Hiding Catherine

by Jennifer Becker

  “You are direct.” It wasn’t a question.

  “One of my many qualities.” Curses.

  “Yeah, that’s why I came. I would have come sooner but I’ve been dealing with work stuff, and this was the first chance I had.”

  “I still appreciate it either way.”

  “Catherine,” she heard Nadine yell at her. “We have people needing to check out.” Catherine forgot she was still on the clock.

  “Coming,” she yelled back at Nadine. “I have to go,” she told Charlie. “Maybe we can do dinner sometime?” She suggested. Catherine could have smacked herself in the head. What was she thinking? Men didn’t like when women asked them out. And what happened to her keeping her distance rule? Moth to a flame.

  Without waiting to hear his rejection Catherine turned around and headed back to her register. She was shocked to see there was one customer up front and Nadine was finishing up with him.

  “I was trying to save you. It looked like he had you cornered back there.” Nadine explained when the customer left.

  Catherine appreciated what Nadine had been trying to do, but she liked Charlie’s attention. It had been a long time since a guy gave her the time of day and actually talked to her, instead of criticizing her. Bad memories of her previous boyfriend tried to surface, but Catherine pushed them back into the recesses of her mind. “I wasn’t trapped in any way. I enjoyed talking to Charlie, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with his face. He is handsome inside and out, and if you can’t see that, then that’s your problem. Just because he doesn’t look like Channing Tatum or whoever celebrity crush you have this week, doesn’t mean others don’t find him handsome. He’s still a person, so show some compassion.” She was all but yelling at the end of her tirade, and she didn’t know who was more shocked by her bravado her or Nadine.

  Nadine stared at her with her mouth open in shock, then looked over Catherine’s shoulder. Catherine knew who was standing behind her, and she didn’t think she could bear to look behind her to see Charlie. “I have to go.” Catherine grabbed her purse behind the register and fled the building. She never worried about locking her purse up because she had little money in it and she had nothing worth stealing. It made it convenient for a fast getaway. She heard her name being called out behind her, but she ignored it. She was so embarrassed. She had not only yelled at Nadine; she shouted that she found Charlie handsome. This day couldn’t get any worse. Catherine opened her purse and looked for her keys as she approached the car. She dug around but couldn’t find them or hear them jingle. It was getting dark out, and there were a few parking lot lamps in the back and front to help her see. When she got to her car, she set her purse down on the hood and rummaged through it more thoroughly.

  “Catherine,” Charlie called out behind her.

  Catherine stiffened. She wished a hole would open underneath her and swallow her whole, but she knew that was unlikely. She would have to face Charlie. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that.” She said over her shoulder, still looking for her keys she was suspecting now she didn’t have.

  “I’m not.”

  That comment took her back. She stopped looking for her keys and turned around, and saw Charlie standing a few feet away from her with his hands in his front pant pockets. If she had to guess she would say he looked unsure of himself. That didn’t make sense. “You’re not?” She asked skeptically.

  “No, not many have ever come to my rescue that wasn't one of my teammates. Nor have I ever had a woman shout that they found me handsome.”

  Catherine groaned in pain. “Can we just forget I ever said that?”

  Catherine didn’t think it was possible, but his scowl seemed to deepen. “Did you lie to that girl then? You don’t think I’m handsome?” His voice was devoid of emotion, but she knew a lot hung in her answer.

  Catherine put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “No never. Every word I said was true. I noticed you months ago when I first started. I do find you handsome.” There let him stew on that.

  Charlie’s shoulders slightly dropped as if he had been bracing himself for her words. “And this?” he used his thumb and indicated his face.

  Catherine stepped closer until only a few inches separating them. Up close she could smell his cologne. She had no idea what it was, but it was a woodsy smell. It made her want to burrow into his chest and breathe deeply. She reached up towards his face. She watched him to see if it was okay to touch him. His body went rigid again, but he nodded it was all right. Catherine did the one thing she had been longing to do since the first time she saw him. She touched his face.

  Heat radiated off his skin. The scars were deep, and the skin around them was puckered. The scars started at his temple and ran along the side of his cheek to his mouth. Her fingers traced the deep grooves to the smaller nicks. She touched the bridge of his nose feeling an indent, knowing he had broken it before. Her other hand came up and caressed his other cheek. Charlie stood there in silence with his eyes closed breathing deeply. She didn’t know if she was hurting him or not, so she pulled away.

  “No, your scars don’t bother me.” She had seen her brothers, and they didn’t bother her either. While both men’s scars looked painful, she knew the scars didn’t make the man.

  Charlie opened his eyes and stared at her. “You’re the first person who has ever touched them that wasn’t my doctor.” His words were softly spoken as if he was talking more to himself than to her.

  “Well, thank you for letting me do it.” They fell into an awkward silence staring at each other in the parking lot. “I should go.” She needed to leave. She was in danger of falling for this man. She couldn’t allow that. Fantasize about him, yes, but she couldn’t get involved with him.

  “Were you being serious when you asked me to dinner?” Charlie asked her hesitantly, wondering if she had wanted to go out with him or just being polite.

