mentally marked another item off her list. Rescuer: check. Sometimes being a single mother meant she had to deal with the dirty work she’d rather not, like killing bugs and, yes, unclogging toilets. But Alex hadn’t hesitated to pitch in.

  Her list was rapidly being checked off.

  Alex plunged his hands under the faucet and scrubbed them with soap. “What’s wrong?”

  She sighed. Yes, it might be nice to have someone else around to help with Boomer and unclog the toilets and chase critters out of the house, but this wasn’t the woman she wanted to be. She wanted to be sophisticated and put together. If that was too much to ask, she’d at least like to hide the less than desirable stuff until Alex knew her better. “This is not what you signed up for.”

  Alex wiped his hands and arms on a towel and stepped in front of her. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m a mess. We met when I slammed into you on the sidewalk because I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’ve got a dog that eats garbage and farts and throws up… and loses his toys in toilets when he gets a drink. There has got to be someone easier than me.”

  He tucked his finger under her chin. “Easier, maybe, but I like this Cameron.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Now go downstairs. I’ll be there in a sec.”

  She nodded. As she turned to leave, he smacked her on the backside with his towel.

  She laughed and hurried into the kitchen where the girls were pulling Styrofoam containers out of the bags, a steady stream of conversation between them.

  “Thanks so much, girls. Alex rescued a Barbie that decided to go swimming. I’m afraid to tell you… she didn’t make it.”

  “Boomer,” Lizzie and Mariana said at the same time.

  The three of them turned to the pooch in his crate, his head resting on his paws, his eyes begging for forgiveness. He could just stay in there a little longer and think about what he had done.

  Alex stepped into the kitchen, his sleeves still rolled up as she carried the last plate to the table.

  The four of them sat down and the girls immediately picked up where they had left off when Cameron had joined them. Alex smiled like a kid in a candy store.

  “You’re in a good mood today. Even after unclogging my toilet.”

  “I am. During our team’s video chat today, we talked about the early test results. I was able to see some of the simulations t
he team ran in the field and it was almost as though I was wearing the headset myself. It was so cool.”

  “Sounds like you’re playing video games.” She could almost picture Alex as a child, his eyes gleaming as he talked about scaling buildings and jumping over barricades.

  “I used to love video games as a kid. I never thought I’d get to play them as an adult. At the same time, I’m making our soldiers safer out there.” The glimmer in his eye dimmed briefly. If Cameron hadn’t gotten to know him so well, she might not have noticed. But then he screwed on a smile and dug into his pasta like nothing had happened.

  She studied this little family they had created, their two girls who were as close as sisters, shoving bites of food into their mouths between thoughts. And Alex, by her side, like a partner should be. The situation felt perfect. Well, almost perfect, because beneath his happy exterior, she suspected that Alex wished he were overseas with his deployment team.

  What if that happened? What if Alex were deployed again? Could she handle sitting at home, waiting for the man she loved to return from wherever he had globetrotted off to?

  As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she realized it wasn’t fair. As a member of the military, Alex wasn’t in control of his assignments. He was doing his duty.

  And who said anything about love?

  * * *

  Alex hoped that he’d covered in front of Cameron. It was true that early test results on the VR system were positive. But others weren’t. He was fixing what he could from here and testing in their simulation lab, but Major Williamson had hinted that Alex should oversee the final implementation on site.

  “Alex?” Concern flooded Cameron’s gaze.

  He tilted his head toward Mariana and Lizzie, and Cameron nodded. They had developed this easy, silent communication and were able to let each other know when there was a topic that should be saved for later. Much like a married couple.