Page 4 of Codename: Dustoff

“I’m fine.”

Her gritted teeth said otherwise.

“I couldn’t help overhear.” I pointed towards the alcove where she’d taken her phone call a moment earlier. “I can certainly empathize if you want to talk about it.”

“You can empathize?” she asked, with a snotty cock of her eyebrow. “So you served as well?”

This was probably the reason that I didn’t initiate conversation with people I didn’t know. I always ended up sticking a foot in my mouth. Only two weeks into meeting this woman and she’d probably already put me on the never in a million years would I date you list.

“Not with that. But I’ve been on the receiving end of people feeling uncomfortable around me. Especially people I used to work with who would rather not look at me or be around me anymore, because I remind them of how dangerous working on a rail yard can be.”

“I’m fine,” she repeated, this time with more emphasis. I desperately searched for a way to pivot the conversation but couldn’t think of anything. For the first time in years I had that first tingle of a connection, and I was one pitch away from striking out.

“Hey, you two, the meeting is about to start!” Gemini called from the ballroom.

At least I was saved from further making myself look more awkward than I already did.