“I’d like that, Rob.” I heard myself and frowned. “Do you mind me calling you that? I just realized that I was.”
“No. It’s informal and I love it for that reason alone.” He smiled and pushed back from the counter as he stared at my lips for a moment. I knew that he wanted to kiss me and my legs were shaking with the need to crawl across the counter as I twitched. “Take care of yourself. I’ll talk to you soon.” There was a note of regret in his voice as he walked away and I almost reached out to stop him, but for what reason? What would I say?
The door closed and he was gone, along with the electricity in the air that I felt whenever he was around. I sighed and wiped at a tiny drop of coffee on the counter for a moment before looking over the dining room. Some of the tables had cleared and I happened to notice the jogger was gone as well. Oddly enough, it was close to Robert’s exit and I looked through the glass to see her talking to him by his car as insecurity struck me all over again. When I went out there to clean up tables, I noticed Mike smiling at me from his usual table. I remembered that he was talking to Robert and frowned as I considered asking him what they were discussing. “I like him,” he told me as I looked back out the window to see that blonde watching him back up. “You girls are like my own granddaughters and I needed him to know that as well. I look out for people that I care about.”
All the warm feelings from living in a small town flooded me as I looked at the floor. “Thank you.”
“I think that he has good intentions with you, Molly.” I nodded and sniffled as he patted my arm, slowly making my way around the room to clean. I had a few hours left of my shift but I felt good right now in this moment.
I’d decided to take a nap by the time we were leaving, and that was when I realized I left my backpack over at Robert’s house. I knew that I had everything that I needed at home for the night, but I smiled as I thought about going over to get it later tonight. When my eyes dropped closed in the car, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.
Chapter 17
Robert
I went to sit outside for lunch, needing some fresh air. I packed a sandwich from home and looked over the pretty mountains as I ate, thinking about the night and morning. Holding Molly had felt incredible last night and waking up with her was one of the most addicting things I’d ever experienced.
Not that watching her come from between her legs wasn’t intense. The way that she looked when she gave all of herself to me overwhelmed me at times, and I felt like a kid in high school with his first crush. It was insane. I’d done a lot of things with a lot of women and couldn’t recall too many of the details now, and I had yet to have sex with Molly. It was everything about her that I liked and the intimacy was just a bonus. That was something that I’d never done with a woman before Molly and it caught me off guard so much of the time.
I glanced up as I heard voices and watched as Olivia came out with one of my colleagues. “Robert, hello. Getting some fresh air?”
“There’s nothing like it in a place like this,” I replied as they sat down with food. Olivia gave me a curious look as she unwrapped a sandwich and I sensed that she was wondering if I’d looked into her date.
I hadn’t. I was happy with my own life and stepping back as the hard ass that I was known as. I knew that might get me into trouble later down the road but for now, I was happy. I was incredibly happy.
“Did you have a good time the other night?” Olivia asked me as Michael looked between us. She was digging a hole for herself here but I merely nodded. I saw the curiosity of who I was with more than concern for her own job.
“Yeah,” I told her vaguely, offering nothing. She frowned and picked up the sub as Michael raised an eyebrow. I knew the look in his eyes. He was wondering if there was something between us and I would set him straight about that as soon as I could, even though there was nothing technically wrong with the thought. I could date but I made a point not to at work. Olivia was attractive and it was known that she didn’t consider work a place to not hook up. I reminded myself why I transferred here in the first place all over again. I was cleaning up the mess from another scandal. I needed to keep things strict on the base and letting Michael assume anything was foolish, given my reputation. I took a sip of my water and pictured Molly’s face in my mind, feeling a calm come over me.
Molly was everything that I didn’t look for in a woman, yet here I was dating her. Not only dating her, but I was waiting for her.
Lunch ended and we went back in to wait for the class, with Michael taking a seat beside me in the back of the room as Olivia headed to the front. She was beautiful, confident, and oozed that she was submissive but Olivia did nothing for me.
“So, what was she getting at back there?” Michael asked me, reminding me of a teenager in high school before class, gossiping in the hallway.
“I’m dating a woman in town and she ran into us the other night. That’s all,” I responded as the guys filed back into the room. I still left out the part about who she was with, but I looked closely at every student that walked into the room. He’d been dark-haired and I frowned as everyone looked alike to me. I hadn’t expected to see Olivia that night and I was so caught up in Molly. My tactic changed and I watched Olivia for a moment as she let her eyes linger a bit too long on someone in the front, her face flushing as she smiled.
Bingo.
I sat back and smiled as she glanced back my way. Olivia’s face went pale when she saw the smug expression on my face, her voice shaking as she started the lesson. Today, I was flying along with Michael against them and adrenaline raced through my veins.
I noted the face of the student as we made our way out to the planes though it wasn’t intentional to knock him out first. I was on fire and I landed with a grin and an erection that made me long for Molly. Nothing was better than taking a woman after a moment like this, buried so deep inside of her as I released all my stress.
After class, I asked Olivia to join me in my office. She nodded and followed me as I led the way, thinking of what to say through my adrenaline. “Take a seat.” I watched as she complied and crossed her legs in the pencil skirt that she wore. The look she gave me told me that she was ready and willing for anything I asked of her, smoldering and full of heat. That student was one lucky man with a woman like this, but I reminded myself that it was unprofessional.
“Are you dating a student, Olivia?” I asked her directly as she grimaced slightly. “You do know why I was brought here, don’t you? There was a pile of shit left over from the last scandal on this base.”
“There was a marriage involved in that,” she defended herself as I dropped into my chair and stared at her.
“It doesn’t fucking matter,” my voice was low as the rage rose inside of me. I hated sloppy behavior on a base, always had. I’d done my share of messing around with women in my younger days, but Dad always told me that I needed to keep it away from work. “He’s a student and you’re his teacher. I don’t even have to remind you how many things are wrong with that.”
“You could go out with me,” she suggested seductively as I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t even with the lack of rules attached to the situation because I was falling for Molly.
“No, I can’t. I’m involved with someone,” I reminded her as Olivia raised a perfect dark eyebrow.
“She’s so young. What does she even do for you?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“That is none of your business. Regardless of my personal life, you are not allowed to date a student. You need to end it immediately or else your job is on the line.” She stared at me with wide eyes. That was what I was here for and Olivia blinked at me.