Since experience had taught him that it was best to know exactly who resided nearby, he’d committed the plate number to memory and intended to run it when he got home.
With luck, this new neighbor would be a lot quieter and less disturbing than the previous party hearty dude.
“Good. Now that we’ve got that settled, tell us again about Griff and Holden’s sister.” Carter, one of his former D-Force brothers leaned closer from across the table. “They really hooked up?”
Never one to gossip, Sinjin shrugged. Besides, he’d just delivered a SITREP on his recentvacationin the Yucatan.
The others were aware he’d gone to assist another former D-Force buddy at the request of one who was still on active duty. Inthat briefing, he’d also mentioned Griff and Hope were together, and that Holden approved of the relationship.
“What’s so odd about that?” Dex, another army brother asked, shifting his gaze to Carter. “I think Rylee and me and Cooper and Abby have proven there’s nothing wrong with dating the relative of a buddy.”
He agreed. Griff was the perfect match for Holden’s adventurous sister. Sinjin had also expected the other two matches Dex mentioned to happen. The undercurrents were always apparent to him, so the unions of his friends to the sisters of their military buddies had never come as a surprise.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Carter said with a grin. “I just didn’t remember Griff and Hope ever meeting before.”
“Don’t think they did,” Dex said, reaching for his beer.
“Ah. I see.” Carter sipped his own then nodded. “Griff was captivated at first sight like I was with my wife.”
“That’d be my guess,” Mac said, breaking his silence. “Happened to me when I first saw Stef.”
“Well, duh.” Carter smirked. “Didn’t you find her in your bed?”
Mac chuckled. “Yep.”
Sinjin felt his brows shoot up. Apparently, he’d missed that story.
As Mac filled him in on how he’d met his wife, Sinjin’s lips twitched. The motion wasn’t as foreign as it had been before arriving in Harland County. Being around his buddies and their women often made him smile, even though he didn’t always show it.
“Man, I can hardly wait.” Carter chuckled, sitting back in his chair.
Dex frowned. “Wait for what?”
“To watch the captivation of Sinjin,” the idiot replied, sending Sinjin’s brows back up.
“Not going to happen,” he muttered.
The goofball was loco for even thinking it. No woman in her right mind would want to be with someone who had no heart to give, and especially not a guy without a soul.
The point was moot anyway, since he’d never met a female with “captivating” qualities.
A second later, awareness skittered down his right side before a blur of blue tripped, probably on Mac’s chair, while trying to sidestep a waiter carrying a full tray of food.
Without thinking, he reached out and caught two white takeout bags with one hand, and a soft, warm woman with his other, pulling her down onto his lap to avoid the collision.
“Oh my God.” Her voice was breathless with an ethereal quality that triggered a shockwave to his brain, while she blinked at him with eyes the same shade as the scrubs covering her curves. “I’m so sorry. I-I don’t know how that happened. Did I hurt you?”
Hurt? No. Shock? Hell, yeah.
He inhaled and shook his head in an attempt to clear an unfamiliar fog rolling through him. Damn. She smelled like lilacs. Warmth spread through his chest. Lilacs were his mother’s favorite flower. The scent and the scrubs reminded him of a happier time in his childhood when his mother would pick blossoms from a bush in their yard and shove it in her hair after a shift at the hospice.
“Don’t worry about him,” he heard Carter say. “He’s just busy being captivated.”
That syphoned some of the fog from his brain.
“I’m fine,” Sinjin finally replied, wishing he could get his hands to obey his brain and set her on her feet.
She wore her brown hair back in a ponytail, giving him an unobstructed view of her delicate features. High cheekbones,full lips perfect for kissing, and azure eyes that beckoned like a tropical sea all increased her allure.