  Catherine momentarily forgot about her plan to leave and laughed. “You really never forget a detail, do you?”

  “I try not to. Comes with the job description.” He half chuckled, the mood suddenly lighter.

  “I shouldn’t have been so forward.”

  “It’s refreshing.”

  “And if I was serious, what would be your answer? Not saying that I did ask.” Catherine bit her lip and waited for Charlie’s answer.

  “Well first, you did ask, so you can’t take it back. Second, my answer would be when and where.”

  Catherine’s eyes widened, and a smile broke across her face. “Really? You’d go out with me?” She hadn’t been expecting that.

  He shook his head in bewilderment at her. “Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

  “I got the impression I was annoying you more than anything when you drove me home.”

  “No, I had just gotten back from out of town, and things hadn’t gone well. I was in a bad mood. It had nothing to do with you.”

  She wanted to ask him about it but being on a military base, she knew the whole ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule. Had he wanted to tell her he would have already. “Good, well I’m off Friday so we can do something then.” That would give her two days to plan a dinner. She wasn’t a fancy cook, but she could scrounge something up that was edible. It wasn’t a date; she kept telling herself. They were just two people having dinner together. No big deal. She wouldn’t repeat her previous mistakes.

  “Great, can I see your phone so that I can program my number in it? That is if it’s charged this time.” Catherine dug in her purse for her phone, which she had found the charger for the other day, and handed it to him, while she continued looking for her keys. “Um, Catherine,” he said hesitantly.

  “Yeah?” she asked not looking up from her purse.

  “You wouldn’t be looking for your keys, would you?”

  “Yeah, why?” She didn’t think she would like this answer. When she looked back at him Charlie pointed inside her car window. Catherine looked over and saw her keychain dangling fro
m the ignition. It took all of Catherine’s willpower not to bang her head on the window. She really couldn’t catch a break.

  “Are you sure you don’t want that ride home?” She could hear the humor in his tone, but he was holding it at bay, so she didn’t take offense.

  Catherine didn’t want to leave her car there overnight but what option did she have? It wasn’t the greatest car, so the likelihood of someone stealing it was minimal. She had a spare key, but it was unfortunately at her house. She couldn’t go back inside work and ask for a ride. She was too embarrassed to show her face to her coworkers at the moment. Charlie was her only means home without walking. “Didn’t you come here with your friends?”

  “Yes, but they took a different car.”

  “Why didn’t you all go together?”

  “Because I told them I might need to give you a ride home.”

  “Oh,” was all she could say. Heart melting.

  “They, of course, didn’t believe me when I told them about you, but they were willing to humor me.”

  “They didn’t think I existed?” She didn’t know if she should be offended by that or not.

  “I don’t get out and meet a lot of women, so the story seemed unlikely.”

  Warmth spread through her torso at hearing his words. She knew Charlie was sensitive about his scars, but she didn’t think it deterred all women. He could give a mean scowl when he wanted to frighten women away.

  “Well, if it’s not an inconvenience, I’d like a ride home, thank you.” Charlie gave her as close to a smile as he could, before wincing and guided her to his jeep and helped her in.

  Chapter 4

  Once again, he was silent on the ride home, but she didn’t mind this time. It gave her time to study him out of the corner of her eye.

  “Are you going to just keep staring at me?” Charlie asked suddenly.

  Catherine jumped. She hadn’t known she was being so obvious or that he was so observant while staring out the windshield. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

  “And you thought I was a better view than this?” He indicated the downtown traffic of San Antonio.

  “Yes, and you are much quieter than the traffic here.”

  “Thanks, I think.” He chuckled.

  “That’s not a bad thing. Being quiet.” She assured him.

  “I’ve always been quiet.”

  “Is there a reason why?”

  Charlie shrugged. “I just don’t have much to say.”

  “That is where you and I differ. I don’t usually like a lot of silence. Even at home, I have the TV on or the radio, so there is some noise.” It didn’t make her feel so alone.

  “That must make sleeping difficult.”

  Catherine turned in her seat to look at him. “Did you just make a joke?”

  “Nope, humor doesn’t come naturally to me either.”

  “That was a joke whether you admit it or not.”

  “If you say so,” he said in his monotone voice.

  “There is more to you than meets the eye, Charlie. Whether you want to admit to it or not.” There was a lot more to him than he showed the world, and lord help her, she wanted to know more about him.

  “I’m sure the same could be said about you.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

  Catherine immediately closed off her features. “There isn’t. What you see if what you get.” She said hollowly.

  “If you say so.” Catherine faced the windshield, and sat in silence as Charlie drove her home. Tension filled the car, and she didn’t know how to alleviate it. They both had their secrets and she liked to keep them that way. She should never have asked Charlie out. What had she been thinking? He was far too observant. He was bound to figure out her secret, and then she was in deep shit. She would have to flee again. Further away this time. Which was a shame. She loved Texas. Curse her and her infatuation with Charlie.

