Dressed professionally, her skirt may have skimmed her knees but cupped her ass perfectly, something he had noted when walking behind her as they entered the diner. Her blouse was pale pink and made out of a soft, shiny material, giving her professional clothing a decidedly feminine touch.
The one thing that had always given Lynn an otherworldly appearance was her eyes—pale blue. They reminded him of a children’s book about elves his mother used to read to him and Nancy when they were little. The pictures in the book were so like Lynn. Hell, if she was anyone else, I’d see if she was up for a quick fling before I go back to my team.
A waitress came by, her gaze barely passing over Lynn but snagging on him, jerking him out of his perusal and the ridiculous train of thought. She popped her gum, then grinned widely. “Hey, sugar, what can I getcha?”
He and Lynn grabbed the plastic menus sticking up between the condiments on the table, Nolan pretending great interest in what the diner had to offer. Refusing to look at the waitress, he kept his gaze on Lynn. “Do you know what you want?”
She startled at his words, her gaze lifting to his before jumping back to the menu. “Um… a chicken salad sandwich and iced tea.”
“Chips or fries?” the waitress asked, cocking her hip as though she were in a hurry even though the diner was almost empty.
“Fries, please.”
Not giving the waitress a chance to speak to him further, he said, “I’ll have the same.”
She turned and flounced off, and he reached over to take the now fully-perused menu out of Lynn’s hands. Placing them back between the condiment bottles, he noted her clasped her hands together on the tabletop.
“It’s nice to see you again, Lynn,” he began. “It’s been a long time.” Her gaze jumped up to his, and a pink hue rose from her neck to her forehead. It was hard to not imagine how far down her chest the delicate blush extended.
Her gaze darted back to her clasped hands, and she cleared her throat. “Yes… um… yes, it has been. I kept up with you through Nancy. I mean… not kept up with you like I had to know what you were doing. But she would talk about you. And then, of course, I’d listen. I mean, I’d listen to anything she said, not just about you. But when she would talk about you, then I… um… knew you were doing well.”
Before he could think of anything to say to her rambling greeting, she propped her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands and moaned.
“I can’t believe I agreed to do this. I can’t even have a normal conversation. This is going to be such a disaster.”
Seeing her distress, he reached over and placed his hand lightly on her arm. “Yeah, I kinda had the same reaction.”
Her head jerked up, her eyes seeking his. “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
He held her gaze and watched as uncertainty moved through her eyes, quickly followed by suspicion.
“I want you to know that I had no idea she was trying to pair us together for this scheme. I know I’m the last person you’d want to—”
“Whoa, wait. Me thinking this is a bad idea isn’t personal, Lynn. Honest. I’m just not sure how to make it work.”
She sucked in her lips, thoughts moving behind her eyes. Nodding slowly, she said, “So, I know you’re a SEAL. I’m assuming this isn’t your typical mission.”
He barked out a laugh, and a smile slipped over her face. Surprised at how good it felt to laugh, he said, “No, this isn’t my typical mission. But how hard can it be, right?”
“I have no idea, Nolan. What Nancy’s asked us to do is so far out of my realm of comfort. Now that I’m sitting at the table with you, I think it was only a lapse of sanity that allowed me to agree.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time somebody has accused me of doing something that wasn’t very sane.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared for a long, silent moment. He fought the urge to squirm under her perusal. Finally, she said, “Well, you’re supposed to be the one to plan what we’re doing. I don’t know anything about this other than if I can get into the office where the computer is, I should be able to make a copy of the financial records.”
They were interrupted as the waitress served their food. Plopping the dishes rather unceremoniously in front of them, she turned her attention back to Nolan. “Anything else you want, sugar? Anything at all, you just call for me.”
Ignoring her once again, he glanced toward Lynn, whose eyes were pinned on the back of the waitress.
“Are you okay?”
Blinking, she blushed again and turned her attention to her plate. “Yeah, fine.”
For several moments they ate in silence. It didn’t take long for him to demolish his entire sandwich and fries then look up to see that Lynn had finished, leaving half of her meal. Swallowing, he nodded his head toward her plate and asked, “Are you done?”
“I’ll get a box to take the rest of this home.” She wiped her mouth delicately with the napkin, then took a long sip of iced tea. Settling her gaze back on him, she said, “So, our plan?”
Following suit, he pushed his plate back and finished his tea. “We’ll need to do a little research into the Cupid of The Mountains Wedding Chapel… Jesus, what a fuckin’ stupid name!”
A delightful giggle erupted from her lips, and he watched her face light with mirth and her blue eyes held him captive. Her beauty struck him in the gut right before it struck him in the crotch. Damn, this could get complicated. Giving his head a quick shake, he gritted his teeth. No, no! I will not let this get complicated! He shifted uncomfortably in the seat, trying to ease the blood rushing to his cock.
“Are you okay? I know Nancy mentioned you’d had surgery recently.”
Guilt hit him as he saw the concern in her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Just a… um… twinge, that’s all.”
“Well, let me know if you don’t feel like doing this now. I’m sure Nancy will understand.” Her hand reached out toward his arm, then halted before she jerked it back.
It was obvious that the elephant in the room about their last encounter was going to have to be dealt with, but he figured now was not that time. Forcing his thoughts back to the matter at hand, he said, “No, this is good. No time like the present.” Watching her shoulders relax, he continued. “I had a teammate that got married last summer at a large venue, and he talked about the number of trips they made to meet with all kinds of wedding… people.”
Laughter met his ears, and he watched as her eyes shone. “Wedding people? Probably caterers, florists, wedding planners, photographers, videographers, venue renters, bartenders, DJs. And that just starts the list.”
Grinning as well, he shook his head. “Shit, no wonder getting married isn’t high on my list of things I want to do.” As soon as his words were out of his mouth, the smile dropped from her face and he wished he could jerk the words back.
“Yes, well, marriage certainly isn’t for everyone.”
“I… um… yeah.” Sucking in a deep breath, he continued. “Anyway, what I meant was that unlike a wedding like what my friend was planning, these quick-marriage chapels are probably not used to couples coming in very often.”