AJ and I talked and everything else fell away. I didn’t check my phone or the watch my parents gave me as a graduation gift. I didn’t know if it had been fifteen minutes or two hours since he’d brought me that first glass of wine. We talked. We laughed. He made several trips to the bar for us. As each joke was told. As each story was explained, our bodies inched closer. Our voices grew quieter, until our fingers threaded through each other’s, and the courtyard had cleared.
I wasn’t sure when we became the only two people outside. There was a noticeable stillness around us even though the music played from Travis’s high-end outdoor speakers.
“There’s one thing you’ve been mysterious about,” I toyed with him.
“What’s that?” His eyebrows lifted.
“You haven’t said what you do now. You’ve heard all about my lit to computer story, but where do you work?”
He pressed his
perfect kissable lips together. “It’s not great party conversation.”
“Did you become a mortician?” I teased.
He laughed. A deep laugh that made a little part of me melt from the sincerity. “No, funeral homes are not in the Hart legacy.”
“All right then, what is it? Don’t tell me you’re an economist. That would be ironic since you remember nothing from Econ 10.”
“Wouldn’t it?” He smiled. “Actually, I’m finishing up at the Academy.”
“Hmm. In D.C. that could mean about ten different things. Are you going to make me guess?”
I liked the way he leaned in closer, even though there was no one in earshot of us.
“The FBI Academy in Quantico. Just down the road from here.”
My eyes widened. “Wow. I didn’t expect that.”
He chuckled. “I get a mixed bag of reactions. I’m hoping not to draw a lot of attention to it. I’ve kept the training relatively quiet, but I’ll be done in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s understandable.” Although, I had a hundred questions. “Does that mean you were in some kind of law enforcement program at Carolina? I don’t remember that part.” Thank God there was something I didn’t know about his college resume.
“My major was Peace, War and Defense. I probably didn’t announce that either.” His smirk was sexy.
“What does that even mean? I don’t think I’ve heard that one.”
There was that intoxicating laugh again. “I knew I wanted to go into law somehow. It was a good foundation. That’s all it was. Just a way to go into some sort of law service. I wasn’t convinced back then it wasn’t going to be the military. But my dad was in the agency. I liked the idea of being the next Hart to take his place.”
“That sounds like a sentimental reason to choose a career.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “I’m not sentimental. I like to operate on logic. It made sense. I could carry on the Hart name in the Bureau. Continue the work he had done.”
I considered his answer. I didn’t want to argue with him, that somewhere deep down he had to have an attachment to the legacy. That there must be a reason for wanting to be the next generation of Harts at the Bureau. I was having too much fun to press him about it.
“I think we’ve closed down the party.” I looked over his shoulder. Becca and Travis were inside cleaning the kitchen.
He followed my gaze. “I guess you’re right.” He lifted my hand so our palms slid together. “Should we leave?” he asked. “Maybe we’ve overstayed our welcome.”
The question hung between us. I didn’t want it to be over. The housewarming I never wanted to attend was now the party I never wanted to leave. I was happy on the bench. I was happy connecting, or re-connecting, whatever it was we were doing.
AJ cleared his throat. “Can I buy you a drink on the way home?”
“Oh. I thought—”
He laughed. “I might have been a stupid dick not to notice you in Econ 10, but I see you now, Sydney Miller.”
I blushed, but this time it was from the boldness in his flirting.