  As soon as the jeep pulled up in front of her house, she all but jumped out before the jeep even came to a full stop. “Catherine wait,” Charlie called out to her through the window. Catherine paused on her front steps and turned to face him. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare set of keys to your house, do you?” Catherine groaned when she realized that she didn’t have an extra house key. It was attached to the key ring her car keys were on.

  “No,”

  “I didn’t think so.” Charlie got out of the jeep and walked past her to her front door. He pulled something out of his pocket and fiddled with her door. She was about to ask him what he was doing when she heard the front door lock click and he pushed the door open.

  “How did you do that?” she asked coming up to him.

  “Picked it,” he said proudly, holding up a lock pick tool.

  ,

  “I would never hurt you, Catherine.” He said it so earnestly she was taken back.

  “I never said you would.” She wouldn’t allow him to. She would never be at a man’s mercy again.

  He accepted her answer and stepped back to let her by. “Have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “The morning?” Catherine asked puzzled.

  “Yeah, you left your car at the PX, so I figured you’d need a ride to get it in the morning. Unless you prefer to go back tonight.”

  “Oh yeah.” She hadn’t even been thinking about her car at that moment. The thing had been giving her trouble lately; she was ready to get rid of it. “I don’t want to put you out. I’ll find a way.” She had no one she could call but a cab.

  “You’re not. I offered.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Well, thank you. Tomorrow is fine. I have to be at work by 8 a.m.”

  “I’ll be here tomorrow morning then by 7:45 a.m.”

  * * *

  Two days later, Catherine was getting ready for her date when there was a knock on her front door. She looked at the clock and saw she still had ten minutes before Charlie was supposed to arrive. She looked herself over in the mirror one last time and made her way downstairs. She opened the front door but didn’t see anyone. Stepping out Catherine looked left and right, but the street was empty. Maybe she heard something? Catherine went back inside to check on dinner. She wasn’t a great cook, but she scoured the internet for simple recipes and decided on baked chicken and rice. It seemed easy enough to make, and she didn’t think Charlie was a picky eater. Catherine was taking the chicken out of the oven and was setting the dinner table when the doorbell rang again. She opened the door and was greeted by Charlie. She sucked in a breath; he looked so good. Instead of sporting his normal loose tee, he wore a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his mid-forearm. The front flaps were untucked over his dark blue jeans. He looked good enough to eat.

  “Hi,” she said breathlessly.

  “Hi,” he said warmly. His face was set in a scowl but his eyes were warm and roamed over her body. She instinctively brought her hand over her waist. “You look beautiful.” He assured her.

  “Thank you,” She felt beautiful too. She hadn’t been able to wear this dress for a few years it had gotten so tight. After moving to Fort Sam, she had lost a few pounds, so she could finally fit into it again. Martin had never cared for it, saying it was too revealing. But it was one of her favorite dresses. It was navy blue that stopped mid-thigh with a square cut neckline. “Please, come in.”

  “Thank you.” Charlie stepped in and handed her a bouquet of calla lilies he had been hiding behind his back.

  “Thank you.” It had been years since someone had given her flowers. “How did you know I preferred lilies over roses?”

  “It was a guess.” The gleam in his eyes told her otherwise, but she wouldn’t press him. Her mother always told her never to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

  Catherine took the flowers into the kitchen and pulled out a vase, filled it with water and put the bouquet on the dining room table. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “This looks great.”

  Catherine beamed un
der his praise. She had worried how dinner would turn out but it looked and smelled great. “Thanks.”

  Charlie pulled out a chair and helped Catherine into her seat before taking the one across from her. Her table sat four people max. She had a small family with only her grandparents still alive and she didn’t entertain so she didn’t need a big table. “So how long have you been working at the PX?” He asked her as he cut up his chicken.

  Catherine’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. “A few months.”

  “What did you do before that?”

  “I worked at a different PX.”

  “So how long have you been working at PX’s?”

  Catherine squirmed in her chair not feeling comfortable with the line of questions. She knew he was trying to get to know her, but she feared if she said the wrong thing he would put two and two together about where she had worked last and who it was connected with. The military world was only so big, so when a scandal broke out, everyone knew about it. “For a few years now. What is it you do for the Army?”

  Now it was Charlie’s turn to look uncomfortable. “I can’t really tell you.”

  “Is it top secret?” Catherine teased in a low whisper.

  “It is actually,” Charlie told her in all seriousness.

  Catherine lost her grin and ate trying to think of something else to ask him that wasn’t military related. “Do you do anything fun outside of work?”

  “I wouldn’t say it's fun, but I enjoy going out and shooting.” He said hesitantly.

  “Shooting? As in guns.” She didn’t like that. It sounded a lot like what Martin used to do.

  “I don’t know what else I would be shooting but a gun, but yes.”

  “Don’t you do that for training too?”

  “Yes, but one can never be too prepared, so I go out shooting every chance I can.”

  “I see.”

  “Did I say something wrong?” Charlie looked at her puzzled, setting his fork down.

  “No, not at all.” Catherine readjusted in her seat and pasted on a smile and kept eating.