Page 56 of Mountain Defender
“Meal ready to eat, yeah. Never had one, though.”
“If you’re lucky, you get shipped to a spot that has decent food made by villagers. Here in the mountains, we’re lucky we’re within twenty miles of fast food.”
“Your base is in a pretty isolated spot, though,” she noted.
The waitress returned with their drinks, and he watched Alexia meticulously add sugar packets to her iced tea and stir the beverage with her straw. He took a gulp of his black coffee and winced.
Alexia’s smiled transformed her face from not just pretty to breathtaking. “Is it bad?”
“Wanna try some?” He pushed the mug toward her.
“I’ll pass. After those two cups you fixed for me, I don’t want coffee for a while.”
They shared a smile. “You really are grumpy in the mornings.”
That morning even her appearance looked grumpy, with her hair restrained in that harsh ponytail low on her neck and the strands slicked against her skull. That was why he removed it and threaded his fingers through the locks.
He itched to touch her hair now. To touch all of her.
“We’re not discussing my morning moods. You were telling me about what you eat on an op.”
“I’d rather tell you about what we eat on base. It’s much more fulfilling. Guns is damn good at fixing anything that requires grill marks or can be smoked, which means the MT Ops team is fueled by protein.”
“I imagine men like you eat a lot of meat.”
“Oh yeah, we’re carnivores. One of our ongoing jokes is that if we ever get snowed in and need to start killing off each other, at least we know Guns can make us taste good.”
She giggled. “Oh god, that’s terrible but funny too.”
Tripp stared at her. Since he never dated, he didn’t get chances like this. The closest he came to sharing a meal with a woman was when Rafe brought Zoe into the barracks. Sitting across from Alexia and enjoying watery coffee made him feel…alive in a way he hadn’t in a long time.
Adrenaline rushes were the norm to someone like him who experienced them often. But this woman gave him another kind of rush, one that made him want to sit right here and just listen to her talk.
“What don’t I know about you, Alexia?”
She took a quick swallow of her tea as if fighting nerves she never displayed on the job.
“Uh…I’m good at hitting people with cars?”
They shared a laugh. “That skill could come in handy.”
She relaxed, propping one elbow on the table and cradling her delicate chin. “There’s not much to know. I’m kind of a workaholic.”
“I know the feeling.”
“I bet you do.”
“Do you date?”
“Not often. After that last boyfriend…”
“The one you had arrested?”
“To be fair, hewasdealing drugs out of the back of his auto parts van.”
He leaned back in his seat. “All the pieces are falling into place now.”
“What pieces are you referring to?” Her eyes glimmered with mischief.