sweet tooth during the weekends they’d spent together. Her ideal breakfast was coffee and a sticky-sweet doughnut. “Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it,” she told him.
“True.”
“What’s on your plate for today?” she asked.
“Meetings this morning, then me and the guys are headed over to one of the elementary schools on base to volunteer. We’re reading to the kids, things like that.”
Imagining Walker sitting on a too-small chair reading to a bunch of kids who would be enthralled by whatever story he chose to read to them made Gillian’s panties damp. She wasn’t ready to have kids, but she couldn’t deny the thought of Walker holding a small baby made her ovaries go into overdrive. “Sounds fun,” she told him.
He huffed out a laugh. “Kids scare the crap out of me,” he admitted.
It was Gillian’s turn to laugh. “Why?”
“Because I’m afraid I’m gonna say the wrong thing and they’ll go home saying some bad word they learned from me and will be scarred for life. They’re like little sponges, absorbing everything around them, and I know I’m too intense. The last thing I want is them learning any bad habits from me.”
“Walker,” Gillian scolded. “You’re intense, yes, but not in a bad way. I’m sure they see you watching out for them. Being friendly with your guys. Being respectful to their teachers. Not tolerating bullying. Greeting the smallest kid in the class with a special handshake. They’re not stupid, they know when adults are bullshitting them, and you’re the last person to do that.”
“Thanks, Di,” he said softly.
Gillian heard someone say something to him in the background, and he told them he’d be right there. She wasn’t surprised when he came back on the phone and said, “I have to go.”
“I heard.”
“Thanks for calling. I needed to hear your voice this morning. I might be busy, but you’ll let me know how the taste test went this morning and when you’re on your way home?”
“Of course. I’m leaning toward the double chocolate cake, it should appeal to the greatest amount of people, but we’ll see how everything tastes when we get there,” Gillian said. “You’re still coming down this afternoon, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. If possible, I’ll see if I can leave a bit early and get there in time for dinner. That okay?”
“Of course. You’re always welcome here.” Gillian had given him a key to her apartment the weekend after he’d gifted her with the one to his place. Since he’d returned from being deployed, their relationship had moved forward at warp speed, but Gillian wasn’t complaining. She just hated having to be apart from him during the week. They hadn’t talked about moving in together, but every Sunday night when she had to say goodbye, it got harder and harder.
She knew it wasn’t feasible for him to move to Georgetown to live with her, so if they were going to move their relationship to the next level, she’d have to be the one to go to him. It would be difficult for her business, and she’d have to put a lot of miles on her car, but if Walker asked, she’d move in with him tomorrow.
She’d had a long conversation with Ann about her relationship with Walker and even though she’d been afraid her friend was going to tell her she was crazy, and that she was moving way too fast, Ann had asked her one question.
“If you got a phone call with the best news you’d ever heard in your life, who would be the first person you’d want to tell?”
The answer was easy. Walker. Gillian felt bad about that since she’d been friends with Ann for so long, but the other woman simply chuckled. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be when you love someone. They’re the first person you should want to turn to when something good happens, and something bad. You know I love you, as do Clarissa and Wendy, but you told us from almost the second you got back from Venezuela that you thought he was it for you. Moving in with him, being in a relationship with him or anyone else, doesn’t mean you love us less, it just means we have more to gossip about when we get together.”
“Gillian?”
She blinked and realized that she’d been daydreaming and not paying attention to Walker on the phone. “Sorry, I’m here.”
“Drive safe, and be careful walking to and from the caterer.”
“I will,” Gillian said. “I’ve got the pepper spray you